Our flight to the Mara has been delayed. So we are cooling our heels in the bar at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club. They are switching planes so we expect to get on the road soon.
Mask report: The employees at Mt. Kenya are masked. No one has covid that we know about … just lingering reactions to the malaria pills which all but one have stopped taking. The weather is cool, and they need rain, but the grass is greener than it appears in the pictures. Today’s activities are going to be modified a bit. Some pictures taken at the orphanage. One young man got to pet the cheetah.
I’ve resigned myself to just take my 60 mm and my iPhone to Tanzania next week. My RA is really bad in my hands (my gardening ability is also beginning to be impeded ,British ) anyway I’m afraid I would not be able to hold the larger camera and lens. But that’s fine I’m sure we will get some good pictures and the experience of seeing the animals in the wild is what we’re going for.
I’ve resigned myself to just take my 60 mm and my iPhone to Tanzania next week. My RA is really bad in my hands-- I’m afraid I would not be able to hold the larger camera and lens
Terrye I'm certain you will have many wonderful traveling companions. Many people have iPhones and DSLRs enabled with wifi. If someone captures a shot you like, just ask them to share via air drop or email. I'm sure they will be happy to share.
British when you took cash for the TD did you use U.S. or local currency? The documents say use local for tour directors tip but when you read about the cash it says they’re fine with the proper U.S. bills.
We always take dollars, they can be changed anywhere. Think about the hundreds of dollars a TD will get at the end of a tour, they will need to go to the bank quite a lot don’t you think. Actually they carry a lot of cash to pay local guides along the way on some tours, I’ve noticed them handing it over a few times.
In case anyone didn't know, but might care, Cheetahs purr just like a domestic cat!! The one at the Mt Kenya Safari Club Conservancy is a domesticated rescue.
We are leaving on Aug 7, tour begins Aug 10.
Those that are already traveling or have been on the trip, please confirm that hiking shoes are not needed, unless someone is doing the waterfall hike in Arusha before the trip starts. And that slip on shoes are best for the safaris to take off/on to stand on the seats.
Thank you all!
Even if you do the walk to the waterfall, you do not need hiking shoes. You barely walk anywhere on safari. On our K and T tour in December 2019 we did walk into Oldupai Gorge which I enjoyed but some had unsuitable shoes and complained. It was a new experiment and maybe SeaLord can confirm it isn’t done any more.
I just wore 'trail' sneakers on K&T (outdoorzy looking tennis shoes), the same style I wear on most tours including J&E where I did some serious hiking at Petra. Special hiking boots or shoes are not needed even in Arusha National Park. Elsewhere you rarely exit the safari vehicle and/or are not allowed to. For game drives, you'll want easy-to-remove shoes or leave them un-tied because you must remove your shoes to stand on the seats to look out of the top of the vehicle- you'll do that a lot! Avoid white shoes and socks- even though you seldom leave the vehicle, the orange soil in the few places you do can stain them or at least make them look bad.
Break before we entered Lake Manyara National park- the point of this photo is the color of the dirt.
You don’t go to Oldupai any more. You fly to the Four Seasons avoiding a painful drive. Late arrival at the Mara caused us to have a ‘fate is the hunter’ sort of moment. Had we arrived on time we might have been too early to witness one of the best game drives I have seen. Jerimiah was our driver and he asked what we wanted to see. I immediately said cheetah. So … forty minutes later we saw this:
So Jerimiah asked, what would you like to see next? One of the ladies said, “How about two lions mating?”
On the K&T game drives aren't leopards the most elusive of the Big 5 to viewings? During our trip we only had a couple of different leopard sightings, whereas we got numerous sightings of each of the other Big 5 members.
Fabulous pictures Sealord it appears you are having the perfect safari! Looks like you were shooting for the show Wild Kingdom( for those of us old enough to remember it. Loved that show
Ladybombay
9:52AM
Sealord, the lighting in your photos of the cheetahs is just perfect! Love the honeymooning lions too.
I always loved that term!
We saw a "group" honeymoon in Ngorongoro- a male and 4 or so females were just lounging by a tree. One of the females got up and slowly sauntered over to and walked right in front of the male- kind of like, "Hey, big fella, whatcha doin' right now?" He causally got up walked over to where she had assumed a sphinx position, and, well you know the rest.
Comments
😂😂😂come to my house, i haven’t made that for years and years. But no need to dress up, just, make sure your gardening clothes are at least clean!
Our flight to the Mara has been delayed. So we are cooling our heels in the bar at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club. They are switching planes so we expect to get on the road soon.
Mask report: The employees at Mt. Kenya are masked. No one has covid that we know about … just lingering reactions to the malaria pills which all but one have stopped taking. The weather is cool, and they need rain, but the grass is greener than it appears in the pictures. Today’s activities are going to be modified a bit. Some pictures taken at the orphanage. One young man got to pet the cheetah.
