Kenya 2019: A Plan Comes Together

This series of blogs has been a long time coming. We found our post-Africa lives returning to work, editing, getting our media accounts merged, and celebrating holidays and we’ve finally found some time to sit down and chronicle our Kenyan Safari. We've broken it down into eight parts and the narrative is written from both of our perspectives. Enjoy!

Ed: In our first blog  a few months ago, I mentioned that during our Yellowstone trip in 2017, Greg and I agreed that Africa was the pinnacle of wildlife photography destinations and that we should do a safari in 2025. During 2018, we started to do our research on where to go, when to go, and what gear we should start acquiring for this future trip. By the end of 2018, we decided that the Maasai Mara in southwestern Kenya was our destination. One of the reasons we chose the Mara was a Netflix docu-series called Tales by Light that followed two photographers on the Mara, Jonathan and Angela Scott. We discussed how we wanted the full safari experience: flights into Nairobi, time in the Maasai Mara by ourselves, off-road vehicle, bad-ass guide, legit safari lodge accommodations, pro camera gear, and we wanted to see some lions hunt. 

I’ll briefly recap how our 2019 trip got started: in April I was told I’d be going to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for work. After some negotiating and some convincing, Greg was all-in. Greg and I are expert domestic travelers and expert planners. We spent many years driving cross-country for vacations. We often joke that an 8 hour drive is like a driving around the block and for us it’s a reality. Our parents would often whip up a trip itinerary on a Thursday night and by Friday we’d be on the road for some new destination for a short weekend, so we were not at all daunted by the prospect of pulling together a major international trip in a month and a half. Together we managed to book flights, a safari, order and rent gear, get vaccinations and visas, exchange money, and the thousand other little things that we needed to do. 

When the time came to actually start booking, Greg discovered a private safari package through Porini Gamewatcher’s Safaris entitled “Lakes and Mara”. The handful of pictures were enough to get us drooling. The trip would cover Lake Nakuru National Park with a night at Sunbird Lodge in Nakuru and several nights at Keekorok Lodge in the Maasai Mara. With such short notice, the only room left at Keekorok was a standalone bungalow that cost a little extra. We splurged. Legit safari-lodge accommodations: check. 

The outfitter offers two modes of transportation: a van, or a 4x4 for about $100/day extra. There was no question the 4x4 was what we wanted. Off-road safari vehicle: check.

With the safari arrangements paid for, we booked flights. I was coming from Entebbe, Uganda and Greg from New York City via Frankfurt. Flights to Nairobi: check.

The next step was vaccinations. The biggest one was for yellow fever, which is required to get into the country. Without your documentation of vaccination, they will turn you away at customs. The cost for the shot is about $250 and is not available everywhere nor is it covered by insurance. Vaccinations: check.

Finally, after some searching, we decided to rent a Nikon 600 mm lens from lensprotogo.com (more on this in a later installment). This would give us the level of wildlife shots we were there for. Because I had to spend time in the Congo beforehand, Greg was to bring this lens with him. Pro camera gear: check.

April and May passed quickly. We had almost daily check-ins and status updates on the other logistics. We started to keep tabs on the local news in Nairobi and kept a closer eye on world events. This included reading the US State Department’s warnings about the various places we were travelling to and through. However, the warnings about Nairobi were not really all that different from any major US city: Don’t go out at night alone. Avoid flashing large sums of money in public. Terror attacks could occur at any moment. Robbery and carjackings are possible. Sadly, all of these apply to our own cities and yet we don’t seem to worry about them too often. The key is to stay alert and be mindful of how you present yourself in different areas.

For some reason, we had this book about Kenya at our house when we were growing up . It was a small, dark-brown travel guide to Kenya and I would spend many afternoons reading through it. I don’t remember if it was from Fodor’s or Nat Geo, but it was full of information about the country, the culture, and of course safaris. I always dreamt I would go and visit. There was a small section dedicated to Swahili, so I’ve always known “jambo” to mean hello. With the trip coming up, I started watching Youtube videos and learning the language more in-depth. I’d spend about an hour a week learning new phrases. Nothing fancy, but enough to learn the basics. I also went and added the Google Translate app to my phone for on-the-spot interpretation. Soon, the slogan for the trip became: “Chukua tembo!” Translation: Catch the Elephant! 

