Just wanted to post a trip report of our safari trip. A safari had not been on our bucket list until we had two separate couples, who are world travelers, tell us a safari was their best trip ever. We are 69 and 70 yrs old.
We began planning about 18 months ago by contacting Giraffe Manor in Nairobi for availability. Since I was insistent on staying at Giraffe Manor, we planned the trip around the only available night they had, 6/8.
We arrived in Nairobi late at night and stayed at Fairmont The Norfolk for 3 nights. Two is definitely enough, but make sure you get over jetlag before actually departing on safari, it is not a 'leisurely' vacation!
Giraffe Manor picked us up at the Fairmont at 1130 on 6/8. We proceeded to the Manor and were taken on a tour of the property (checked in on their iPad, no 'reception' desk. At 1230 we had a gourmet lunch outside in a beautiful courtyard. We relaxed until about 1530, when they start setting up for high tea. About 1630, they serve tea and tea cakes, little sandwiches, etc., or you can have an alternate beverage. The giraffes start walking over from the adjacent Giraffe Centre and the staff shows you how to feed them. It was truly awesome! They will take a treat from your mouth and it looks like you are kissing! There is also a swing you may have seen in pictures, where you can swing back and forth and feed the giraffe.
Dinner was served at 1900 in the candlelit dining room. Excellent food and drink.
The staff lets you know the giraffes may 'knock' at your window at 0530, so we went to bed really early! Sure enough, we were finishing dressing at 0540 when the first giraffe showed up! We went outside (we were on the ground floor) and fed several giraffes and one stuck her head in our bedroom door! Very fun!
You go to breakfast about 0630-0700. Once everyone gets done eating, they open the windows so the giraffes can stick their heads in. These are the iconic pictures you often see, where the giraffes are eating off your plate. They aren't eating your food, they are eating their food that the staff puts on charger plates. The staff makes sure everyone gets enough pictures with the giraffes.
Giraffe Manor took us to Wilson airport at 1030 for our onward flight to Seronera airstrip to begin the next leg of our adventure.
Our safari of 8 nights was booked through Discover Africa. I told our agent, Susan Veldman, that I did not want bucket showers and while we couldn't afford Four Seasons or andBeyond, I wanted somewhere between midrange and luxury. And we got it with the Elewana Collection of camps.
Our first camp was Elewana Sand River in the Masai Mara. Our guide picked us up mid afternoon (after a single prop plane ride, landing on a dirt runway) and on the way to the camp we enjoyed a short game drive resulting in a leopard sighting. Leopards are not necessarily a given to see----our guide said he sometimes goes weeks without seeing them. We also saw giraffes, gazelles and impala. We reached our camp and after a tour from the camp manager, had dinner and hit the sack. We had a super roomy tent with a nice bathroom (you can see these camps on their website and on YouTube videos). Our routine was getting up at 0530, going on a game drive at 6 and returning early afternoon for lunch. Evening game drive began about 1630 and we returned about 1830 for a quick drink, then dinner and bed. By day 3, I was getting pretty tired, so we skipped the evening game drives on day 3 and 4, after we had seen every animal we wanted to see, except rhino. The camp was super nice, when you returned from a game drive, one or more of the staff would meet you to hear about what you saw, and provide a cold towel to wipe the dust off your face and hands!