KENYA 2025 : TOURISM AND THE MIGRATION

What is "The Migration"? Every year between the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Maasai Mara in Kenya, an estimated 1,5 million+ wildebeest and nearly 1 million zebra follow a clockwise route in search of grazing. You can see massive congregations of animals in different areas at different times of year. This migration is phenomenal to see. In July a most spectacular aspect of this migration is when thousands of wildebeest swim simultaneously across the Sand or Mara river. Being nature lovers, bush dwellers and wildlife enthusiasts, it's been on our bucket list to witness this first hand. So I can't really point fingers at others who want to do the same. This year, as in many previous years, there has been a lot in the news and on social media about over-tourism amid very bad practices by lodges and tour operators and despicable behavior and selfish attitudes of the tourists blocking the path of the animals. After more than two hours wait we were extremely fortunate to see a crossing and it truly was one of the most amazing wildlife experiences of my life. There where rangers controlling the vehicles, giving the wildebeest time to gather and our guide Ken did a marvelous and experienced job amidst the chaos and very poor behavior of many other drivers and demanding tourists.

There's no simple solution to this over-tourism. We definately want to return to Kenya and especially Tanzania but we are not sure we want to come back in July or August again and we really don't want to hang out in the over-busy areas. We love the idea of the adventure of driving up from South Africa next time and now that we have scouted things out, we hope a couple of our usual, adventurous travel companions will join us!

KENYA 2025 : MAASAI MARA NATIONAL RESERVE

Thursday 31 July to Saturday 2 August

An early flight from Amboseli to Mara. These bush flights have no boarding passes, no bag checking, no scanning. 

There is a guy with a red flag chasing animals off the runway and Neil did find the business lounge!

The plane arrives in a cloud of dust and taxies to the car park area.

The pilot hops out and sort of checks the passengers off a printed list as they embark.

At Keekorok airstrip we are met by a massai warrior/driver in a 4wd minivan who doesn't seem to know our names but assures us we are to go with him.

Oldarpoi Mara Camp is just the right balance of comfort and value and very well located close to Sekanani gate.

The staff are great, the food is good and there's an okay Chilean sav blanc and single malt whisky at the bar.

Every evening we sit around the Boma fire before dinner. 

Our excellent guide is Ken from Keniamara Tours. He takes us into the Mara Reserve every day.

Game is so abundant here. Vast herds of wildebeest and zebra everywhere.

Gazelle,eland,giraffe,warthog, buffalo and elephant.

And multiple lion, cheetah and hyena sightings every day.

We searched the bushy areas for rhino without success. We did see two young leopards in the riverine bush but with quite a few cars around they weren't about to come out into the open. On Saturday we drove to the Mara river hoping to see a mass wildebeest crossing but more on that in a separate post. The Mara is beautiful with vast plains dotted with quintessential umbrella thorn trees. 

On Sunday we flew to Nairobi and spent a very restful time at The Norfolk Hotel before heading back to Johannesburg on Monday evening.

KENYA 2025 : AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK

Wednesday 30th July

After breakfast Yuda drove us to the Namanga border with Kenya.

Both immigration counters are in the same room which makes it easy. On the Kenyan side we were met by Patrick. Luggage loaded and we were off. We entered Amboseli from the West, driving over Lake Amboseli. This is a seasonal lake and at this time of year it is a vast, dry expanse of white soda with a glimmering mirage in the distance.

Absolutely quiet and breathtakingly beautiful; this place speaks to your soul. Up ahead of us the animals appeared to be walking in water but as we approached they were, as if by magic, on dry land. First the elephants.

And then the giraffe.

Amboseli is quite arid but dotted with lush green marshes and small,shallow lakes. It's known for its elephants.

We so enjoyed the birds and animals here.

Amboseli is close to Kilimanjaro which forms a backdrop to this beautiful reserve.

Unfortunately all the lodges within the park were fully booked, so we had to drive quite far out of the gate to Sungura Safari Lodge. This was my least favourite of all the places we stayed at on the trip; not very friendly and no alcohol served; not even a beer.