Dear Kari,
Our safari was a complete and total dream come to life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will simply never be able to thank you enough for all the amazing planning and insight you had into putting our journey together. It was total perfection in so many ways … I hope your ears were burning while we were in Tanzania because throughout the trip Lisa and I kept saying how AMAZING you are and how everything was planned out for us so beautifully!
First off, having our utterly incredible guide, Joseph, travel with us to all 3 safari locations was brilliant. We now know that not everyone does it this way. Having the consistency of Joseph throughout was spot on for a variety of reasons … We developed a great comfort level with him and him with us, he was able to decide where our game drives should be each day based partly on what he knew our past days of experiences had been, he was able to care for us not only during the game drives, but also at the camps. Since he knows all the camp managers and wonderful folks who work at each place, and he was able to share his unstoppable knowledge about the animals, migrations, landscape, culture, etc., with us throughout the entire time we were with him. I’m sure Lisa shared our love for Joseph with you, but truly he was the best that they come and having him with us at each stop gave us great confidence and calm while we experienced and learned about how one does a safari :-).
Secondly, the order in which the 3 safari stops were planned was nothing short of perfection as well. Starting at a more permanent tented camp to “get our feet wet” was awesome. Also, the fact that it’s located on its own park is insanely cool … This way we were able to do daily game drives with Joseph to the crater, etc., and also experience our very own “park” which was filled with some of the best migrations and animal spotting we had on the entire trip! We fell in love with the intern who was working at the tented camp, the staff and LePapa, our Massai who worked at the camp and joined us, with Joseph, on a game drive one day since he knows that particular area so well. This was where we had our first official “sundowner”! Since Lisa and I were the only 2 people staying at the camp for 2 of the nights (amazing!), Joseph and LePapa took us on a game drive around our camp and then we ended up at the top of a mountain just before sundown … The entire staff was there and had set up everything from a super-smart portable sink so we could wash up before cocktails, to a portable bar with our favorite drinks, to chairs & cocktail tables facing the incredible sundown … with gourmet hors d’oeuvres to boot. It was a moment in time, as were so many others throughout our journey, that you think to yourself “I never want to forget this as long as I live!”.
Our next stop was Gibb’s Farm which came at a perfect time … A luxurious & stunningly beautiful resort where we could settle in, give ourselves a fantastic shower, eat in a lovely dining room, sleep in a room with walls (don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the amazing tents we were in!!!!!!!!!) But staying a Gibb’s for a few nights was perfect in its timing. It was also perfect that it was just for 2 nights … After 2 nights we were perfectly ready to get back to our tenting adventure.
So off we went to the Serengeti. This was not only my personal favorite place that we stayed, but it had a lot to live up to being the “famed” Serengeti … And let me say … It did NOT disappoint!!!!!!!!!! The Abercrombie & Kent migration camp was all that and then some! It was just spectacular on every level … And there’s just something so very magical about the Serengeti … I still can’t get over it …
And now for the animals … Oh the animals!!!!!!! Kari, what we saw and experienced each day was like nothing I could have ever conjured up in my wildest of dreams! From quietly spending 3 stunning hours of watching the 2nd largest pride in the southern Serengeti climb in and out of a tree for playtime, naps, lounging, etc (21 cats in total!), to thousands of wildebeests in full migration, to thousands of zebras (my personal favorite! each is different in their markings … they look like the grandest of nature’s paintings), to an elephant who brushed up against our safari vehicle in calmly trying to walk past us (crazy! “Shhh … just stand still and don’t talk” our guide Joseph told us), to the elegant giraffes running past us, unbelievable hippo ponds, to everything else you can possibly imagine … Each night I’d doze off to sleep envisioning all the glory we’d seen that day and all the wonderful knowledge we’d been given by Joseph … I continue to dream of these days and always will …
We were overwhelmed with joy and gratitude when we left our safari … A lifetime experience to say the least … The timing of it all, the amount of nights we stayed in each place, the people and experiences we’d had (I now have a true love and appreciation for the people of Tanzania as well as the very special Massai tribe) was spot on perfection … We were spoiled beyond words by everyone …
Then it was onto the island of Zanzibar … Wowza! What a spectacularly beautiful place! Our resort was absolutely the right choice … It was perfectly off the beaten path, calm, gorgeous, set on an amazing stretch of beach where the tide went in and out so far each day it knocked my socks off! It was the perfect “calm” to re-energize from our safari. Heading into Stonetown for one day was exactly the right amount of time to spend there. I imagine it’s a mini version of the market in Marrakech … It was crazy and wonderful … Again, the staff and everyone we met in Zanzibar were the kindest and most care taking of folks one could imagine.
Alas, then the trip came to a close and it was back to my sweet hubby and to Los Angeles to resume what now seems like an enhanced life after what we experienced in Tanzania …
So dear Kari, thank you doesn’t seem like nearly enough … what you so carefully and thoughtfully planned for us alongside of Big Five was truly spectacular and life changing … I’m forever grateful!!!!!!!!!
– 2015 Africa safari review by client Karen Z