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Hotel Review: Hilton Northolme Resort & Spa - Best Hotel in the Seychelles
The Seychelles was one of the most relaxing and beautiful islands we’ve ever been to! Where to stay in the Seychelles? You must stay at the Hilton Northolme Resort and Spa and get a pool villa! See why this was the best hotel in the Seychelles!
See why the Hilton Northolme Resort & Spa is the best place to stay in the Seychelles
The Seychelles is a very magical and beautiful place. We’ve traveled the world and have been to many islands and tropical paradises, but this island is special! As soon as we checked-in at the Hilton Northolme Resort & Spa - Seychelles, we were ready for luxury relaxation. We were in need of some R&R after our African Safaris!
Pool Villas
If you’re literally flying halfway around the world, you might as well stay in style. We stayed in Room 305 which was a Pool Villa, meaning we had our own private pool off of our room.
Pool Villa
Pro-tip: if you request the 400s Pool Villas, you can shoot golf balls off your deck into the water. Don’t worry, the balls are made of fish food and feed the fish!
You can also order room service (and dranks) and have it delivered to your pool! We basically tried to figure out a way to never leave our room.
Hilton Northolme Resort - Guest Room
Since we were in a villa the room was quite large! The bed had mosquito netting and every day housekeeping would make a different animal out of towels on the bed.
Room highlights - Coffee maker included a nice Nespresso machine or a kettle for tea. There was a huge walk-in closet with tons of cubby holes and a safe to store all of our things. The living room had a large tv and a couch with a chaise lounge, perfect for relaxing at the end of a day in the sun. Did I mention there was a pool outside our room?
Hilton Northolme Resort - Bathroom
The bathroom was gorgeous! A large tub with jacuzzi jets sat in the middle of the room with a shower on the side. The shower had the option of rain or handheld.
The tub had a view looking outside over the pool. The doors provided easy access after getting in the pool. So one tip, the hot water didn’t quite fill the tub, it cooled off at some point. That said, do not turn on the jets unless the water is well above the spouts. Otherwise, water sprays EVERYWHERE. Again, just a tip, not like it happened to me.
Hilton Northolme Resort - Pool in the Pool Villa
The pool attached to the villa has spectacular views and is very private. The water wasn’t heated but still warm enough to sit in for a long time. I won’t get in a cold pool and I could get in this one just fine.
There is a board with rules that had been washed away so I broke rules instantly since it was hard to read and didn’t see them until afterwards. Oops! Don’t forget to pack your floatie!
There were 3 places to sit on the patio, in the shade on the couch, at the table, or on the chairs in the water. Our favorite was sitting in the water of course. Pro tip.. bring your towels out and unlock the door to the bathroom so you don’t drip all over the place like I did!
Hilton Northolme Resort
Spa
Our room came with a complimentary 15 min back and neck massage and we had to try it out! The tea they served afterward was really good.
Spa
Fitness Center
There was a nice gym overlooking the water and a hammock. I may have only spent time in the hammock, not the gym.
Infinity Pool at the Hilton Northolme
Since we had our own pool we admired the lovely infinity pool and then ran back to our villa infinity pool.
Infinity Pool
Restaurants and Bars
There were a few places to eat on the property. There was a fine dining restaurant, called Les Coutiers, but we just ate at the Ocean View Bar where they had amazing drinks like the Cannonball.
Cannonball drink - rum drink that won an award!
There was an awesome band that played reggae tunes like Bieber’s Despisito and Wrecking Ball as instrumentals. They also served Seybrew on tap which wasn’t bad for a local brew.
Josh had the red snapper and I had a chicken wrap with fries. Josh makes fun of me when I need American food at some point on our trips!
Ocean View Bar - Properly named!
Hilltop
For breakfast, we’d venture to Hilltop, which was at the top of the hill. It’s not a huge hill. Anyway, they had a fantastic breakfast spread with everything you could imagine as well as an egg station to get whatever you were feeling that day. I loved the eggs benedict and the mimosa bar!
Breakfast of champions
They even had all sorts of fun rentals including paddle boards, kayaks, snorkel gear, etc. I liked this swing personally.
You have to treat yourself every once and a while, so next time you’re looking for that island vacation, you must stay at the Hilton Northolme Resort & Spa!
We ALWAYS find THE BEST rates through Booking.com. See deals of up to 50% off! You can save a bunch of money if you book a bundle flight+room+rental car! They even have apartments, lodges, and houses you can rent, just like AirBnB or VRBO! By booking through this link, I receive a commission at no additional cost to you! PLEASE support our blog and bookmark this link!
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See why we needed some R&R in the Seychelles after our trip to Africa!
How to see 40+ lions and the Big Five in the Maasai Mara, Kenya - Africa
When we were in Kenya, we stayed at the Tangulia Lodge in the Maasai Mara and were able to see over 40 lions and the Big Five! See how we did it in our latest post from Africa!
How to find 40+ lions and the Big Five while on safari in the Maasai Mara
Africa was the trip of a lifetime! Seeing all the animals roaming in their natural habitats was so much better than watching animals at a zoo. We found 40+ lions, the Big Five, and more in the Maasai Mara! Here’s how we did it…
Scroll down to watch our video of our trip to the Maasai Mara!
