Luxury African Safari Recap - Kenya Believe it?

A Travel Advisor's Review of Two Luxury Camps in Kenya

I am a luxury travel advisor, and one area I specialize in is safaris. My parents fell in love in Africa in the 1970’s, and so safaris have always been very special in our family. Now that my parents have passed away, I wanted to go to Kenya to see the place that started it all.

This is my mom in Kenya in that 1970’s and me in Kenya.

In January, we took a two week trip to Africa, and started with gorilla and chimpanzee trekking, which I posted about here: Gorilla and Chimpanzee Trekking in Rwanda

This post recaps our experience in Kenya visiting two top camps by Great Plains.

Our Itinerary

We flew from Colorado to Kigali via Istanbul, overnighted in Kigali, spent three nights at One and Only Ngyungwe House to see the chimpanzees, and two nights at One and Only Gorilla’s Nest to go gorilla trekking.

Then, we flew to Nairobi and spent a night at Hemingways, before flying to Great Plains Ol Donyo camp for two nights, and finishing at Great Plains Mara Nyika for three nights.

Hemingway’s Nairobi 9/10

Granted, we arrived super late at night and left pretty early the next morning, so I just got to see our suite, but the suite was huge and had a glorious soaking tub. The hotel staff were very accommodating with a swift check in and helping us take to-go breakfast on our way to the airport the next morning. This is a solid choice for an overnight in Nairobi. My only complaint was the bed was very hard and, at 40, that was rough on my back.

Ol Donyo – a Great Plains Camp

We flew to Ol Donyo, and didn’t go with a charter flight, so made two other stops to drop of people on our way. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad as most of the stops were close together.

Rooms – 8/10

The rooms are cottages with thatched roofs and hard walls, so not a safari tent for those who might be nervous about staying in a tented camp.

They have entire walls glassed in, so you can watch the monkeys try constantly to enter your room, or the gorgeous sunset reflected in your plunge pool.

We had a little living room area with a fireplace, that our wonderful room attendant set for us each night. We really enjoyed having a glass of wine by the fire.

On the roof, there are star beds. We did some stargazing for about five minutes before we got eaten alive by mosquitos, and it was romantic but ultimately, itchy.

The bad part of the rooms and why they are an 8 instead of a 10 is that they are extremely hot. Where a tent can have airflow, the glassed in doors prevent any such airflow, and due to the monkeys, you really can’t leave your doors open if you value your possessions.

We made that mistake the first day and they tried to run off with my pink sparkle retainer case I’ve had since I was 16.

We used our fan by the bed each night, but I’m a hot sleeper and this was pretty rough for me. I don’t need AC, but I do need airflow.

Service – 10/10

Really loved everyone we interacted with. Our guide was exceptional.

Game Viewing – 6/10

Ol Donyo is the only camp on a giant private concession. This means there aren’t as many cars driving around to find animals and calling in sightings to each other. This is good in the sense that you don’t have a million cars hounding a single lion, like in the parks, but the downside is that it makes the guide’s job much harder.

We’ve been to Africa several times and it’s one of my areas of speciality, so in all honesty, I’m probably a snob about game viewing and have been spoiled by Botswana.

I did love all the little things we got to see though, lots of cool bugs and birds.

But, on the whole, we mainly saw some very cool super tusker elephants and giraffes.

Ol Donyo does have a great watering hole hide where you can watch the ellies and giraffes come to drink in the afternoons.

Food – 7/10

Solid, healthy, nothing exceptional. Monkeys stole a croissant from my table – I think they were targeting me for not letting them abscond with my retainer case.

Bugs

I am not afraid of bugs. I love spiders, I find stick bugs fasctinating. We timed our trip unfortunately after a big rain when all the black flies hatched at Ol Donyo, and they were a big problem.

Our meals were outside, and lunch was inundated with flies. Finally, we started taking our meals in our room so the glass doors could keep them out. They weren’t as bad at dinner, but lunch was just like a Hitchock movie.

I was told this is a rare event and we were just unlucky.

Other activities

Ol Donyo just isn’t a place meant for game drive after game drive. They have a helicopter ride built in to the price, so that was amazing flying over Pride Rock from the Lion King. That was a cool perk, but if you are afraid of helicopters, obv skip this one.

