Getting to the Maasai Mara
The main reason Ben and I traveled to Kenya was obviously to go on safari. Ben had been on a safari in Tanzania with his family several years ago, and it was one of his favorite trips ever (along with pretty much his whole family). I couldn’t wait to experience a safari for myself, and so, after arriving in Nairobi late the night before, we made our way to the Maasai Mara area for an incredible safari with Basecamp Explorers.
We took an Uber to Kenya’s domestic airport, where we checked in with Airkenya for our flight to the Mara. We ended up taking several domestic flights with several companies during our trip to Kenya, and Airkenya was undoubtedly the most organized and the friendliest. One of the employees even walked us to an ATM to get some cash before our flight.
We boarded a teeny tiny plane that would take us to the Maasai Mara area. As we took off in Nairobi, I could already see a few gazelles and zebras below in Nairobi National Park! The flight was only about 45 minutes, and pretty scenic the whole way.
The small safari planes generally stop at several airstrips so that passengers can disembark at whichever airstrip is closes to their safari camp. Our stop, Olseki Airstrip, was the second stop. When we got there, our guide for the week, Richard, was waiting for us.
We chose to do our safari with a company called Basecamp Explorers. When I first began researching safari camps in Kenya, I was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. It felt impossible to narrow down the list! When I stumbled upon Eagle View camp, which is owned by Basecamp Explorers alongside a few other properties, I was impressed by the inclusions, the facilities, and the price point. I liked what I saw and stopped wading through the mire of options. We booked a five-day safari with two nights at Eagle View camp and two nights at Leopard Hill camp. We could not have been happier! Everything about the safari provided by Basecamp Explorers was absolutely perfect! But more on that later.
Our guide Richard took care of us the entire length of our safari. Because we were traveling during the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of guests staying at the camps was quite small, and we ended up having a private safari. It was just the two of us and Richard for the whole five days. This was great because 1.) it was the ideal socially distant vacation and 2.) we were able to choose exactly what we wanted to do every day. Richard was an awesome guide who consistently entertained us with stories and facts about the animals we saw.
Richard was waiting for us at the airstrip when we landed in the midmorning. We climbed into our safari vehicle and had our first game drive on the way to Eagle View. We saw countless plains animals, like zebras, wildebeests, and gazelles. We also saw a few giraffes, warthogs, and elephants. The highlight, though, was a mother cheetah with two little cubs! Having never experienced a safari before, I was completely blown away by the sheer number of animals! It was nothing short of magical.
While we were not visiting Kenya during the wildebeest migration (which takes place over the summer months), we saw so many of these animals, we stopped paying attention to them pretty quickly. The story goes that God made wildebeests using the leftover parts from other animals–buffalo horns, cow’s body, lion’s tail, etc. which is why they are so, well, ugly. I think that might be a little unfair. They might not be the prettiest animals ever, but I mean, the babies are cute, right? And it was fun to watch them frolicking in the tall grass.
Warthogs, like many African animals, can thank Disney’s The Lion King for their fame. Their name in Swahili, like Simba’s beloved friend, is pumba, which translates to “stupid.” Supposedly, these animals will start running from a predator, but quickly forget what they are running from and just stop. Who’s to say if this is true or not, but they certainly did start and stop running pretty quickly.
One of the fun things about visiting Kenya in February is that it is the prime time for seeing baby animals. Many of the animals that live in the Maasai Mara area breed year-round, but late January through early April is the best time to see a wide variety of baby animals. We saw lots of babies of all kinds, including baby elephants, lions, and cheetahs among many, many others. Yay baby animals!
So I love cheetahs. As a kid, they were one of my favorite animals. (Granted, this isn’t saying a whole lot, since pretty much every animal is one of my favorite animals. But seriously, cheetahs are awesome!) We were fortunate to see cheetahs several times during our trip, and often in groups, which is somewhat unusual. Female cheetahs are completely solitary animals, except when they have cubs. And males will only coexist with their brothers. We may have gone a little overboard on taking pictures of the cheetahs, so sorry if you don’t like cheetah pictures. (But please, who doesn’t like cheetah pictures?!)
Both of the safari camps we stayed at were located in the Naboisho Conservancy, just outside the borders of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. I can’t speak to what a safari experience in the national reserve is like, but there were a lot of things we liked about being on a conservancy instead. First and foremost, the land is still owned by the Maasai people, meaning we were supporting the local communities by staying there. Second, the rules for vehicles are not as strict on the private conservancies as in the national reserve, so we were able to drive off-road whenever we saw something interesting. Although we did not take advantage of this option, it is also possible to do a walking safari in the Naboisho Conservancy, which is not allowed in the national reserve.
We arrived at Eagle View, our first camp, just in time for lunch. While there is no such thing as a cheap safari, this camp was incredibly affordable considering the luxury it offered! We were warmly greeted when we arrived, and shown around the camp before settling in for lunch at the restaurant.
Eagle View is aptly named for the outstanding view from just about anywhere on the property. The camp sits on a hill overlooking a watering hole, and we could see dozens of animals from our lunch table! All of the food was amazing, and both lunch and dinner were always three courses. Our meals were included in the nightly rate; however alcohol is not (although it was very reasonably priced, generally less than what I would pay in the U.S.)
