African safari… It all started with you, The Lion King..

Yes, it´s a bit cheesy but it is 100% real. I´m that generation whose heart was broken at a young age with Mufasa´s tragic death. And how does it relate to all of this? AFRICA, animals! the prides, everything… I literally screamed out loud “Mufaaaasa” to the first hyena I saw, I swear 😉

As an adult I understand now the inmensity of the African continent, its diversity and that it´s not only about the animals. But for many years in my head there was one big association –> Africa = Animals –> Safari. Also we have to remember all of this was before the boom of internet and social media, this means my source of the African safari experience was only television and more concretely Animal Planet.

I´m fully convinced if I told my 10-year old self that I would be in one of those safaris later in my life I would have never believed it. This is not applicable only to this safari, but it definitely is one of the biggest things that would shock me as a kid. Some other traveling interestests in my life became so only later and as a consequence of traveling itself, but this… This was somehow in my dream radar really early in my life. Anyway, similar to my Australian animal stories, this my dear friends.. was a BIG DEAL!

So why a safari in Kenya?

Fast forward to 2018, the target was clear: I want to be in an “African Safari” while I still work in Europe, great.. So now what?

After endless nights of investigation, Kenya had the peculiarity of having the Great Migration of wildebeests, zebras and gazelles. In fact the largest animal migration in the world and this happens in the Masai Mara (Kenya) and the Serengeti (Tanzania). If you are interested in the great migration then timing is a key factor. The season for this if you want to visit on the Kenyan side is usually July as the animals continue north from the Serengenti in Tanzania, and nature forces them to go through river-crossings where unfortunately many of them will not make it (the circle of life! remember?), however they are millions so unless we humans continue to do stupid things, they won´t go extinct anytime soon. It doesn´t mean it doesn´t break your heart when you see dead wildebeests during the safari, which I did.. And sorry to insist but this is where the Lion King and Animal Planet trained me well enough, I didn´t want the lions I saw to die out of hunger either, it´s just the circle of life!

Timing is important as said, if you want to do your safari ONLY in Tanzania for example and see thousands of animals you can but you have to check the right month to go. In my case, Kenya and July were my choices (for the migration). I continued my safari in Tanzania and I did notice the difference in terms of how many animals I saw. Obviously a safari is mind blowing all year round and anywhere in Africa, but in combination with a “booster” of thousandos of wildebeest in particular is.. just wow!!

Respecting nature.. wildebeest migration!

I saw thousands of wildebeests and zebras, and although I didn´t get to witness a river crossing, I witnessed a long line of wildebeests crossing the reserve. We waited in the car for approximately half an hour and just enjoyed it. As my guide explains, they are basically following the group and in the front we have the zebras. They have a better visibility, hence they can alert the wildebeest if they perceive danger. In that case they just turn around and in the same order they return. So simple and organized, a lot to learn from nature. It´s amazing how these animals work together and care for each other. Whenever we saw huge concentration of animals, the common element was to see zebras and wildebeest together.

Wildlife… when the dream comes true

I can´t say enough how exciting it is to actually encounter so many different animals, this is ultimately the purpose! Here some of my favorites shots from Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli parks in Kenya where I got to see the famous 5 five: Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Buffalo and Elephant.

When I mean a lot of zebras and wildebeest I mean something like this 😉 For the millionth time I thank God and the universe for giving me such opportunities

Reserves I visited in Kenya

Masai Mara is a game reserve in south-western Kenya, which is effectively the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Named for the Masai tribes people, who are the traditional inhabitants of the area, and the Mara River, which divides it. The reserve is famous for its exceptional population of game and the annual Great Migration of the wildebeest. With an area of 1510 square kilometers, the Masai Mara is not the largest game park or reserve in Kenya, but it is probably the most famous.

The entire area of the park is nestled within the enormous Great Rift Valley that extends from the Mediterranean Sea to Mozambique. The terrain of the reserve is primarily open grassland, with clusters of the distinctive acacia tree in the south-east region. The Masai Mara is perhaps most famous for its lions, though the other members of the “Big 5” are as well found. Hippo are found in large groups in the Masai Mara and Talek Rivers, and many cheetah, zebra, impala, gazelles, hartebeest, warthog, ostrich, topi and the Masai giraffe, among other mammals, all consider Masai Mara their home territory.

How I got there –> Long drive from Nairobi, the distance does not seem so bad but the traffic to get out of Nairobi is considerable, plus the driver had to stop few times in intermediate towns for supplies for the cooks for the next couple of days at the camp and some other things. It was a long and tiring day, I found out later there are some charter flights (rather very small planes) that get you to there very quickly from the Kenyan capital However, all of that adds to the price as you can imagine. If you are interested and have the means for it, definitely look for an agency that includes getting you there by plane. I did it in more old fashioned traveling way 😉 (a.k.a more restricted budget)

Lake Nakuru – Famous for its millions of flamigoes and migrant birds from over the world; in Nakuru there are up to 425 different bird species

This is a place I wished I had stayed for one full day game (in practice I only had one game), as it was “small” compared to Masai Mara but so overwhelmingly beautiful. Also it´s no longer only open grassland but it can be even hilly in some areas, so purely from landscape perspective apart from the animals, it was different. Also the amount of birds is special here! especiall the flamingos!

Amboseli The park is famous for being the best place in the world to get close to free-ranging elephants. In fact this is where I saw the largest number of elephant families. Amboselli park has views of Mount Kilimanjaro and it´s a perfect place to get an almost guaranteed photo of an elephant with Mt. Kilimanjaro.

I had a cloudy day 😉 (greeat…) so for many parts of the day my perfect background was not possible hehe, but this is just being picky as the animal experience was just as great. The place is very very dry, that day my hair ended up completely tangled and I was super dirty at the end of the day.. not that I care but just for the record 🙂 Also I noticed the wildebeest color here was slightly lighter, this is due to the terrain condition and what they eat.

I have a separate blog to share more about the logistics and the actual experience What is being in an Afican safari like? Check more on my African safari there!

Cheers, Nat