End of trip Covid testing
Curious when end of trip Covid testing takes place. Is it at Masai Mara in the AM before departing for Nairobi and the half-day stay at the Serena, or at the Serena? If at Masai Mara are results back before transfer to Nairobi/Serena? Ultimately the question is when would results be known and would a quarantine be at Masai Mara or the Serena? Quite a difference in environments.
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Given, the choice, I would prefer quarantine at the Mara.
I have read my ‘green book’ twice cover to cover, and somewhere in there it says the testing will take place upon arrival at the Nairobi Serena. At least at the Serena you have a TV, instead of just watching the hippos and reading.
For those of you who have taken this trip before, what is the last day like in terms of logistics? I'm planning on spending one night in Nairobi to go to the Karen Blixen Museum/Farm before going to Zanzibar. Wondering if I should get the next morning flight out or spend the whole day and then take the evening flight out.
I know that is part of the OAT tour. But, Nairobi is not a safe place. You will need to do some research. We have been to Nairobi twice, the last time four years ago so things may have changed. On both of our visits we were told not to leave the hotel without a ‘guard’. Perhaps Alan will jump in here. He may have done that excursion.
Thank you Sealord. Yes I plan on having a local guide and want to get out of there as soon as possible.
Nope, we didn't leave the hotel compound back in 2015! I was surprised when security checked the bottoms of our vehicles for explosive devices before we could enter the hotel compound. That was back in 2015- In 2013, the Somali jihadist group al-Shabaab attacked and killed some folks at Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Mall. In Jan 2020 the same group attacked the US base at Manda Bay (Camp Simba). You can read what the State Dept says about local safety conditions in Nairobi.
We arrived in Nairobi from the Mara mid-late morning at the Wilson Municipal Airport. Call Tauck to verify what time flights from the Mara arrive now. We were provided day rooms and lunch at the Serena (and possibly dinner but we weren't there so I can't say for sure.) Remember, you will need time to repack your duffel into your suitcase, and will want to get cleaned up, nap, etc. My wife and I were the first to depart since our flight left Jomo Kenyatta Int'l (NBO) at 5:45 pm on Ethiopian Air for our flight home via Addis Ababa, so had to leave for the airport a little after lunch.
Traffic can be horrendous in Nairobi- they have traffic circles but nobody follows the traffic rules. They added traffic lights to the circles, and, still, nobody follows the rules. It is not unusual to see 3 to 4 lanes of vehicles crammed into two road lanes trying to enter the circles from each of the four or five directions!!! On top of that you won't find it unusual to see a small herd of cattle being driven along the side of a road. Others were on late night flights.
Disclaimer, I have not done this, but, as long as you are traveling with a trusted private guide and driver and have the time/ due to a very late night or after midnight flight or fly out the next morning, I see no reason why you couldn't squeeze in a visit to the Karen Blixen Museum. All will depend on flights available. The museum hours are 8:30am - 5:30pm. Though Google Maps says it is only 12 mi./30 min. from the hotel to the Museum, to be safe, I would leave an hour each way for traffic. You might consider skipping lunch to get an early start. Tauck will tell you when your airport transport will depart the hotel- figure 3 hours for check-in and at least an hour transfer time. (11mi. 21++ min. though it took some in our group 90 min. to get there!!) You should look at the locations of all three places on Google maps. Make sure you look at Jomo Kenyatta and not Wilson Airport. You fly from the Mara into Wilson, but international flights use Jomo Kenyatta.
Voikk, I was on K&T in late July 2019. We extended our stay in Nairobi by 1 nite because we couldn’t get a flight to CAPETOWN until morning. I was traveling with 3 others. We arrived at the Serena in Nairobi around lunchtime. We then made arrangements with the hotel to hire a private driver for the afternoon. We went to the Karen Blixen Museum (went on a tour; about 1 hour), then went to the Giraffe Centre (a long schlep; not recommended esp after seeing many giraffes in the wild). Yes, the traffic was horrific but it was interesting to see the city and talk with our driver about daily life in Nairobi. We always felt safe. We returned to hotel by 6pm - over half of the tour group had already departed for the airport. We had dinner with whoever was left including our TD. We left early the next morning for our flight to CAPETOWN.
WRT the Karen Blixen Museum, I think Nancy nailed it! (thanks Nancy!). I would still give Tauck a call to see if timing has changed at all on the last day.
You will need a recent returnee or wait for Sealord to report back for info on testing.
AlanS--thank you for your very nice description of life in Nairobi--sounds like Mumbai to me, always crazy. I really appreciate your focus on safety and Nairobi is definitely not a place I want to hang around but hate to go all that way and not see the KB Museum.
NancyCohen--thank you for sharing your experience. I thought the KB Museum would take a little longer and thought there were grounds to walk around in (safely of course). I'm going to a book review and slideshow this Tuesday on "Out of Africa" at the Sandwich Public Library down the Cape. The presenter has recently returned from Kenya and will be showing her own slides so I'm going to get more information from her as to how much time to allow. I agree that after seeing giraffes in the wild there is no need to go to the Giraffe Centre. After Tuesday, I may see if anyone on my October tour date is interested in sharing a guide/driver for the KB Museum and that I will probably do it the last afternoon and then take the early morning flight out of Nairobi to Stone Town.
Thanks again, everyone, for all your feedback. I appreciate it.
When we went to Zanzibar with Tauck, the local guide was great fun and he was the go to guy for all the big wig visitors, we particularly enjoyed the included spice tour with him. I wonder if Tauck would share his name with you?
Thanks for the tip, British. I will look into that.
One reason to go- if they have some babies and young juveniles that you won't be able to get close to in the wild. I was just watching an episode of "The Secret Life at the Zoo" on Animal Planet about the Chester Zoo, which the show claims is the most popular zoo in Britain. One of their giraffe's just had a baby- what a long drop!!
Ah, Chester zoo, went there a couple of times as a kid, it’s in the county of Cheshire where I grew up
On our very first ever Safari day, our Safari vehicle spotted a giraffe giving birth, it hung half out for ages, we stopped to watch, but eventually the TD said we had to get going, I believe we were heading to Lake Manyara.
A live giraffe birth--wow--that would be awesome!
Yes awesome, but not for me, I’ve delivered lots of babies😀