kenya safari - tips and hints wanted

ribenagirl

Really excited for you!! We went with Hayes and Jarvis back in 2002, staying at the Serena Beach Hotel in Mombasa (fantastic), as well as the Serenas in Amboseli, Tsavo and...there was somewhere else but can't remember but it was on stilts by an elephant watering hole

The Serena lodges and hotels were utterly gorgeous, all in fantastic locations, and if you enjoy a glass of free champagne with your breakfast, definitely the place to go

We flew with Monarch on a charter flight - my advice would be DON'T. It was cramped and horrible, it was so bad that a passenger was going round with a petition! It also went via Cairo to refuel, where we sat on the tarmac in sweltering heat with no aircon on, for an hour.

My best advice would be to take a small cushion with you, one that you can cram in your hand luggage. The safari 'roads' are very bumpy dirt tracks, and having a cushion between you and the side of your landrover can help shield you from the bumps

I also personally think retrospectively (at the time we really wanted to do it) that the balloon trips are a waste of money. You do of course get a great aerial view, but you don't get very close to the animals and they are very expensive. I'd rather save my money and do an extra few game drives

achilles

some useful info in a Guardian article last Saturday

smartsaver

We are off to Kenya for the first time Sunday 5th Feb. We booked through Tescos (got our points ) link to Lastminute dot com and think we have a good deal. It's a week Safari Samburu, Abedares Treetops Masai Mara Lake Nakuru (Sp?) then off to Diani beach South of Mombassa staying at The Southern Palms.

Am really excited :j:

Thes posts have been really helpful so thanks guys. Could anyone give us some pointers about clothes? We will be doing early morning and late afternoon game drives. What is the tempreture in the morning? Is it really just long sleeves and trousers?? Do you dress for dinner in the evening? We are staying at Samburu game lodge for our first stop.

pin

Southern Palms is a great hotel, stayed there when it first opened many years ago!!! I have heard it sill is a fantastic hotel to stay in.

One thing, on the beach try the mangos with chilli powder and salt, love it!!

smartsaver

Thanks, Anyone else have any info :question:

coolagarry

I've been to lots of great places but my favourite holiday was last year in Kenya. We went with Thomas Cook 'Signatures' but the actual holiday in Kenya was carried out by http://www.somak.co.uk/ If it had been left to Thomas Cook we would have waited in Nairobi Airport for 11 hrs at the end of our holiday waiting for our London flight. Instead Somak took us to their Nairobi Lounge where they fed us and gave us TV etc (all free) Then took us to the airport for our flight home.

We loved the Masai Mara and Samburu National Parks and Lake Navasha . The accommodation, service, food etc was great.

We were disappointed with Treetops (cold and miserable and hardly any animals) and Mombasa. Just sun sea and sand - appeals to many but not to us. Although the hotel, food etc were very good.

Much of the travelling was by minibus and the roads are atrocious... but it's all part of the Kenya Experience. The people are very poor so if you have spare t shirts, ladies summer shoes, dresses etc, bring them and give them away (more room for holiday pressies)

Have a great time

albalad

Well thanks again to everyone who took the time to post a reply
Thanks to all your enthusiasm we booked (leaving in 9 weeks ,1 weeks safari then staying at indian ocean beach club), but now i have a few other questions regarding innoculations - to the people who have been , did you get yellow fever jabs ? and then what about malaria , where did you purchase your anti-malarials from , i remember reading a while ago about a website that was vastly cheaper than through my pharmacist , does anyone have a link to this chemist please.(or can vouch for the authenticity of the tablets, definately don't want to be taking fake anti-malarials :eek: )

The reason i'm asking about yellow fever is that we are getting conflicting suggestions from both our gp's.

Ps , we have used larium in the past without any serious side effects

pin

albalad wrote:

Well thanks again to everyone who took the time to post a reply
Thanks to all your enthusiasm we booked (leaving in 9 weeks ,1 weeks safari then staying at indian ocean beach club), but now i have a few other questions regarding innoculations - to the people who have been , did you get yellow fever jabs ? and then what about malaria , where did you purchase your anti-malarials from , i remember reading a while ago about a website that was vastly cheaper than through my pharmacist , does anyone have a link to this chemist please.(or can vouch for the authenticity of the tablets, definately don't want to be taking fake anti-malarials :eek: )

The reason i'm asking about yellow fever is that we are getting conflicting suggestions from both our gp's.

Ps , we have used larium in the past without any serious side effects

Re Yellow Fever. Although I'm born in Kenya, and have spent many a summer there, I do make sure all my jabs are up to date, including Yellow Fever. My folks on the other hand (they grew up in Kenya) don't bother with jabs or malaria tablets (I take those as well).

Personal view, don't risk it, have the jabs and take the tabs.