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Not having been to Africa before I had only sketchy, preconceived ideas of what to expect. Before we even got to the game parks, we were immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of the real Africa. The villages, the people, (especially the children) and their unique laid-back cheerfulness, for me, contributed the same amount of magic as the animals.
The weather was not as hot as I had imagined, in fact the nights can be quite cool. I don’t think anything can prepare you for the roads, some have more holes than a Middle East peace plan, and in the dry climate the dust rises in clouds around and inside the vehicle; something you have to be careful of, keeping this talcum-fine dust out of camera equipment. With a hundred miles plus to travel and hours in a gut jerking, back aching, lurching vehicle …… You get the picture!!
Our first stop was Amboseli National Park, relatively small but very special. If you like elephants then this is the place for you. The light is wonderful, and as the huge disc of the Kenyan sun set on our first day, we saw our first cheetahs, a mother and two cubs, magical !
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On to Lake Nakuru, world famous soda lake with over half a million flamingos around its margins, a stunning mass of pink as far as the eye can see. Here, we saw our first leopard, as well as lion, giraffe, buffalo, rhino and every kind of antelope you can imagine.
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Next up was Lake Naivasha. Here we stayed at a quaint old colonial hotel on the lake shore. The highlight was a boat trip to Crescent Island, where, we were met by our guide Moses, for a private walking tour of the island. We saw birds of all kinds, plus Wildebeest, and Zebra along with a baby Giraffe and a six foot Python, (no, not together!) Dodging Hippos on the way back we encountered, three types of Heron, three types of Kingfisher including the largest in the world, the Giant Kingfisher, plus a breeding pair of magnificent African Fish Eagles
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Saving the best to last, we were taken to the jewel in the Kenyan crown, the Maasai Mara. WOW!! It is everything and more than you expect. I wont go on about the animals as I would not know where to start, let alone stop! However the leopard we encountered in a tree and followed along a dry riverbed will stay with me for the rest of my life.
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I can’t recommend Vic Sharratt and the Wilderness Safari team highly enough. Every single little detail was taken care of. All we had to do was get on enjoying the country and all it has to offer. Vic even colluded with my wife, Gill, and arranged for an African Choir to deliver me a birthday cake, complete with candles at the end of dinner one evening.
Sufficient to say that Gill and I are already planning to return next year.
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