All pictures were taken by us! See our camera gear here: African Safari Packing Essentials
Lion cub found in the Maasai Mara
Where to stay in the Maasai Mara and find the best guides!
We stayed at the Tangulia Mara Camp where we had the best guides to find all the animals we were dying to see! Benjamin and David greeted us at the airport as soon as we landed on the dirt airstrip and were with us on every game drive after that! They were knowledgable about the animals and their behaviors, knowing where to find them or look for them at any point of the day. I still don’t know how they spotted a leopard from miles away! pun intended.
Leopard in the tree
Our guides were so patient and would go out with us for hours. There was only one other couple staying at the camp while we were there, so we lucked out and had a private car all to ourselves! This is a huge benefit when you find an animal you’re interested in and can sit and watch for hours… like we did with the lions and leopard.
Hyena up close!
We’d usually start out early around 6:30a/7a to see the most action from the animals waking up. Breakfast was packed in the car, so we’d make a stop at some point, which one of the other guides called it going to Starbucks! Haha!
Lioness and her cubs
We’d see lions in prides and sometimes on their own, usually a lioness with the cubs. If we drove around after the sun was fairly high in the sky, we’d find lions together taking a cat nap after their morning breakfast.
A lion we woke up from a nap!
Animals to find in the Maasai Mara and the Big Five!
We found the Big Five while we were on our safaris, which were originally called this because they were the most difficult and dangerous animals to hunt on foot! We weren’t here to hunt, obviously, just observe. The Big Five include the African elephant, lion, leopard, rhinoceros, and Cape buffalo.
Scroll down to watch our video of our trip to the Maasai Mara!
Leopard in the tree
There were many other animals to see, including:
Oryx
Spotted hyena
Topi antelope
Thomson Gazelle
Banded mongoose
Maasai sheep
Maasai giraffe
Hippo
Cheetahs
Wildebeest - THOUSANDS of them!
Baboons
Crocodiles
Zebras
Warthogs - they call them Pumbas!
Cheetahs in the Maasai Mara
Our guides were telling us how there are 5 cheetahs that travel together and are rare to see but are considered celebrities if you see them. About an hour later someone spotted them, and we had to find them! We saw a bunch of other safari vehicles and knew there they were. The cheetahs walked right around our vehicle and would call to one another if one of them were out of sight. We were SO CLOSE to them, it was unbelievable.
Tangulia Mara Camp Accommodations
The camp was beautiful, overlooking a saltwater lake from a saltwater spring. There was a river behind it but they aren’t connected. Animals often came through for drink from the waterhole, so it was nice to sit in our room or up at the lodge just to watch them come and go.
Tangulia Mara Camp
We had room 1 at the very end of the camp, which was closest to the water and a great place to watch for animals.
They called the area near our room Hippo Highway because the hippos would come up at night to eat the grass! Sometimes they make odd noises that sounded like evil laughs! Kinda creepy at 2am but also very exciting.
Just watching the giraffes from our room in my Lion King socks.
Meals and Food in the Maasai Mara
Meals were provided in the lodge and the food was wonderful! Dishes would come family style, and they would keep coming even when you thought you had enough! Meals included dishes such as chicken, pork, vegetarian lasagna, avocado salad, green salad, fruit salad, delicious bread with an assortment of spreads, and always ended with dessert!
Sundowner - Doa
We enjoyed having a sundowner, a drink around happy hour as the sun would set. I tried a Doa which had vodka and lemon juice with a sugar rim, both refreshing and sweet!
Watch our video of our trip to the Maasai Mara:
Overall, we loved our visit to the Maasai Mara! We saw the most animals on our safaris and had amazing guides. I’m glad we spent more time there than our first 2 stops in Saruni.
Warthog - Locals call them pumbas which means Dumb in Swahili!
To book a trip of a lifetime like this, I highly recommend using the travel agency, Scott Dunn! To speak to a safari expert at Scott Dunn, call 858-523-9000 or visit scottdunn.com/us and tell them Kathleen and Josh Cregg sent you. This is not a sponsored post, all thoughts and considerations are my own.
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Experiencing Saruni Samburu and Seeing the Northern 5 in Kenya - Africa
We saw the Northern Five and tons of other animals while on safari in Northern Kenya! Also, see our amazing accommodations at the best lodge in Northern Kenya, Saruni Samburu, making this the trip of a lifetime to Africa. What to wear and packing tips also included!
Our experience at Saruni Samburu was unbelievable! Yes, I know I say this often but I mean it! From the room to the food to the guides, our stay was absolutely perfect and we were sad to leave. We even got up close and personal with the Northern Five native to Northern Kenya!
See my packing list of things you can purchase on Amazon here: Amazon African Safari Packing List
Scroll down later in the post to watch our video of our trip to Saruni Samburu!
