Masai Mara Cheetah and Crocodile Hunt Witnessed
Who better to ask about a Masai Mara Kenya safari than someone who has experienced it already? I contacted Irene Bligh who went on her first safari in November 2005 for nine days and was smitten by Africa's wildlife and people. This is her safari story (telephonic transcript of the conversation)...
CC Africa (make an enquiry). They were wonderful. We found them through the internet. We started researching and saw that they were a very reputable company (based on feedback from other people on-line) and so we decided to go with them.
Was it a pre-designed tour or tailor made for you?We basically told them we definitely wanted to go to the Masai Mara, and they suggested we go to 1 or 2 other places but since it was a limited amount of time we figured we'd just concentrate on the Mara and add on one other place, which we decided to be Amboseli.Anything you didn't like about CC Africa's performance?No… it was pretty much a dream vacation and it was organised perfectly. We were very, very happy with their service. It was funny because we never spoke to the agent we were dealing with over the phone. It was all done through e-mail.So there was a bit of trepidation because we're travelling halfway across the world and were crossing our fingers hoping that everything would work out well and there'd be someone to meet us at the airport and everything would be taken care of… and that's the way it worked out! How to choose the best safari company for a trip to Africa. We especially loved where we stayed in the Masai Mara, which was Bateleur Kichwa Tembo. It was just so beautiful, so incredible… we didn't want to leave and go back to our apartment in Miami. It was just gorgeous with the hardwood floors and the deck that overlooked the Masai Mara. We could see elephants walking by in the distance, the bathroom there was incredible. They were really wonderful about giving us a private dinner on our veranda the last night, which was very romantic because they put lanterns outside and hanging on the trees nearby, so it was very beautiful. How big a group did you travel with?
Just us two (Irene and her husband), independently. We basically flew between camps once we were there. It was nice because even though everything was pre-organised for us, once we were there it felt like it was just OUR vacation. So it was a wonderful experience.
The food was wonderful. There was a lot of very fresh fish and we had one of the most wonderful experiences as we had a dinner out in the bush. They surprised us, with the rest of the people staying at Masai Mara Bateleur Camp and the funny thing about that is not only was the dinner great, but as we were going to get our food, we started talking to some of the other people and it turned out that this person lived in our apartment building a year before. So out of all the people - such a small world… in the middle of the Masai Mara! Weather wise, it was clear skies and sunny days. It was perfect temperature in terms of the game drives, since they were early in the morning and later in the afternoon. It was great.
Back to Questions Another thing that was great about staying there is that they were very nice in terms of the game drives. They wanted to know what we wanted to see and they were very patient with us. In fact, we were very lucky because our ranger stayed out with us for about 3 hours in the middle of the day.
We were watching 2 cheetahs stalk their prey, and finally because that patience paid off, we actually got to see the kill. It was incredible. And I don't know if that happens in too many other places because I think a lot of times it's very regimented and you have to be back at a certain hour and at Bateleur Camp it was wonderful. They really made sure we got to see what we wanted to see.
The other highlight was the day we were supposed to leave, we had one last morning game drive and our ranger said that there were still some stragglers left from the migration and he said there might be a possibility that those stragglers end up crossing the Mara River, so let's go and check it out.
We were so lucky that thousands of wildebeest and zebra crossed the river. We actually got to see a crocodile eat one of the wildebeest - I mean it was just incredible. Something that I saw on TV that I never thought I would see with my very own eyes in person! We were very, very lucky to see that.
More Kenya Masai Mara safari trip reports by visitors who have been there.
We were able to visit 2 different Masai Mara villages and that was just wonderful. The people were so great - we got to go inside their homes and see their little children. It was really nice because we came with postcards of Miami Beach and hats and pencils for the children… we came with little gifts. It was funny to see their reactions when they saw the postcards of Miami Beach. We had one that showed the different highways and the clover leaf patterns of the highways and they said "oh, that is paradise!" And we said no! Miami Beach is not paradise, THIS is paradise! So it's funny to see the perspective of someone else seeing where you live, and seeing where they live… it was just a wonderful experience.
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We took all the precautions necessary against mosquitoes - we were taking Malarone which I think was a good precaution to take. We were also armed with every sort of mosquito spray you can imagine - we sprayed it on our clothes, we had the little wipes, we also had the sunscreen that also is a mosquito repellent. We were armed and ready.Definitely bring lots of film, or memory cards. 1 camera isn't enough. We brought 2 different cameras and one of my cameras had many lenses so definitely if you have a telephoto lens, take it - it makes all the difference in the world in terms of the pictures. Just, don't expect to see everything all at once… or even see everything. Because I think we got very lucky on our Masai Mara trip and we were able to see things that a lot of people maybe won't be able to see, so basically just go with an open mind and just be delighted with whatever you see because it really is so magical and a life changing experience, that trip. At least for my husband and I, it was incredible.
Definitely a 10 or an 11. An 11 - it was everything we could have imagined and more… we were very lucky.
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