After lunch, we had a few hours to rest in our tent before our afternoon game drive. To call our room at Eagle View a tent is quite an understatement. Sure, it had canvas walls and was generally shaped like a tent, but inside was all luxury. We had a massive king-sized bed and a full bathroom with both an indoor and outdoor shower. There was electricity, so we could charge our phones and cameras, but WiFi was only available in the reception area. That was just fine by us! It was nice to be a little disconnected for a few days.
From our tent that afternoon, we could see giraffes wandering around in the distance. It was truly incredible, and we would recommend Eagle View in a heartbeat as an affordable luxury safari!
After a few hours to rest, we jumped back in the car with Richard for our afternoon game drive. Days on safari looked pretty much the same. We would do a drive in the morning, when the animals are just waking up, then have lunch and relax, then do another game drive in the evening. The most exciting part of our first afternoon game drive was seeing lions for the first time! It felt like something out of a dream to see these majestic animals up close and watch them in their natural habitat. At one point, two lion cubs were chasing each other up and down a tree, which was really adorable. They reminded me so much of my two kitties back home, I could almost forget they are powerful, dangerous animals.
This is an eland, the largest species of antelope. These guys are massive, weighing as much as 2,000 pounds and growing more than six feet tall!
Elephants live together in family groups, and we were fortunate enough to see several herds and several babies during our trip. They are so funny and use their trunks almost like an arm. Imagine picking up food with your nose!
The number one thing pretty much everyone wants to see when they visit Africa is a lion. We’ve all seen the Lion King, so we know that lions live in family groups called prides, which usually consist of one male protector and many female hunters, plus the cubs. These amazing animals are powerful predators, obviously, and it was unreal to get so close to them in their natural habitat. The Naboisho Conservancy has a very healthy population of cats, and we saw them several times, but there was something extra special about the first time we saw wild lions.
We went back to Eagle View for dinner, with the sounds of the wild as the backdrop for our dinnertime. Then it was off to bed. It rained the whole first night of our trip, but we were cozy and dry in our tent, with hot water bottles in the bed. It was little touches like this that elevated our safari with Basecamp Explorers to the next level. We traveled to Kenya in February, which is normally a dry season in the Mara area, but sadly had quite a bit of rain throughout our trip. Luckily, the animals didn’t seem to mind, but I was a little bummed out when I woke up to a very drizzly morning on our second day.
Despite the weather, we hopped in the car with Richard when it was still dark outside to catch the animals first thing in the morning, when they are most active. Snuggled up with a blanket, we went searching for big cats, and boy did we find them! We were lucky enough to spot a pride of lions that had recently caught a zebra and were enjoying their breakfast. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it was pretty gruesome, but it was also amazing to see these formidable hunters eating.
These lions were incredible! And we watched them for a long time in spite of the chilly, damp air. Ben may have gone a little overboard taking photos, although I’m not posting most of them because the ripped apart zebra carcass is not for the faint of heart. But it was fascinating to watch the family dynamics of the group as they ate, and we loved watching the cubs play!
Then we saw two different pairs of cheetahs—a mother and son, then two brothers. The two brother cheetahs had caught a baby gazelle and were playing with their food, letting the poor thing go, just to chase it back down over and over again. Nature is tough, and sometimes sad, but I couldn’t help but be awed by the cheetahs’ grace and agility.
We had an incredible picnic breakfast in the bush before making our way out of the conservancy for a really interesting experience visiting a traditional Maasai village. We were able to speak with a few members of the community, and they performed traditional dances for us. It was very interesting to hear about their way of life and to see their homes, but I had mixed feelings about the experience. The village we visited was clearly lived in, and not just constructed for tourism, but it made me feel a little awkward that the women paused their chores to come do a dance for us, while the men were doing all kinds of shows, like making fire, to try to convince us to buy things from them. The saddest thing to me was that the kids in the village had all been lined up against a wall, and our guide kept telling us we could take pictures of them. They were being made into a spectacle, which made me feel uncomfortable. I can appreciate that these communities are only able to survive because of tourism, and that people like me paying to see the village and buying a few trinkets is the only reason this traditional lifestyle can survive in the modern world, but I would have much rather been able to just sit down and talk with some of the community members instead of going through the whole show.
What really made the visit to the Maasai community feel a little inauthentic was that right before we went into the village, we spent some time just walking around one of the local towns right before we went into the village where you have to pay. Our car had been having some issues, and Richard asked if it would be okay for us to stop at the mechanic before we went to the village, which was totally fine. While the car was being fixed, we got the chance to observe life in this town in the middle of nowhere. There was a mix of people wearing traditional dress and modern clothing. Children were playing with sticks in the street. Women carried baskets on their heads, and men gathered around the storefronts talking and laughing. This was not a traditional Maasai village, but we were later told that the villages sometimes bought food from this town. There was nothing especially interesting or exciting that happened. The closest we came to talking with anyone was waving at the kids. But it felt many times more authentic than the actual Maasai village.
