Not Just a Holiday, A Great Family Adventure

The Smith family contacted us looking for a real adventure that they could enjoy together as a summer holiday. We suggested flying in small planes between three small lodges and camps. The camps we chose are on private reserves which enabled them to enjoy a wider variety of activities and in relative privacy, a long way from crowds and minibuses.

16 hours after taking off from London, they were in the heart of Africa at Sabuk Lodge. “Tranquil, beautiful, brilliant” was the verdict. “The guide Tsay was fantastic with the boys – made bows and arrows and spears, went on safari with camels.” The boys aged from 8 to 17 were looking forward to camping out in the bush, so after the first two nights at the lodge they headed out on foot with Tsay and a support team. Over the next two days the team set up a comfortable little camp, still with great food and facilities so they could enjoy safaris in a remote part of the reserve.

From there they were taken across the Central Highlands to Kicheche Laikipia camp, also on a big private reserve. There are 8,000 elephants in Laikipia and they will never forget finding a large family of elephants during a night drive by open vehicle. “We got so close that it made the hairs on our arms stand up!” They also enjoyed the chimpanzee sanctuary.

There are many things about Kenya that make it perfect for a family safari – the chance to meet the people, to enjoy all kinds of activities, magnificent scenery and of course millions of animals. The Smiths have literally thousands of photographs of elephants, lion, leopard, rhinoceros, giraffe, hippo – you name it, they saw it.

The safari part of the holiday ended with a couple of nights at Saruni Wild camp in the Mara. Although there are lots of animals in the Mara, this place was less of a success mainly because their guide was not as good as Tsay and the others, and didn’t communicate. After the family returned we immediately relayed our concerns to the owners who quickly made the necessary improvements. Having had several wonderful reports from returning clients since, Saruni Wild is once again one of our favourite properties in the Masai Mara.

For the last few days, it was off to the beach to the Namatoa Villa at Kinondo Kwetu. They said “an excellent place to chill. A wonderful place where we all did scuba diving.”

Just as the safari lodges are private and remote, so is Kinondo Kwetu which has its own private beach on the long sunny sandy Kenya coast. As the owners say “there’s no pumping music at the pool, no noise from crowds at the bar. No jostling for space on the beach. Kinondo Kwetu is a home”

Contact us today to begin planning a holiday that your family will treasure.