Tuesday September 3
We were off to Nairobi on the 9:25am Swiss Air flight from Zurich. It was a smooth flight and we landed at 18:10 local time (+1 hour from Zurich) so no issues with jet-lag. In spite of a major fire destroying much of Nairobi airport about a month prior our entry into Kenya was easy-peasy - 20 minutes from airplane doors open to outside the terminal. A guide and our driver were there to meet us and we headed off into the most atrocious traffic for a 1 hour drive to our hotel for the night, Palacina. The hotel was great, lots of old "Out of Africa" atmosphere and we had a lovely suite. By the time we settled in it was 8pm so we went to the restaurant for a light dinner which was very good and cheap ($US 50 including beer and wine). Then it was off to bed as we had to be up at 6am for showers and breakfast before an 8:15am pickup.
Wednesday September 4
Our driver collected us at 8:15am for the transfer to Wilson, the Nairobi domestic airport - in spite of the short distance it still took 45 minutes due to gridlock traffic. We arrived in plenty of time for our Safari Link flight to Masi Mara. We squeaked in with just over a combined 30kg of luggage including hand luggage but not including my purse and Dieter's big lens which he kept hung over his shoulder. We were the second stop on a milk run flight - by local standards a big plane, a 37-passenger Dash 8, a Canadian plane so I felt safe in-spite of our plane looking like it had done the equivalent of 10 times to the moon and back.
Our Rekero guide, Daniel, met us at the airstrip which in spite of being a gravel track was as busy as Sydney airport, well almost. There were at least 10 planes on the ground with takeoffs and landings ever couple of minutes. We did a mini-game drive on the way to Rekero Camp and arrived in time for lunch at 1:15pm.
First a bit on Asilia's Rekero Camp - there are 8 tented cabin with solar lighting and no running water; however, there are full ensuites with flush toilets, large thermos's / jugs of hot and cold water for the twin sinks and bucket showers. The only inconvenience is that you need to order your shower in advance and someone fills the holding tank with hot water - no problem once you get the hang of it. The tents were recently refurbished and very luxurious.
So back to lunch - it was a buffet affair under the trees with great service - drinks offered, plates cleared etc. We met a few of fellow guests - Steve and Edna from New York who as it turned out were our jeep mates; Linda, Peter and their daughter Anna from the UK; Steve and Rachelle from Las Vegas; Olli and Ashley from Melbourne (Ashley originally from Canada), and a few others. The food was very good.
Then it was off to our first full game drive - sightings included: Cheetah, lions (male and female going at it), 1000's of wildebeests, zebras, impala, Thompson gazelles, topis, elans, warthogs with many young ones, baboons, a lone croc, water buffaloes, hippos, a small turtle, vultures, eagle owl, fish eagle, pied kingfisher, sunbird, …… The highlight was a classic Masi Mara crossing of 100's of wildebeest and zebras.
We returned around 7pm just in time for a quick shower and then dinner with the gang - we had chicken, couscous and veggies - quite good really then it was off to bed at 9:15pm ready for another early start.
Thursday September 5
Up at 6am to a cold morning (15℃) in our tent and into the jeep with our guide Daniel and our safari mates, Steve and Edna. We drove around for some hours spotting pretty much the same as yesterday but also a leopard and an "almost crossing" as the wildebeest chickened out at the last minute. We had a bush brekkie on the banks of a river with hippos keeping an eye on us. We were back at the ranch at 11:30am so we decided to shower early then had lunch at 1pm. We met some new guests - Brian from New Jersey and Florida and his adult daughter, Lisa from Washington.
After siesta we headed on our second game drive around 4:30pm - it was not as eventful as the morning as we waited for a crossing which never eventuated but we got up close and personal to some lions. Back at our tent we had another quick bucket shower then had pre-dinner drinks around the camp fire then dinner at the communal table - it was ham, potatoes and red cabbage - not quite as good as the previous evening.
Friday September 6
So lazy day at Rekero - we got up at 6:30am, had a cooked brekkie at the main lodge, packed up and left at 8:30am to drive to our next camp - Naboisho, another Asilia camp about 1h30m drive away.