Reticulated Giraffe seen while on safari with Saruni Samburu
How to Get to Samburu, Kenya
We stopped in Nairobi and took a smaller plane to Samburu for about an hour's flight. They did weigh our luggage but you give them your bags over a counter so you can kinda hide a camera if you’re worried about the 33 lb weight limit. The coolest part was sitting behind the pilots and landing on a dirt runway!
Our guide met us there and took us to the Saruni Rhino where we spent a few days but the drive from the air strip was about 30-45 minutes from Saruni Samburu.
See more on our trip to Saruni Rhino and how we got up close and personal with a baby rhino here: Rhino Tracking at the Saruni Rhino
Guest Rooms at Saruni Samburu
Guest Room Bed at Saruni Samburu
I wish we had more time to spend in the room! WHO SAYS THAT?! Well, when you have a room with a second floor and a lovely living room overlooking Kenya, why wouldn’t you?!
As we walked into our room, which was not a suite, this is their standard room, we were blown away by the size of the room and the balcony attached to it!
Panorama of our room
View from our room
We then discovered we had another room upstairs! This room was also large in size set up like a living room, complete with a dining table.
Our living room attached to our bedroom
The bathroom was huge and had a bidet next to the toilet. Not only was there a shower inside the bathroom, but there was also a shower outside overlooking the conservation. I did take a shower outside one morning while watching elephants at the waterhole.
Safari Time at Saruni Samburu
How do safaris work?
We weren’t sure exactly what to expect for our safaris, but we were very happy with our experience. Everyday you’ll head out in the morning or afternoon for a safari. Depending on what you see and how great your guide is, you’ll drive around for 5-8 hours which sounds crazy but goes by real quick! Our car was completely open and had panels that came down in case it rained.
Elephant Crossing
What should you wear on a safari?
I read a ton of blogs telling me what to pack and that I needed to purchase $100 safari shirts… Let me tell you, I was just fine in my Gap t-shirt and leggings. We did treat our clothes with permethrin, a bug repellent for your clothes. In the morning and late afternoon, I made sure to have a sweatshirt but there were also blankets in the car. Unless you are getting out of the vehicle, which you aren’t supposed to, there’s no reason not to where something comfortable that you can sit in for long periods of time.
Traffic in the conservancy
Our Safari Experience
Joseph was our guide for the time we were at Saruni Samburu as well as Saruni Rhino. Since he is from the local village, he knew the area (and animals) very well and was phenomenal at finding animals far away. Joseph understood various animal behaviors and explained their actions, teaching us fun facts about each animal.
Scroll down later in the post to watch our video of our trip to Saruni Samburu!
Reticulated Giraffe having Breakfast
Here are some of the animals we saw over the course of 3 days:
Impalas - we even saw a newborn, birthed seconds before we arrived
Batiat foxes 🦊
Beisa Oryx (part of the Northern Five, more on that below)
Leopards - mama and cubs
Egyptian geese 🦆
Lions 🦁
Elephants
Dik-diks - little antelopes about a foot tall
Rock hyraxes
Wilds dogs - very rare
Somali ostrich (part of the Northern Five, more on that below)
Dwarf mongoose
Fotery guinea fowl
Gerenuk
Grant’s Gazelles
Grevy’s Zebras 🦓 (part of the Northern Five, more on that below)
Nile crocodile 🐊
Cheetah
Reticulated Giraffes (part of the Northern Five, more on that below)
Warthogs - Even our guide called them pumbaas (which means dumb in Swahili)! Since they have such a short term memory, they are known to walk by a lion and walk back to the same spot 5 minutes later, forgetting they had passed it.
Eastern yellow-billed hornbill - AKA the flying banana or Zazu from the Lion King
Baboons
Monkeys
Cheetah stalking antelope
We went out in the early morning and late afternoon covering all basis to see as many animals as possible. Every day we saw something different and right when one day couldn’t possibly top the day before, it did! Depending on how long we were going out, we either ate before or after the safari, or they packed us breakfast or lunch.
Can you spot the leopard? pun intended
The topography was very dry and looked like the elephant graveyard in the Lion King. There is a river about an hour away and the closer you get, the more animals you see! Keep your eyes peeled and be patient. Sometimes just sitting and watching the animals for a while is fun to observe their behaviors. You never know what they might do!
Baby baboon by the river
Elephant at the water hole at night
One of our nights, we even went out for a night drive. I was nervous going into the dark at night at first and wondered what animals we’d see but there were so many we came across:
Porcupine
Owl 🦉
Hawk
Hare
Jackal
Male and female Ostriches
Striped hyena - very shy, very rare
Family of Elephants
The Northern Five in Kenya
We were lucky to find the Kenyan Northern Five including the Somali Ostrich, Gerenuk, Grevy’s Zebra, Beisa Oryx, and the Reticulated Giraffe!
Here we go…
1. Somali Ostrich
The Somlai Ostrich differs from most ostriches with a bluish color on their neck and legs, instead of a pink color. The males were beautiful with black and white feathers, while the females had grayish brown feathers.
2. Gerenuk
As part of the antelope family, Gerenuks are also known as giraffe gazelles, appropriately named with their long necks and slender limbs. They’ll even stand erect on their hind legs to reach higher branches. I loved the pattern in their ears!
