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Travelingyogini48
2024.02.24
Verified
Trip of a lifetime.
From the time we arrived until we were left at the airport, we were treated like royalty. Our guides, Diger (in Nairobi), John Leng (Samburu) and Symo and Mario (Maasi Mara) were excellent and always on the lookout for how to make our trip special. When DIger took us to the Elephant Sanctuary, he made sure that we had a great place to view the presentation, then took us to a wonderful restaurant for lunch and made sure we had plenty of time at the Kuzuri bead factory. John met us at the Samburu airport and by the time we made it to Ashnil, we had already seen 4 of the special five, watched 2 jackals eating their kill while shooing off the vultures and had learned the names of several birds. We checked in to Ashnil, ate some lunch and went out for a late afternoon ride where we saw a leopard and tracked it for awhile. Our waiter, Elvis was very friendly and helpful and when we decided to have dinner in our tents due to bugs, he very graciously brought our meals to our rooms. During the night, we had a LOT of rain and we knew that the river was raging, but we went on the morning ride even though it was raining. The rain did not deter the animals and we were soon met with a giraffe standing in the middle of the road just waiting for us. After that we saw three families of elephants and lots of other animals. We had breakfast in the land cruiser as it was still raining. Upon arriving back at the camp, we were told to pack up and were moved up to Sonara, a sister camp. The operative word being up, which was away from the river. Their staff greeted us warmly and quickly settled us into rooms. After lunch, we went on an afternoon ride and then had a wonderful dinner. Breakfast the next morning and then we were off for a leisurely ride to the airport. Upon arriving later than expected in Maasi, we were met by Symo and Mario and taken to the Bush Camp where the staff quickly put together a nice lunch for us as they realized we had not eaten since breakfast. Then, out for an afternoon ride. I cannot say enough great things about the staff at the Bush Camp. Joseph, the manager, left after our first day to go for a home visit and Mercy, Nelson and another woman stepped in and made sure that our every need was met. Donald welcomed us to all our meals and explained everything we needed to know about the food and the Professor was a great bartender. These two men made our dinners fun. And, what can I say about the food - as good as any I have had in a 5-star restaurant. I have told people it was like eating on a Viking cruise (which I consider to be the highest of compliments.) The food selections were varied and imaginative as well as delicious. We had breakfast on our drives each morning except for the last morning when we opted not to go for a drive and to have breakfast at the samp. When I came down for breakfast, I could not find where they had set it up. And, then I saw a staff member that sent me over to the bar tent. There, I found that they had set up breakfast for the three of us right next to the river. A lot of trouble for three people, but what a treat! We saw all the animals of the Maasi except the rhino. My friends at home could not believe all the animals that we saw. We saw several prides of lions, as well as 2 leopards and 2 cheetahs - one with small cubs, giraffes, elephants, gazelle, topi, oryx, impala, ostriches (with babies), monkeys, baboons, hippos, zebras, jackals and lots of birds. I cannot say enough good things about the staff at Mara Bush Camp and all the guides. And, the guards who walked us back and forth from the tents were definitely appreciated and Doris met me every morning with hot chocolate. The staff was definitely the icing on the cake for the trip. And the accommodations could not have been better! Gives a new meaning to tenting. 🙂 I have already given your information to several people and are recommending your company as the way to see Kenya. And, I would be remiss if I did not mention the guide that we had on our last day in Nairobi. He met us at the airport, took us for lunch and some shopping and then, we told him that we would be happy to just go to the airport and stay there until time to leave. He left us at the airport at 4:00 and told us to let him know when we had our boarding passes. When we got over to the terminal, they would not let us in so we called the guide. He came back for us as he had not left the grounds and then took us to a hotel where he used his connections to get us up to the roof bar where we could rest until we could go back to the airport. Again, he did not leave the airport grounds until we called and told him we had our boarding passes. From door to door, your company took care of us - through all sorts of weather. Thanks so much for a trip of a lifetime!