Seeing Baby Animals During Our East African Safari

On September 21, 2021September 21, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Kenya, Tanzania4 Comments

Although not all baby animals are cute and adorable, the majority of them are and we saw plenty of them during our time in Kenya and Tanzania. Knowing that the number of people going on safari during these times of COVID restrictions, it must be even more fascinating to these baby animals when they come across humans for the first time. Sometimes they were curious about our presence, but for the most part, they didn’t even seem to notice that we were there. We enjoyed not only seeing the baby animals, but also watching their interactions with the rest of their families.

Mother and Baby Elephant in the Grassy Water

One of our first encounters with a young animal was during our time in Amboseli National Park where we came across a baby elephant who approached our Land Cruiser and raised his trunk to check out our scent. We saw many different baby elephants in the park and they were never very far from their caring mothers. Despite their size, the baby elephants are quite playful and are more agile than people might think. Watching the baby elephants as they played in the shallow lake was certainly quite fascinating. Every time that we saw baby animals, we couldn’t help but take lots of photographs, so we have many more than what we are sharing here.

Elephant Herd Crossing the Road in Front of Us

We saw several lion prides with adorable cubs who were quite the handful for their parents. Just like typical children, they would be affectionate one moment and then playfully pounce on a sibling the next. It is all part of learning the skills necessary to survive in such a harsh environment. We spent quite a bit of time just watching the interactions between the various members of the pride and it is certainly one of our fondest memories of the trip. Even as young lions, they are strikingly beautiful and have such expressive faces. Although they look like kittens that you might want to take home with you, they will grow up to be fierce predators.

Lioness and Cub Snuggling – One of Our Favorite Photographs

Similar to the elephants, baby hippos are much more sprite than what you might imagine. In fact, hippos in general are very agile and we lucked into to opportunity to see a whole herd of them charge down a riverbed to the pool below, which was truly amazing to see. Even a baby hippo is quite large, so they quickly grow to be pretty massive in their own right. Seeing them out of the water is the only way to get a true sense of their size as it can be deceiving when only seeing their nose and eyes protruding from the water.

Mother and Baby Hippo on the Shore of the Pond

Young White Rhino Still Growing into It’s Horn

We saw many different baby giraffes as we drove through and between all of the national parks. They are usually as graceful as the adults, but with their long legs, sometimes they were still getting used to walking on them. They were as equally fascinated with us as we were with them and we enjoyed watching them as they moved amongst the trees and bushes. As the giraffes get older, their coloring becomes more intense, but it is easy to distinguish a young giraffe as opposed to its adult counterpart who towers over them.

We saw many other baby animals during our trip, including rhinos, water buffaloes, baboons, birds, and many different antelope. Whenever we came across a baby animal, it was always a treat to watch them as they explored their world. In a place where survival can be difficult for a variety of reasons, those early years are so important for them to learn what to do and how to protect themselves. But clearly, when not in danger, they were just enjoying their youth and having fun.

Mingling with Giraffes at Sunset Near Amboseli National Park in Kenya

On September 10, 2021September 10, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Kenya5 Comments

We saw giraffes all throughout our time in Kenya and Tanzania, but our first encounters with them was in Amboseli National Park. Many of the giraffes that we saw weren’t actually in the parks themselves but outside of the parks where there were often more trees. Due to delays in our flight to Nairobi, we ended up getting to Amboseli at dusk and we ended up seeing our first giraffe with the sun setting behind the acacia trees. We were completely exhausted from being up for 48 hours, so we didn’t pull out our camera and capture the image. We did, however, have our guide, David, take us back out to the trees that surrounded our camp at sunset the following night in order to try and recreate the experience. We were lucky enough to see a family of giraffes amongst the trees as we watched an incredible sunset, one of many that we would end up seeing.

Many Giraffes Amongst Other Animals During the Day

One of the Young Giraffes with the Sunset in the Background

We’re sure that we drove our guide crazy as we had him move our Land Cruiser to different spots around the many giraffes that were enjoying a late dinner in order to catch them in different lighting and angles. At this point of our trip, we had no idea how many giraffes we would ultimately end up seeing, but the experience of watching the young giraffes with the sun setting in the background was certainly a highlight. We even got a photograph of a giraffe at sunrise on the following morning, which only added to our memories of Amboseli. Wherever we saw giraffes, it was clear that they kept a watchful eye on us to make sure that we didn’t move towards them, but that just gave us the opportunity to make eye-contact with them. It certainly made us wonder what they were thinking about us as we stood in our vehicle taking pictures of them.

