What to expect in the Masai Mara

The Masai Mara National Reserve is undisputedly Kenya’s most famous wildlife destination. Its rock-solid reputation as a must-see for every safari goer has been built up over decades and rests on two chief elements: the ease of spotting game and the Great Wildebeest Migration.

The game is easy to find here not only because its numbers are rising thanks to successful conservation measures but also because the landscape is flat and open, allowing you to scan the horizon for a tell-tale ‘lump’ or shadow that turns out to be anything from a topi to a cheetah. This open flatness is also why two million ungulates, primarily made up of blue wildebeest with a smattering of plains zebra, pass through every year in search of fresh grazing, making up what is called ‘the greatest show on earth’.

The landscape lends itself to excellent game spotting – all you need is the best pair of binoculars you can get your hands on.

What is the Masai Mara like?
The Mara has a fairly consistent landscape of open grasslands. This is classic ‘savannah’ country with golden grass, blue skies, and the occasional tree. There is riverine forest along the Mara River but it is unlikely you will venture into it unless you stay there– we floated over the treetops in a hot-air balloon.

There is a steep escarpment that rises up out of the plains – luxurious lodges like Angama Mara have been built here to make the most of the sweeping views (just remember that, the higher you are, the longer the drive down onto the plains to see game).

The Mara is a national reserve that belongs to the Maasai people (who speak the Maa language) rather than a national park. This means that the land has villages and you will see herders taking their impressive herds of Maasai cattle to drink. Yes, you will see ‘warriors’ (known as ‘moran’) dressed in their traditional red finery, happily chatting on mobile phones and updating their Facebook pages. This is an ancient land but not one where time has stood still.

The Mara North Conservancy is a dedicated private area that borders the reserve. It offers a more exclusive and private game-viewing experience than the reserve and is worth considering if you are keen photographer or avid safari goer.

In the conservancy you can undertake nature walks, night drives and go off-roading to get closer to sightings – activities not permitted in the reserve.

Travel Tips

Below are items to bring on safari based on weather and climatic conditions. Almost all safari supplies needed can be bought in one of the big towns or cities near destinations visited. Technologies such as cameras, binoculars and tablets should purchased prior to traveling, because the price for them might be twice in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya & Tanzania than in the US or UK.

Clothing

When packing your clothing, pack as little as possible. The climate in sub-Sahara Africa East Africa is moderate to warm throughout the year. The long rainy season is March-May, the short rainy is November-December, and the rest time of the year is summer. You should pack sun hat, sun creams and screens, both long and short pants, light cotton clothing that covers all of your body, insect and mosquito repellant, warm clothing such as light sweater and trousers at night and fleece and rain jacket during the rainy season.

While in the bush, you are advised to wear colorless clothing that provides camouflage in the natural environment so as not scare the animals. The most preferred colors are: gray, light green, light brown or any pale color and if trekking the mountain gorillas, bring gloves.

Medical Items and Vaccines

Although our  jeeps have first aid kits, we suggest you also bring your own medical kit including a pain killer, diarrhea ’stoppers’, antihistamine for allergy relief, tweezers, scissors, band aids, sunscreen / sun cream, antiseptic for cuts, lip balm, and insect repellent spray or jelly. Deet is a great product to repel mosquitoes. You should also bring personal sanitary items such as toothbrush, toothpaste, contact lens, and other toiletries. Please buy your own travel insurance from your home country.
Vaccinations and Inoculations: Routine vaccines for African travel include protection against chickenpox, measles, polio, influenza, measles, diphtheria, mumps and rubella, pertussis, and tetanus. A traveler must consult a travel medicine clinic or personal doctor before your travel to receive right inoculations. When traveling to Africa vaccines needed include hepatitis A and B, yellow fever typhoid. When traveling to some countries in sub-Sahara countries, a yellow fever certificate is required. There is a high risk for hepatitis B in sub-Saharan Africa, when visitors get in close proximity to animals in the African bush. Therefore, pre-exposure vaccinations are recommended. There is no vaccine to fight against malaria so consult your doctor or travel clinic to prescribe the specific anti-malaria medication.

Electronic Items and Technologies

Phone: Get unlock phone (if locked) prior to your safari and just buy a SIM card for around $2 as soon as you arrive. The local SIM card will enable you to communicate locally, make local calls, send text messages, and receive international calls.
Bring power adapters using a square plug, as most electrical outlets in East Africa are the kind used in the UK.
Camera with film, memory cards and USB devices for transferring information will help you preserve all of your memories in Africa. Please bring flashlight and batteries.

Passport and Visa

Make sure to bring travel documents such a passport, Visa(s), travel insurance, credit cards, plane tickets, passport photos, and cash for Visa’s.

