Kenya 2024 ✈ Amazing First Safari at JW Marriott Masai Mara

Following our Antarctica bucket list trip in 2023, we decided to check off another bucket list trip in 2024...a safari trip. Safari can be very expensive, so when Marriott opened its first property in Kenya, we decided to splurge our points at the JW Marriott Masai Mara and had an amazing first safari experience. We are so grateful to be able to see so many wildlife in their natural habitat, and to witness the circle of life first-hand in the African savanna.

Trip Planning/Preparation

Even though I've had the privilege of traveling to 50 countries, I have yet to have the opportunity to travel to a safari, mainly because safaris are expensive and there wasn't any way to 'travel hack' easily. 

So when I found out about Marriott's first safari hotel that is bookable with points, and read about all the good reviews, I decided to jump on it and splurged my points on award bookings at the JW Marriott Masai Mara when availability opened up in October 2023. 

I wasn't exactly sure of our travel plans at the time of booking but since award spaces are limited and I could cancel for free up to 30 days before the stay, I went ahead and made 2 separate bookings - one in early July (July 4th holiday) and another one in late August (Labor day holiday). I chose these timing because they they coincided with holidays at work, and they are also the best time to see the Great Migration, which usually happens from July to October. The August timing was also perfect to celebrate hubby's 40th birthday. 

It costs 132,000 Marriott points per night so it costs a total of 528,000 points for our 4-night stay. I made separate bookings for each day instead of booking all 4 days together because I initially planned to stay only 3 nights and thought it'd be easier to cancel the first or last day by having separate bookings. Yes, I know the best sweet spot for Marriott award booking is to book 5 nights (with the 5th night free); but I wasn't able to find availability for 5 days in a row for our dates.

Even thought 132,000 points may seem a lot (it's costs even more now as they increased the award rates for this hotel in 2025), this was a very good value redemption in our opinion because the cash price was $4,540/night! Besides, the rate includes everything - game drives, all meals, all beverages including alcoholic beverages, transfers from the air strip, and 5 pcs of laundry per person per day. No, we'd never spend this amount of money if we were to pay out-of-pocket ourselves but thanks to points and miles, we have been incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to have amazing (and expensive) experiences like these that we wouldn't have imagined possible. 

 

We almost thought we'd have to cancel our trip when Masai Mara was hit with a bad flood in May 2024, which resulted in the closure of the lodge for a few months. Thankfully, the lodge was able to recover from the floods fairly quickly and reopened on 15 July 2024, just in time for the great migration seaon. Looking back, I was glad I made two separate bookings initially because our early July booking would have been cancelled anyway. Luck definitely plays a big part in all our travels, which is why we always count our blessings whenever our travels go smoothly. 

After booking the hotel, I started looking for flights and managed to book award flights on AA from Huntsville to Nairobi, traveling on the amazing Qatar Qsuites. However, if we were to keep this flight, we'd have to cut one night in Masai Mara. So we had to make a decision between 1 extra night in JW Marriott Masai Mara vs. Qsuite business class flight to Nairobi. After discussing with hubby, we decided that since we were traveling all the way there, it'd make more sense to have more time in the safari, and save the airline miles for more trips in the future by flying economy. 

So we ended up booking our flights from Huntsville to Nairobi (economy) for 40,000 AA miles + $42.80 per person, and Nairobi to Huntsville (business) for 81,000 United miles + $81 per person. 

Packed pretty light for this weeklong trip and brought only our backpacks. Bought some 'safari-color' outfits for our trip from REI.

I am a magnet for attract mosquitoes/bugs hence we prepared a bit more for this trip by spraying all our clothes with Sawyer's permethrin insect repellent and brought along both mosquito repellent sprays and lotion. There weren't really any bugs when we were there but better prepared than not. 

One of the common vaccine for traveling to Africa is the Yellow Fever, which we had already gotten the year before when we went to Brazil so we were good on that. This trip was a reminder to get my vaccinations up to date so I got my HepB, Meningococcal A, and Polio booster prior to the trip.

26 Aug 2024 (Mon): Huntsville - Dallas - London

Time to begin our long journey from Huntsville - Dallas - London - Nairobi. Booked these flights for 40,000 AA miles + $42.80 per pax. Thanks MIL for dropping us off at the airport at 8.30am.

Flight #1: 2 hours flight from Huntsville - Dallas at 9.45am. Got row 1 in economy with plenty of leg room. P.S. We decided to wear a mask because Covid was going around and we didn't want to get sick before this big safari trip.

Hung out at the AA Flagship lounge for a few glasses of champagne during our 3.5 hours transit in Dallas. Got access to this lounge thanks to my AA Platinum Pro status when traveling international.

Not impressed with the food options in this lounge but still better than nothing. We had a lil' too much champagne instead...lol!

