Africa Month :: Glamping

[trip style = glamping + safari]

{Editor's Note :: Every Friday this month, I'm featuring a different element of my trip to the Masai Mara. Last week: Getting There. Next week: Safari Time!}

The Baboon That Couldn't My face-off with a baboon only made my stay in a villa-like canvas tent more authentic...

As I was hurriedly getting ready to leave for the afternoon safari drive, I left the front zipper of my tent open. This is not a huge deal seeing as the grounds were safe and mostly secure, but that particular day a baboon decided it wanted to live in the lap of luxury too. I don't blame him (at least I think it was a 'he'), glamping is an experience.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him fast approaching the opening in the front of my tent, and in a feat gymnastic prowess I don't normally posses, I launched myself toward the zipper and lowered it in one fell swoop. With my heart pumping and knees bruised, the baboon and I stared each other down through the tent's heavy mesh windows.

I'm not sure what would have occurred if the baboon and I had shared the canvas quarters, but I'm glad the encounter was not intimate.

Glamping In The Masai Mara {After cleaning our faces and hands with the cool towels and sipping fresh mango juice, we checked into our glamping experience by way of the lodge, pictured above.}

{Loved the lodge's rustic-meets-high-end African decor.}

{A close-up of the artwork lining the wall in the last picture.}

{Walking past the lodge's pool to get to our tent.}

{My kind of tenting!}

{View to river below from our tent's deck.}

{Neighbors lurking below our tent. I wasn't aware that hippos are funny animals, but they are hilarious. They create a symphony of grunting, snorting and whistling noises to the point where you'd burst out laughing. At night the noise didn't stop. Ear plugs came in handy once you'd had enough comic relief...}

{The sitting area inside.}

{Apparently I was really excited about glamping. The bathroom and dressing area are through the hanging beads on either side of the bed.}

{The tent's bathroom and dressing quarters.}

{About to go into dinner in the lodge.}

[images by @tripstyler & @nate_fri]

Africa Month :: Jambo!

[trip style = safari]

The Masai Mara At this time last year my husband and I had the great fortune to go on safari in the Masai Mara---a continuation of Tanzania's Serengeti which runs into Kenya.

After attending a wedding in Nairobi, we hopped on a series of small, low-flying planes over the African plains... Nausea tried to set in, but peering out my small window at families of elephants running beneath seemed to remedy the motion sickness.

Overwhelmed by the experience, landing on a dirt runway did me in. Getting off the plane, tears flooded my eyes. Was I really in a land where animals I've only seen in zoos or read about in Nat Geo walk free? Whisked off to my lodge in a Land Cruiser, I was still in a semi-state of shock as momma and baby baboons trotted by...

Jambo An account of my journey from Nairobi to the Fairmont Masai Mara's grounds {see my hotel review here}. Each time I think of our arrival, the word "Jambo!"---"welcome" in Swahili---resounds in my mind. Every single time we entered the resort's front gates, the security guards would exuberantly welcome us with this warm and expressive word. What a way to begin a five-day adventure in the Masai Mara!

Every Friday for the rest of the month is about Kenya. This week: getting there, an adventure in and of itself!

Getting to the Masai Mara {Laminated Air Kenya boarding passes, the adventure started here. An hour later, we'd arrive.}

{Looking out the waiting area's window at our first plane....while holding my laminated boarding passes and reading about Air Kenya's safety record.}

{Boarding our first plane. Notice the UN World Food Program plane in the background.}

{When Air Kenya flies into the Masai Mara it's a milk run. Each party is dropped off at different runways coinciding with their resort's location. Here, our pilot is taking off for the last 10-min leg of our trip.}

{The quintissental tourist out-of-plane window shot, in anticipation of what's below.}

{No joke: the duty-free shop at our landing strip.}

{A special Masai welcome for my friend who just got married and was staying at a resort beside ours.}

{Arriving at our resort/home for the next five days.}

{Our transport/safari vehicle.}

{The resort's main entrance. We were greeted with warm towels and mango juice. So apropos.}

Tips for getting to the Masai Mara

• There are hundreds of resorts scattered throughout the Masai Mara.
• You'll either fly {up to a two-hour flight} or drive {six to seven hours} from Nairobi.
• If you fly, have your resort tell you the name of your specific airstrip. There are several, and you need to make sure you either a) book your flight to and from the right one and/or b) have your safari specialist travel agent book the right one.
• Depending on your final destination, you may take a few different planes and multiple small flight segments to reach your final destination.
• All flights for the Masai Mara depart from Wilson Airport {not Nairobi's International Airport}, about 20 mins from downtown Nairobi.
• It is advisable to work with a travel agent to book a secure, trusted transport to and from Wilson Airport.
• Travel smart in Nairobi: keep windows closed and doors locked at all times.

[images by @tripstyler and @nate_fri]