I had booked Ol Donyo because they offer horseback riding and I was super excited about that. My family had a ranch when I was little, and we would ride nearby at C Lazy U in the mountains when we visited.

I’m by no means an expert rider, but I’m comfortable on a horse.

We found out we had to be tested on our riding skills in a paddock before they’d approve us to ride, and the horses are only English trained. They deemed our riding to not be expert level enough to go out into the bush, which crushed my tiny Colorado ego in ways I’m ashamed to admit, and was a massive disappointment.

I totally get that you need to be an expert rider to go out near lions – no one wants to be a lion snack. But, they should advertise that it’s only available for that level and you have to be English trained.

Mara Nyika

Our final stop was Great Plains Mara Nyika, and this camp blew me away. I’ve mainly stayed in Wilderness camps, and this was my first Great Plains experience.

One very cool thing is that they offer a giant camera and with a bazooka-sized lens in every tent for your use during your stay.

I loved learning to use this and pretending that I was a professional photographer.

I used my own SD card and just uploaded the videos to my phone with a little plug in thingy every day at nap time between game drives.

Tents – 10/10

Great Plains has really nailed the Restoration Hardware/Colonial aesthetic.

Our tent had a living room, bedroom, and bathroom, all a separate spaces. I’ve never seen a tent this enormous.

I’m big on baths, and the gigantic copper soaking tub because a twice daily ritual for me, watching the animals out our tent window and listening to the wind in the trees.

The beds this camp were epically soft, and best of all, there was great airflow.

Service – 10/10

We had one of the first female Masai guides, and she was spectacular. I want to be friends with her forever. She was so smart, and said she grew up on the concession before her Masai tribe agreed to leas

e the land to Great Plains and a few other camps.

She knew the area and the animals so well, I felt like I was in a National Geographic video daily.

The benefit of Mara Nyika is that every family or couple gets their own private vehicle, which can make a huge difference if you’ve ever experienced being stuck with horrible people on a game drive, or even just people who don’t have the same game viewing goals as you do.

There are occasions when I’ve met wonderful people on such drives that have remained friends, but I’ve also experienced the downside.

Our own private vehicle meant we got to crack all the ridiculous animal puns we wanted to, and take as many photos of baby everything (lions, leopards, wildebeest), as our hearts desired.

Game Viewing – 10/10

You can see why the illustrators for the Lion King went to Kenya for inspiration. There are animals literally everywhere at this concession.

Being a private concession, they do a decent job of keeping cars at a minimum around sightings, but sometimes there were cars from other camps that wouldn’t pull away from a sighting to make room for others to come in, and we ended up with more than the supposed allowable number.

January was a great time to go because we saw so many babies, and were there before the rainy season.

I have never seen so many cheetahs and leopards, or lion cubs as I did in these three days.

Other Activities

We loved the surprise bush brunch they set up for us with an omelette cart and mimosas. I’m a sucker for these surprise and delight moments on safari, and this was a highlight for me.

This is not a camp you can really do walking safaris at, but you can do night drives, which are cool.

We visited a local Masai village after requesting it specifically. My mom visited a Masai village in the 1970’s on the trip where she fell in love with my dad, so this was a must-do for me. It was one of the best parts of the trip!

We also visited the women’s beading workshop, which supports some of the Masai women, who usually don’t have other sources of income.

Food – 10/10

Hands down, best food I’ve had at a safari camp. It was healthy and fresh and so good that I gained 5 pounds entirely from those three days, (I think).

Kids

We didn’t bring our kids on this trip because they are 7 and 5, and I think my 5 year old would scare away any animal in two seconds.

I get asked a lot as a TA what age people can bring their kids to Africa. I think it depends on a lot of factors – you have to check the private concession rules for minimum age, and the rules of the camp. A lot of them are 6 and up.

It also depends on the kid. I’m bringing my 7 year old daughter to South Africa next year, because she can handle the long flight and is patient and curious enough to handle game drives.

My tiny terrorist of a son (whom I of course love very much), needs to grow out of his five-year-old Tasmanian devil phase before I will take him on safari.

TLDR

I loved Kenya. It was my first time there, and I would absolutely go back. It’s a great introduction to Africa for first timers, and a more approachable price point than Botswana. If you are going to Rwanda, it pairs well.

Mara Nyika is amazing. Go straight there.

To book your safari, email AnneMarie@alpenglowtravel.com