Flight #2: 9 hours from Dallas to London at 3.20pm. My seat selection strategy of picking both the two aisle seats in the middle section row of 4 didn't work out this time because it was a completely full flight. We asked the couple who were stuck in the middle to switch seat with one of us, which was a better option for them anyway so they gladly switched. We tried to get some sleep but honestly, the flight wasn't very comfortable so we didn't get much rest on this flight.

27 Aug 2024 (Tues): London - Nairobi

Made it to London on time at 6.30am with a 3 hour 20 min transit before our next flight. Btw, London Heathrow airport was a pain to transit. Our AA flight arrived at T3 and we had to take a 10 min bus ride to T5. Sure glad I switched our flights to one with longer transit coz it would have been too stressful and we couldn't afford to miss the only British Airways flight to Nairobi for the day.

The annoying part about transiting in LHR airport is that we still had to go through immigration and security even though we were just transiting. We went to the normal immigraton line but was told to use the Fast Track lane because I had Oneworld Emerald status, but it was NOT faster. Security also took forever and the staff made it worse trying to redirect the lines at the security screening area. Of course, London Heathrow is also known for the troublesome liquid rules (i.e. containers up to 100ml must be placed in a  transparent, re-sealable plastic bag, no bigger than 1 litre). It took us about 45 minutes to go from T3 to T5. I honestly think it would have been faster if just went through immigration and re-entered using the BA 1st class check in lane with my Oneworld Emerald status. 

There are other better Oneworld lounges in Heathrow like the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge in T3, which we visited 3 months ago. But since our next flight on British Airways was departing from T5, we opted to visit the British Airways Galleries First Lounge in T5. Definitely trying to fully utilize my Oneworld Emerald status while I have it. =)

Food in this lounge was alright but I still prefer oriental options. We didn't eat much as we felt a lil' rush but don't mind some champagne for breakfast. Didn't have time to get a shower either. 

The staff at the first lounge told us that our flight would be departing from Terminal 5B (which wasn't reflected on the departures screen when we looked), and told us that there is another lounge - Galleries Club Lounge in Terminal 5B which was closer to our gate.

So I decided to make a quick pitstop to check it out. It was a bit more crowded here.

The food options were exactly the same as the other lounge, minus the champagne.

One more flight to go...we were both feeling like zombies at this point.

Flight #3: 9 hours from London to Nairobi at 9.45am. The flight was pretty empty, especially in the first section of economy. We wasted no time making ourselves very comfortable occupying a row of 3 each and slept the whole flight, which was much needed after the not-so-comfortable AA flight. 

I didn't even know if any meals were served on this flight or if we just slept through it. These don't count as a 'meal' for a 9 hours flight.

Arrived Nairobi 30 minutes behind schedule at 9.20pm. Nairobi airport's arrival was kinda weird. We got off the flight via a jetbridge but still had to walk down to board the bus to get to the terminal. Passport control was chaotic and extremely slow. I think we got unlucky with 3 flights arriving at the same time. It took us an hours to get through immigration and by the time we got to the baggage claim at 10.50pm, my poor backpack was left on the ground by itself.

Kenya is visa-free starting this year but we still had to apply for an ETA to enter Kenya. We were able to complete the application online easily before we departed and paid $35 per pax.

Jambo Kenya! It was already 10.50pm by the time we got out of the airport. The staff from Crowne Plaza was already waiting for us and led us to the hotel van. With the delayed arrival and slow immigration, I'm glad we booked this hotel which was conveniently located just 5 min away from the airport. Like India, hotels in Nairobi requires security check and scanning of all bags before entering.

Booked this stay using my IHG credit card free night certificate. We received a complimentary upgrade to a junior suite with balcony which was nice but we didn't really get to enjoy the room much coz we were only there for a few hours to sleep.

28 Aug 2024 (Wed): Nairobi - Masai Mara, Day 1 at JW Marriott Masai Mara

After 6 hours of sleep, it was time to continue our journey with an early start for the day. Checked out of the hotel at 6am and took an Uber to Wilson airport. Paid $8.56 for our 20 min Uber ride.

Arrived Wilson airport at 6.20am. This is a smaller airport in the city for bush planes, which is not set up like a normal airport. Google map wasn't very helpful in showing where the AirKenya terminal was so we were dropped off at a wrong place and had to walk a bit to find it.

AirKenya check in and departure area was small. Our bags were weighed when we first entered the building, and the check in counter was just next to it. There is a 15kg limit for check in luggage and it has to be soft bags, which was the main reason why we brought our backpacks for this trip. We could have asked the hotel to help book our roundtrip flights from Nairobi to Masai Mara but we decided to book it ourselves for $352/pax/way as it was cheaper.

There were 3 flights departing around the same time so the waiting area was a bit busy that morning. We boarded our flight at 7.10am for on time departure at 7.30am.

