It is bittersweet to be departing the Maasai Mara National Park, and Kenya, for our next stop, the Serengeti of Tanzania. We’ve had wonderful time in Kenya, have seen 22 new animals and birds and met many kind and hospitable people. Before we move to Tanzania; a shout out and appreciation to Mara Crossing Camp where we have stayed for the last three nights. And a special acknowledgement and thanks to our guide Ken, from Shadows of Africa.

We started the day with a drive to the local airstrip, Musiara, where we boarded our first plane. As your plane landed on the dirt runway, we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the plane. While it was still a prop, it seated 38 people and even had a flight attendant. As there was no “terminal” or scale – we did not have to weigh our bags and we all were relieved. This was an Air Kenya “regional plane”, meaning it makes many stops. We landed, debarked and embarked passengers and took off again three times, before reaching our destination airport, Migori Airstrip. There we deplaned, and were transferred to a bus to take us across the border into Tanzania. The immigration process, out of Kenya and into Tanzania, took about 45 minutes. Our Tanzania visas were taken and we reboarded the bus to our next airstrip.

At Magena Airstrip, we boarded a Regional Air flight, a subsidiary of Air Kenya. We took off and landed again – though this time we had to deplane and stand on the runway, while the plane was refueled. Back on board, we had two more “segments” before we reached our final destination, Kogatende Airstrip. There we met our Shadows of Africa guide, Zamoo, for our 2-hour drive to our camp in the Serengeti. Needless to say, it was a long day of travel.

Along the way to our third accommodation of the trip, Baobab Camp, we caught the end of a Wildebeest crossing of the Mara River. As we were late to the spectacle, we did not have the best view but we could see the animals in the river, which was awesome. We also had two close encounters – first with a herd of elephants that came very close to our jeep, and later, a herd of giraffes, including their amazing long eye lashes. We also saw a Black Mambo snake, in the road, very close to our camp. We were told if you get bit by this one, you will be dead in 30 minutes. Yikes!

Tomorrow: Balloon ride and Northern Serengeti National Park.

Recommended: Mara Crossing Camp, Serena, Kenya, https://maracrossingscamp.com, +254 729 329488