Unplugged Safari in the Mara

We booked our safari trip with Susan of Discover Africa. Susan has been very caring, patient and professional. She listened to our requests and questions patiently and responded promptly. When she discovered that a larger group’s booking with the same camp as our booking had overlap, she reached out to us and suggested alternative camps to maintain the possibility of an intimate safari experience.

Our entire trip to the three camps has been a wonderful experience. We saw many animals easily in Amboseli. The guide Dickson was really great, and we learned a lot about the animal behavior and their ecosystem. The Elewana Tortilis camp was great with an intimate atmosphere and very friendly staff. The Governor’s camp had access to a larger area of wildlife so one doesn’t get the feel that animals are everywhere. But we did get to see a lot of them. The highlights included seeing large herds of elephants (more than 40) reaching the Mara River bank, drinking water and contemplating crossing the river, and seeing lions feasting on their kill, and seeing a leopard patiently waiting for a group of impalas and finally making a hunt, albeit unsuccessful. The great migration completed about two weeks ago.

Zhengchao's Kenya Safari Adventure

Our guide Issac explained that the distinction between dry and rainy season is no longer that clear, there has been more rain in Tanzania around this time in recent years so fewer wildebeests have crossed deep into the Mara area in the last five years and they have returned south earlier. The Governor’s camp was also very good but one doesn’t get as personal receptions from the management as one gets from the Elewana properties. The Elewana Loisaba property had exceptionally warm staff members and management—we would like to single out our meals server Ali for his warm hospitality, in addition to its breathtaking views from the tents and through much of its conservancy.

It’s harder to spot some of the animals due to its terrains and bushes, but we did get to see many beautiful animals, including the precious rhinos and large families of giraffes. All in all we have had a wonderful experience in our eight days of safari trip over there camps. This has been a great experience and we can’t thank Susan enough for her help.

My experience was wonderful. Matthys helped us to plan the trip to see great wildebeest migration. The timing was planned perfectly, the trip arranged in detail. In addition, Matthys always answered our questions timely and expertly before and during our trip. Each camp we stayed was beautiful with friendly staff. The Cliff is highly recommended with stunning views of the lake.

Discover Africa organized an amazing 11-day trip for us to Masai Mara, Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Southern Serengeti/Ndutu. It was our first trip to Africa, and thanks to the wonderful experience, we are definitely coming back for more. Our tour planner was Vihann.

After an initial consultation to understand our interests, Vihann put together a few options for us to pick from. Throughout the process, he was very flexible and adjusted the tour a few times to meet our specific needs. Of all the tour operators we spoke to, Discover Africa was the only one that was able to get us the tour we wanted while still staying within our budget.

They did a great job at minimizing travel time between the various lodges we stayed in – this was something other tour operators failed to do to this extent. We stayed at Kichwa Tembo in Masai Mara, Serena lodge in Ngorongoro, and at Lemala Ndutu Mobile camp in Serengeti. Highly highly recommend all of these places, especially Kichwa Tembo and Lemala if you want the authentic safari lodge experience.

We were blown away by the hospitality throughout the trip. Our tour guides were patient, and knowledgeable and planned each safari carefully. We got a private vehicle and tour guide for 6/9 days we were on Safari in Tanzania. Our guide, Ebenezer (Ben), played a big role in making our trip memorable – highly recommend asking for Ben to be your tour guide.

Our safari vehicles were great as well – rugged, reliable, well-equipped (refrigerator, chargers etc.), and spacious! Overall, highly highly recommend Discover Africa for your Africa travel plans!

Booked safari adventure in Kenya at main Governor’s Camp and in Uganda at the Silverback Lodge. Both experiences were outstanding and exceeded expectations. Also booked the hot air balloon safari and it was breathtaking to include seeing the sun rise as we began our journey over the Maasai Mara.

All bush plane connections/flights were on time and a nice addition to our adventure. Gorilla Trekking was beyond compare and while quite strenuous, well worth the effort. Walking sticks and porters made the journey much easier!

All accommodations were superb and the food was outstanding! Breakfast in the bush and happy hour cocktails all added to the experience in the wild observing a wide variety of animals up close.

Our trip was arranged by Carel Verhoef at discoverafrica.com and was perfectly organised.

We flew into the Masai Mara from Nairobi and all flight connections and transfers were arranged for us and went like clockwork. Carel was also very generous with his advice having lived in East Africa for some years – he is a mine of useful information.

My wife and I have had this trip to see the wildebeest migration on our bucket list for some time and we decided to go this year to coincide with our wedding anniversary. For that reason we were looking for something special yet reasonably priced and Carel helped us find Mara Ngenche. What a spectacularly good choice that was.

We stayed for 5 nights the camp and were extremely well looked after. The staff are fantastic. Our waiter, Steve, learnt what food we liked and didn’t like and was always on hand with a glass of wine and also taught us some Swahili! The Masai guards who escorted us to & from our tent especially Musanga, Karbolo & Lindeni were always on hand, very polite and interesting. Almost everyone speaks excellent English.

The game drive vehicle that we used was completely open at the top and sides and was very comfortable. We had some fabulous sightings with Joseph, our very experienced driver/guide. He was excellent at anticipating the animal’s movements to ensure good photos. In one afternoon we saw the Big 5 and on another occasion 4½, as we could only see the leopard’s tail that time.

The position of the camp on the confluence of two rivers was so relaxing and we often sat on the deck watching the 30 or so hippos all day, even though they didn’t move very much. Breakfasts and lunches were served under the trees beside the river. Dinner, served in the restaurant, was four courses and was beautifully prepared and presented.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and the staff at Mara Ngenche made it more than special. When it came time to leave, my wife cried because she didn’t want to go. Of all the holidays we’ve had over the years, this has been our most memorable.

We have travelled with Discover Africa during February 2015 and we were looked after by Carel Verhoef, our safari planning was made easy by the wealth of knowledge and wonderful service, care and attention we received from Discover Africa and our safari to Tanzania was as expected, well planned and got us into areas where few others were.

We found the Great Wildebeest migration because of this where many others failed, thanks for a once in a lifetime safari Carel!