We were informed that there would be 3 stops for our flight and our stop - Masai Mara Keekorok woud be the 3rd/last stop. Our total flight time was about 1.5 hours. I was hoping to spot animals or maybe the great migration from the sky but nope, we just saw the vast savanna. 

We thought some of the passengers on our flight would get off in the first 2 stops but we just picked up more people from the first 2 stops. Everyone on our flight were getting off at Keekorok airstrip. 

Landed safely at Keekorok airstrip at 8.50am, yes we landed on a dirt road airstrip. =) The 'arrival hall' was right by the bush plane. Hubby spotted the JW Marriott staffs from their jacket, and we also learned that the guys who picked us up, Eric and Gedion, would be our guides for the rest of our stay.

The JW Marriott luxurious experience began as soon as we landed. Our jeep was the only one with welcome drinks and snacks. Certainly don't mind some bubbles at 9am. =) Both of us finished that bottle of champagne before even leaving the airstrip...lol! 

We also found out that we'd be paired with another couple (Kortia and Elizabeth) who arrived on the same flight for all game drives throughout our stay. They also booked their stay with points so we had some good 'points and miles' discussions on this trip. P.S. We don't get to choose who we get paired up with (usually in a group of 4 so we were glad we got paired up with a like-minded couple.

There are local guards with guns standing around the airstrip to keep wildlife away from the area. Different level of security here...lol! We noticed that all the game drives vehicles there are Toyota Land Cruisers, but JW Marriott's jeeps are much nicer and more decked out than others.

JW Marriott Masai Mara is located within the Masai Mara National Park, so we had to pay the Masai Mara National Park fees of $200/pax/day. That little hut at the airstrip is where tourists can pay the park fees but since we had already prepaid our total park fees of $1,600 (for 4 days) directly to the hotel using credit card, we didn't have to deal with that here. It was unfortunate that they hiked the fees from $80 to $200 per day this year, which made visiting this place even more expensive.

After enjoying our drinks and snacks and getting to know our guides and new friends, it was time to make our way to the lodge at 9.45am. We were the last jeep to leave the airstrip...lol! Our jeep is 'open air' so it was actually pretty chilly in the morning. Our jeep was well-equipped with blankets, sunblock, mosquito repellent, charging ports and binoculars. There is also a cooler for drinks.

Started our mini game drive on our way from the airstrip to the hotel. This was our first time in a safari so we were all excited spotting any wildlife, even if they were quite far away. We had no idea we'd see a lot more in the next few days, which is why our guide said that this was just a 'starter'.

Spotted all the herbivor animals - impalas, zebras and pumba (warthog) within 1.5 hours of our ride from the airstrip to the lodge. The journey from the airstrip was supposed to take about 30 minutes but we made multiple stops along the way for wildlife spotting.

Finally made it to JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge at 11.15am and we were welcomed by the Masai warriors and cultural ambassador, Diana. The lodge is located along Talek River and we had to cross this bridge to get to the lodge. This bridge was newly built as the old bridge was washed away by the floods in May. Leshan (our server throughout our stay) welcomed us with wet towels and we were served special welcome cocktails by Joseph before proceeding to the lobby for check in.

Thelma assisted wth our check-in procedures. Since our room wasn't ready yet, Thelma offered to take us around the property to check out the facilities - pool, gym, sauna/steam room, cold plunge pool, spa. We didn't use any of these facilities coz we had no time nor energy after the game drives.

The main area in the lodge where we hungout for all meals and drinks... Sarabi Restaurant with hippo view and Fig Tree lounge and deck.

We also went by the photo center to pick up a camera. A huge perk of this lodge is their collaboration with Canon, which allowed us to borrow fancy cameras for free throughout our stay. I don't know much about cameras but this thing is expensive... just the camera (Canon EOS R6 Mark II) and lens (RF100-500mm Telephoto) cost almost $5,000 already! They also provided a 64gb SD card and we were able to transfer the photos/videos to our own hard disc which we brought for the trip. We were also able to use Canon's app to transfer all photos/videos to our phones. I had my iPhone 15 Pro Max to manage so hubby was responsible for this camera. P.S. I still preferred my iPhone. =)

Cheers to our first meal at Sarabi restaurant! Honestly, this trip felt surreal until we finally made it here. I was certainly very grateful and relieved that everything went smoothly leading up to this trip despite all the potential obstacles that could have disrupted our trip (e.g. flood, property closure, protests in Nairobi, strike at the airport).

Since we were early for lunch, we ordered from the All Day dining menu. We ordered the grilled chicken sandwich, egg fried rice with stir fried vegetable, and sauteed vegetable. Also had a iced cappucino and another cocktail to drink.

