Gallery » EUROPE/AFRICA/ MIDDLE EAST » Round the World 2018 - Tanzania » Sanctuary Kusini 2018
Tuesday, 2 October: Today we began our trek to mainland Tanzania. We had a 10:10A flight from the island of Zanzibar (also part of Tanzania) to Nairobi followed by a 4:20P flight to Kilimanjaro Airport. We arrived at the airport at 5:20P. We queued for a “visa on arrival” which was a simple and quick process since there were only 40 of us on the plane. Once we cleared that area, we took our hand-carry luggage (our only luggage) outside and were met by Frank, our transfer driver. It took almost two hours at arrive in Arusha due to lots of traffic. We spent the night at the Arusha Coffee Lodge.
Wednesday, 3 October: Frank picked us up at 7:00A and transferred us to the Arusha Airport. At 8:00A, we took an Excel Air flight (a small plane seating eight) to the Southern Serengeti Airstrip. Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by Allan, our guide at Sanctuary Kusini in 2017. We then met Gerhard, the Camp manager (Gerherd was not there in 2017). While Allan took care of paperwork, Gerhard and Elias prepared some tea and snacks (champagne was offered but we declined since it was 9A).
Gerhard and Elias took our luggage to Kusini and then we headed out with Allan for a game drive prior to lunch. After this game drive, we went to the Camp to settle in. Sanctuary Kusini is the only permanent camp in the south of the Serengeti. We choose to visit it to enjoy amazing gaming with no other groups on safari; we had the lodge to ourselves! Most individuals on safari were in the middle of the Serengeti watching the mass migration. Since we previously had witnessed the migration - along with the unbelievable number of safari vehicles attempting to view it – we opted for the solitude of the Southern Serengeti.
During the balance of our time at Kusini (Thursday, 4 October – Sunday, 7 October), we enjoyed a morning drive and an afternoon drive. Many mornings we left at or before dawn with a breakfast basket in tow. We would return to Camp, take a shower and then enjoy a delicious lunch. Before our afternoon game drive, we usually had a bit of time to download and review our photographs. In the evenings, we enjoyed a gin & tonic at the bar (or at the fire pit) followed by dinner. Then, it was time for bed.
We have separated our drives by date and whether it was the morning or afternoon drive. We did this so you can see how different the drives are in terms of game spotted as well as lighting (i.e., morning sun versus afternoon sun and the associated challenges for photography). We also have an album with photographs at Kusini. Click on the first album below to follow our adventure!
