Just excellent!
I booked a customized 5nights/6days private safari with Safari Update Travel for my mum and me and it was just wonderful. I have been to Africa many times before, but for her it was the very first time below the Sahara.
I gave the intended itinerary outline to Safari Update Travel and they organized all the details around it and were there for all inputs from our side not only in the planning stage, but also during the Safari, so that we got exactly the experience that we were looking for. And what an experience it was, from the beginning. Our guide and driver Ken was there throughout our whole Safari with knowledge, inputs and suggestions and just his cool presence, making all the driving quite enjoyable.
We opted for a mix between active and passive experiences, starting with a boat ride and nature walk with giraffes, zebras and all kind of gazelles at lake Naivasha, followed by a full day of hiking for me to Mt. Longonot, with some time to enjoy more of the lake and animals for my mum and visiting town in the afternoon to get some local Kenyan vibes. We continued to Nakuru National Park for our first Safari drive, stopping for another nature walk on the way. And Nakuru National Park has just a beautiful landscape with lot’s of animals. From there we continued to Ol Pejeta Conservancy. But Ken knew that on the way we would not only stop at monuments which mark the equator line and give nice photo opportunities , but also brought us to the Thomson waterfalls, which are quite spectacular and have a nice small trail to reach their bottom where one could even go for a dip in the cold river waters and natural pools.
We spent two nights in Ol Pejeta Conservancy where we could organize game drives with Ken according to our wishes (early morning, afternoon or evening how often and for how long we’d liked to) and sign up for any of the parcs other activities. On the drives Ken showed us heaps of elephants, buffaloes, gazelles, hyenas, shackals, rhinos with calfs, giraffes and we even got close up to lions with cubs. There basically were animals everywhere.
On top we visited Ol Pejeta’s rescue chimpanzees, their old blind black rhino Baraka which likes to be fed and petted and the last two Northern White Rhinos which are residents in Ol Pejeta and guarded 24/7.
Safari Update Travel organized all the accommodation on a full board basis, in all three places located very conveniently and two of them with beautiful gardens. Staff was very nice, smiley and attentive in all places and food was excellent and well catered for our vegetarian preference.
I guess we were especially lucky as we went in off season, the ‘rainy’ season of April, which allowed us to have many places and visits all to ourselves. And it only showered in the late afternoons and never more than an hour or so. In many places it was only us and the local guides who were very knowledgeable, giving us a very private experience without the masses.
Really beautiful country and people to visit!
Would book any time again with Safari Update Travel!