It was pretty amazing that all meals and drinks were inclusive for our stay. There were some premium liquor that was chargeable but we were good with the complimentary drink options. Definitely worth all the points we used for this redemption. =)

Our room was finally ready around 2pm, and the staff walked us to our room. Our room - Tent 22 is the Honeymoon Suite and is the last tent, which means it's the most secluded one, and is also furthest away from everything else. They do have golf carts in the lodge that we could call for pick-up/drop off but it was only a 6-7min walk so it wasn't bad at all. I'm not complaining coz this is one of the nicest tents at the lodge, and I'm thankful for the upgrade.

Welcome to Tent 22 - Executive Suite with Plunge Pool and Whirlpool. =)

The interior of the tent was very nice and spacious. Thanks to the staffs for decorating the room to celebrate hubby's 40th birthday! There was no air-conditioning in the lodge, so it could get a bit hot in the afternoons, there were fans in the lodge. We were usually out on game drives for most of the day so it didn't both us. It gets pretty chilly in the mornings and evenings so there was really no need for air-conditioner. There is also a mosquito net that the housekeeping staffs help put down during the evening turn down service. 

Everything in the minibar was complimentary. There were whiskey, gin, wine, beer, coffee, tea, juice, soft drinks, water, cookies, nuts and chips, and they were replenished daily. There were also robes and slippers in the room. There were yoga mats and umbrellas, which we didn't need to use at all. Another nice touch was the complimentary laundry of 5 pieces/pax/day.

There was an indoor and outdoor shower. We didn't use the outdoor shower at all. They also provided insect repellent cream with the other usual amenities.

We also received these welcome gifts - water bottles with our names and scarves. Very nice touch. 

Another random 'perk' of our tent location... We were showing MIL the view from our deck on Facetime when this group of baboons randomly appeared form nowhere crossing the river. We also spotted baboons on our deck on the first and last day. Now we know why they reminded us to keep our doors closed at all times.

Started our evening game drive at 4.15pm. We thought safari would be hot but it was actually windy, dry, and cold at times, especially since JW Marriott's jeep is wide open. The roads are all dirt roads so game drives were always bouncy rides.

All game drives were included in our stay. We've read about the timing of the game drives and know that we could choose either morning + evening game drive, or a full day game drive each day. However, our guide/driver, Eric was so good and flexible that our game drives were always longer than everyone else, which was great! Our game drive schedules throughout our stay were as follows:

Day 1 Evening: 4.15pm - 7.15pm (3 hr)

Day 2 Morning: 6.30am - 2.15pm (7hr 45min)

Day 3 Evening: 4.30pm - 7.15pm (2hr 45min)

Day 3 Full day: 7.45am - 7.00pm (11hr 15min)

Day 4: Morning: 6.30am - 2.45pm (8hr 15min)

Based on our experience, the morning game drives were usually more exciting, while the evening game drives gave us the stunning sunset view. You'll see what I mean as you scroll along. =)

It was easy to take photos of the wildlife, but not as easy to get photos of us with the wildlife. The good thing about our open air jeep is that we could sit comfortably and enjoy the wildlife without standing up (which is not the case for many other jeeps we saw).

We quickly realize that gazelles, impalas, and zebras can be found easily. This area seemed to be a common gathering spot for all the herbivores...we spotted warthogs (pumba), giraffes, zebras, and elephants. Eric was hoping to find a leopard in this area but no luck.

We rewatched Lion King right before our trip (after 30 years) and was reminded of the cute and clumsy pumbas. Fun fact about pumbas, they are said to be very forgetful that when chased by a predator, it can stop midway, after forgetting why it was running in the first place...lol!

Spotted a tower of giraffes, including few baby giraffes. There were two male giraffes that were about to start a fight, but they didn't look aggresive. Fun fact: Giraffes move both front and back legs on one side of their body at the same time.

Are zebras black with white stripes or white with black stripes?

These elephants were very chill. They were just busy eating grass constantly.

Spotted this mama jackal breastfeeding its 3 hungry kiddos. They were quite far away so the Canon camera came in handy.

Last animal for the day...hyena. Hyenas are carnivors and they don't have good reputation, usually the 'villians' coz they are opportunistic scavengers, which we witnessed the next morning.

Eric packed some snacks and drinks for us as we enjoyed our first sunset in Masai Mara.

Wrapped up our evening game drive at 7.15pm after sunset. It got dark pretty quickly. We headed straight to the fig tree lounge for some drinks before dinner.

Day 1 dinner...we ordered garden vegetable salad, curried cauliflower soup, grilled chicken with pan jus, and pan seared snapper with lemon butter emulsion.

As we were enjoying dinner, we heard some rumblings and realized that the Masai warriors were going table to table for a short performance. It's pretty cool but we're not fans of individual attention so we were glad it didn't last too long for our table...lol!