Gerenuk - Kenyan Northern Five
3. Grevy’s Zebra
In comparison to other zebras, Grevy’s unique characteristics include their taller height, large ears, narrower stripes, and white bellies with no stripes. with their stripes being closer together and thinner, it is easier for them to make a good escape and to hide from predators. Foals are born with brown and white striping which darken as they grow older.
Family of Grevy’s Zebras
4. Beisa Oryx
Also known as the East African Oryx, they are recognized by their long horns and striped markings. Yeah, even though they eat grass, I wouldn’t mess with those horns!
Beisa Oryx
5. Reticulated Giraffe
Also known as the Somali Giraffe and most commonly seen in zoos. Their beautiful coats consists of large, polygonal, liver-colored spots outlined by bright-white lines.
Reticulated Giraffe
Our camera gear used to grab these gorgeous photos:
Watch our video of our trip to Saruni Samburu:
Food at Saruni Samburu
The owner of the Saruni franchise is Italian and all food was also Italian with a Kenyan flair. There were always 3 courses for every meal and we never left feeling hungry! Dessert was always a must! Alcohol was included which we typically had wine and beer. There was a beverage menu with more options that you could pay for.
The Grounds at Saruni Samburu
There were 2 gorgeous infinity pools within a short walking distance fo our room. Although they weren’t heated, it was nice to take a dip then sit and enjoy the view.
The main lodge was a nice place to hang out as well. Sometimes before or after a meal we’d hang out and have a drink by the bonfire, or just lounge on the big couches and enjoy the view.
Wifi was only available near the main lodge and it wasn’t very good. Don’t count on working from there, but a few social media posts will go through… eventually.
Activities to do while at Saruni Samburu
Massages
Our room came with a complimentary massage for 30 mins for one person. After lugging around our heavy bags through airports, I was ready for a back and neck massage!
Bush Walk
We walked around the outskirts of our lodge with our guide and a ranger, and came across a pack of wild dogs! Apparently they are very rare to see. I thought they were hyenas at first, I just loved their big ears!
Wild Dogs - Rare sight!
Star Gazing
At night there was practically no light pollution leaving a sky full of stars! We were able to see the Milky Way and on Josh’s Sony A7, he was able to capture the Milky Way!
Milky Way seen from the balcony of our room
We had a wonderful stay at Saruni Samburu and highly recommend it to anyone booking a future trip to Africa. We booked through Scott Dunn to get the best service and bang for our buck! Please tell them we sent you!
Please note this is not a sponsored post and based on my own personal experience, all thoughts are my own.
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Other posts from Africa (see all Africa posts here)
Virunga Lodge - Most Charming Place to Stay in Rwanda
We stayed at the Virunga Lodge when we ventured to Rwanda to go gorilla tracking, and it was the most charming place to stay in Rwanda! The staff was so nice and accommodating, making us feel at home halfway around the world.
For our first lodging adventure in Africa, we stayed at the Virunga Lodge and couldn’t have been happier! This gorgeous lodge was colorful and the stay went above and beyond to make sure we had everything we needed. We went gorilla trekking in the Volcanoes National Park and spent three wonderful nights at the lodge!
See my packing list of things you can purchase on Amazon here: Amazon African Safari Packing List
Views from atop the hill where Virunga Lodge lives
Guest Rooms (also known as Bandas)
Virunga Lodge - Kivu Banda
Our banda was incredible! We stayed in the Kivu banda which had a nice view of the lake and volcanoes. The room was decorated in vibrant colors with a homey design that made us want to move in!
The bed was a little firmer than I like but we were so exhausted we slept just fine!
The bathroom was very large and had what Josh called a Flintstones bathroom, which I definitely agree!
You’re not supposed to drink the tap water or brush your teeth with the sink water, so fresh drinkable bottles were supplied.
The great thing about our Africa trip was that they did our laundry for us complimentary, as part of the room charge. Some lodges won’t wash women’s underwear since the men do the laundry! They’ll provide detergent in most bathrooms to wash your underoos in the sink.
We had a private butler assigned and she gave us a cell phone to call her if we needed anything as there weren’t phones in the rooms. The only time we really called her was to replace the batteries in the safe!
Main Lodge
The main lodge was the place to hang out. There was a bar that you could get drinks at any time during the day. Most importantly, the wifi only worked in the main lodge and was not available in our rooms. It was nice to disconnect, but we also wanted to share our Gorilla Trek experience with our family and friends!
Main Lodge
They had games to play, and plenty of places to sit and enjoy the view.
Food and Meals at Virunga Lodge
All of our meals were held in the dining room or on the veranda. right next to the main lodge. My favorite spot was the corner table of the veranda set for two with a view.
All of the meals were excellent and very “Americanized.” Options like spaghetti or fish and chips for lunch and a hearty choice of meat for dinner - chicken, steak or fish with different sauce/side options. Dessert was different every night with options such as lemon meringue and sweet crepes. My favorite meal was breakfast! I’d get a smoothie, scrambled eggs, toast, pancakes, and bacon!
Every morning a wake up service was provided where the staff would come with coffee and biscuits (cookies) and wake you up!
