”Thanks again for planning such a wonderful trip for us. It was amazing and we loved every minute.

Overall, the trip was planned beautifully. It was a nice mix of luxury and a little more rugged being in tents in the bush. The four places were quite different from one another and we truly had a different experience at each place…it was wonderful.

Emakoko in the Nairobi National Park was perfect. The accommodations, food, people…every thing about it exceeded all expectations. The drivers and safari guide were fantastic as well. It was one of the most luxurious experiences and I highly recommend it for any of your clients.

The other aspect that was great about that day is that we saw so many animals on that first day during our game drives that it took some of the “pressure” off for the rest of the trip. We weren’t anxious about making sure we saw animals because we had the opportunity on day one to see so many animals, including both the black and white rhino. 

The Laikipia Wilderness Camp was absolutely amazing! There were so many aspects that we loved. Again, the people were tremendous and we loved the private aspect of the reserve. With only a few people there, we were able to get close to the animals. The rooms were comfortable…not quite the luxury of the Emakoko, but that is what we expected and wanted. We wanted the tent and slightly more “rugged” experience and it was perfect! The tents (kids in one, me in the other, connected by an outdoor bath) were very comfortable and appointed.

We loved the community meals and that the people running the camp sat at meals with us as well. The whole property is planned so well with the different camps and outposts and they did a great job of making Christmas special for all of their guests. Again, the food and service were amazing and they had everything down to a science. We loved our guides and were able to do and see so much. Our two guides even went on a run with Caroline, with someone else following in a jeep to make sure nothing happened to them. We had a chance to go on a guided walk and came face-to-face with two elephant herds…the lead female stopped ~4 meters from us and looked at us…it was amazing! We saw so many animals unique to that area, including the elusive black leopard, the Grevy’s zebra, the reticulated giraffe and a pack of wild dogs. It was the only place where we did night drives as well, which is when we spotted the black leopard.

The two primary people in charge of the operation, Sophie and Louie, were wonderful. They interacted so nicely with all of the guests and made us feel like we were all part of the family. We were so sad to go…although I feel we experienced all that Laikipia had to offer!

Flight to Samburu was fun…just us. The Soroi Larsens Camp was definitely a more luxurious “camp” than Laikipia. The rooms and whole resort were lovely, food was delicious and people were quite nice. It was a more “formal” place than the Laikipia and more like an upscale resort. Loved the baboons and monkeys everywhere. We were not as impressed with Samburu and the wildlife. We talked about it a few times and we think we were spoiled in Laikipia with the lack of people, abundance of animals and intimate setting.

Finally, the Maasai Mara. This turned out to be a very close second to Laikipia for us. We arrived at the Serian’s Nkorombo camp and were met by a team of people who informed us that we would be the only guests for the whole time. The camp is set up similar to the Laikipia Wilderness camp… tents for about 6 groups of guests (2-4 people each) and family style dining. Because it was just us, we had the opportunity to spend time talking to the people working there, particularly John and Moses, and hearing all about them and their culture. They are both Maasai warriors so it was fascinating for us to hear about their lives. They taught us tribal dances and we had fun. The food was, once again, amazing.  The tent situation for us was quite nice…3 tents connected – 2 bed/bath and 1 living area in between. The camp had a gorgeous location right along a river with many hippo and crocs. John and Moses warned us when we first arrived that the hippos can be quite loud, particularly early in the morning when returning from their overnight feeding sessions…they were not kidding! It was funny to hear them.

Our guide and spotter were awesome and knew where to take us to see anything we wanted. While not private like Laikipia, it felt a lot more secluded and private than Samburu. There were only a few times in which several vehicles were gathered together to see something. We also saw much more wildlife than we had in Samburu. 

The hot air balloon ride was a lot of fun, as was the breakfast afterwards in which we had a chance to meet and talk to people who had been in our same balloon. We got to dip down into a group of giraffe and it was quite an experience.

To round out the trip, we had a lovely afternoon in Nairobi. We went to the bronze museum and had a lovely lunch in the gardens…that place was really cool. After lunch, we went to the Karen Blixen home, which we enjoyed. Then our driver took us on a tour of Nairobi…what a vibrant city…on our way to dinner at Inti, which was fantastic!

Overall, the trip was absolutely spectacular. The people, the food, the animals…all extraordinary. 

Thank you for planning such a wonderful experience for us. We loved every minute. It was a perfect variety of terrain, accommodations and wildlife.”