The Very First Giraffe that We Saw on Our First Full Day

Staying at Lodges and Camps During Our Recent African Safari

On September 8, 2021September 8, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Kenya, Tanzania2 Comments

Needless to say, there are many different places to stay when going on a safari and those places are dependent on your guides and the price that you are willing to pay. We did what is considered a mid-tier safari, which is different than what you would expect from a luxury safari, but we found it to be more than adequate. The places that we stayed at varied as we traversed the migration path through the various national parks and reserves in Kenya and Tanzania. Some were in the parks themselves, some were just outside the parks, they included tents, lodges, and bungalows. They all had restaurants and a bar that served refreshments, but again the styles varied greatly.

Firepits Were Quite Common to Sit and Enjoy the Views

Our trip started with a two night stay at the Zebra Plains Amboseli Camp. As with many of the places where we stayed, you weren’t allowed to be out at dark without having one of the guards at the camp escorting you. We certainly understood why after our first night at the camp as we heard a hyena on our front porch and heard elephants and other animals as they made their way through the camp to the watering hole that was located next to the camp. Although the camp is technically located outside of the Amboseli National Park, there are no fences and the wildlife can be found outside of the park as much as inside. It certainly made for an excellent start to our safari adventure.

Home Grown Herbs at the Pamoja Africa Lodge

Cozy Fireplace and Sitting Area in Our Room at Bougainvillea Lodge

From Amboseli National Park, we headed to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. Although both locations are accessible from the same small town, we stayed at two different locations for the two nights that we spent there. The first was at the Pamoja Africa Lodge, which was definitely a change of pace from the tent at Amboseli. Because we were in a town, there wasn’t any wildlife at the lodges and the accommodations were closer to a hotel than some of the other places where we stayed. The second night we stayed at the Bougainvillea Lodge where we had more of a bungalow and even had a fireplace in our room that the staff lit for us. It was a level of comfort that we wouldn’t get again for a few days.

Sitting by the Firepit at Thorn Tree Camp

Sun Setting and the Restaurant Tent at Thorn Tree

Just One of the Sunsets from the Camp in the Serengeti National Park

Our Friendly Bartender at Thorn Tree Camp

Our next stop was to the heart of the Serengeti National Park where we would stay two nights at the Thorn Tree Camp. Located in the center of the park, this camp would definitely be more rustic than the previous two lodges. It didn’t mean that they didn’t try there best to make us comfortable and the staff were extremely nice. They set chairs up for us around the firepit where we could sit and watch the amazing sunsets. We saw several different animals wandering through the camp and could see herds of zebras and wildebeest from our tent. Being as secluded as we were, we were able to enjoy looking up at the night sky with all of the brilliant stars. We really felt like we were on safari while we stayed at Thorn Tree Camp.

View from Our Porch at Zebra Plains Mara Camp

Firepit and Amazing Views of Maasai Mara from the Camp

Maasai Warriors Performing at the Camp

Path to Our Tent at Zebra Plains Mara Camp

After leaving the Serengeti National Park, we headed north to the Maasai Mara where we would spend two nights at Zebra Plains Mara Camp, which is a sister property to the Zebra Plains Amboseli Camp. After the couple of days in the tents in the Serengeti, it was quite refreshing to stay at the camp in Maasai Mara. Not only was the staff extremely friendly, the Maasai warriors even gave us a demonstration of their traditional warrior dances and songs. We were still surrounded by wildlife and we had a water buffalo who decided to feed outside of our tent and just after we went to bed on the first night,and a leopard decided to wander through the restaurant. Although we weren’t required to have an escort after dark, there were warriors posted all around the camp to ensure that everyone was safe.

Restaurant with an Amazing View at Lake Nakuru

Inside Restaurant at the Lake Nakuru Lodge

On our last two nights, we were treated to a couple of locations that were more upscale than staying at the camps in the parks. First we stayed at the Lake Naivasha Country Club where we relaxed and simply enjoyed the beautiful scenery. There were views of the lake and antelopes and zebras wandered the grounds. There was a large buffet for both dinner and breakfast where you could find a wide variety of offerings. Our last night was spent at the Lake Nakuru Lodge, which was truly a wonderful way to end our safari. Not only does the lodge have everything that you could want, including a pool, but the staff was extremely friendly and helpful. The views of the lake from our room and the wildlife wandering all around us made it one of our favorite places that we stayed at during the ten night safari trip.