Massages at Virunga Lodge
We each had a complimentary 30-minute massage and after our hike with the gorillas and carrying our bags through the airports, a massage was just what we needed!
Massage Lounge and Reception
We checked in and they gave us a basket with a towel, robe, slippers, and lotion. We were instructed to use the bathrooms in the next rooms over and put all of our things in the basket.
Getting massage ready!
The bathroom was large with a bathroom stall, shower and some cabinets on the side to put your things in.
I had put my phone away for complete relaxation but the room we had massages in had large windows with a fantastic view overlooking the mountains. Since it was only 30 minutes, the focus was on my back, neck, and legs, which was fine by me! After 30 minutes, the male masseuse announced, “the massage is done.” Ahhhh, it was so nice and relaxing.
Gorilla Trekking
The main reason we stayed at the Virunga Lodge was to go track the gorillas and see them up close in their natural habitat! We had the most AMAZING time and highly recommend this experience to all! Just make sure you get out of the silverbacks way when they come through!
Please see more in our post: How we got pushed by a gorilla when we went Gorilla Trekking
Read all about our Gorilla Trek when we tracked gorillas up close and personal by clicking the photo above!
Other Fun Activities
There are many hikes you can take around the lodge and even hike down to the lake (the only problem with that is you have to hike back up).
There were also bird trails and the locals came by one afternoon to perform a traditional dance for us!
Traditional Dance from the locals
I can’t recommend this trip more! We booked through our favorite travel agency, Scott Dunn! Let them know we sent you!
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A gorilla pushed us out of the way while Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda!
Our gorilla trek in Rwanda was amazing! Read all about our adventure and how Josh was pushed by a silverback during our visit! Plus, see our guide to everything you need to know about gorilla trekking including what to pack, what to wear, and helpful tips.
To kick off our trip to Africa, our first excursion was a trip into the jungles of Rwanda to visit the gorillas! When we booked our trip, I was most excited for this portion of the trip and I was not disappointed. We got so close, we could touch them… well one of them pushed Josh (see full story and video below)! To see them live in their natural habitat was so much better than seeing them behind bars at a zoo! Here’s everything you need to know when venturing on a gorilla trek and helpful packing tips (see the end of the post).
Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda
Getting There and Gorilla Family Assignment
Planning in advance: We booked our trip through the travel agency, Scott Dunn, about 15 months in advance and it is $1500 per person to go trekking. Save your money, it’s totally worth it!
Day of Adventure: We started our morning bright and early at the Virunga Lodge with a 5:30a wakeup and 6am breakfast. By 6:30a we were in the car and on our way to the base camp to get our gorilla family assignment. Bring a copy of your passport or make sure the hotel/lodge can make a copy for you. You need this for the rangers.
There was an option of an easy, medium, or hard hike and we requested an easy to medium hike. There are 16 families in the Virunga Mountains - Volcanoes National Park and 10 families are visited once per day by 8 people max for one hour. Our driver/guide helped arrange which family we would see and introduced us to the ranger that we would be with for the day. We met with our group and our ranger gave the details of our gorilla family and laid out how our adventure would play out. We lucked out and only had a group of 6 people, which was better to see and gather around the gorillas.
At basecamp getting our gorilla family assignment
We were assigned Titus the silverback and his gorilla family. A group of gorillas is called a band or a troop, or the less common is a “whoop” of gorillas. I like whoop the best so that’s what I’m going with… Within the whoop there were 3 other Silverbacks in which two of them were Titus’ children who were known as the troublemakers.
We learned a lot about the dynamic and behaviors of gorillas. Most whoops have one silverback since their competitive nature for females keep them separated to their own family. Silverbacks keep many females in their groups but don’t like other males doing the “jiggy jiggy” (as our guide put it) with their females. Once male children reach a certain maturity they may run off from the group with one of the females to start their own family or they meet a female from another family.
After we had our briefing, we all jumped in our cars and drove about 30 minutes to our stop closest to where the gorilla family was located.
Hiking to the Gorillas
We parked in a lot amongst some rural farms. We hired a porter there to help carry our bag while we were trekking through the jungle. It was worth the $10 USD for the porter to carry our bag with cameras and water. He would even help me climb up and down areas that were harder to climb. I’m fairly fit but can be very clumsy, so I was happy with having a helping hand.
The jungle front was a few miles away at a slight incline. We were given some walking sticks carved with intricate gorilla designs and set out on our trek to find the gorillas.
Hand carved hiking sticks
We had heard some stories from others at the lodge saying it took 3 hours to hike and find the gorillas the day before, so we were prepared to hike for anywhere from an hour to 3 hours.
Rwanda Rural Farm
We walked about an hour through a farm (in the sun) along a trail up to the gate that led into the jungle. Our ranger told us the family had climbed into the crater and that if we sit and wait, hopefully they’ll come out closer to us. We just sat at the jungle front looking over the valley. After, about 45-60 minutes the gorillas climbed out of the crater and were “close.” We didn’t know what “close” meant but we were excited and entered through the gate to the jungle. Literally, there was a gate to the jungle with a man guarding it.
