Thursday, March 15, 2007

Safari in Kenya and Tanzania

Jumbo (hello in Swahili)!

We loved reading your comments! Keep them coming.

We just finished a 2 week safari through Kenya and Tanzania. We visited Nakuru, Masai Mara, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater (our favorite) and camped in the bush the whole time. Two of our campsites didn't have fences and we saw buffaloes and hyenas at night which was a bit scary but cool overall.

We saw tons of wildlife including elephants, rhinos, hippos, wildebeests, lions, leopards, gazelles, impalas, cheetahs, flamingos, buffalo, hyenas, zebras, giraffes and many more. We even witnessed lions mating and saw a few fresh kills by leopards and lions. We also visited a traditional Maasai village and met some locals.

Since this is the beginning of the rainy season, our truck got stuck in the mud and it took almost 2 hours to get out with the help of another truck. Needless to say, we were all nice and muddy! Good thing our campsite that night had showers :) We were very fortunate since the weather held out for us during the day and it only rained at night.

We had a great group including a Canadian couple and a Swiss couple (they were on their honeymoon) who we got along with great. Our guide also rocked!

After getting up at 5 am every morning and setting up camp every day we are a bit tired but this safari was a great experience and we highly recommend it. The wildlife, scenery, and culture were truly amazing.

The first leg of our trip is done and though we were sad to say bye to everyone, we are excited about exploring Egypt. We flew in to Cairo last night and are now headed to Alexandria.

We apologize for the lack of pictures but the connection here is slow and today we won't even be able to post any pics since the USB port is not working. We took tons of animal pics so keep checking back and we'll get it up as soon as we can.

6 comments:

Master Pee said...

sounds like a great experience! how big was the flock of flamingos? i hope you got to see a big one - that would be awesome!! did you see any snakes eating mice or monkeys getting hauled around in wagons? now that would be something! ;)

good luck with the hotels!

snacks on a plane said...

Hello Marrieds!
So good to hear from you! Mr. Snacks and I had a little adventure of our own... we went to Calistoga/Napa for the weekend! Not as many wildebeasts and rhinos for our trip, compared to yours... but we did stay in a litte "turn-of-the century inn" where the bathrooms and showers were down the hall. So you see, we were roughing it right along with you! We did not get a car yet... waiting for a stick shift Mazda 3 to pop up somewhere nearby so we can test drive it, but we think that's what we'll probably end up getting (Matrix was nice, a *lot* easier to find new and used in a manual, but just a teensy bit sluggish on the pickup, perhaps, especially given there will be a carload of possibly screaming, definately heavy but I hope not fat children sometime in the future. honestly, i'd be happy with either one, but Mr. thinks the Mazda is a nicer car all around, so we'll see).
I remember when Haig was born! He can't be 27 now... that makes me... ancient! Mr. and I will celebrate in honor of his birthday and your safe/wonderful trip with Coke and popcorn and candy tonight! (That's what we'd be having for dinner anyway, since it's Thursday).

Kelsey D said...

Yo Mr. and Mrs. Samkian. What is up! Be careful with my country...I am Nigerian you know. Glad to hear you are having fun. If no one else told you, Duke is done. The Colonial is a beast. Best biscuit and gravy wishes to you both.

Jo said...

Looks pretty, even from a distance.

Jo said...

Where are you now?

Anonymous said...

Inch bes es? Hope you guys are having fun! Had any wine on your trip?

Check this out when you have time.

http://flightswineblog.blogspot.com/


Take care,

Andy