Category: Africa

Mt Kenya Sirimon-Chogoria route

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Mt Kenya trail profile (Google Earth Pro) 

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More on our tour operator Mount Kenya Climbing Expeditions

We made all the arrangements with ☞ Mount Kenya Climbing Expeditions  by e-mail from Chicago, followed by short briefing in Nairobi. Good communication before and during the trip was key to making it successful. All people were very friendly, open to suggestions and requests.

We were very happy with everything on our Sirimon-Chogoria trekking part of the trip, except for inflatable sleeping mats – we took 3  and all of them had holes. The porters tried to fixed them, but it didn’t work.  Luckily it meant only one night on three deflated sleeping mats for one of us. We were quite upset about it at the time and urged the company to use a different more reliable source of rental equipment in the future. The guide should also check all the equipment carefully before the hike. There was no way we could do it ourselves. The tent was very good and warm, but someone had to bring it while we were already hiking because it was forgotten. Because of the rain, we slept in the tent (on deflated mats) only one night.

We really appreciated the flexibility of being able to change the itinerary on the run. Our guide was able to communicate by phone and make all the changes/arrangements. We wanted to ascend slower, but because of a downpour on day one, soaked the ground and us, it was not practical. We skipped an intermediate camp (Liki North, not the best spot to tent in wet weather we were told) and went to a higher elevation already on day two to sleep in a hut (Shiptons). The following day our crew was reluctant to stay at a higher camp (Upper Simba Tarn, 4,600 masl) closer to the Lenana summit, our first choice,  but considering the bad  mats (we didn’t know it yet at the time) and cold, dump weather it was good we didn’t stay there. We made it to the summit  (in clouds) from Shipton’s, no problem. The guide, cook and porters were all very good and well organized, the food was good, warm and plentiful (although mostly fried) with fresh fruits etc – amazing on the mountain. Everything was on time and the guid adjusted hiking tempo to our abilities and frequent photo stops. He knew well what he was doing. The hike itself, landscape and nature, is of course exceptional. We met no other hikers on the trail, just  a few other parties at camp sites.

The Meru trip was also good. We appreciated the driver/guide and cook coming to Chogoria the night before to start the second part of the trip earlier in the morning the next day. Another good adjustment on the go to make good use of our time after we made it to Chogoria earlier than planned. They were both very good and the cook followed our request to avoid fried food. He made delicious stews etc – probably the best food on our entire Kenya trip (better than in lodges in other parks).  We liked the cottages ( Murera Bandas near the park entrance) very much, although it would probably be better to stay deeper in the park (Kinna Cottages), closer to the areas with more animals. There was no hot water in the shower, but it was not big deal as it was hot in Meru. Our room was large and comfortable. The porch at our cabin was our kitchen and dinning room with nice view at dense vegetation along the nearby river, visited all the time by monkeys and birds, and buffalos passing by within feet from our windows one night. Very relaxing rest time between safaris. There were no other visitors staying at the bandas. The safari van was well prepared and we drove to different corners of the park. There are fewer animals in Meru and they seem to be more shy than in other parks, but no tourists at all. It’s a pity people don’t come there. The early morning drive (before breakfast) on the last day was the best. Our crew made a good run to find us a family of elephants to keep their promise. We made it back to Nairobi safely.

We really appreciate the flexibility and everybody’s efforts to make us happy – we had very good time.

Mt Longonot

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More on our tour operator Keron Safaris and Hotels

10 day/9 night trip from Nairobi to Samburu/Ol Pejeta/Lake Nakuru/Masai Mara with  ☞ Keron Safaris and Hotels. All planning and arrangements for the trip were made by e-mail, and the process was very effective. We made the payment in Nairobi just before the trip. We chose a private tour for the flexibility of visiting places and staying longer in some parks than group tours do, and for the style of the game drives. It was good decision also because we were standing in the van most of the time during the game drives (when the roof was up). We had a lot of space and could turn around freely. It would still be OK with 4 people, but for sure not with 6 or 7, like we saw in many other safari cars.

We passed some nice landscapes on the way between the parks, Rift Valley, hills, coffee and tea plantations, villages and small towns, street/highway markets, but even with the private tour we didn’t stop and had to rushed to the next destination, although often it would be fine to arrive an hour later. Driving on Kenyan main roads is tough, but our driver Mike was very good and careful. Our safari was well organized, lodges/camps were very good, better than we expected, food was OK and safe (many choices, tasty but quite heavy and often fried). Our safari van was older, but well prepared and survived the journey without a problem. Mike did also excellent job on the bumpy roads and stream crossings, knew the parks well, spotted many animals, and showed great interest in birds. Venant, one of the owners who came along as our guide, provided assistance, but spent quite a bit of  time on his phone arranging tours for other clients. He didn’t volunteer too much information, but when asked provided facts about birds and animals, and Kenya in general, but not so much about habitat, environment etc. We didn’t have a radio, but it didn’t matter at all, as Mike with help from Venant were very good deciding where to go and at finding animals and birds. We often had them to ourselves, even in the very popular Masai Mara. All the safari drivers/guides exchanged info about animals when passing and before/after the drives. In theory we had unlimited game drives, in practice we had to bargain a bit for time. In most cases we got enough –  8 -9 hours a day, with two full-day drives in Masai Mara. We were promised some before-breakfast drives and I really regret we didn’t insist more firmly on an additional early morning drive when the animals are up and most active! It didn’t help that Piotr was not too keen on getting up so early. Our Masai Mara lodge (Mara Sentrim) was not inside the reserve, as we were told it would be, and for every drive we had to go to the reserve entrance on a super bad road and through a village losing a lot of time. Before booking we had multiple discussions about it, as the lodge’s location was not so clear, and they assured us it was a better choice and definitely inside the reserve. I wanted to stay near more centrally located Talek gate rather than Sekenai gate. The lodge was very nice. As a result we spent 3 days in Masai Mara Reserve instead of 4 and could not  have an early morning game drive on the last day, which was disappointing. This misrepresentation was the only negative score point. Our trip included a short visit to Maasai village (Masai Mara), a bit touristy but still interesting.

All in all the tour was very good, we had great time and saw many animals very close, everything we expected and more,  except for the leopard. Venant and Mike were very friendly and easy to interact with.

Hells’s Gate

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