Arrival
Your African adventure begins!
It is advised, and normal practice based on flight timings, to arrive in Kenya the day before you fly down to the Masai Mara day 1 of your safari. Having rested overnight, you take the short journey to Wilson Airport, which is a small internal airport where you fly direct to the Masai Mara, assuming you’ve paid the early/late supplement. If not you depart for the Mara at pm arriving after 14.00 in time for the afternoon game drive.
The small planes really give the feeling that your safari has started and make excellent viewing as you fly fairly low level over the wild savannah. You will be met at the airstrip by your safari driver to go for a game drive or drive to the camp for refreshment ready for the afternoon game drive. As the airstrip is right in the heart of the Reserve we advise you to have a camera ready as your safari has begun.
Days in the Masai Mara
NB: NO SPECIFIC END DATE TO YOUR MARA STAY
All inclusive
Daily Camp routine includes an early game drive at dawn and another at dusk –prime viewing times for Africa’s animals.
Up early, a light breakfast and out just before first light then out in search of the game. You can never anticipate what will happen from hour to hour. As the camp is so well located in the National Park, there are many available routes and within a short distance of the camp, you may encounter any of the big cats, big game or a herd of gazelle.
We usually start looking for a particular cat, a male leopard for instance, but that can all change if a cheetah is spotted out hunting. Rest assured that we will spend time with the game and will stay if action is anticipated. Freeman Safaris offers much more flexibility than other safari companies as our location means you are in amongst the action – not spending 2 – 3 hours travelling just to get into the park. There is nothing more enjoyable than watching an active pride of lions in the morning light – especially if there are cubs. During the migration we check on the huge wildebeest herds to see if they are moving down to the Mara river to cross. River crossings are so exciting as the tension builds up in anticipation. Will they go this time? Just as the conditions are right something spooks them and they all turn and wander off. So, there is yet another wait until eventually those at the water’s edge are pressured into the water and the drama starts. The crocs move into position, it’s nail-biting action! The wait for a crossing can take anything from 10 minutes to 5 hours and many times we have called up lunch as we don’t dare to leave. Having lunch under an acacia tree within sight of thousands of wildebeest and zebras is quite something!
The Mara is full of surprises. There is no better place in Africa that matches up so well to people’s expectations. We will search for black rhino, particularly if we find a bull or a mother with calf. Black rhino are very grumpy and can charge us so we often say, “Keep filming, we’ll look after you safely!”
If you wish you can arrange to stay out from dawn to dusk but usually, we return for a buffet lunch back at camp. It is difficult to give a day by day account as it depends entirely on the game that crosses our path. You may also have a desire to see certain species, this will also determine where we travel. However, we will have been tracking events for some time so we will have an extremely good idea of what’s where. But as we all know, animals can be so unpredictable and that’s the fascination of wildlife and what brings so many back to the Masai Mara time after time.
Departure day
All good things must come to an end
Unlike many camps, your last day includes a morning game drive before lunch if you pay for an Early/ Late’ supplement of £180. Then there is ample time to freshen up , pack the rest of your kit and have a final cup of tea before leaving for the airstrip in the late afternoon. You arrive in Nairobi around 4.30pm and take a short taxi to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. As you leave Kenya you will have memories and tales to share with all your friends when you return home.
