Travel reviews by Mr A. from Hardingstone
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
3
Excursions taken
1
Kenya Safari October 2022
Kenya between 21 Sep 2022 and 1 Oct 2022
We originally booked our trip for autumn 2020 for our 10th wedding anniversary and due to Covid it was postponed two years but it was totally worth the wait.
Expert Africa (Lyndsey) managed us for two years in the most professional, friendly and patient manner. We told Lyndsey what we wanted and she delivered completely in all aspects and we will be forever grateful to her.
This was intended to be a life changing experience. it was, and we will return for more safari in the future."
Arranged By Lyndsey Marris
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Giraffe Manor
"Giraffe Manor review"
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Kicheche Laikipia
"Kicheche Laikipia review"
The staff are lovely, nothing is too much trouble and everything is planned very well from the morning wake up tea tray to the escorting in the dark to and from tents to the timings for meals and safari trips from the camp.
We loved our tent - nice and private and spotlessly clean - it had everything we needed.
Our guide Simon was simply brilliant - an incredible knowledge and love of nature and an astonishing eye to spot creatures large and small. Simon was patient with all our many questions and having picnic breakfasts was superb and he found great spots for our sundowners.
Nothing to fault here, a fully 5* experience."
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Black Rhino
Many sightings
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Buffalo
Many sightings
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Cheetah
1 sighting
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Eland
Many sightings
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Elephant
Many sightings
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Giraffe
Many sightings
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Leopard
1 sighting
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Lion
Many sightings
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Spotted Hyena
Many sightings
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Striped Hyena
Many sightings
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White Rhino
Many sightings
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Zebra
Many sightings
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Little Governors' Camp
"Little Governors' Camp review"
Lunch was outside on the decking and tremendous, overseeing the various wildlife which entertained us in the water and out - especially the roaming warthogs and elephants who came through the camp, much to everyone's amusement. Dinner was inside the restaurant and a slight downer in that it felt that it could have been anywhere. I guess we were spoilt by lunch being outside with the view.
The staff are great, again, like our previous two stops, very attentive and friendly. They are happy to engage if guests are which is great.
One slight disappointment was that we had a clearly inexperienced guide, Johnson. He was taciturn and didn't explain where we were going and would spend long periods not saying anything. We kept having to ask him what the plan was and what we were looking for. We were clearly spoilt by Simon at Kicheche but I would at least expect to be given some information about animals proactively rather than keep having to ask and receive one or two word answers. He was clearly shy and only occasionally did he come out of himself and this questions whether he is in the right job. He did, like, Simon, have a superb eye for the animals and spotted things from great distances which we would have never seen ourselves.
We have scored this experience as Excellent across all areas as, in summary it was, but there are a couple of things which could have made it even more special. The picnic breakfasts are average and the sundowners caused an issue for us until we spoke to the Camp Manager but this should have been proactively sorted rather than us having to deal with it ourselves. Just a few issues to focus on but there is no doubt the camp is a fine experience."
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Black Rhino
Many sightings
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Buffalo
Many sightings
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Cheetah
Many sightings
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Eland
Many sightings
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Elephant
Many sightings
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Giraffe
Many sightings
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Hippo
Many sightings
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Lion
Many sightings
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Spotted Hyena
Many sightings
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Striped Hyena
Many sightings
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Wildebeest
Many sightings
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Zebra
Many sightings
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Balloon flight over the Mara
"Balloon flight over the Mara review"
27 Sep 2022 • Morning excursion
Exciting preparation, about 55 minutes in the air travelling over the Maasi's beautiful scenery, a bonkers and unforgettably bouncy landing (no one was harmed in the making of this falling to earth!) and a wonderful post-flight breakfast in the bush. We met some lovely people as we ate and shared stores of the trip which was delightful.
5* experience, even better than we thought it would be.
The giraffes were divine and the highlight was afternoon tea which was a real treat, hand (and mouth!) feeding the beautiful creatures as they wandered about in front of the manor.
We had Edd come and see us at 0500 for feeding through our bedroom window and a few of the herd joining us in the breakfast room for a chaotic and hilarious breakfast experience.
I cried as I arrived, during the time there and as we left. Truly magical with the photos to remind us of an unbelievable experience."