Hello Liesl,
The Masai Mara in Kenya was fabulous. It was my first visit and all of my expectations were met. We saw black rhino, cheetah, hyena, elephant, lions, giraffe, etc and even watched a wildebeast river crossing complete with crocs and a single zebra. Just awesome. Entim Camp was ok. The location was great but the camp rooms were a bit primitive compared with what I am used to in Southern Africa. Our guide was superb (a Maasai) who knew all. Overall it was a wonderful experience.
The gorilla encounters were excellent. I have now visited 4 groups in Rwanda and each one was an amazing experience. Each of the treks has been different and each of the groups has been unique but so fascinating to spend time with the gorillas in their “home’. You really do get up close to them and some even touch you. I would love to do it again. Amahoro Tours and our guide Kevin were great! Could not have been better. Rwanda is really a wonderful country. There has been so much progress and development there since my last visit 3 years ago. I was completely impressed. I would definitely return.
All the flights went well. BTW the Safarilink charter is really a large aircraft by comparison. It sat 37 people and had a huge cargo hold. I had already re-organized my bags the night before but found out the next day that I really didn’t need to. I could have taken my bags as is. That was the only inconvenience. As upon return from Mara to Nairobi we needed to stop at a hotel and use the storage room so I could re-pack my bags. The private safari guy was not prepared for this situation. The smallest plane Safarilink has in their fleet is an 18 seater. They took wheeled suitcases, hard suitcases, and everything else.
The only other thing that would have been better is not to have a 5 hour layover in Nairobi airport. That really is not a pleasant airport to spend any amount of time. The hotel in Nairobi and the hotel in Lusaka were good. Very comfortable for our one night stay. Both had full, hot breakfast.
Zambia has also made much progress and development since my last visit 3 years ago. They have a brand new airport in Livingstone!
Thank you for arranging the East Africa trip. If I decide to return to Rwanda for more gorilla trekking, I will be in touch.
Best regards,
Susan