点评:My partner and I just came back from an incredible 10-day Safari in Kenya which we did with Africa Safari Classics.
Our driver was George, who is very knowledgeable about wildlife, has a very positive attitude and definitely went the extra mile for us, when it came to wildlife spotting.
Our sales manager was Maurice, who did a great job organising our trip and always replied quickly when we had questions. It was our first time to East-Africa, and also our first time doing a safari. Being German, we did lot's of prior research ourselves :D so we already had an idea of which parks we wanted to see. For people who are completely new to safari and Kenya, it might be helpful to include a bit more detail about the parks (which animals and vegetation you can expect there). It would have also been helpful to include more information and pictures of the lodges, and where in the park they are located - so you don't have to research them separately yourself. We definitely underestimated the distances (as it will definitely take longer than what google maps says, if you research in advance) - so an indication how long the drive would be between places, would have also been useful. Next time, we would definitely do less parks in order to travel less and stay in places longer. We often felt bad, how long George had to drive on one day.
Here is our itinerary and the feedback to the inidividual national parks and lodges:
1. 23.09.24: Depart for Meru National Park arriving for lunch. Afternoon game drive. Overnight at Ikweta Camp
--> from Nairobi it was a 7 hour drive, so it was a long day sitting in the car. The break stops are always at these very touristy Souvenir places. The bathroom usage is for free, but it felt very "mass-touristy" - we would have loved to stop somewhere more local, in order to support small villages and not to be surrounded by tourists all the time. But this might also be difficult with logistics, safety and hygiene.
--> Ikweta Camp was incredible, probably our favorite lodge from the whole trip. The service was excellent, staff was so friendly and everything felt very personal, and the food was incredible- the veggies are all grown in their garden. The tents are very spacious, filtered water is for free (always around 2-3USD in the other places) and you can hear the "bush babies" at night.
2. 24.09.24: Whole day in Meru National Park with game drives. Overnight at Ikweta Camp
--> Meru National Park is incredible - you hardly see any other safari vehicles, so it feels like you have the whole park to yourself (not like Masai Mara when you sometimes can count 20 vehicles on one spot). In Meru it's definitely harder to spot wildlife, but when you see them you feel very rewarded! Here we spotted a leopard in a tree with it's prey - we were the only vehicle watching the cat - it was incredible. Here again George went out of his way, so we could have the maximum time wildlife spotting. We had a nice packed lunch under a tree and George made us feel very safe and always made us laugh!
--> next time we would definitely plan 1-2 more days in Meru NP and Ikweta Camp
3. 25.09.24: Drive to The Aberdares Mountain Ranges. Lunch at Aberdare Country Club. Thereafter you will be transferred to The Ark Forest Lodge for overnight game viewing.
--> the Aberdares Mountain Rages, were very beautiful – such a change in vegetation! The Country Club is very nice, but it was too touristy for us, same with the Ark Forest Lodge. The lodge is very nice and it’s incredible to see the elephants up so close. But there very lots of package group safari groups who were very loud, and the walls in the rooms are very thin (so expect to hear some noise from the neighbours). We saw lots of elephants, buffalo, birds and two hyenas but you also see plenty of these in other parks.
--> This day/place I would not recommend doing again. It was our least favorite from the whole trip. Especially if you also go to Amboseli Park, you will see lots of elephants there.
4. 26.09.24: Drive into The Great Rift Valley. Lunch at Thomson Falls Lodge. Afternoon game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park. Overnight at Flamingo Hill TENTED Lodge
--> We enjoyed the Great Rift Valley a lot. The region has experienced lots of rainfall, therefore the flamingos are no longer in this area. We weren’t aware of that – but we also weren’t that crazy about spotting flamingos. The vegetation was also so different to Meru as well as the Aberdares – we really enjoyed seeing different sceneries and trees.
--> The Flamingo Hill Tended Lodge was very beautiful, really good customer service and the food was incredible. They had a nice fireplace and did little thoughtful gestures, like putting hot water bottles in the beds before bedtime. Next time I would stay another night here, we really enjoyed it. The lodge is in the park, however to the area where most of the rhino sightings are it was quite a far drive. We were very lucky and saw white as well as black rhinos – and that even though we just had an afternoon game drive! We definitely recommend doing a full day game drive here, there is lots to see and explore!
5. 27.09.24: Depart for Maasai Mara Game Reserve arriving for lunch. Afternoon game drive. Overnight at La Maison Royale Camp
--> Maasai Mara is definitely a must but be aware that it will be busy – we counted up to 20 Jeeps at some cat sightings – and some cars drive illegally off road in order to get closer to the lions (when the Rangers were not in sight) – George luckily didn’t do this as he cares about the wellbeing of the animals! Even tough the Maasai Mara is busy, it really is the place where you spot the most animals – from cheetahs, lions, big groups of wildebeest, hyenas taking a bath, to hunting action. The park is really well maintained and there are lots of off-road paths. I would recommend 2-3 full day game drives.