Returned to our tent at 9pm after dinner and had to have a Masai warrior accompany us to walk back to our tent when it got dark. Turndown service helped to put down the mosquito net for our bed. It was so quiet and dark, and we were excited to see milky way from our lodge. What a beautiful way to wrap up our first day in Masai Mara!

29 Aug 2024 (Thurs): Day 2 at JW Marriott Masai Mara

Early start for day 2 at 6am but we were safari ready! It was still drak so we had to call for a Masai warrior to come walk us to the lobby to grab some coffee/pastries before heading out.

We were ready to head out for the morning game drive. It was pretty chilly in the morning which explains our jackets. We swapped seats with the other couple and took the backseat today. The views were equally good front or back, but the back was definitely more bouncy. Learnt my lesson that it wasn't a good idea to have to-go coffee while we were bouncing around in the jeep.

Such a pretty sunrise...perfect for silhouette photography but our skills were limited. Spot the hot air balloons in the distance. 

Eric was driving around and got intel from another guide that someone had spotted the black rhino. He immediately turned around and joined the other jeeps to spot the black rhino. It was a very good and lucky start for our morning as black rhino is one of the hardest to find big 5 animals in the Masai Mara. There are only about 30-50 black rhinos in the Masai Mara at any one time and the black rhino is usually solitary, which makes them hard to find. We were too busy trying to get photos of the black rhino and it was constantly moving so we couldn't get a photo of ourselves and the rhino.

After spotting the black rhino, we continued driving around and spotted this herd of elephants with their kiddos crossing the road. The baby elephant was so cute. All wildlife have the right of way in Masai Mara, so we patiently waited for all of them to cross the road before continuing our drive.

Spotted these two baboons PDA-ing on the side of the road. Spot something in the bottom left photo?

Masai Mara reserve is huge so we spent a lot of time driving (and bouning) around. We were hanging out around the wildebeests when Eric got a call from another guide about cheetah sighting nearby, so he immediately changed direction and rushed over. 

Whenever we see  a lot of land cruisers, it means there is wildlife sighting. 

Spotted this group of mom with its 4 kids and they got pretty close to our vehicle! They were hunting for something, but didn't find anything and started walking away.

Just as the cheetahs were leaving and we thought the cheetah show was over, we spotted a baby gazelle all by itself. The cheetahs also spotted the baby gazelle and what followed was an exhilarting and exciting 5 minute chase of 5 cheetahs vs. 1 baby gazelle. We thought this would be an easy hunt for the cheetahs coz cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. At one point, we thought the mommy cheetah got the gazelle, but as the mom was waiting for its kids to come finish off the hunt (it was trying to teach the kids), a hyena appeared out of nowhere to steal the hunt!! What a plot twist! The cheetah chase turned into a hyena chase. The cheetahs tried stopping the hyena but they were already out of stamina. The hyena finally got the poor baby gazelle, and this is why hyena is known as the opportunistic scavenger. 

We were extremely lucky to be there at the right time coz all these happened 5 minutes after we arrived. The adrenalin rush was real and I felt like I was in the chase too! It was an amazing experience witnessing the circle of life in action.

After an exhilarating cheetah/hyena chase for their meal, it was time for us to enjoy our meal at 10am. Eric found a tree for our first bush breakfast in the wilderness.

Took the opportunity to take photos with our guides and our cool jeep...of course can't miss my signature jumpshot.

We ordered our breakfast the night before and the lodge packed everything nicely in glass containers. Our guides, Eric and Gedion helped to set everything up for us after finding a good spot. 

After breakfast, we had our first lion sighting. Spotted two lionesses and two lions. These lions had already eaten and seemed to be having a food coma...lol!

Not too far from the lions, we saw a lot of birds flying around and Eric drove over to check it out. Another circle of life sighting...spotted these vultures scavenging on a waterbuck. =( Our guide said that the lions we saw earlier may have killed and ate this waterbuck the night before, and these vultures are scavenging on the leftovers. The hyenas have not realized this yet else they would have scavenged on it as well.

Enough of goriness...time to continue driving around the savanna looking for other wildlife.

Spotted a herd of mama elephants with their cute babies! Beautiful weather with blue skies.

One of the main reasons we came during this time of the year was to see the great migration of the wildebeests. Spotted this big confusion of wildebeests moving in a long line.

Finished our morning game drive at 2.20pm, which was much later than expected but we are not complaining because it had been a successful morning spotting the black rhino, an exciting cheetah/hyena hunt, lions, vultures scavenging on a dead waterbuck, wildebeests migration, and a herd of elephants.

Headed straight to the restaurant to have our lunch. Eric had already called our server, Leshan, as we were heading back to the lodge so he was ready to serve our lunch. We ordered the garden green, olive and tunas salad, grilled chicken kathi wrap, wild berry cheese cake, and vanilla sorbet.

 We had only about 2 hours to rest before starting our evening game drive at 4.30pm. 

