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#1
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Planned Safari in Kenya
Hi all,
my wife and i plan to have a new safari in Kenya this year during August. We had already a safari in Kenya a few years ago. Here is our planned course : 3 days in Baringo and Bogoria Lakes (Roberts Camp and Island Lodge) 4 days in Samburu / Shaba / Buffalo Springs N.P (Intrepids Camp and Camp site) 3 days in Meru N.P (Camp site) We already know Samburu National Park where we had a wonderful time. It is why we want to go there again. Thank you for your comments, informations or advice if you have already visited this areas (especially for Meru and Shaba). Best regards. |
#3
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Dear Liz,
thank you for your message. Your advice will be very useful for us. My wife and i are not really bird list champions. We are found of mammals and birds watching (especially birds of prey) but the number of species is not our first goal. So thank you very much for your advice for Baringo Lake. We have effectively chosen Island Camp for the romantic touch of this area ... I went also to see your lovely web site. And I hope someday, i will take time to do the same with all the stuff i have upon the safaris i made in Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana (last year). I read some of your bird lists and i saw that you watched Verreaux Eagle in Baringo Lake area. We have never seen them. Is it easy to watch some of them in this place ? May be in the ridge ? About Meru, it is in fact one of the deepest wishes that push us to make this safari (the other was to go back to Samburu). The travel agency which organises this trip told us that it is the good time to go there. It is now a safe place, KWS has done a great job for this park and there are not many visitors nowadays there. So i will tell you as we come back ! Promised ! We wanted also to go the Lewa Downs (private reserve) but our agency said the price was too huge for our budget ... Thank you for all Best regards. Frederic Your previous message Sounds like an interesting trip. Shaba was much drier than Samburu/Buffalo Springs when we were there, and there were not so many animals, but it is arguably more scenic and has some birds which you don't (usually?) get in the other two reserves. Baringo Island Camp is very nice - and you get an especially nice 'sunrise over the lake' experience there, but if you're interested in birds, you'll do better (i.e. get a better 'list', if that matters) at the Club - at the camp they take you over on a boat to look for birds on the shore of the Lodge grounds. However, the Club isn't so romantic! It's worth going out on at least one bird walk with the Camp naturalist, and go out on the boat at least once (he'll 'whistle in' Fish Eagles for scraps of fish). (All of which reminds me, I must get a Baringo pix page added to my site. I've just got a bird list at the moment. http://www.v-liz.com/safari/baring.htm ) At the lodge, try go do at least two bird walks, one around the shore, one at the base of the Ridge, and a boat trip (when were were there, the naturalists didn't do the whistling 'thing' but that was a while ago. For a long time, the World Record for Bird Species seen in 24 hours was held out of Lake Baringo Club (AFAIK, the Record currently stands with Peru, but that may have been superceded) Expect the Baringo area to be *very* hot and be aware that serious squalls often occur on the Lake itslef. I'll be interested to hear how you liked Meru when you get back! Friends who went years ago (just before it was effectively closed to visitors) said it was very scenic. Safari njema Liz |
#4
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Dear Liz,
thank you for your message. Your advice will be very useful for us. My wife and i are not really bird list champions. We are found of mammals and birds watching (especially birds of prey) but the number of species is not our first goal. So thank you very much for your advice for Baringo Lake. We have effectively chosen Island Camp for the romantic touch of this area ... I went also to see your lovely web site. And I hope someday, i will take time to do the same with all the stuff i have upon the safaris i made in Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana (last year). I read some of your bird lists and i saw that you watched Verreaux Eagle in Baringo Lake area. We have never seen them. Is it easy to watch some of them in this place ? May be in the ridge ? About Meru, it is in fact one of the deepest wishes that push us to make this safari (the other was to go back to Samburu). The travel agency which organises this trip told us that it is the good time to go there. It is now a safe place, KWS has done a great job for this park and there are not many visitors nowadays there. So i will tell you as we come back ! Promised ! We wanted also to go the Lewa Downs (private reserve) but our agency said the price was too huge for our budget ... Thank you for all Best regards. Frederic Your previous message Sounds like an interesting trip. Shaba was much drier than Samburu/Buffalo Springs when we were there, and there were not so many animals, but it is arguably more scenic and has some birds which you don't (usually?) get in the other two reserves. Baringo Island Camp is very nice - and you get an especially nice 'sunrise over the lake' experience there, but if you're interested in birds, you'll do better (i.e. get a better 'list', if that matters) at the Club - at the camp they take you over on a boat to look for birds on the shore of the Lodge grounds. However, the Club isn't so romantic! It's worth going out on at least one bird walk with the Camp naturalist, and go out on the boat at least once (he'll 'whistle in' Fish Eagles for scraps of fish). (All of which reminds me, I must get a Baringo pix page added to my site. I've just got a bird list at the moment. http://www.v-liz.com/safari/baring.htm ) At the lodge, try go do at least two bird walks, one around the shore, one at the base of the Ridge, and a boat trip (when were were there, the naturalists didn't do the whistling 'thing' but that was a while ago. For a long time, the World Record for Bird Species seen in 24 hours was held out of Lake Baringo Club (AFAIK, the Record currently stands with Peru, but that may have been superceded) Expect the Baringo area to be *very* hot and be aware that serious squalls often occur on the Lake itslef. I'll be interested to hear how you liked Meru when you get back! Friends who went years ago (just before it was effectively closed to visitors) said it was very scenic. Safari njema Liz |
