Our last day - we have been away a month and now have to start our journey back to the UK and prepare ourselves for cooler climes.
We left Sayari, having had a packed lunch thrust into our hands, and went to the airstrip with one of the pilots,who had arrived the previous evening, for the Coastal air 1000 am flight. After a slight confusion - with people thinking we were on the Coastal air flight - we checked our itinerary and found we were on the Regional air flight; the pilot hadn't stayed overnight but arrived and left on time. We had 3 stops - in the central Serengeti, Lake Manyara and Arusha as we flew via Ngorogoro crater to Kilimanjaro. On the tarmac at Arusha we were reunited with Dan and Hiroko as we both changed planes and caught different flights to Kilimanjaro. Our pilot to Kilimanjaro said it was a 15 minute journey - well actually it was 13 minutes but people didn't like that number so they rounded it up to 15! So 12 minutes 59 seconds later we touched down!
We decided to take a taxi to Kia lodge - only a kilometre down the road - it was a nice place to relax - have a coffee and a snack and catch up on emails with their free wifi. Albeit the taxi cost us $10 to the lodge the return to the airport was gratis, and done by the lodge, - as I was expecting a $10 charge I gave it to the very helpful driver - which made him smile broadly!
Summary:
We had a great wildlife and hospitality experience at the combination of sister lodges - owned by Asilia- in the Masai Mara and Serengeti. The light air flights and border crossing were superbly managed and made the transfer between the two countries and camps relatively effortless - brilliant.
We would definitely go back to both - to go during the height of the migration where the plains are full of wildebeest would be an experience - particularly as we now know there are more River Mara crossing points in Tanzania than in Kenya. Having seen the river in both countries the Mara, in Tanzania,seems to have more boulders and rapid type areas than I remember in Kenya. Also the fact that there are only a few lodges in the Serengeti means you do not feel you are jostling with others for good views of crossings.
Naibosho - as a conservancy means similarly that there are only a few lodges in a vast area so again you have a relaxed wildlife experience. We were surprised by the volume and variety of animals living in the Conservancy - we definitely saw as much if not more than we have seen when visiting the Mara National Park previously.
The added bonuses are the fly camping at Naibosho - a must do - and talking to, and going out with, the lion researcher - a novel and illuminating experience - knowing the $25 per person you pay for the experience actually goes to his research is very heartening.
The walking at Sayari would I am sure be good - and if we return we will do it - hopefully the ranger will be well then!
No criticisms at all about our 6 nights - John thought it was his best birthday present ever and for the whole 7 days I could not wipe the smile off his face - a recommendation indeed!
Today's picture is one of the many I took at the wildebeest crossing we were lucky enough to see.