Started our evening game drive with zebras, impalas, and topi. Spotted our first baby zebra.

Spotted these 3 lion brothers hanging out and playing together. There weren't many other jeeps around so we took our own sweet time watching them. It was cool that we got pretty close them. We weren't afraid of them attacking us coz apparently these animals think our entire jeep is a bigger animal, but is not a threatening them. The key is that we DO NOT get off the vehicle.

The Masai Mara national park has a rule that no vehicles are supposed to go 'off-road'. There are park rangers driving around and would fine the guides/drivers who drive off-road. This white van decided to go off-road to get closer to the lion but got stuck as their van wouldn't crank...right beside 3 lions and the sun was setting soon. The white van driver asked the beige jeep to help tow them out but in order to do so, he had to get out to tie both vehicles together. So the beige driver asked us to give him cover (our jeep parked between the van and the lions to block the lions' view) while the van driver quickly tied both vehicles together, and was successfully rescued out of lion land...lol! 

After helping the van driver get out of trouble, we continued hanging out aroud the lions a bit longer and caught the sunset on our way back at 6.40pm. There is no night safari in Masai Mara and the park rule requires everyone to be out of the park when it gets dark. Since Eric didn't rush us, we were out till sunset almost everyday and it felt like we were on a night safari on our way back...lol!

Made it back to the lodge at 7.30pm for dinner. It was Thai night for dinner today.

Another milky way and clear starry skies night to wrap up our successful day in Masai Mara.

30 Aug 2024 (Fri): Day 3 at JW Marriott Masai Mara

We are doing a full day game drive today so we had a later start for the day bu we still got up by 6am. It was so quiet and tranquil in the morning.

Since we were starting our day later, we had time to eat breakfast in the lodge before heading out for the game drive.

 As usual, hubby went with western options while I went with oriental options.

Started our full day game drive at 7.45am.

It was quite cold in the mornings. Glad we brought our fleece jackets and also used the blankets provided in the jeep. Quick elephant stop to kick off our day.

Spotted Mufasa and Sarabi...lol! All the jeeps were lined up watching this lion couple. Eric really understands animal behavior. He said the lions were going to move as it was getting hot, and indeed, they started walking towards the shades.

Another animal on the big 5 list...Cape Buffalo! We were on a mission to get our Big 5 checklist completed today. We were just missing leopard.

Eric was also on a mission to find our last big 5 animal today and he got intel about this baby leopard sighting on the tree. The tree was so far away we had to use the Canon camera for a better soom, but stability wasn't great for video. Leopards like to hide on the trees and they'd even drag their prey up the tree to enjoy them without being stolen by other animals. 

After squinting our eyes trying hard to find the leopard on the tree, Eric got a radio call about sighting of mama leopard nearby. All the jeeps surrounded the leopard but it didn't seemed bothered. I was holding my breathe when it walked right next to our jeep!

So glad to see our last big 5 animal up close! 

After a good leopard sighting, we spotted a pregnant cheetah not too far away. Two same same but different animals, are you able to tell their difference? Spots and coat color aside, leopards are far bulkier, stronger, and generally heavier than cheetahs, built for strength over speed or agility. Cheetahs, on the other hand, are the fastest land animal and have a need for speed, which means that they are light, agile, and stream-lined in their shape.

Glimpse of how it's like to go on a game drive in the Masai Mara. The Masai Mara National Reserve is known for its vast, open savanna grasslands. I was certainly enjoying the wildlife, sceneries, and Tusker beer on our game drives. =)

Spotted two more sleepy lions. Apparently lion sleeps most of the time even during the day.

Toilet stop at this rest house on our way to the Kenya/Tanzania border. I was actually very surprised how clean the the toilet was. Randomly spotted the soap dispenser was made in Malaysia.

More pictures with our jeep and guides.

Since we had more time on our full day game drive, Eric decided to take us to the Mara River near the Kenya/Tanzania border. We were hoping to see the great migration of the wildebeests across the Mara river but apparently they crossed the river few weeks back. Eric said that the wildebeests had been smart by crossing another smaller and less dangerous river lately. So nothing much for us to see in the river apart from some hippos and crocodiles.

The newer bridge was damaged during the recent flood, and impressively, the old one survived.

Found a tree to have our bush lunch at 2pm. Eric took our lunch orders the night before and the lodge packed everything in glass containers. We always had more food than we could eat.

Made it to the Kenya-Tanzanie border! We technically stepped foot on two countries on this trip! 

Masai Mara on Kenya's side and Serengeti on Tanzania's side. Eric also showed us the new Ritz Carlton construction near the Sand River, which is super close to the border. Just read the news that this new lodge will open in August this year. 

Spotted a serval that made us wait in suspense for 2 minutes to catch something but failed. Apparently, it's rare to spot this cat.