6. 28.09.24: Whole day in Maasai Mara with game drives. Overnight at La Maison Royale Camp
--> The lodge La Maison Royale Camp was nice, but the staff at the hotel were a bit clueless and the customer service wasn’t the best. During the 3 nights our room didn’t get cleaned and we woke up a couple of times in the night as the security people were quite loud when picking up other customers for their balloon safari. Food was ok.
7. 29.09.24: Whole day in Maasai Mara with game drives. Overnight at La Maison Royale Camp
--> Maurice organized a balloon safari as a surprise for my partner’s birthday, and we really enjoyed it. The balloon ride was incredible and the champagne breakfast was delicious – they even brought a cake and sang lots of songs for my partner, so it was a very nice birthday that Maurice helped organizing with.
In the evening the hotel staff also sang and danced for my partner and brought a cake, so that was a very nice surprise, which we are very thankful for!
8. 30.09.24: Depart for Lake Naivasha for lunch. Afternoon boat ride. Overnight at Lake Naivasha Simba Lodge
--> the boat ride was nice, we had a boat to ourselves and saw lots of hippos, birds and waterbucks. The boat ride was only one hour long, so we had a lot of time to chill at the hotel that day. Simba lodge is very nice and premium, but the hotel is also very big, so expect lots of people at dinner and buffet style dinner. There were zebras and water bucks around the lodge / in the garden, which was nice.
9. 1.10.24: Drive to Amboseli National Reserve arriving for lunch. Afternoon game drive. Overnight at Tulia Amboseli Camp
--> We decided for Amboseli National Reserve as we wanted to see the backdrop with Mount Kilimanjaro. And indeed, we were lucky to see Kili with some giraffes in front of it. Apart from that, we saw big groups of elephants, flamingos, wildebeest, zebras and different kinds of antelopes. The paths in the park weren’t maintained as well as Maasai Mara, and there were less off-road ways – from which the animals probably benefit from. This just means that the sightings might be less frequent of cats.
10. 2.10.24: Whole day in Amboseli with game drives. Overnight at Tulia Amboseli Camp
--> Tulia Amboseli Camp was very nice, the staff and service incredible and the food also very good! Would recommend staying here.
11. 3.10.24: Breakfast. Drive back to Nairobi
We will definitely recommend Africa Safari Classics to our friends and family!!
翻译:我和我的搭档刚刚结束了肯尼亚为期 10 天的精彩游猎之旅,我们参加了 Africa Safari Classics 的旅行。
我们的司机是 George,他对野生动物非常了解,态度非常积极,在野生动物观赏方面绝对为我们付出了额外的努力。
我们的销售经理是 Maurice,他非常出色地组织了我们的旅行,当我们有疑问时总是能迅速回复。这是我们第一次去东非,也是我们第一次参加游猎之旅。作为德国人,我们自己做了很多预先研究 :D,所以我们已经知道我们想参观哪些公园。对于完全不熟悉游猎和肯尼亚的人来说,包含一些关于公园的更多细节(您可以在那里看到哪些动物和植被)可能会有所帮助。包含更多关于小屋的信息和图片以及它们在公园中的位置也会很有帮助 - 这样您就不必自己单独研究它们了。我们肯定低估了距离(因为如果你提前研究,它肯定会比谷歌地图上说的要花更长的时间)——所以指示两个地方之间的车程时间也会很有用。下次,我们肯定会少去几个公园,以便少旅行,多呆一些地方。我们经常为乔治一天要开这么长时间的车而感到难过。
这是我们的行程和对各个国家公园和旅馆的反馈:
1. 23.09.24:出发前往梅鲁国家公园吃午饭。下午驱车游猎。在伊克维塔营地过夜
--> 从内罗毕出发要开 7 个小时的车,所以坐在车里度过了漫长的一天。休息站总是在这些非常具有旅游特色的纪念品店。卫生间是免费的,但感觉非常“大众旅游”——我们很想在更本地的地方停下来,以支持小村庄,而不是一直被游客包围。但这在后勤、安全和卫生方面也可能很困难。
--> Ikweta Camp 非常棒,可能是我们整个旅程中最喜欢的旅馆。服务非常好,工作人员非常友好,一切都让人感觉非常个性化,食物也非常棒——蔬菜都是在他们的花园里种植的。帐篷非常宽敞,过滤水是免费的(其他地方总是在 2-3 美元左右),晚上你可以听到“丛林婴儿”的声音。
2. 24.09.24:在梅鲁国家公园度过一整天,驱车游猎。在 Ikweta Camp 过夜
--> 梅鲁国家公园非常棒——你几乎看不到任何其他游猎车辆,所以感觉整个公园都是你的(不像马赛马拉,有时你可以在一个地方数出 20 辆车)。在梅鲁,发现野生动物肯定更难,但当你看到它们时,你会感到非常有成就感!在这里,我们发现了一只豹子和它的猎物在树上 - 我们是唯一一辆车在观察这只猫 - 这真是太不可思议了。乔治再次不辞辛劳,所以我们有最多的时间观察野生动物。我们在一棵树下吃了一顿美味的午餐,乔治让我们感到非常安全,总是让我们开怀大笑!
