Amazing experience
We chose Deeper Africa from online reviews and Travel Magazine ratings. From the beginning of planning through the end of our trip they were there. All our guides were simply awesome. We spent our first day in Nairobi with David at the natural history museum. Hearing his experiences along the way enhanced our experience. The next morning and we headed to Samburu where Bernard Ole Koikai was waiting for us. He was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and flora on our first game drive to Elephant Watch Camp. Then we had another wonderful day at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. We spent the next three days at Ol Pejeta doing game drives with Bernard, his knowledge was excellent. Our last day was traveling back to Nairobi where we had the most amazing private experience at Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. We were happy to invite Bernard to share this experience with us. I would encourage everyone to book this experience as it was beyond amazing. Next to South Serengeti in Tanzania. The flights and transfers went flawlessly and we met up with Albert Nanyaro. Albert was so awesome. We talked and got to know him along the way to our camp and even spotted some lions within the first few minutes of our drive. Albert’s knowledge of this region was outstanding. Since we had already seen 4 of the Big 5 we tasked him with helping us spot a leopard. We came close, spotting tracks and a freshly eaten wildebeest hanging in a tree but they evaded us. We did have a very special siting of a mother lion with approximately 2-week-old cubs, along with the rest of the pride. We were so excited and loved that Albert was equally excited and even got emotional with us. We saw so many wonderful animals and met so many great people. We headed for central Serengeti after a few days and drove through a small portion of the great wildebeest migration. Never in my life did I imagine there could be so many animals in one place. Life changing experience. Upon entering the central Serengeti Park Albert spotted a leopard resting in a tree. We were so excited. We couldn't get close but it was still amazing. Task completed. Then I tasked Albert to find one I could get a great photo of. The game drive to our camp was long and we saw a whole new group of animals (hippo, crocodile, leopard, etc.) We loved seeing so many Lions. Sadly, we missed our one full day in the park due to illness. I only gave 4 stars because I couldn't get ahold of anyone to help during the night, including the camp host, Albert, or anyone at Deeper Africa in CO (we found out later that Albert didn't have cell service to answer) We made it through the illness but had to depart to head to Uganda. On our way to the airstrip Albert completed his second task and found another Leopard. This time it was close enough to get some great photos. We also found a pride of lions that had made a couple kills in the night and were full and very happily playing with each other. One female was chasing away the vultures and hyenas from the remains. It was time to part ways with Albert. We got to Entebbe to our connecting flight and met up with Richard Akol. We got to know him on the drive to Bwindi. He was very nice and very knowledgeable. The next day was our first trek to see Mountain Gorillas. It was so nice having Richard along with us for the entire adventure. We had a short walk from HQ and when we saw our first gorilla it was the most exciting, amazing and emotional experience. All the rangers, trackers and porters were so awesome. Another night brought more illness, but Richard was on the ball and brought a doctor and nurse from the local hospital to help. Feeling better we toured the hospital and visited Bicycle 4 Women. Amazing! Our second gorilla trek was extraordinary. In summary, all our guides, drivers, camps and camp staff were friendly and knowledgeable. The itinerary Deeper Africa put together for us included everything we ever dreamed of for our dream vacation.
By JB