Born free in East Africa

Tripoto
13th Mar 2015

Africa is synonymous with freedom. Welcome to the mother continent. It is where it all started. 

My trip was to East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania with Zanzibar
 
Our first entry was to the  beautiful green city the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. After a filling breakfast We drove almost 2 hours to reach Mt. Kenya the highest peak in Kenya and a very beautiful mountain to look at. It is also the second highest free standing  mountain in the world after Mt.Kilimanjaro. The Equator passes right through the Mountain. There is a lot of biodiversity of Flora and Fauna in the national park and different from what you find in other parks due to its altitude. After spending sometime here we drove another 2 hours to Ol Pejata Conservancy. The evening ended with a Night Game Drive at the Conservancy.  A little bit about this conservancy, its a protected area which has concentration of Black and White Rhinos, Elephants, Cape Buffalos, Lions to name a few. The main attraction here is chimpanzee reserve which has connections with Jane Goodall and her dedication and love to these beautiful apes. Another key attraction is the last 3 Northern White Rhino. Its sad that this amazing species will go extinct in few years. The best experience I had here is watching the Rhinos from close proximity to my camp. The only thing between me and the rhinos were the electric fence. 
 
Next day after breakfast we took a chartered flight across the Great Rift valley over Aberdares reserve, Soda Lakes of Bogoria which is filled with flamingos to Lake Elementita. The lake lies in between Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha. The setting of the lake is very beautiful. It has a lot of bird life around. In the with a ranger and a guide we went on a bird watching tour by foot. The trip was eventful as we saw some beautiful species of birds including Flamingoes and the national bird of Kenya, lilac breasted roller. The walk had to stop abrubtly as there were some Cape buffaloes on our way. Cape buffaloes are one of the most dangerous species to human beings in Africa. There are 2 walks in the morning and in the evening. The night was a beautiful one with a very clear sky and some Bush bucks who came to drink water from the water hole. 
 
Early next day we took another chartered flight to the most famous Masai Mara. The sight of Masai Mara from the sky itself was a delight. The sight of Wildebeest and Zebras tells you that you are are best place for wildlife enthusiasts. The arrival at Mara also welcomed as with a kill. The Hyenas helped us to spot us the kill. Close by there was a pride of Lion having their afternoon Siesta. All this happened within a span of an hour at the national park, so you can imagine what is awaiting you at times of migration starting from June. After checking in at our camp we went on another Game drive and spotted almost all the animals, Including wildebeest, zebras, hartsbeest, topi, giraffes, buffaloes, elephants, lions, hyenas, chettah, hippos, nile crocodile, warthog, crowned crane, ostrich, vultures, secretary bird. The Leopard was only one who didn't pay us a visit. The evening ended with some sundowners and an amazing open dinner in middle of all this. What a day!!!!
 
Its the fourth day of our trip. Today started very early for Hot air Ballooning. Masai Mara is rated as one the best place to do this activity. It was one of my best hot air ballonning experience over the beautiful Savannah and also realized how the name of this place came from. Mara means Spotted and from the Hot Air balloon it gives you an idea of the spotted landscape below. The landing is always an experience for Hot Air Ballooning. And also had a champagne breakfast after the epic landing in the middle of Masai Mara. The rest of day was followed by a morning game drive a afternoon game drive, both the drives were to find the elusive spotted cat, the Leopard. We were a little unlucky as we didn't spot the cat. But on a whole we would have seen 100s of species of flora and fauna. This would be like Noah's ark during the migration. 
 
After saying adious to this amazing park we left for the capital Nairobi to catch our flight to Dar es salaam, Tanzania.
 
After arriving in Dar we took a chartered flight to Selous NP. The largest NP in Tanzania bigger than Serengeti NP and one of the largest in Africa. The flight was over the might Rufiji river. The arrival welcomed us to this beautiful park. Selous has a great concentration of African wild dog also called the painted dog. Here the game drive can also be done by boat on the Rufiji river.The best part was the place we stayed was right next to river in the night we could hear lions and hippos calls. 
 
Day Six we started with a Game drive on the River and then on land. We finally got a glimpse of the leopard and the wild dogs. What a high on the last day of our safari we found the 2 animals which had escaped our eyes. After lunch we again took our chartered flight to the Indian ocean island of Zanzibar. The aerial view was again a delight for the eyes. The turquious ocean was there below all over. 
 
Next day early morning we went for scuba diving and snorkeling in the Ocean. From life on land to life in the ocean. There are only few places on Earth you can do this. From Deers to Dolphins. 
 
In the evening we were in the historic capital Stone Town. The old Town is very beautiful. You can walk around the bylanes of this small town. And a nice way to end your African Sojourn. 
 
Africa is indeed a continent never to be missed it has something amazing about. Africa has given the best whenever I have visited her in my previous trip. Hope to come back again to this beautiful and enchanting Continent. 
 
Its my first blog, I will writing more stories on my upcoming tours. 
 
 
Ol pejeta