Porini Camps, Safaris and Sundowners ..

Rosemary, our Chairman tells us of her recent trip to Kenya and the Porini Camps …

‘Although we’d been on safari in South Africa, this was our first visit to Kenya, and we were unsure what to expect. We researched a number of options, and decided to stay in two luxury tented camps, both Porini camps. On arrival at Nairobi, we transferred to a light aircraft which took us, with a couple of stops en route, to a landing strip near the camp.

On arrival our welcome included an explanation of how the camps in the conservancy differ from camps within the National Parks. Firstly, the camp was in land owned by the Masai, but working jointly with Porini. The Masai staff explained how this worked to benefit their community, bring jobs, and protect the wildlife. Secondly, there were no fences or walls, so we were immersed in nature, wildlife included. We were looking forward to our immersion in nature, sleeping in tents with anything from monkeys during the day to hippos grazing nearby overnight… but the Masai team reassured even the faint hearted that as long as you keep your tents zipped up all would be fine. What an understatement – it was outstanding!

Our drives through the conservancy were in open sided vehicles, always with everyone having a window seat, and we had the luxury of a guide as well as a driver – their eyes somehow worked better than ours at glimpsing that lion pride, or leopard with cubs, or rare fox or secretary bird stalking officiously through the grasses or…And being in the conservancy meant we had picnic lunches outside, once overlooking a river where wildebeest were migrating, watched by scores of crocodiles ready to pounce on the least careful. We learnt more from our guides about the Masai way of life as well as the land they lived in.

Early evenings saw camp en suite showers (excellent), followed by aperitifs around the campfire, sharing the day’s experiences with the other 7 or 8 guests, followed by relaxing dinners.

We moved on to a nearby camp for our next two days, similar in philosophy, but a different feel, and a new team to learn from.

As we spent the last few days of our trip relaxing by the ocean, we felt we’d definitely made the right decision – a little more expensive than some options, but the price included absolutely everything. It was good to spend two days each in different camps rather than all four in the same place – and in 8 or 9 days, you felt you’d been away for weeks!’