#5
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#6
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#7
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In message
(Frederic Salein) wrote: I read some of your bird lists and i saw that you watched Verreaux Eagle in Baringo Lake area. We have never seen them. Is it easy to watch some of them in this place ? May be in the ridge ? Yes! There is a nest in the escarpment (or at least there was in 1994) which was to certain knowledge there in 1935, probably longer. The birds just build it bigger and bigger every year. I have a slide with a bird sitting on the nest which gives an incredible sense of scale: sadly, the bird is so tiny compared to the nest that you only really see it properly when projected: I have never been able to 'tweak' it so that it shows on a monitor at web resolution. Maybe I should have another try over the w/e if I get time. Anyway, I'm sure you're going to have a great trip. Slainte Liz -- Virtual Liz now at http://www.v-liz.com Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos "I speak of Africa and golden joys" |
#8
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In message
(Frederic Salein) wrote: I read some of your bird lists and i saw that you watched Verreaux Eagle in Baringo Lake area. We have never seen them. Is it easy to watch some of them in this place ? May be in the ridge ? Yes! There is a nest in the escarpment (or at least there was in 1994) which was to certain knowledge there in 1935, probably longer. The birds just build it bigger and bigger every year. I have a slide with a bird sitting on the nest which gives an incredible sense of scale: sadly, the bird is so tiny compared to the nest that you only really see it properly when projected: I have never been able to 'tweak' it so that it shows on a monitor at web resolution. Maybe I should have another try over the w/e if I get time. Anyway, I'm sure you're going to have a great trip. Slainte Liz -- Virtual Liz now at http://www.v-liz.com Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos "I speak of Africa and golden joys" |
#9
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In message
Liz wrote: Expect the Baringo area to be *very* hot My best hint for dealing with the heat is to keep soaking your hat with cold water, or even wear a wet t-shirt (don't even think it!), so long as you're wearing a waterproof sunscreen. Slainte Liz -- Virtual Liz now at http://www.v-liz.com Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos "I speak of Africa and golden joys" |
#10
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Dear Hans-Georg,
thank you very for your message. In fact my wife and i have a few good reasons to choose these places for our second trip in Kenya. First of all, your proposal as a second trip is not very far from what we have done for our first trip three years ago : Samburu, Mont Kenya Montain Lodge, Nakuru, Navaisha and Masai Mara. We had a wondeful time everywhere and we wanted to go back there chosing other places and a other way to do it (this time, we will be just the two of us, a guide, a cooker, a vehicle and camp). We really enjoyed Samburu, it is mostly why we want to go back there. As a photographer, i admired the lanscapes, the mammal species we have seen and the light which was really beautiful. Since this first safari, we met two french professional wildlife photographers who made a beautiful book about some of the places we plan to go : Samburu, Shaba, Buffalo Springs, Meru, Lewa Downs. Theire passion for these areas where they contniue to spend much time convinced us to go there. More over our travel angecy said that it is a good time to go to Meru National Park now because of the increasing interest of this area and also because it is not already crowded. For Baringo and Borgoria Lake, our special interest is for birds because we are found of bird watching. In fact, wildlife density is great but it is not what we are looking for as an highest priority. We really made a choice for this second safari in Kenya which will not be the last one. I think we should go back several times may be for instance for a special Masai Mara safari or for visiting Amoseli an may be Tsavo (where some of our friends spent pretty good time). Thank you for all. Best regards Frederic You wrote : to be honest, for a second time visit I would go neither to Shaba nor to Meru, unless you have a really good reason to go there. I know both of these places and go there from time to time. In your situation I'd go only to the places with a high wildlife density, i.e. Lake Nakuru, Samburu, Amboseli, and, first and foremost, Masai Mara. You could add one night in a mountain forest lodge, where I would recommend The Ark. Lake Naivasha and Baringo don't quite cut it, unless you have special interests. Lake Bogoria is a bit better, but altogether I would stick to picking the biggest raisins from the cake when I'd visit Kenya only for the second time. The question is really whether you have any special, good reason to go to those other places. By the way, the first point to visit that comes to mind outside the wildlife places is Lamu. If you have the time and the money, let yourself be flown to Lamu for one night, for two at the very most. Hans-Georg |
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