Safaris. I'm undecided. Having a love hate relationship with them after a week of tours.
Don't get me wrong seeing the animals is amazing and I loved it. But the method to the madness is questionable. Maybe my expectations are where it all went wrong but I expected a serene experience in a nice jeep with a couple of others where we all stayed quiet so as not to scare the animals. Instead I got a packed, rattling minibus stuffed with 9 people including two French women who talked literally non-stop throughout the trip, a bloke constantly making noises at the animals to get them to look at him, a blaring cb radio and the Nokia ringtone going incessantly from the driver's phone. This atmosphere was just so at odds with our surroundings.
Let's take a minute to explain the CB radio. All the safari vans are hooked up to it so they can communicate with each other as to where the animals are. The result - 20/30 vans descending on the poor unfortunate animal in question and seeing who can get their van the closest to it. Myself, I prefer to use zoom and give them some space.
Saying that I feel like a bit of a hypocrite as I loved seeing all the animals and constantly had the camcorder in hand to record the memories. We were lucky enough to have had one day with just myself and Ronan in the van so that was a great experience because we went off the beaten track and went a couple of hours without even seeing another tourist van. From what I have seen luxury safaris are the only way to do it in Kenya (so you have full control of where to go and what to do), budget safaris really suck! We have had amazing experiences on this trip but I think it could have been better minus a couple of other people in the van and a couple of hundred less in the Masai Mara!
In hindsight, I still wouldn't have done a different holiday as these incredible memories and experiences are something I will have forever but it's just a pity at how commercialised parts of it are.
I also think there is a problem with Kenya where they just look at tourists as a walking wad of cash, this isn't just a safari issue though. Even in the tiny, remote Maasai villages when a tourist van passes, the smallest of kids come running with their hands out for money! Everyone asks so 'what did you bring me from your country?' When we were chatting to one bloke he asked what did we bring him, which then translated to him wanting a coin from Ireland but we didn't have any. Then a note and we said no. Then it just turned into him straight out asking for dollars or Kenyan schillings! Basically begging although he didn't look especially poor and definitely not homeless or anything. We have been to a lot of countries and I haven't felt like any other country is this blatant about tourists being such a cash cow. Tourism is one of their main industries but this is extremely off-putting to most normal tourists and is something people have been giving out about regarding Kenya as a holiday destination.
The tipping culture is also crazy where they recommend $3 - $5 per person per day for each staff member. In the Maasai camp there were 4/5 people who could be classed as working there so if we were follow that rule we would have tipped $120 between the two of us for the first 3 nights alone before tipping the guide!
Don't get me wrong seeing the animals is amazing and I loved it. But the method to the madness is questionable. Maybe my expectations are where it all went wrong but I expected a serene experience in a nice jeep with a couple of others where we all stayed quiet so as not to scare the animals. Instead I got a packed, rattling minibus stuffed with 9 people including two French women who talked literally non-stop throughout the trip, a bloke constantly making noises at the animals to get them to look at him, a blaring cb radio and the Nokia ringtone going incessantly from the driver's phone. This atmosphere was just so at odds with our surroundings.
Let's take a minute to explain the CB radio. All the safari vans are hooked up to it so they can communicate with each other as to where the animals are. The result - 20/30 vans descending on the poor unfortunate animal in question and seeing who can get their van the closest to it. Myself, I prefer to use zoom and give them some space.
Saying that I feel like a bit of a hypocrite as I loved seeing all the animals and constantly had the camcorder in hand to record the memories. We were lucky enough to have had one day with just myself and Ronan in the van so that was a great experience because we went off the beaten track and went a couple of hours without even seeing another tourist van. From what I have seen luxury safaris are the only way to do it in Kenya (so you have full control of where to go and what to do), budget safaris really suck! We have had amazing experiences on this trip but I think it could have been better minus a couple of other people in the van and a couple of hundred less in the Masai Mara!
In hindsight, I still wouldn't have done a different holiday as these incredible memories and experiences are something I will have forever but it's just a pity at how commercialised parts of it are.
I also think there is a problem with Kenya where they just look at tourists as a walking wad of cash, this isn't just a safari issue though. Even in the tiny, remote Maasai villages when a tourist van passes, the smallest of kids come running with their hands out for money! Everyone asks so 'what did you bring me from your country?' When we were chatting to one bloke he asked what did we bring him, which then translated to him wanting a coin from Ireland but we didn't have any. Then a note and we said no. Then it just turned into him straight out asking for dollars or Kenyan schillings! Basically begging although he didn't look especially poor and definitely not homeless or anything. We have been to a lot of countries and I haven't felt like any other country is this blatant about tourists being such a cash cow. Tourism is one of their main industries but this is extremely off-putting to most normal tourists and is something people have been giving out about regarding Kenya as a holiday destination.
The tipping culture is also crazy where they recommend $3 - $5 per person per day for each staff member. In the Maasai camp there were 4/5 people who could be classed as working there so if we were follow that rule we would have tipped $120 between the two of us for the first 3 nights alone before tipping the guide!
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