Gate to the jungle and GORILLAS!
Trekking and Finding the Gorillas
After about 15 minutes, we met with the trackers that were following the family and we were instructed to leave our bags and walking sticks as they are threatening to the gorillas. We took a few steps and instantly saw a sleeping silverback and female right next to him, which we were probably 15 feet from!
We kept walking and found another gorilla enjoying some lunch. We watched him eat for about 5 minutes and couldn’t believe he was right in front of us. We moved on and could hear some gorillas grunting in the bushes but couldn’t see them very well.
Close up with the gorillas
We eventually found Titus, the main silverback of the whoop, and took a picture with him.
Picture with Titus the silverback gorilla
Now this is where it gets crazy. Titus decided he wanted to move but were all in his way. The ranger separated our group to get out of his way but there wasn’t a lot of room to move. Titus then pushed Josh out of the way (gently not forcefully), and leapt onto some trees taking them down so he could go on his way! It was intense and awesome all at the same time!
We moved on and found a few others eating and a 3 month old baby with the craziest hair (or fur). He was so cute, he just wanted to check out what was going on and while people were interrupting his meal.
Gorilla family with 3 month old baby gorilla
As we were walking along, one of the silverbacks was on the move. Again, the rangers tried to move us out of the way and as he pulled me back, I was basically leaning against the hill and Titus came right between Josh and I! He stopped and took a look at Josh, then wandered off. It was exciting, exhilarating, intimidating, and terrifying - all at the same time!
We carried on and came upon a few more gorillas eating and climbing around. At this point, it had been an hour and our time was up. We met back up with the trackers and our porter, reloaded our bags and made our way back to the car.
3 month old baby gorilla hanging on
Once we returned, there was a man selling hand carved walking sticks and little gorilla figurines. I have a collection of animal figurines from around the world and this souvenir was the perfect addition to my collection to commemorate our wonderful day with the gorillas!
my souvenir Gorilla Figurine
What to Pack and Bring on your Gorilla Trek
You don’t need to bring too much on your trip because you don’t want to carry too many things and most of them won’t be necessary. Plus we were limited to 33 pounds for our smaller flights.
See my packing list of things you can purchase on Amazon here: Amazon African Safari Packing List
What to Wear while Gorilla Trekking
Everything I researched before we left suggested to wear layers which wasn’t helpful because what kind of layers? How many layers are really necessary? I now have those answers! In the morning it is chilly. I wore a short-sleeved t-shirt, a long-sleeved cotton pullover that was treated with bug repellant, along with my lightweight rain jacket on top and it was a perfect temperature. Josh runs a little warmer so he had one of his long sleeved safari Columbia shirts on and was fine. As we started walking and the sun rose a little higher, I peeled off the rain jacket. Wear more neutral colors to blend in and not scare the gorillas away. Do not wear camouflage, it’s illegal.
You’ll want to bring gardening gloves and wear a long sleeved shirt so you don’t get sliced by the branches or long grass like needles. You’ll want to wear good hiking shoes as the jungle floor can be slippery, muddy, thorny, etc. I brought my hat and left it in the car since we were going to be under the jungle canopy most of the time.
Packing List for Gorilla Trekking:
T-shirt
Long sleeved shirt - not too heavy, I recommend the Exofficio bug repellant pullover
Rain Jacket - lightweight and packs into a little pouch
Hiking Pants - convertible ones are great if its really hot
Garden Gloves - just to protect your hands, nothing fancy
Hiking shoes - high tops are better for your ankle but not necessary
Gaiters - so fire ants don’t climb up your pants (our lodge provided them - check with your accommodations beforehand)
Sunglasses
Water - we brought 4 bottles for the 2 of us
Snacks & lunch
Copy of your passport for the rangers
Camera Gear
Sony a7rii with a 70-300mm lens on it to get close shots
Sony 6500 with a 10-18mm lens for wider shots
We are obsessed with the DJI Osmo Pocket Camera that has a stabilizing gimbal for amazing 4K footage, panorama shots, and the ability to track what you are shooting! It’s replacing our GoPro. This captured Josh being pushed by a gorilla as Josh was falling and the gorilla was jumping!
Before you leave your lodge/hotel/camp:
Apply bug repellent - Ultrathon is a lotion and lasts 12 hours
Apply sunscreen to your face and chest - ThinkSport is our fave
Pack snacks, water, and a lunch - our lodge provided sandwiches and fruit, we packed those along with some granola bars. You never know how long you’ll be out there!
When you return from your Gorilla Adventure:
Return your gaiters
Give the lodge your hiking boots to clean them - they can be muddy or dusty
Give the lodge your clothes to wash
Take a shower, relax and look at your pictures
Where to Stay in Rwanda - Virunga Lodge
We fell in love with the Virunga Lodge instantly and didn’t want to leave! Located at the top of a mountain, our room (also called a banda) was huge, decorated with vibrant colors, and had spectacular views. The staff was amazing, waiting on you hand and foot. The meals were incredible and included a great variety of food. The rooms didn’t have Wifi but the main lodge did.
Full review on the Virunga Lodge coming soon!
