{"id":11599,"date":"2023-02-15T11:19:20","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T11:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/?p=11599"},"modified":"2025-09-02T08:53:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T07:53:10","slug":"african-safari-diaries-a-tailor-made-kenyan-safari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/african-safari-diaries-a-tailor-made-kenyan-safari\/","title":{"rendered":"African Safari Diaries: A Tailor Made Kenyan Safari"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">On this edition of African Safari Diaries we hear all about Isabel and her family&#8217;s Kenyan Safari. Kenya is a very special destination to Isabel and her husband as its where they spent their honeymoon, and they have returned to East Africa multiple times since!<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">They had a bespoke safari curated to suit their perfect holiday. We hope you enjoy reading all about it.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div><strong>1.\u00a0 What has drawn you back to East Africa for safaris (and Kenya on this occasion)?\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>We have done previous safaris in Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, but we are constantly drawn back to Kenya for the prolific wildlife and the friendliness of everyone we meet. We have been visiting Kenya since our honeymoon over 30 years ago, and our children\u00a0 (now adults) love it too. This was our 8th visit to Kenya.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div><strong>2.\u00a0 How did you hear about Somak Luxury Travel and what made you choose us over other tour operators?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>We chose Somak because they could tailor make the exact holiday we wanted with no compromises on length of stay or choice of accommodation. They also came recommended to us by others. The prices were very competitive which was important for our daughter, who was on a fixed budget.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive aligncenter wp-image-11600 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IMG_3123.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" \/><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div><strong>3.\u00a0 Where did you stay whilst on your trip and what was your favourite property?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">We stayed at The Aberdares Country Club, The Ark, Serena Sweetwaters Camp, lake Elementeita Serena Camp, Mara Serena Lodge and Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge. Our favourite property is Sweetwaters Tented Camp. Wonderful tents overlooking a busy water hole. Fabulous game drives in Ol Pejeta Conservancy with abundant wildlife, and superb service from all the Serena staff.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive aligncenter wp-image-11603 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IMG_3347-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div><strong>4.\u00a0 What were your highlights from your trip?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">Every day seemed to bring a new highlight to the trip. Large prides of lions, huge flocks of flamingoes and pelicans, tiny lion cubs, a bush baby peering at us through a thatched roof, an aardvark strolling in the dark, a giraffe blocking the dirt road for 20 minutes. Eating a sandwich whilst fending off baboons at a picnic site.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive aligncenter wp-image-11602 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IMG_3195-rotated.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IMG_3195-rotated.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IMG_3195-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div><strong>5.\u00a0 Any advice or tips for anyone thinking of going on a similar trip or a safari?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">Take a good pair of binoculars. Try and spend as long as possible in each location. An overnight stay simply isn\u2019t enough and driving distances are long. We would have happily spent a week at both Ol Pejeta and the Masai Mara. Remember to look at all the wildlife &#8211; the birds and butterflies are superb, the landscapes stunning. Don\u2019t go simply to tick off the big 5. There is so much more to see.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive aligncenter wp-image-11604 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/VioletBackedStarling_Kenya0123-GS.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"213\" \/><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">But the one thing that made our trip truly exceptional was our Somak guide Martin Weru. A guide like Martin makes your trip into an unforgettable experience &#8211; he is simply the best!<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p><strong>A snapshot of their bespoke itinerary:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2 Nights Aberdares: 1 Night Aberdare Country Club and 1 Night Ark Lodge \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>4 Nights Sweet waters Serena Camp<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>1 Nights Lake Elementeita Serena Camp<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>4 Nights Mara Serena Safari Lodge<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>3 Nights Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Full Board<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Game Drive Lake Nakuru Lodge<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>All Transfers Included<\/li>\n<li>All Park fees, game drives<\/li>\n<li>AMREF Flying Doctors<\/li>\n<li>\u202fFor each booking Somak will donate \u00a320 per person to the Mara Rianda Charitable Trust<\/li>\n<li>Return International Flights Kenya Airways from London Heathrow.<\/li>\n<li>Includes Airport tax and fuel surcharges. Regional airport supplement applies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Price From\u00a0<strong>\u00a34199pp<\/strong><br \/>\nOur Ref\u00a0<strong>58645<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you would like to book a similar trip get in touch and our experienced sales consultants would be delighted to craft it for you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><em>All photos credited to Isabel Standen.<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On this edition of African Safari Diaries we hear all about Isabel and her family&#8217;s Kenyan Safari. Kenya is a very special destination to Isabel and her husband as its where they spent their honeymoon, and they have returned to East Africa multiple times since! They had a bespoke safari curated to suit their perfect [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":11600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[603,604],"tags":[69,53,1011,583,26,1010],"class_list":["post-11599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-african-safari-diaries","category-inspiration-africa","tag-adventure","tag-africa","tag-curated","tag-kenya","tag-safari","tag-tailormade"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IMG_3123.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11599"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11647,"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11599\/revisions\/11647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somak.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}