12 Day Kenya & Tanzania Safari Review

Our trip included 3 siblings and our partners; we visited four camps in Kenya and Tanzania – Elewana Tortilis Camp near Amboseli NP, Elewana Sand River Maasai Mara Camp, Aurari Camp North Serengeti, Acacia Farm Lodge in Karatu near Ngorongoro Crater.

Discover Africa’s Megan Warrington created an outstanding itinerary! Megan was very quick to respond to our emails and texts; every moment of our travels was perfectly arranged and professionally handled.

I can’t imagine any operator providing a better, bespoke experience.

Each camp selected by Megan was unique and wonderful. Graham and Candy Smith, the managers at Tortilis, were a fountain of information and fascinating stories. We were fortunate to have spectacular views of Kilimanjaro for 2 of our 3 days.

Sand River was magical in its own way with animals wandering past mornings and evenings across the river and elephants enjoying the camp’s lush greenery at night (until the staff chased them away!).

Aurari, with only 4 tents and our group the only occupants, was simply amazing with our own chef, hostess and 3 additional staff to take care of us. Every night a fire with sundowners was ready when we returned from our game drive. The view over the Serengeti and the Mara Triangle was spectacular.

Acacia is a town lodge with a country feel – beautiful, comfortable cabins and outstanding staff. Every location had superb food with offerings ranging from a single meal to menu selection or buffet – we could have stayed a month at any of the camps.

Safaris were led by outstanding, highly experienced guides – all had at least 15 years’ experience and, judging from the conversations with other guides we passed on game drives, highly regarded by their peers. We had outstanding luck with our animal sightings and we credit our guides for many of them – Juma in Ambroseli, Charles in Masai Mara, Joe in Serengeti, and Charmy in Ngorongoro area. Since we were traveling late October, we were successful seeing the many baby animals we hoped for – a few hours’ old baby elephant still learning to suckle, 16 lion cubs in one pride and 6 in another, giraffe calves, warthog piglets, jackal pups, ostrich chicks – the list goes on.

In Amboseli a herd of elephant passed within a yard of our perfectly positioned Land Cruiser; in Maasai Mara the Sand River pride walked up from their sleeping place on the river sand at dusk right past our Cruiser – kudos to our guide Charles for putting us in the perfect position. The Serengeti offered up a wildebeest crossing – our guide Joe had us perfectly positioned – with the added excitement of a croc grabbing one unfortunate animal (it got away!). Our animal sightings also included many lions (including a couple on ‘honeymoon’!), cheetahs, leopards, crocodiles, hippopotamus, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest to name a few and many different birds.

The Serengeti balloon safari was one of the highlights of our trip; Serengeti Balloon Safaris provided a fabulous dawn safari across the Mara River and the Serengeti. Our pilot, Jason Adams, learned the trade from his father and was superb as was the support team. There were 3 people in the basket that were afraid of heights, but on the balloon there wasn’t even a hint of discomfort. Yes, it’s expensive…but it’s worth it!

Hopefully we’ll have a chance to visit Africa again – such a magical place – and our first call will be to Discover Africa.

Jim Just travelled to Tanzania in November Kenya in November and wrote the 12 Day Kenya & Tanzania Safari Review on 28 November 2022

The trip included: Visit Kenya Nairobi Tours Amboseli National Park Explorations Masai Mara Safaris Northern Circuit Wildlife Big Five Safaris in Africa Big Five Safari in Kenya Luxury Safari Tanzania Luxury Safaris Elewana Sand River Masai Mara

Safari planned by: Megan Warrington