“A great family holiday that we’ll talk about forever.”
We had the most incredible trip. Uganda and the gorilla trek were a highlight and I particularly enjoyed our Masaai village visit while staying at Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp in Kenya – such interesting people.
The accommodation everywhere was fabulous – waking up at Bwindi Lodge in Uganda to our butler Suzanne singing in her angelic voice as she brought us hot coffee was the best alarm clock I’ve ever had. The food was great too and our guide, Patrick, was wonderful – his knowledge was brilliant and he went out of his way for us so we could go to a couple of schools and buy some supplies for them.
Uganda really was a highlight – the only negative was wishing we’d booked two gorilla treks as it was so amazing. Patrick did his best to get us in for the next day, but we knew it was a long shot in peak season and with six of us.
Ololo Safari Lodge in Kenya was wonderful, some of our favourite meals were here and the rooms were gorgeous. We saw rhinos and plenty of other game, but I admit it was a little weird having buildings in the background and planes flying overhead due to the fact that it borders Nairobi – not a complaint, though. The elephant orphanage was wonderful, too.
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Ololo at sunset
Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp was a beautiful camp with great staff and our guide, Wilson, was amazing in terms of sharing his Masaai culture with us (we had some pretty probing questions regarding the multiple wives thing and he was great fun!). Kate got to go for a training run, with her own Masaai warrior to run with her and protect her – we got awesome photos of that! We saw lions and cheetahs on the way from the airstrip to the camp and then had two days of no big cats, but the scenery was incredible and it was still amazing – lots of big herds of wildebeest and zebra. Anthony and I would definitely go back there again.
Next stop was the Serengeti in Tanzania, and it was stunning. The long grass made it a different experience for spotting animals, but our guide was wonderful and we saw lots of everything, including five different leopards in four days, which even he was super-excited about! Most afternoons we played a great board game and I soon realised I sound like a hyena when I laugh really loud! It was a great few days.
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“I realised sound like a hyena when I laugh really loud!”
Our next stop was the Ngorongoro Crater, also in Tanzania. It was disappointing, I’m afraid. Our flight was delayed and we met our camp driver/guide – who was to take us to the Crater – two hours late. I think not being able to go off-road made a difference to the experience, as did having 12-15 trucks all trying to see one lion at once – it was crazy busy and a bit of an anti-climax after our previous days of safari, so I take that into account too.
[Note from EA: We always give guests a heads-up that the Crater is very busy. There’s only one road in and one road out, and it can get quite cramped at certain times. There are designated picnic areas for lunch breaks, which also get really busy, and you should expect multiple vehicles at a sighting, especially if it’s a big cat. If possible, it’s best to view the Crater early in the morning or at sunset, but when flights are delayed it can mean carefully planned schedules go out the window!]
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Ngorongoro Crater
Zanzibar was great, and Anthony and I enjoyed Pemba Island even more. It’s another island in the Zanzibar Archipelago, and so green, with the best snorkelling I’ve ever done. The food was wonderful here, and the resort, Fundu Lagoon, was like landing in a Robinson Crusoe novel!
We did find the amount of travel a little tough going, and in hindsight I think we tried to fit too much into the time we had. It’s so hard as you go so far and you want to see as much as possible, but next time we’ll remember that. All in all it was a fabulous trip – thank you, Encompass Africa!
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A local fisherman at Fundu Lagoon