We went on the Kilimanjaro-Kimana Safari for two nights. Choosing this safari gave us the added bonus of seeing the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro as well as experiencing the delights of safari. Kilimanjaro-Kimana Game Sanctuary is set on the banks of the Kimana River as well as being situated at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. We stayed at the Kimana Lodge which had wonderful, beautiful surroundings. The accommodation comprised of a twin bedded wooden bungalow. It was simply just, walk in through the door and you’re in the bedroom and through the bedroom is the bathroom. Quite small but very cosy and very comfortable, especially since we hardly had any time to stay in there. The reserve was extremely rich in wildlife. During our stay we saw a wide range of wildlife, far too many to name on here, but you can see the photographs and some video clips we took with our digital camera.
Getting there was a one hour flight from the Bamburi airstrip. We had to go in a small plane, much to my disinclination! Of course, Rob was considerably thrilled with this! It was a rather strange experience to throw our bags in the cargo hold, get on a plane just minutes after the previous passengers got off to take off again by the time we were all seated. Very relaxed. No checking in hours before, no security checks or hanging around airports.
Our itinerary was something like:
Day 1: Arrive early afternoon, meet in the bar for an introduction, settle in our rooms before setting off on our first game drive then return to the camp for dinner.
Day 2: Wake up 5am for an early morning game drive at sunrise. Return for breakfast then back out on another game drive. Return for lunch followed by another game drive in the afternoon before heading back to the camp for the evening.
Day 3: Wake up 5am for another early morning game drive at sunrise. Return to the camp for breakfast before heading out for our last game drive. After lunch, fly back to Bamburi.
As you can see, the whole time we were on safari we were out and about. No time was wasted, definitely good value for money.
It was great to see the animals out in the wild, not cooped up behind some cage in a zoo. It was just so natural. The animals were free to roam and do whatever they liked – the monkeys certainly did! One afternoon, we spotted two engaging in a bit of err…..’hanky-panky’. Of course, we were rather amused, but the poor things deserved some privacy! I was quite touched by how they seemed to look out for one another. The monkeys can be quite independent, going off doing their own thing, but if one is in trouble, they all come to its aid. For example, we spotted a monkey running around on a tree, but it went too far to the edge and almost fell off. It was hanging off, just holding onto a branch. The next thing we knew, a number of monkeys came to its aid. This was quite cute. We got some of this on video but didn’t see what happened at the end because our driver drove off. Pah!
Another memorable experience is with elephants. As we were driving along, we spotted a herd of elephants walking towards us, so our driver stopped and turned off the engine and we all watched in complete silence as this herd continued to walk towards us. They walked past our vehicle and were literally only about two arm lengths away. It was tremendous. The elephants just walked by rather peacefully, they didn’t even flinch at the sight of a vehicle and human beings right next to them. I certainly didn’t expect to get that close. I wanted to get out and cuddle the baby elephants! We managed to capture some of this on video, so you will see how close we got.
Another thing I have to mention on here, and Rob will probably kill me, is that he had to get out of the vehicle at one point to have a wee! In the middle of nowhere with zebras and giraffes in sight! If you know Rob well, you will know how much he loves his cup of tea. The silly bugger had too many cups before heading out on one of the early morning game drives and it was about another hour before heading back to the camp when he discovered he was BURSTING! Reluctantly, he said to our driver: “Geeooorge….I need a wee! :-s” George asked Rob if he could wait till we got back, but he couldn’t. Eventually, George found a safe spot (and a tree – which can’t have been easy to find as the land was rather deserted and trees we did see were rather bare) and off Rob went. The other five people in our vehicle looked at me rather bewildered and I just grinned and shrugged. Thanks for that Rob! I’m sure he enjoyed the experience – blokes having a wee in the middle of nowhere with only giraffes and zebras in sight isn’t something that happens everyday. Well, I don’t think so anyway!
Being on safari truly was a memorable experience and one I would do again and one I would certainly recommend. If we were to go again we would probably do the ‘Big Five’ as the only disappointment we had with this safari was that we didn’t see any rhinos or cheetahs nor did we see many lions. Kenya is big, so we can’t expect to see everything in one go!
Tags: Africa
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:21 am
Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go, innit?!