--> 下次我们肯定会在梅鲁国家公园和伊克维塔营地再待 1-2 天
3. 25.09.24:开车去阿伯德尔山脉。在阿伯德尔乡村俱乐部吃午餐。之后,您将被转移到阿肯色森林旅馆过夜观看比赛。
--> 阿伯德尔山脉非常美丽 - 植被发生了如此大的变化!乡村俱乐部非常好,但对我们来说太过旅游化,阿肯色森林旅馆也是如此。旅馆非常好,近距离观看大象真是太不可思议了。但是有很多打包旅行团,他们非常吵闹,而且房间的墙壁很薄(所以可能会听到邻居的噪音)。我们看到了很多大象、水牛、鸟和两只鬣狗,但你在其他公园也看到了很多这样的动物。
--> 我不建议再次来这个日子/这个地方。这是我们整个旅行中最不喜欢的地方。特别是如果你也去安博塞利公园,你会在那里看到很多大象。
4. 26.09.24:开车进入东非大裂谷。在汤姆森瀑布旅馆吃午餐。下午在纳库鲁湖国家公园驱车游猎。在 Flamingo Hill TENTED Lodge 过夜
--> 我们非常喜欢东非大裂谷。该地区经历了大量降雨,因此火烈鸟不再出现在这里。我们不知道这一点——但我们也不太热衷于发现火烈鸟。这里的植被也与梅鲁和阿伯德尔山脉截然不同——我们真的很喜欢看到不同的风景和树木。
--> Flamingo Hill Tended Lodge 非常漂亮,客户服务非常好,食物也很棒。他们有一个漂亮的壁炉,还做了一些贴心的小举动,比如睡觉前把热水瓶放在床上。下次我会在这里再住一晚,我们真的很喜欢。旅馆在公园里,但到大多数犀牛目击地点开车要走很远。我们非常幸运,看到了白犀牛和黑犀牛——尽管我们只是下午才进行过一次狩猎!我们绝对建议在这里进行一整天的狩猎,有很多值得观看和探索的地方!
5. 27.09.24:出发前往马赛马拉野生动物保护区,在那里享用午餐。下午进行狩猎。在 La Maison Royale Camp 过夜
--> 马赛马拉绝对是必游之地,但请注意,那里会很热闹——我们数了一下,有 20 辆吉普车出现在一些猫科动物的视线中——有些汽车为了靠近狮子而非法驶离道路(当护林员不在视线范围内时)——幸运的是,乔治没有这样做,因为他关心动物的福祉!尽管马赛马拉很热闹,但它确实是您发现最多动物的地方——从猎豹、狮子、大群角马、洗澡的鬣狗到狩猎活动。公园维护得非常好,有很多越野路径。我建议进行 2-3 天的全天游猎。
6. 28.09.24:全天在马赛马拉游猎。在 La Maison Royale Camp 过夜
--> La Maison Royale Camp 旅馆很不错,但酒店员工有点无知,客户服务也不是最好的。在 3 个晚上,我们的房间没有打扫,晚上我们被吵醒了几次,因为保安人员在接其他客人参加热气球之旅时声音很大。食物还可以。
7. 29.09.24:全天在马赛马拉游猎。在 La Maison Royale Camp 过夜
--> Maurice 组织了一次热气球之旅,作为我伴侣生日的惊喜,我们真的很享受。乘坐热气球的感觉棒极了,香槟早餐也很美味——他们甚至还为我的伴侣带来了蛋糕,唱了很多歌,所以这是莫里斯帮助组织的一个非常愉快的生日。
晚上,酒店工作人员还为我的伴侣唱歌跳舞,还带来了蛋糕,所以这是一个非常不错的惊喜,我们非常感激!
8. 30.09.24:前往纳瓦沙湖享用午餐。下午乘船游览。在纳瓦沙湖辛巴旅馆过夜
--> 乘船游览很棒,我们有一艘自己的船,看到了很多河马、鸟和水羚。乘船只有一个小时,所以那天我们有很多时间在酒店放松。辛巴旅馆非常漂亮和高档,但酒店也很大,所以晚餐和自助晚餐时会有很多人。旅馆周围/花园里有斑马和水羚,很不错。
9. 1.10.24:开车前往安博塞利国家保护区,享用午餐。下午驱车游猎。在 Tulia Amboseli Camp 过夜
--> 我们决定前往安博塞利国家保护区,因为我们想看到乞力马扎罗山作为背景。事实上,我们很幸运地看到乞力马扎罗山前面有几只长颈鹿。除此之外,我们还看到了大群大象、火烈鸟、角马、斑马和不同种类的羚羊。公园里的道路没有马赛马拉维护得好,越野路也较少——动物可能从中受益。这只是意味着可能不太经常看到猫。
10. 2.10.24:整天在安博塞利游猎。在 Tulia Amboseli Camp 过夜
--> Tulia Amboseli Camp 非常好,员工和服务都很棒,食物也很好!推荐住在这里。
11. 3.10.24:早餐。开车返回内罗毕
我们一定会向我们的朋友和家人推荐 Africa Safari Classics!!