Thank you Sealord for the update on masks and that’s great that no one seems to have Covid. again great pictures!
I’ve resigned myself to just take my 60 mm and my iPhone to Tanzania next week. My RA is really bad in my hands (my gardening ability is also beginning to be impeded ,British ) anyway I’m afraid I would not be able to hold the larger camera and lens. But that’s fine I’m sure we will get some good pictures and the experience of seeing the animals in the wild is what we’re going for.
Terrye I'm certain you will have many wonderful traveling companions. Many people have iPhones and DSLRs enabled with wifi. If someone captures a shot you like, just ask them to share via air drop or email. I'm sure they will be happy to share.
Great idea PureLuxury. We have done this before, it’s a great app
SeaLord, you could have sent us a Putin pose on your horse!
Great photos, Sealord. We have 6 weeks to go, and seeing your pics and reading your reports ramps up my anticipation for this tour.
Jan Page, what is your travel date?
British when you took cash for the TD did you use U.S. or local currency? The documents say use local for tour directors tip but when you read about the cash it says they’re fine with the proper U.S. bills.
We always take dollars, they can be changed anywhere. Think about the hundreds of dollars a TD will get at the end of a tour, they will need to go to the bank quite a lot don’t you think. Actually they carry a lot of cash to pay local guides along the way on some tours, I’ve noticed them handing it over a few times.
IleneLloyd, our tour begins August 20 but we arrive on 8/19–traveling on KLM ORD-AMS-Kilimanjaro. What about you?
Thank you British.
Great pictures Sealord, we did not have a visit to the orphanage when I went last September, I would have loved that.
Here was my wife petting the cheetah during our visit to the orphanage in 2015.
I go on this trip August 24th, so I am following closely.
BOS-AMS-to Kilimanjaro Delta/KLM.
Sealord - Do they still do the Equator ceremony at the Mt Kenya Safari Club?
In case anyone didn't know, but might care, Cheetahs purr just like a domestic cat!! The one at the Mt Kenya Safari Club Conservancy is a domesticated rescue.
We are leaving on Aug 7, tour begins Aug 10.
Those that are already traveling or have been on the trip, please confirm that hiking shoes are not needed, unless someone is doing the waterfall hike in Arusha before the trip starts. And that slip on shoes are best for the safaris to take off/on to stand on the seats.
Thank you all!
Even if you do the walk to the waterfall, you do not need hiking shoes. You barely walk anywhere on safari. On our K and T tour in December 2019 we did walk into Oldupai Gorge which I enjoyed but some had unsuitable shoes and complained. It was a new experiment and maybe SeaLord can confirm it isn’t done any more.
I just wore 'trail' sneakers on K&T (outdoorzy looking tennis shoes), the same style I wear on most tours including J&E where I did some serious hiking at Petra. Special hiking boots or shoes are not needed even in Arusha National Park. Elsewhere you rarely exit the safari vehicle and/or are not allowed to. For game drives, you'll want easy-to-remove shoes or leave them un-tied because you must remove your shoes to stand on the seats to look out of the top of the vehicle- you'll do that a lot! Avoid white shoes and socks- even though you seldom leave the vehicle, the orange soil in the few places you do can stain them or at least make them look bad.
Break before we entered Lake Manyara National park- the point of this photo is the color of the dirt.
You don’t go to Oldupai any more. You fly to the Four Seasons avoiding a painful drive. Late arrival at the Mara caused us to have a ‘fate is the hunter’ sort of moment. Had we arrived on time we might have been too early to witness one of the best game drives I have seen. Jerimiah was our driver and he asked what we wanted to see. I immediately said cheetah. So … forty minutes later we saw this:
So Jerimiah asked, what would you like to see next? One of the ladies said, “How about two lions mating?”
Wow! Amazing photos. Thanks for posting.
On the K&T game drives aren't leopards the most elusive of the Big 5 to viewings? During our trip we only had a couple of different leopard sightings, whereas we got numerous sightings of each of the other Big 5 members.
For us , it was cheetahs, a couple of our entire trips, we never saw cheetahs
Sealord, the lighting in your photos of the cheetahs is just perfect! Love the honeymooning lions too.
Fabulous pictures Sealord it appears you are having the perfect safari! Looks like you were shooting for the show Wild Kingdom( for those of us old enough to remember it. Loved that show
I always loved that term!
We saw a "group" honeymoon in Ngorongoro- a male and 4 or so females were just lounging by a tree. One of the females got up and slowly sauntered over to and walked right in front of the male- kind of like, "Hey, big fella, whatcha doin' right now?" He causally got up walked over to where she had assumed a sphinx position, and, well you know the rest.
No Equator ceremony when I was there last September.
Thanks for that story, Alan S! Isn’t it great when the female rolls over and over afterward instead of smoking a cigarette?!🦁🦁♥️♥️