After our visit, we headed back to Eagle View for lunch, then had a couple of hours to rest before our afternoon game drive. I had plans to read or journal, but instead I took a nap. In the afternoon, we headed back out for our afternoon game drive.
We started off the afternoon drive on day two at a hippo pond, which was stinky and loud. The hippos were incredibly active, bobbing up and down in the water. A couple were mating, and if you can’t imagine what it’s like when two enormous, noisy, water-dwelling animals get together, well, I’m not going to describe it. We also saw a few eagles and some monkeys as we were driving.
After leaving the hippo pond, we spotted two prides of lions. The highlight of the night was while we were watching the second pride, which was the same group we had seen eating the zebra that morning, a family of elephants walked right behind them! It was like a scene from a movie with us, the lions, and the elephants all within a few hundred yards of each other.
The next morning was chilly and drizzly again, but that didn’t stop us from getting up early and heading out for our morning game drive. This morning, we were on the lookout for hyenas. Richard knew the location of a den where some babies had just been born, and we headed in that direction. We briefly saw the pups, but they were feeling a bit shy. However, we saw the rest of the pack eating a baby buffalo. Apparently, hyenas are not actually the scavengers they are stereotyped as, and hunt most of what they eat. We then saw a huge herd of cape buffalo, bringing us up to three of the Big Five. The Big Five are five large, dangerous animals that were traditionally hunted for sport, but are now favorites of the tourists to spot. They are lions, elephants, leopards, rhinoceroses, and cape buffalo. The cape buffalo are huge, and apparently the most dangerous of the Big Five because they are the most likely to be aggressive towards humans.
We headed back to Eagle View for a lovely breakfast overlooking the watering hole, where we could see hippos, gazelles, and giraffes. Then we packed up our bags and made our way to Leopard Hill, Basecamp Explorers’ newest and most luxurious lodge, a short drive from Eagle View.
We were wowed from the moment we stepped foot in Leopard Hill. The facilities are incredible—very chic and luxurious. The check in area, which is also where the restaurant is located, features a beautiful fireplace and beautiful furniture, with details that remind you of a safari in the 1800s. Our tent was beautiful, with a huge, comfy bed, indoor and outdoor showers, a beautiful vanity space, and an awesome view of a watering hole just outside our door. But the best part was definitely the ceiling, which opened up so we could look at the stars at night. It was incredible! While Leopard Hill is a little pricier than Eagle View, and I loved having the chance to stay at both properties, I would absolutely recommend Leopard Hill in a heartbeat to anyone looking to go on safari in Kenya. The property was more than I could have dreamed for when looking for a safari lodge!
Because we were traveling in February of 2021, when Covid was very much still limiting international travel, we actually had the property all to ourselves! This individualized attention was really something special, and the staff at Leopard Hill did an amazing job taking care of us!
After unpacking and having a wonderful lunch, we had a few hours to rest before our afternoon game drive. Like at Eagle View, there was only wifi in the restaurant area, so I spent some time there going through the thousands of photos we (mostly Ben) had taken so far. Then Richard picked us up in the early afternoon to go look for more animals.
We started off back at the hyena den, where the babies were out and playing. They were so cute! We also saw a mother cheetah with two nearly grown cubs and a variety of other animals. There were so many zebras, gazelles, and wildebeests, they almost aren’t even worth mentioning. It was constantly amazing to me the sheer number of wild animals all around us. Richard then took us to a safe place where we could get out of the car to watch the sunset.
As the name implies, Leopard Hill is located near leopard territory, and our game drive on the morning of day four was all about leopards. We spent quite a while looking for one, and just when it seemed that we wouldn’t get lucky, we spotted two in a tree, where they were eating a zebra. Leopards drag their kills into trees to keep it away from other animals. The leopards were a mother and her nearly grown son, and they were breathtakingly beautiful. The power and balance we witnessed as they moved around in the tree was incredible! Then, a hyena started prowling around the base of the tree and fought a little with the leopards. It was a once-in-a-lifetime scene to witness, and we felt so lucky! We stayed and watched the leopards all morning before heading back to Leopard Hill for breakfast.
That afternoon, we had another magical experience when a huge group of zebras and giraffes came to drink in the watering hole right outside our tent! Sitting on our deck, we were barely 100 yards from them! It was an amazing day!
Our evening game drive was literally dampened by a significant amount of rain. This was the only time that the weather really affected our game drives. Still, we saw a small group of lions, but called it a day early so we could warm up by the fire back at Leopard Hill.
The next morning, it was sadly time to say goodbye to Leopard Hill and Richard as our safari came to a close. We packed up, ate breakfast, then went for a short game drive on the way to the airstrip to return to Nairobi. We saw cheetahs, wild dogs, and a massive elephant, so it was still a pretty good game drive, even if it was just getting us back to catch our flight. Then it was time to head back to Nairobi, where we had another incredible adventure planned!
All in all, our safari with Basecamp Explorers was everything I could have hoped for and more. While I could gush about the incredible properties, the delicious food, and the friendly staff, it was witnessing the wildlife in the area that really made this trip one of my favorites. I am an animal lover through and through, and seeing such a variety of animals in their natural habitat was nothing short of magical. It was a trip I will never forget!
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