Often when I tell people that I live in Africa, I’m met with the enthusiasm of “some day.” Someone will say to me, “wow, that’s amazing- I’ve been planning to go on, or I’ve always wanted to go on, or someday I am going to go on a safari in Africa.” It is always on the “bucket list.” But what if, that someday found it’s way into your current vacation planning?

Last year, my parents came to visit me in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. And although there are Safari experiences in Ethiopia, and National Parks are becoming more accessible with current development projects, the parks here are more targeted towards longstanding animal populations such as the elephant herds who graze Chebura Churchachurcha, National Park. So when they visited me and wanted to go on that luxury African Safari to hit the Big Five, we considered nearby destinations, deciding on Kenya for our Safari Experience.

There are many reasons why I believe Kenya to be one of the best places to go on a Luxury Safari, but if for no other reason that this, you will see and experience spectacular views of the animals that have always been on your bucket list. I cannot guarantee that you will see, The Big Five, although almost everyone I know who has done a similar Luxury Safari Trip has, but I can guarantee that your guide will do his or her best to ensure this is an experience of a lifetime.

Before I get into our own experience, I want to unpack the term “Luxury Safari” a bit. As someone who values a backpack, a tent, and a good pb & j sandwich for lunch, I was at first a bit thrown off by this concept of doing a safari in “luxury.” Before this one, I had done two other Safari experiences, one with self-catering accommodation but paid for game drives and the other a self-drive experience with a tent. I can tell you that it is very much possible not to do a luxury safari, and have an amazing time, see animals, and get close to nature. There are travelers for which I would not recommend a luxury safari.

But I can also share with you that luxury is not a bad thing. Luxury means having a driver that knows the roads, can plan for if a tire blows out in advance so you’re not waiting on the side of the road for hours at a time. Luxury means a planned itinerary with early rises in planned park locations to maximize your changes of seeing those rare animals and species you traveled so far to come see. Luxury means accommodation with running water, a working bathroom, and a mosquito net around your bed. Luxury also means not worrying about what you’re going to buy and prepare for dinner in a park that has extremely limited food options. Luxury is a term to describe a worry-free experience- Hakuna Matata. And thankfully, that’s what we had when I did a luxury safari with my parents- an unforgettable adventure that made it off the “bucket list.”

My mom found Banok Safari Bookings through a Google Search on her home computer in the United States. They were a young company with solid reviews from global travelers. They were friendly, communicative, and knowledgable about their packages. At first, I persuaded my mom to continue looking elsewhere believing that the best way to go would be booking directly through a resort itself. But when Banok Safari sent my mom the quote for a 5 night, 6 day Safari, even I couldn’t believe how affordable the package was, at less than $1800 usd per person. This included everything from an airport pick-up, full meal & board, transports between parks, gate fees/park fees at three of Kenya’s top National Parks and at least one game drive every single day. Considering that entrance to a National Park alone in Kenya can be up $50- $100 a day for a foreigner, this price seemed extremely reasonable.

When we landed in Nairobi on the first Saturday morning of our school’s Spring Break- My mom, my dad, my boyfriend, and myself. We were greeted at the airport by a driver from the Safari Booking Company who took us to our accommodation in Nairobi for the night, an add-on we had requested to give us some time to settle in and maximize our Safari days by beginning Sunday morning. We stayed at, The Heron Hotel, a charming place in the center of Nairobi, easily accessible to many attractions. After an evening of exploration and meeting up with some good friends of ours that used to work in Addis and now live and work in Nairobi, we went to sleep early to prepare for our early rise adventure.

Eric, our guide, picked us up the next morning to begin the adventure of a lifetime. The first stop on our all-inclusive trip was at Masa Mara National Park, a roughly 5 hours drive west of Nairobi. Here was stayed at the beautiful Mara Simba Lodge, located just outside of the park entrance. Masa Mara boasts broad, open plains, and expansive territory for game viewing. Our lodge was nested into the brush on a edge of a river, a different feel than the tall grass that awaited us on the game drives. This proved to be an excellent contrast, as the animals that made each environment their home were different and there were sightings to be had in both locations. While at Masa Mara National Park we were lucky enough to witness a pride of lions eating their evening meal, cheetahs hunting in a pack, a leopard taking a daytime nap, and hippos resting on a shore of the river (among other animals). It was enough to make you think wow, even if I had just seen this for the whole trip I would be content . . . but there was a lot more to see!

After two days at Masa Mara, we headed north to Lake Nakuru, known for its large white and black rhino populations, endangered rothschild giraffes and pink flamingos. On our ride to drop our things at our accommodation, Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge, inside the park, we spotted many a water buffalo grazing by the lake. Our evening drive that night met all our expectations- male lions snoozing in the grass (we had seen both female lions and cubs at Masa Mara), rothsfield giraffes crossing our paths, and a rhino sighting right by our vehicle. We later debated whether this was a white rhino or a black rhino, each having memories of our guide saying one or the other. My dad says the only thing he didn’t see that he wishes he had on the trip was the other species of rhino.

Four days in to our Safari, and we already the spotted the Big Five. What we didn’t know until Eric began talking about our next location, Amboseli National Park, was that this park is known for it’s elephant herds. We had seen several herds of elephants at Masa Mara, but nothing compares to seeing these magnificent creatures walking in families with Mt. Kilimanjaro looming on the horizon. The big event to behold each evening at Amboseli National Park is the “elephant crossing.” Eric explained to us that each night all of the animals in the park leave and sleep on the outskirts of the land at night. The next morning, they all make their journey back into the park in search of food. Tourists gather on the roads close to the park exits in the evening time to get that perfect picture of the elephants, adults and little ones, crossing the road underneath the mountain. We stayed 2 nights at Amboseli National Park, inside of the park at Ol Tukai Lodge. This lodge’s incredible location allows for travelers to sight animals directly from the lodge grounds.

We bookended our trip staying one more night at The Heron Hotel in Nairobi, before departing from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

This blog post was meant to be a summary, not a detailed account of our Luxury Safari experience. If there was room for detail, I may have dove into our full-board meal menus inclusive of local cuisine, pasta made on a hot skillet, and Indian fare. If this was a detailed account, I may have included more about the walking spots you can stop at in various parks, such as the Observation Hill in Amboseli or the river walk with a ranger in Masa Mara. If this was a detailed account, I would have provided you more details on how to bring enough water, not expecting many public toilets, and bargaining at the souvenir break stops. This was meant to be a summary for inspiration . . .

Stop saying someday. When you could book the trip today.