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This is my 3rd time making my travel plans with Amazing Memories Safaris. It is not surprising to me why they have “Amazing” in their company name. You could not ask for a better Tour Operator. Anne and Joseph have become like family to me. On this trip, I even got to meet their young son. I was very excited about that but I think he found Baby Shark more exciting. Anne and Joseph’s skills truly complement each other. From the minute I contact them to let them know I’m planning a trip, they are there to answer every question, make suggestions and run interference when a curveball comes up. Since this was my 9th trip to Kenya, they know the places I like, my allergies, that I like a full size bed (even though I travel solo), what I like to do while in Nairobi and that although I’m exhausted from the long flight, I bounce back pretty quick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\nis nothing that makes me happier after 17 hours of flight, than seeing my\nchecked bag arrive, and then stepping outside the terminal and finding Anne,\nher husband Joseph, and my Nairobi driver and friend Joseph 2014 (I first met\nhim in 2014) with smiles and enthusiasm. \nI know from that moment on, that even if I have a concern, all will be\nwonderful and I’ll be taken care of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nspent my full Nairobi day with Joseph 2014. \nHe is so engaging. He is always\nprompt at picking me up to make sure we get to the public visit at the\nSheldrick Wildlife Trust with plenty of time to spare. He shares my love of the elephants too. This time, in addition to my usual elephant\nvisits, Kazuri and Karen Hub market shopping, we also both enjoyed visiting a\nnew gallery, Matbronze (at the suggestion of a friend). Then at the end of the day, we made our way\nto Carnivore Restaurant for dinner with Anne and Joseph and an evening of\nlaughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since\nrain heavily impacted my last trip in March 2018, it was suggested maybe I\nwanted to try coming in February as it typically is less rainy. I think Mother Nature missed that memo. The rains came early and although it didn’t\nimpact the wildlife I saw, it did cause some transport issues. Anne was always on top of it. It is a slower time to travel (good news is\nthat lodging prices are less) (bad news is that the bush planes require a\nminimum of 2 seats being booked). The\nheavy rains had caused connecting bridges to be washed away so that meant that\nair strip and ground route changes were necessary. Anne would keep me informed via email and\nalso let my guide Daniel know the latest updates. There is no controlling Mother Nature and\nsometimes you just have to go with it. \nBut all was as they say, “hakuna matata”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was my 5th time having Daniel for my guide. As a fellow photographer, he knows how important lighting and positioning the vehicle can be. We have a great time swapping photo tips, catching up on things since my last visit and solving the world’s issues. He has an excellent ability to spot animals, a great sense of humor, communicates well and generally spoils me rotten. A guide can make or break a trip, and Daniel sure makes mine. Time always flies so quickly and before I knew it, it was time to arrive back into Nairobi, to check into my day room and prepare for the long flight home. Even though sad to leave, it was wonderful to see Anne and Joseph and Joseph 2014 come to the hotel to hear about the trip, go over any concerns, and share more laughs before heading to the airport. Thank you to all for looking after me so well. I can’t wait to see you again on my next adventure! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>The Best of the Trip<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visiting the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi is always a highlight. The public and adoptive parent visits are very different but going twice gives me added time to be able to see Head Keeper Edwin as well as Keepers Cheplin and Julius. I was happy to see my boy Maktao doing so well. My others have moved on to Ithumba to continue their stages towards reintroduction into the wild. A young male, Roho (who is just over a year old) caught my attention so I added him to my adopted elephant children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an honor to be in the close presence of the last two globally remaining Northern White Rhinos. While at Ol Pejeta, I booked an excursion into the enclosure to be with them up close and personal. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Joseph Wachira who was Sudan’s (the last male Northern White Rhino) keeper. Although Najin and Fatu (mother and daughter Northern White Rhinos) were very friendly, their Southern White Rhino friend, also in the pen, was quite feisty (and with a very sharp horn). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being in the company of my extended family and friends Anne, Joseph, Joseph 2014, and Daniel is always a highlight. Great conversations with former and new staff at the camps always makes my stays enjoyable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>The Less than Best of the Trip<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just when you think you’ve outsmarted Mother Nature, the joke is on you. Although the rain did not impact seeing lots of wildlife, it did make it a bit of a challenge getting around from place to place. But that is all part of the adventure that makes me return over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Favorite Photos<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nngg_shortcode_8_placeholder\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Travel dates for this trip were January 29-February 12. Itinerary and accommodations are as follows (number in parenthesis is the number of nights stayed at the lodging). For my ninth trip to Kenya, I blended part of the trip traveling over land with my guide Daniel who has accompanied me on 4 other safaris as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8910"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11602,"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8910\/revisions\/11602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laurenajenkinshoffmeyer.com\/laurena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}