Safari in Kenya - Do It If You Can

We spent 5 days traveling around a small piece of the 1500 square kilometers that make up the Maasai Mara National Reserve in the Rift Valley Province of southwestern Kenya. Here are some of our take-aways from a great trip.

1. We booked through a Kenyan company (Sunworld Safaris) which provided excellent service and responded to emails almost immediately (thank you Joanne!). The benefits are (a) supporting a local business, (b) saving money by not going through a company in your home country, and (c) getting personalized first-rate Kenyan attention.
2. We stayed at Mara Bush Camp - Private Wing and were spoiled at every turn. Our driver / guide, Julius picked us up in Nairobi and drove the 6 hours through the Rift Valley to our camp. Throughout our stay, Julius provided us with beautiful discoveries (animals and vistas alike) as he explained everything we encountered. His knowledge was deep and he knew the English, Swahili and Latin for everything. The camp chef, Joseph created an array of tasty meals each day, presented with charm by Donald and his colleagues.
3. Many people stay 2 or 3 days, but we found having 5 days allowed us to relax and thoroughly enjoy being on the Savannah. We awoke before sunrise to see what activity had taken place overnight. We came across lions feasting on fresh kills and much more. After lunch, we had time to rest overlooking the hippo pool and river with the hippos sounding a lot like a laughing Santa Claus. Then a late afternoon drive meant we could see animals as they awakened from the heat of the noonday sun. Evenings were for food and relaxing under the African stars.
4. This is not a cheap trip so start saving now. It is well worth the expense.