Staff: 25 - Guests: 6

After landing on a dirt runway (yes, but recently renovated: longer, winder, and smoother) - we took a 30 minutes drive through safari-land to the Royal Mara Lodge Located In Masai Mara. We saw giraffes and other wonders (and this wasn't even technically a "game drive." But, who am I to stop nature from doing its thing on its own timetable.

Wow!

Edward, our driver, told us that our hotel (which usually accommodates 160 people during peak season - July/August) was a running a bit under occupancy. Apparently, no one got the word (from the pilot) that Kenya is still a wonderful, safe, and beautiful place to visit this time of year (or simply - this year).

It made for a very odd experience, having a hotel staff that outnumbered the guests 4 to 1! Even so, I'm not complaining. It meant that instead of a buffet - we got gourmet meals hand prepared by the head chef (and wow - those meals were some of the best I've had - ever). Also, out on Safari - we avoided the "safari experience" of being in a line to see the animals. Instead of 20+ vans of people cruising around looking for lions, hippose, rhinos, etc... there were 3 (maybe 4). We had the land to ourselves and had a bast!

Anyhow - to repeat. Now is the time to Safari in Kenya!


Notice how empty the pool is.