Saw the great wildebeests (and zebras) migration. According to Eric, these wildebeests were coming back (again) from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara Kenya) for the grass. Even though we didn't see them crossing the river, it was amazing to see so many of them migrating 'in line'.

A safari game drive means complimentary 'bouncing' massage and dust/dirt therapy. My skin got quite dry being blow-dried everyday in our open air vehicle.

Another beautiful sunset on our way back.

Look at that!!! Such a stunning sunset!!

Best sunset photo from this trip! =)

Made it back to our lodge at 7pm for dinner. It's Indian cuisine tonight.

31 Aug 2024 (Sat): Day 4 at JW Marriott Masai Mara

Early morning start at 6.30am for our final day of game drive. Going solo this morning because hubby was having stomach issues all night and decided to stay in for the day.

Another beautiful sunrise. =)

Started our final game drive with lion and lioness roaming around all the land cruisers.

We spotted this lion hiding in the bush and enjoying a wildebeest all by himself.

Spotted this mama topi who just gave birth to the baby topi not too long ago. We could see baby topi still has the umbilical cord on it. Today's game drive was certainly a depiction of the circle of life. 

We have been incredibly lucky to have good weather throughout our trip!

Time for bush breakfast at 10am.

Another gathering of Land Cruisers means there is a wildlife sighting. Spotted this group of cheetahs again after breakfast. I believe they were the same ones we saw in the cheetah chase 2 days ago.

Looks like one of them caught a baby gazelle today and was hoarding it not sharing with the siblings.

We drove around quite a bit as Eric was determined to find another leopard before we wrap up our game drive. Finally found this leopard hiding in the bush with its hunt. It's pretty impressive how these guides and spot these animals coz the top photo was how it looked without zooming in.

Our morning game drive went overtime again until 2.30pm, but I'm not complaining because this was our final game drive and we were able to see a lot of animals for one last time.

Made it back to the lodge for lunch at 3pm. Thankfully, hubby was feeling better and had already eaten before I got back.

We haven't really had time to enjoy the lodge the past few days so we decided to take it easy this afternoon to enjoy our pool instead of going out to the Masai village. We were informed by the hotel staff that there would be a sundowner in the evening, and since Eric and the other couple wasn't back yet, we joined another group's vehicle to the sundowner at 6pm.

Spotted these mama lioness and their cubs on our way to the sundowner. It was a good surprise coz we weren't expecting to see any wildlife on the short drive.

There were a number of guests checking out the next day so the lodge set up this big sundowner.

 Celebrating our final evening and sunset in Masai Mara.

Sunset, bonfire, and drinks...what a great way to wrap up our stay!

After returning from the sundowner, we headed over to the restaurant for dinner at 7.30pm as usual. When we arrived at the restaurant, Leshan told us that he'd like to show us something so we followed along. I thought he wanted to show us some animal and was very surprised when he showed us the special private dining area that he had arranged juts for the two of us! WOW!!

As we were almost done with our meal, we heard some singing outside and kinda guessed what was coming. Leshan and all the other waiters came singing and brought a cake to celebrate hubby's 40th birthday! We don't like attention so this was not something we requested but the staffs were too nice and wanted to do something special for hubby's birthday. Asante sana to Leshan, Joseph, and the JW Marriott Masai Mara staffs for this wonderful surprise! Y'all are amazing!

Diana, the cultural ambassador also gifted us a handmade bracelet as a farewell gift.

After our lovely surprise dinner, we headed back to our lodge for our last night here.

1 Sep 2024 (Sun): Masai Mara - Nairobi; Day 5 at JW Marriott Masai Mara

We were finally able to sleep in our last morning since we weren't going on a game drive today and our flight wasn't until 2.45pm.

Checked out of our tent at 10.30am and the staff came in a golf cart to take us to the lobby. 

We thought breakfast ends at 11am so we were gonna have late breakfast, but apparently breakfast ends at 10am...whoops! Thankfully Leshan was cool and let us take our time to enjoy our last complimentary breakfast.

Had some time to wait before leaving the lodge so we visited the in-house garden where they planted a lot of veggies that are used by the restaurant to prepare our meals. 

It was finally time to say goodbye. We departed the lodge at 2.20pm and rode with a Kenyan-Japanese couple to the airstrip to catch our AirKenya Express flight back to Nairobi. 

Our plane back to Nairobi was much smaller than the one we came with. 

Luckily the journey from Keekorok to Nairobi took only about 50 minutes as it was a direct flight with no stops.

Arrived Nairobi Wilson airport at 4pm. Hubby had fun chatting with the Kenyan guy who had a Japanese wife...lol!

Took an Uber from Wilson airport to our hotel. We decided to spend a night in Nairobi before flying back to the US. 

From one JW to another JW, checking off all the JW Marriott hotels in Kenya.

