Tent camp site Kenya
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The Campsite For Our Safari

Camping would be the appropriate lodging for a safari, I thought. Sure, there are options where you can spend thousands of dollars for a “luxury” safari experience; but to me, that would seem to — the point about going on a safari in the first place.

Even though there are two lodging options from which you could choose through Nomad Africa Adventure Tours pertaining to this the tour on which I participated — a camping option and an “accommodated” option, which cost approximately $85.00 more — all participants of the safari get the same accommodations at this campsite, where two of the three nights are spent. I will cover the third night in a future article.

After being on the road for three hours — we had departed from the Sentrim Boulevard Hotel in Nairobi and traveled through the Great Rift Valley — we stopped off at what was to become our home for the next two nights: a campsite where we can drop off our belongings and have a late lunch before going on an afternoon safari.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
This is a partial overview of the campgrounds. Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The campsite is located near a Masai village only several kilometers from the main entrance of the Masai Mara National Reserve; and despite the area overall being wide open and basically barren of trees for the most part, this campsite was wooded.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Here was the tent to which I was assigned — and I did not have to share it with anyone despite not paying a supplement for lodging as a single person:

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
This is the tent to which I was assigned. Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

I initially thought that participants of the safari were required to pitch their own tents; so I was prepared to do that. Imagine being pleasantly surprised upon seeing that not only was the tent already pitched and ready to occupy; but that it was also housed by a wooden structure.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

I had unzipped the entrance to the tent and walked inside. I did not expect for there to be two beds and a rug.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

One of the beds was already prepared and ready to use. I did not have to use the sleeping bag I brought with me after all on this portion of the safari experience.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The other bed was not prepared, which is what I had originally expected. Had that been the case with both beds, I would have then used my sleeping bag.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The toilets and showers for the men were located in a dark green building only meters away from the tents; while the facilities for women were located in a light green building which you can see on the left side in the photograph shown above as well as in the center of the photograph shown below.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

As there are no plumbing facilities — there is not even a paved road for dozens of kilometers, in fact — the water system is the huge black tank located above the building, with the water heated by a fire located in the rear of the buildings…

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…and electricity for the campsite was powered by the generator shown in the photograph below:

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Amazingly, one participant was told that this option of generating electricity — primarily used for the lights and pumping of water — was still currently more economical than using light-emitting diode lights powered with solar panels. I suppose the cost of solar-powered lights has to be further reduced for that to be an option.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

I am not sure for what use or purpose was the homemade ladder shown in the above photograph; but it was located on the side of the dining hall — and it also shows the entrance to the campsite in the background.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
This is the dining hall of the campsite. Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
This is the central area of the campsite, with the dining hall in the background. Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

I am not partial to beef stew; so I had a little sample of it for the first meal we were served for lunch before embarking on an afternoon safari.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The food was quite tasty — and coincidentally, I was really in the mood for rice that day. I was glad that fulfilling that craving became a reality.

Once we finished lunch, we took advantage of an opportunity to meet with the local Masai people in their village — which was included in the price of the safari package and was probably a walk of perhaps ten minutes from the campsite — before embarking on a late afternoon safari…

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…and I will post additional details about that experience in a future article as well…

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