At last, May 31st arrived and I was headed to Reno. Unfortunately, the day before the trip I came down with some wicked laryngitis, which only worsened through travel halfway around the globe. My anti-malarial medication had me praying to the porcelain gods the morning of my flight. Pro tip: when your medication tells you to take with food, be sure to follow those recommendations. I flew from Reno to Salt Lake City and then on to Amsterdam overnight. I did not sleep. We arrived just after 8 am and made our way to the lounge. I stepped outside on the balcony to try to get some sun and fresh air. Amsterdam, at least from the airport anyway, looked, smelled, and felt like New Jersey. It was warm, humid, and had the salty, marshy smell of the coast. Our flight from Amsterdam to Kigali, Rwanda was incredible. We flew over the snow-capped peaks of the Austrian and Italian Alps, over Venice and the Mediterranean, and after some cloud cover over Benghazi, I got my first glimpse of Africa and the Nubian desert. We arrived in Kigali after dark at 7:30 pm. KLM Airlines does a sort of bus route through sub-Saharan Africa with stops at Kigali, Entebbe, and Nairobi. I still had not slept at all and my illness made itself known as I threw up in the airplane bathroom before taking off again. I feel like I should get a commemorative shirt for that episode. We arrived in Entebbe, Uganda shortly before 10 pm local time. I’m not sure if it was me just being sick or if it was genuine, but the airport reeked of rotting vegetation and urine. I stopped at the airport pharmacy to procure some high-powered drugs for $3 to combat my deepening sickness. We were escorted to the company’s guest house in the city and I attempted to get some sleep but to no avail. By morning I was in terrible shape, and opted to stay behind to seek medical attention before traveling into the heart of the Congo. At this point, I had been awake nearly 48 hours without sleep.  I could barely speak without coughing, I had a massive stress headache, and incredible fatigue. 

The majesty of the Austrian Alps.

As the rest of the group gathered up, I sat on the porch of my dorm and watched the sunrise. There were monkeys and hornbills in the trees. The sunrise itself was a beautiful array of oranges and yellows and deep reds. Lake Victoria was visible through the trees. Breakfast consisted of some tea and honey and some kind of omelette. There were definitely worse places to be for a sunrise.

 Ugandan Sunrise

My decision to stay allowed me an opportunity to see some of the city as one of the hosts of the guest house took me to see a doctor. My trip through the city was a unique experience for me. This was, after all, my first international trip outside of North America. It was Martyr’s Day in Uganda, a day of remembrance of Catholic and Anglican martyr’s killed in the late 1800’s, which means the city was fairly busy. There were kids playing in the streets; several were carrying AK-47’s while kicking a soccer ball. Not the kind of thing you see in the States.

The medical system works very differently there. If you’re sick, you first go to see a pharmacist, explain your symptoms and then purchase very cheap drugs. The only reason you would see a doctor is if your symptoms persisted or if you had, say, a broken arm. We first went to a doctor, who was not in on time. He was operating on what I came to know as African time.

We left the doctor for the pharmacist. The woman behind the counter prescribed a number of medicines for me and we talked a little about the differences between Uganda and Nevada (there are many). I exchanged some money and paid for the medicine (~$15). I slept in 20-minute increments through the afternoon and finally passed out in the early evening. AT LAST. SLEEP.

The jet lag had me up at midnight, but at least I had gotten some rest. The drugs were finally working! In the morning, we made our way to the airport, and got onto a small turboprop. The flight took us over Lake Victoria and the jungles of the Congo with amazing double rainbows below.

Jungles of the Congo.

