Kenya offers THE consummate, idyllic safari. And, as we discovered in August of 2012 – there’s SO much more than safari to be experienced here.

We enjoyed a classic tented safari at two private game reserves – avoiding the crowds and enjoying a close-to-nature experience without sacrificing comfort. From Nairobi we flew to Lewa Safari Camp, in the midst of a 65,000-acre wildlife conservancy on the northern slopes of Mt Kenya. Next, we took over the Elephant Pepper Camp in the Maasai Mara. The non-electrified camp featured comfortable canvas tents with bucket showers and the gentle glow of kerosene lanterns at night – when we swapped stories and tall tales around the campfire before a delicious dinner – and then retired to bed, where a hot-water bottle was thoughtfully tucked between the sheets!

Our lodges were part of the Cheli & Peacock group, privately-owned by a husband & wife team who offered “eco-tourism” before it became a buzzword. Chania Frost, Project Manager for the C&P Community Trust, traveled with us and assisted in creating unforgettable people-to-people connections with the local communities that enriched our journey a thousand-fold.

Highlights:

Nairobi

• Within the city limits of Nairobi is Africa’s largest slum, where a remarkable young man named Kennedy Odede is changing things for the better. He established the tuition-free Kibera School for Girls which we visited, and about which I wrote a blog
• Upon registration for the journey, each WOWee fostered a baby elephant from the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage – and had a private visit to meet the keepers and babies at the orphanage on the final day of our journey

Lewa Safari Camp

• On twice-daily game drives, we spotted white rhino, prides of lion, elephants, zebra and all the other game we’d expected to see
• We rode on a camel safari
• We toasted the day with Sundowner cocktails
• We visited to the Ololomei Primary School to deliver school supplies and Swahili textbooks – and were gifted in return by mothers who presented us with hand-made beaded necklaces

Maasai Mara

• We experienced game drives to see leopard, hippos, crocodiles and wildebeest by the thousands as they assembled by the riverbank in anticipation of their migratory crossing
• We flew over the Mara in hot-air balloons
• We were invited to visit a local community and make an informal presentation about the U.S.A., to which 40 people were expected … but more than 200 showed up to meet us and learn about our country