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Rhino Trekking in Kenya, Africa and Lodging with Saruni Rhino
Rhinos are rare to find in Africa and the best way to see them is by foot! The Saruni Rhino will give you the best experience both in lodging, food, and getting up close with the rhinos. Where to stay and go in Kenya, Africa.
When we were researching where to stay in Kenya, our travel agent from Scott Dunn highly recommended staying at Saruni Rhino and I’m so glad she did. I didn’t realize how the Rhino is hunted for it’s horn and poaching is a severe problem. These magnificent creatures look like dinosaurs and are so exhilarating to see in person.
Scroll down later in the post to watch our video of our trip to Saruni Rhino!
Is there something behind me?
Where to Stay in Kenya
The Saruni Rhino is an intimate place to stay! There are only 3 rooms (also called Bandas) available, and with the location right along the river bed, you are sure to see animals visit the waterhole at all times during the day or at night. There is even a light by the waterhole at night to see who is visiting while you’re eating dinner in the main lodge.
Our Banda had a bed on a swing out front, which was perfect to relax and watch the animals approach the waterhole.
Tracking the Rhino in Kenya, Africa
Rhinos would look like rocks with eyes - Moseku the Rhino
Our guide would take us out in the morning or afternoon to go Rhino trekking. The rangers in the conservatory would keep an eye on where the Rhinos are located, knowing their habits and behaviors after years of observation. We’d hop in the car and drive about 30 minutes to the Sera Conservatory front gate, then typically another 30 minutes to the rhinos.
After we’d meet up with the ranger trackers, we’d hop out of the car and walk with them by foot to see the rhino. Typically we would stay pretty far away so that the rhino wouldn’t feel threatened and charge at us. The rhinos seemed more scared of us anyway and would run away if they heard us coming too close. We first found Moseku, a 7-10 year old rhino.
Rhinos can hear and smell very well, but they can’t see very far. Our guide would see which way the wind was blowing by kicking up dirt to see which way it would blow so we could make sure that the rhino(s) couldn’t smell us. As we would get closer, we’d tread carefully and as quietly as possible, which can be very hard when walking on gravel and branches.
Baby Rhino at 3 years old
Our guides would find the rhinos by sound, following footprints, or finding their poop! We walked around for an hour one morning and barely saw a rhino through the bushes. We were lucky enough to find the baby named Lojipu, the 3 year old “baby” rhino. His mother left him after he was a few days old, so the rangers bottle fed him and are hoping to release him back into the wild. He was very playful and acted almost like a dog running around. We weren’t allowed to touch him, but it took everything in me not to run up and hug him.
Scroll down to watch our video of Lojipu!
Watch our video of our trip to Saruni Rhino:
What to Pack, Wear and Bring for Rhino Trekking
You never know when you’ll run into elephants,
What to Wear
Since you might be sitting in a vehicle for a while, wear something comfortable. I wore a t-shirt (sprayed with permethrin), bug repellent pants, hiking shoes, a hat, and brought a fleece sweater for the cool mornings and evenings. I am not an outdoorsy girl by any means, and would rather be in a dress and flip flops.
If I had skin showing I wore bug repellent, and I didn’t get one bite! Bugs love to bite me wherever we go and I was deathly afraid I was going to be eaten alive in Africa. I used Ultrathon insect repellent and it worked so well! We sprayed our clothes with Permethrin which lasts for about 7 washes. Some of our clothes were already treated and brands like Exofficio will last for up to 70 washes!
Safari Essentials:
Don’t forget to bring these with you:
Camera - have batteries and extra memory cards on hand just in case
Binoculars
Water (your guide might already have some)
Sunscreen
Bug repellent
Hat
Snack - granola bars are easy to bring with you
I highly recommend this excursion if you’re on your way to Africa! Don’t miss out! We booked our trip with Scott Dunn, tell them you were recommended by Kathleen at the Sweetest Escapes!
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How to prepare and what to pack for your African Safari from clothes to cameras!
We were challenged to pack 33 pounds for our 2-week safari trip to Africa! See our packing list for what to wear and what we needed to bring each day on the safari. Check out the camera gear we brought, you may need less than you think!
Safari Clothes while Rhino Tracking
Everything you’ll need for your Safari adventures in Africa
I was born and raised in Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley and definitely consider myself a Valley Girl. I’m not quite the outdoorsy, sleep under the stars, go camping type. When we booked our Africa trip, I guess I didn’t realize how much of this trip would be like camping… ok… glamping!
Make fun of me all that you want as to what I wore, but just know that I was comfortable and didn’t get one bug bite in 2 weeks!
Regardless here are the items that were essential for this trip for those of you who don’t typically have adventurous clothes in your closets (and don’t want to break the bank)!
See my packing list of things you can purchase on Amazon here: Amazon African Safari Packing List
Packing Essentials for Safaris in Africa
Packing Clothes for 2 Weeks in East Africa for Safaris
Everything I researched before we left suggested to wear layers which wasn’t helpful because that led me to all kinds of questions: What kind of layers? How many layers are really necessary? I now have those answers! In the morning it is chilly. I wore a short-sleeved t-shirt, a long-sleeved cotton pullover that was treated with bug repellant. Josh runs a little warmer so he had one of his long-sleeved safari Columbia shirts on and was fine.
