Hi Alex,
You are honestly not going to believe this, but I have literally just sat down to start typing a message to you when yours came through! We arrived back early yesterday morning, came home, had a shower and went straight to work – brutal but the best way to slot into a normal routine and get over the jet lag.
We cannot thank you enough for all your help with arrangements, and your patience with all our questions. Without a shadow of a doubt this has been the trip of a lifetime! It was short, but felt like we were away for months – yet neither of us wanted to come home and could’ve quite happily have stayed in the Serengeti 🙂 We cannot fault the arrangements – transfers were smooth, accommodation was brilliant and the people very friendly and attentive. Really appreciate your help with the extra night hotel stay after Kili – we could’ve stayed another night at Mweka camp, however the shower and soft bed was most welcome 🙂
This might sound a little bit nonchalant / arrogant, but we didn’t find Kili that challenging – apart from summit night. It was at the end of Day 2 when we spoke with the guides about the upcoming days and they said based on our fitness and pace the walks for the next couple of days would only be about an hour a day. We struggled with the decision overnight and the morning of Day 3 decided to divert and join the Machame route. Absolutely no regrets as Day 4 was both our favourites – climbing the Baranco Wall and the Lava Tower. I think the altitude of the Lava Tower (hike high, sleep low) help with our acclimatisation – thankfully neither of us felt the effects of it. But summit night was still a big challenge, and we were both so relieved to have made it to the top.
The Serengeti was superb! We both fell in love with Grumeti Tented Camp – the setting and layout of the camp is nice and intimate and just beautiful. The hippos add a great touch to it, even though a bit scary when they brush past the tents at night. We were very fortunate to have seen the migration at both camps in the end too! Talk about being lucky!
I will be writing photography based blogs on the different portions of the trips, and will send them over as soon as they are done. Although it may take a while – I downloaded around 4,000 photos last night, and now need to make the selections for editing…
We will be definitely doing more Africa trips in the (hopefully very) near future and will 100% be in touch about it – the Serengeti is on our radar again, as well as Namibia and Botswana…
Let us know how and where is best for us to submit a review for you 🙂
Warm wishes,
Bernard & Nick
EXTRAORDINARY AFRICA 