Booked this 1-night stay with my Marriott 40K Free Night Certificate.

This hotel juts opened last year so everything looked very new and nice.

Got a slight upgrade to a club level king room. The room was pretty nice with views of Nairobi city. Also received some welcome snacks with my Titanium status.

Went downstairs to check out the gym and the heated pool, and no we didn't use any of them.

Instead, we spent the rest of the day hanging out at the Executive lounge. =)

Happy Hour started at 5.30pm and we had dinner at the lounge as well. We hung out with 2 other American couples whom we met the night before at the sundowner at the JW Marriott Masai Mara. They were also spending a night here before flying back to the US. It was fun chatting with them and our group was certainly the loudest in the lounge...lol!

2 Sep 2024 (Mon): Nairobi - Addis Ababa

Our final day in Kenya. Went downstairs to enjoy our complimentary buffet 'brunch' at 9am.

The buffet options were very impressive!

We requested late checkout from the hotel at 3.30pm and took an Uber to the airport for our 6pm flight. We definitely cut it a bit too close to leave the hotel so late...whoops! Our Uber driver told us that it'd take longer if we didn't use the toll road, and we couldn't risk missing our flight so we asked him to use the toll road, and gave him USD cash coz we didn't have any Kenya shillings. One weird thing on our ride to Nairobi airport, our driver told us that we had to get off the car at this toll place, walk through the building for security check, and he'd pick us up after the toll. We followed the instructions and thankfully nothing bad happened but very weird.

We made it to Nairobi airport at 4.10pm and I was freakin gout a bit when I saw the long line outside of the airport. I wasn't aware that there'd be a document check and bag scan before we even get to the check in counter but I guess it's similar to airports in India, only passengers with tickets are allowed in the building. I was getting nervous as the line moved quite slowly. Another guy in front of us said he has traveled through this airport before and this was the first time the line was so long. We finally made it through the document check and quckly went to the Ethiopian airlines check-in counter. Thankfully, we were able to use the business class line as hubby had a business class ticket, and we got through security by 4.40pm...phew! 

Made a quick stop to the lounge with my Priority Pass but wasn't impressed. Anyway, it was time to begin our 34-hours journey home from Nairobi - Addis Ababa - Rome - Washington Dulles - Chicago - Huntsville. Booked this business class flight for 88,000 United miles + $81 per person. This was our first time flying with Ethiopian airlines, and honestly, we didn't know what to expect. It was interesting observing the passengers who were traveling on our same flight at the boarding gate. Definitely not the usual demographic that we are used to traveling with.

For the first flight, there was only 1 available seat for business class so I booked hubby on the business class and I took economy. It was only a short 2-hour flight so I didn't mind. My only request was for hubby to take photos and videos of his business class seat. Photos on the left were from business class, and photos on the right were from my economy class.

Arrived Addis Ababa airport at 8.15pm and had a 3-hour transit before our long flight.

We had access to the Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine lounge as we were both flying business class on the next flight. 

The lounge was pretty crowded and we weren't really interested in eating as we had already eaten in the previous flight.

3 Sep 2024 (Tues): Addis Ababa - Rome - Washington Dulles - Chicago - Huntsville

Boarded our business class flight from Addis Ababa to Washington Dulles at 10.30pm. The total flight time for this flight is 17 hours, which include a 1-hour technical stop in Rome. This was our first time flying in business class together and we were lucky to get this business class layout, which is the nicest one in Ethiopian's fleets.

Our seats felt very private as we couldn't see other passengers when we were seated.

We decided to 'splurge' our United points on this flight because it was such a long flight and was a good value for points, especially after United devalued their awards.

Full menu for the 3 meals on this 17-hours flight.

The first leg was about 6.5 hours to Rome. The hot light meal was served shortly after take off. After meal, we laid our seats flat to get some rest. There was a crew change and refuel during the 1-hour stop in Rome but we just stayed onboard.

Our 2nd leg was 10 hours from Rome to Washington Dulles. Had breakfast, slept, then lunch before landing at 9am. Also tried some Ethiopian National Dish for lunch. 

Our experience was pretty good, especially for the business class flight but my verdict is that we'd only fly Ethiopian if we have no other options with miles. 

Landed in Washington IAD airport at 9.10am and went to the Capital One lounge for our 3.5 hours transit. We both had some good rest on the flight so we were feeling pretty good.

2-hours flight from Washington IAD to Chicago at 12.48pm. There was actually direct flight from Washington IAD to Huntsville, but it wasn't available on award booking so we took the longer route.

Visited the United Club lounge with our United Club passes for our 4-hour transit in Chicaog, before taking our last flight for 2-hours back to Huntsville. Made it home safely after traveling for 35 hours!

That's a wrap for our first safari trip...we are very thankful for this amazing experience! Thanks for scrolling through! =)