The Best of Kenya and Tanzania, September 2023

We spent our first few days in Nairobi adjusting to the time change and visiting animal nurseries and the Nairobi slums. Below, a baby rhino and 10 month elephants.

The people in the slums were poor but not homeless. These children’s watches admit them to a meal program and school.

Then we took a flight to the Masai Mara National Reserve.

   

Antelopes and zebras numbered in the thousands, while the wildebeests we saw in migration numbered over a million.

       

Cape Buffalo. The widow maker.                                                                         A bloat of hippos.

This baby Topi is just 5 minutes old.

Two young bull elephants testing each other.

By the time we left the Masai Mara NR we had seen all of the Big 5 animals and the 3 great cats, as well dozens of species of antelope, scavengers and birds.

    

We visited a Masai village and a primary school. And learned of the contributions of the baobab tree.

       

A lion sighting was almost a daily occurrence.  This was one of seven cubs being cared for by two lionesses.

      

Safari lodges were canvas tents with permanent bases and roofs.  Our final camp in the Serengeti was seasonal with no platform and a canvas rain fly.  None were heated and night temperatures in the 50s made the thick comforters welcome.  Meals were served in a central building that often included a pool and a bar. The meals were wonderful, usually a buffet, and if we were going to be out all day, you selected from the lunch buffet and it was packed with your name on the bag, just like mama did.. There was a strong Indian influence to the food, and many of the hotels and camps were Indian owned. Electricity availability varied from location to location, but all lodges could recharge phones, etc in the central building.