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ing 777-ER, with excellent food (lobster flights. He sent emails to inform us of the
salad, prime rib of beef entrée, cheese progress, confirmed which air strip to send
plate for dessert, a French wine selection) it to in Serengeti and followed up to ensure
and service. Unfortunately, Air France con‐ we received the bag, which we did the next
tracted with Euro-Atlantic, a Lisbon-based day! We emailed his supervisor to let him
carrier with 22-year-old planes, claustro‐ know this quality of service was among the
phobic seat configurations, marginal ser‐ finest we’d experienced worldwide and was
vice, and appetite-killing food selections of not prevalent in many airports or among
questionable origins, for the flight to major carriers.
Nairobi (NBO).
After some 24 hours in transit, we Serengeti Mobile Camps
overnighted at the Crowne Plaza Nairobi
Airport, a clean, well-managed 144-room Our guide from Wilderness Usama
hotel just 10 minutes from the airport, with Serengeti, our mobile camp, met us at the
shuttles on the hour. We arrived late and Kogatende airstrip in a typical Land Cruiser
enjoyed wine and small plates in the Veloc‐ used by camps in the region, with open
ity bar, with excellent attentive service. We sides for easy viewing of animals. We
checked out early for the flight to Kiliman‐ didn’t see much on the two-hour drive to
jaro (JRO), where we would connect to the remote camp since it was the hotter
Coastal Aviation for our flight to one of the part of the day when the animals con‐
airstrips serving the Serengeti, our first served energy for hunting until near sunset
destination to see the start of the annual when the temperature dropped, and preda‐
Great Migration. tors and their prey bounded into action.
Some 2 million wildebeest, joined by ze‐ Accommodations in the Serengeti range
bras and gazelles, course across the plains, from luxury lodges to basic campsites,
over small hills, and across roads and catering to various budgets and prefer‐
streams. The rivulets of animals somehow ences. Safari camps in the heart of the
come mostly together when they cross the wilderness can be permanent fixtures or
Mara River from Tanzania and into Kenya seasonal mobile camps that move with the
in their search for better food in the Masai migration. The options to consider are the
Mara this time of the year, and predators level of comfort, proximity to wildlife, and
follow. environmental and sustainability practices.
The trip got off to a bad start when our Prices vary significantly, from about $250
most important piece of luggage with all per person per night in basic camps to over
our clothes didn’t arrive on our flight from $1,000 at premium luxury camps, including
Nairobi to JRO. Fortunately, we put AirTags meals, game drives, and sometimes drinks.
in our luggage, something we highly rec‐ We reached our remote camp on nar‐
ommend for all travel (it saved us last year row, bumpy dirt roads, then on twisting
in Brazil). Elisha Kimweri of Equity Aviation, new paths winding through the grass to the
which provides services to airlines in local top of a small hill where Wilderness cre‐
airports, spoke excellent English and as‐ ated the Usawa camp, with six safari tents
sisted with the lost luggage form. I pro‐ for twelve guests, a meeting and dining
vided a screenshot of the Find My App area under the main tent, cooking, storage,
showing the bag's location in NBO. Elisha and staff tents. The camp had no perma‐
followed up to arrange to get the bag to us nent fixtures. At the end of the season, sa‐
in Serengeti on one of the bush plane
146 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE WINTER 2025