Money Issues

Spread out your money so you never carry all of it in one pocket. This is for security purpose. Your expenditure will determine how much you should have in you brought with you. Vistream Tours and Travel company  covers the cost of all accommodations, meals and transportation expenses, except for items not mentioned in your safari package. You should have cash available for tips.
Banks and ATM’s are available in all major town and cities.

Food

Vistream Tours and Travel company offers various kinds of food options, including vegetarian meals. All special meals must be communicated in advance. Bottled mineral water is provided for all meals. Travelling in sub-Sahara can create dehydration, so you need to drink plenty of water. Bottle water is sold at your accommodations and lodging restaurants.

 

Full List of National Parks in Uganda

Uganda tours , pearl land safaris

Tourism in Uganda is growing day by day and with the increasing number of international tourists that fly In to Uganda. Many have never taken time to find out how many National parks are found in Uganda. Uganda is covered by 10 National parks in various different parts of Uganda. With at least each National park having a centre piece of attraction these has helped various people to learn and differentiate all the 10 National parks in Uganda. As the outline below will indicate all that you can find in the parks and the activities you can carry out while in the National parks.

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Message from the Director/Consultant

Dear traveller, our holidays are not that complex for you not to understand. Travelling to countries mentioned is a fact that, we are travelling with you and we are your tour guide as well. If you are within the midland area namely Leicester or within the midlands in general then, chances are we will have to meet and plan your affordable holiday.

This is what you do as a group, buddies or families:-
1. Choose when you ( Both ) would want to travel.
2. Where would you want to travel to?
3. Your travel budget.
4. We will do the rest for you and believe we will be the cheapest.
5. All the monies go for the construction of schools in the villages.
6. That Simple!

Regards,

Mike Otieno

Gorilla Trekking in Uganda

This is also known as the highlight of any safari in Uganda and they are found in Bwindi impenetrable national park and in Mgahinga national park. There are over 14 gorilla families which are open to tourists to be visited. There are only 80 gorilla permits available to tourists on a daily basis in Uganda. This makes it easy for gorilla trackers to find permits toad at least visit one of the gorilla families.

Gorilla permits to view these endangered species are given out by Uganda Wildlife authority (UWA) and incase a client misses out on getting a permit, AUTO as an association takers the responsibility to always avail its members with important information about the availability of gorilla permits on specific dates.

Bwindi impenetrable has also got some chimpanzees and monkeys as part of its primate species. There are also many other tourist activities that can be enjoyed apart from the mountain gorilla trekking, some of these include; visit to the pygmies, golden monkey tracking, game viewing, guided nature walks, volcano climbing as well as bird watching. The other species of mountain gorillas can be found in volcanoes national park of Rwanda and also in Virunga national park of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Amboseli National Park

The Amboseli National Park is situated in the Kajiado District, of the Rift Valley Province in Kenya on the border with Tanzania. It is considered to be one of the top safari destinations in Africa and is famous for its landscape, dotted with African wildlife, with the majestic snow capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in the background and is one of the best places in Africa to view large herds of elephants up close.

Amboseli is known for its big skies and far horizons combined with swampy springs and dry and dusty earth trampled by hundreds of animals. The name Amboseli, comes from a Maasai word meaning “salty dust”

Amboseli has an endless underground water supply filtered through thousands of feet of volcanic rock, from Kilimanjaro’s ice cap, which funnels into two clear water springs in the heart of the park. However, the climatic pendulum often swings from drought to flood, as seen in the 1990’s where ceaseless rain turned Amboseli into a swamp, then a few years later the rains failed and the grass covered plains turned into dust.

Getting There

Amboseli Airport is located inside the Amboseli National Park, but some of the lodges have their own private airstrips.

Amboseli National Park lies 240 km (150 miles) from Nairobi. Travel along the Nairobi/ Arusha road via Namanga and enter the park through the Meshanani Gate. An alternate route is to travel the Mombasa route – this means you will enter Amboseli through the Tsavo West National Park by the Kimana Gate.

Amboseli Highlights and Attractions

  • Magnificent herds of large tusked elephants.
  • Picturesque Mount Kilimanjaro.
  • Home to the Big 5
  • An observation hill allowing an overall view of the whole park especially the swamps and elephant herds.
  • Amboseli has five different habitats ranging from the dried-up bed of Lake Amboseli, wetlands with sulphur springs, the savannah and woodlands.
  • Visit the local Maasai community who live around the park and experience their authentic culture.

The Experience

The Park is mostly arid, but has several permanent springs which feed three swamps which provide life giving water for the animals. Most of the large mammals such as Elephants, Buffalo and Hippo are found around the swamps.

The swamps are surrounded by open savannah plains. Amboseli is known for its easy game viewing due to the open nature of its landscape, making for great photographic opportunities.

In the park you can enjoy self-drive or guided game drives. Private conservancies on the edge of the park offer walk safaris, horseback safaris and hot air ballooning.