More neutral, camouflage like colors are recommended but camouflage itself is not allowed as it is military wear only! We stuck to more beige, greens, and grays as you want to blend in to not scare away the animals. Also, they say blue and black attract the Tsetse fly, which is a disgusting fly that can bite you and give you some terrible disease. Bring bug repellent and treat your clothes with permethrin.
We treated our clothes with permethrin by spraying them before we left. Some clothing brands sell permethrin-treated shirts and pants, like Exofficio. Check the label, but most pre-treated clothes will last up to 70 washes. If you treat them yourself, the permethrin should last at least 7 washes.
All of our lodges did our laundry once a day, which was included with our booking. Make sure your lodge will do laundry for you in advance. The only thing they didn’t wash was women’s underwear since men were doing the laundry. I heard they don’t always have the cleanest water at times, but we didn’t have a problem. Most lodges will wash in the morning and hang dry so you don’t have to worry about anything shrinking.
Safari Clothes to Pack
My clothing packing list for 2 weeks in Africa (Josh packed very similar):
5 T-shirts (treated with permethrin) - Josh packed 4 quick-dry T-shirts and 2 safari Columbia shirts
2 Long-sleeved shirts - not too heavy, I recommend the Exofficio bug repellant pullover, I also had a fleece pullover because I get cold easily
5 pairs of pants/leggings - I packed one pair of Hiking Pants - convertible ones are great if its really hot
4 pairs of socks - including 2 pairs of Hiking socks
5 pairs of underwear
3 bras
Hiking shoes - high tops are better for your ankle but not necessary
Rain Jacket - lightweight and packs into a little pouch
Sun hat or baseball cap - get something snug so it doesn’t fly off when on safari
safari clothes
Tips for Toiletries
I recommend packing lightly as we took about 2 showers a day, I definitely did not go full make-up every day.
Sunscreen - ThinkSport is our fave
Bug repellent - Ultrathon is a lotion and lasts 12 hours
Don’t bring manicure scissors. They were confiscated at the airport :(
All the lodges had shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, so I left mine at home
Hairdryer - some lodges had a hairdryer and others didn’t. They usually had restrictions to use them at a certain time too, check with your lodge if you can’t live without one.
Everything listed above fit into my $20 Eddie Bauer duffle bag! Why did I pack a duffle bag? This bag is very lightweight and according to our small plane’s regulations, we couldn’t have anything with wheels.
Pack Safari clothes and Cameras. You never know when you’ll see elephants!
What to Pack for a day on a Safari
Since you might be sitting in a vehicle for a while, wear something comfortable. I wore a t-shirt (sprayed with permethrin), bug repellent pants, hiking shoes, a hat, and brought a fleece pullover for the cool mornings and evenings. I am not an outdoorsy girl by any means, and would rather be in a dress and flip flops.
Binoculars
Phones
Cameras
Hat
Sunglasses - protect from wind, dirt, and sun!
Apply sunscreen to your face and chest - ThinkSport is our fave
Bug repellent - Ultrathon is a lotion and lasts 12 hours
Wear something comfortable - I’d wear a t-shirt and safari pants or leggings
Sweater for cool mornings or late afternoons
Some vehicles will have chargers with USB and international plug - bring cables for charging
A blanket is usually in the vehicle
Pack snacks and water - our lodge provided a meal most of the time. We packed some granola bars, you never know how long you’ll be out there!
If I had skin showing I wore bug repellent, and I didn’t get one bite! Bugs love to bite me wherever we go and I was deathly afraid I was going to be eaten alive in Africa. I used Ultrathon insect repellent and it worked so well! We sprayed our clothes with Permethrin which lasts for about 7 washes. Some of our clothes were already treated and brands like Exofficio will last for up to 70 washes!
Camera Gear for Safaris
My favorite part! We took our camera gear seriously and came back with some amazing photos and high-quality videos that we will have forever and ever.
Sony a7rii with a 70-300mm lens on it to get close shots of animals further away
Sony 6500 with a 10-18mm lens for wider shots
We are obsessed with the DJI Osmo Pocket Camera that has a stabilizing gimbal for amazing 4K footage, panorama shots, and the ability to track what you are shooting! It’s replacing our GoPro. This captured Josh being pushed by a gorilla as Josh was falling and the gorilla was jumping!
iPhone for animals up close and for social media quick posts. I liked recording a couple of videos on my phone then uploading to my social media stories later at the lodge.
See my packing list of things you can purchase on Amazon here: Amazon African Safari Packing List
If you liked this post please share it on your favorite social media site using the Share button below because we’d love to get the word out! Feel free to pin this to your favorite Pinterest board:
See all AFRICA POSTS or try a few of these:
The Seychelles was one of the most relaxing and beautiful islands we’ve ever been to! Where to stay in the Seychelles? You must stay at the Hilton Northolme Resort and Spa and get a pool villa! See why this was the best hotel in the Seychelles!