During the three days I was there, I recovered nearly back to my pre-trip health. We arrived back in Entebbe around noon on June 7th. After lunch at the guest house, we went down to the beachfront near a hotel. That’s the first time I saw a marabou stork. It was absolutely huge and had a truly prehistoric look. It stayed away from us, for which I was relieved.

A man claiming to be from the hotel met us and demanded money for access to the property. No one had been at the entrance to collect money from us and the South African among us was forceful enough in his words to cause the man to retreat. The man instead went and took out his frustration on the two armed guards at the entrance, but they did not care. It’s not their job to collect the entrance fees. After all, this is Africa. Dinner was at a local place called Faze 3. I had a steak and I could hear the beach house below us playing Lil Dicky. In the evening, we went back to the airport to catch my flight to Nairobi. Two of my colleagues were also headed that way, so it was good to have some company.

A marabou stork along the shore of Lake Victoria.

 Greg: I booked a flight from Newark to Nairobi with a four-hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany. I boarded my flight at 6 pm and quickly fell asleep in my window seat on the overnight to Frankfurt.  I landed around 7:30 am. Jet-lagged, I wandered the airport and found a small cafe and got some eggs and bacon. I spent some time charging my phone and perusing the German gift shops. This was also my first trip out of North America. At 11 am, I boarded a bus with other passengers and it drove us out to the tarmac and the waiting plane. I quickly climbed the stairs as the excitement grew to be headed to Kenya. I found my window seat, settled in, and watched the passengers board, trying to figure out who would be my seatmate for the next eight hours. As the plane filled I became hopeful that maybe I’d get the two seats to myself and I’d be able to stretch out. 

“Crew, please lock the doors and prepare for departure.”

No one was next to me. I quickly snagged the extra pillow and blanket and stuffed them into the corner to make it more comfortable. I threw up the armrest, kicked off my shoes, plopped my legs up on the seat next to me and smiled.

Coach seating. First class comfort. Kenya, here I come.

I watched movies, napped, and had my in-flight meal while drinking whisky. In between, I watched the European countryside pass by below. We flew over the Alps and Greece and I slept most of the Mediterranean. I woke up just in time to watch the northern coast of Africa appear in the distance. The water along the shore was vibrant blue as it met the desert shores. We landed around 9 pm in Nairobi. It was hot and humid. We took another bus from the tarmac to a converted hangar to go through customs and the visa process. I moved quickly through the line with the help of one of the government employees. I grabbed my bags and looked for a place to wait for Ed who was set to arrive an hour later. I asked a guard where I could wait to meet up with him. He informed me that he was going to go through a different terminal that I would be unable to access. During our planning process we had discussed every possible outcome and came up with contingencies for each one. I moved into Plan B: I would meet Ed at the Four Points hotel. I made my way through my last security check and found a cab to take me there. Traveling by myself, I was nervous and I definitely stood out in the crowd outside the terminal. My driver walked me through the crowds out into the dark parking lot to his cab. I was surprised to find that the hotel had an iron fence around it with a security building where each vehicle's undercarriage is checked before it can enter the grounds. I also had to put my bags through an x-ray scanner and go through a metal detector before entering the building. I checked into our room. It took me a few minutes to figure out that the power to the room would not work without leaving my room key in a slot by the door, a brilliant design to conserve electricity. When you remove the key to leave the room, the lights go off. I turned on the TV to check out what it was like while I waited for Ed to arrive. Mostly American movies and some Italian channels. I guess they cater to tourists. 

Ed: My flight from Entebbe was a short flight, made shorter by pilots who apparently had their foot on the gas and we arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule. I made my way through the airport and customs and caught a cab to the hotel just down the street. 

We had made it! It was nearly 10 pm and we celebrated our arrival with some pizza and beer outside in the covered courtyard as a light rain fell.

After travelling nearly 10,000 miles halfway around the globe, after six weeks of planning, booking, and coordinating logistics, we both made it to Nairobi on schedule and in good health. It was a miracle.

Cheers!

-Ed & Greg