Whoo haven't posted here in a while but I think it's time to change that... as my last real "bucket list" life goal is about to happen!



For nearly my entire adult life, I've wanted to go on an African Safari and specifically see/photograph lions and other big cats in the wild. I've watched hundreds of hours of National Geographic and Animal Planet specials someday envisioning myself there on the plains of the Masai Mara. Several months ago, I watched a brilliant documentary "Serengeti" and pretty much decided then and there I was going to make this happen. After many hours of research and price comparisons, later that night, I had committed to this trip.

Today I will be embarking on a 20-hour travel day (18 of which will be spent on a plane!) through Frankfurt and onto Nairobi, where I will meet up with my Swiss friend and fellow lion enthusiast Reto Kurmann. We'll spend the evening relaxing at one of Nairobi's finest hotels, the Four Points Sheraton, before embarking on an all-inclusive adventure of a lifetime at 6am the next morning with Bigmac Africa Safaris.

2 days in the Masai Mara, probably the best reserve in Africa to see the Big Five: Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Leopard and Cape Buffalo. Outside of the migration season in the summer, February is the best month for game viewing due to the calving season for the herbivores and that it's nearing the end of the hot/dry season so the waterholes are fewer and far between, causing more wildlife to be concentrated in a smaller area. We'll also get to visit the village of the local people, the Maasai, to learn their history and culture, and way of life.

Then 1 day up north at Lake Nakuru National Park, home to around 400 bird species and the white rhino, among more than 50 other mammals. Will be nice to be near water as temps will probably be in the low 80s.

And then 2 days at Amboseli National Park to the south, in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro. As a photographer one of my goals for this trip is to get some good landscape shots of the "Roof of Africa" in the background to show the immense scale of the continent's tallest peak.

Besides the flights (total of 39 flying hours and 5 flight legs round-trip), the only thing I'm not looking forward to is the travel time between parks - we're commuting by road and it's about 4 hours from Nairobi to the Masai Mara, 5 hours from there to Nakuru and almost 7 to Amboseli. But small price to pay to see what we will see. Our first lodging is also quite bare-bones (tented camp near the entrance to the Mara), with generator-run electricity for only a few hours in the morning/evening, and water that's only hot when it wants to be, based on recent reviews. But hey, it's part of the Africa experience, basically roughing it out in the bush.

South Africa in 2018 was a great experience in its own way - this time I won't get to nuzzle cheetahs or care for lion cubs, but I feel this trip will be more meaningful and special to see raw, wild Africa - the vast landscapes, incredible wildlife diversity and microcosm of life and death on the savanna that you can't get from a touristy game park. If anything, this itinerary seems too short (6 days, 5 nights). But I know I'll be back and perhaps can book a longer and more luxurious safari another time. Until then, I'll have a week's worth of memories and a very full 128GB SD card full of photos and videos of my very first safari adventure!

I'll try to keep everyone updated but Wifi/Cell signal will be very spotty at most our our locations. At the least I'll make a lengthy post during my 5-hour layover in Frankfurt on my way home :)