Trip reports – Empakaai Cultural Safari

Memories for life

Every Empakaai Cultural Safari trip is special and unique, and our trip with Cindy, Fredrik, Carina and Patrik was all of that and even more. We opened up new destinations, such as Tsavo West National Park and Mombasa Coast. We saw wildlife in its pure and raw moments, when every detail of a cheetah hunt and capture was unfolding in front of us. We went through happy moments and challenging moments – and we admired the happy mood and the talent of Cindy, Fredrik, Carina and Patrik to enjoy every little detail and every nice moment. And we are now truly thankful to receive and share this wonderful review letter that we received from them:

” In May 2016, I received a new follower on Instagram – Empakaai Cultural Safari. I looked more closely at the profile and saw that Moses Nkapiani worked as a guide, especially in Kenya and Tanzania. Me and my husband have been in South Africa and Namibia before and we were interested to go back to Africa again, so I sent a message to Moses and asked him for advice – what he recommended? 10 days later, we had booked a flight to Nairobi and hired Moses as a guide! My husband’s brother and his wife also came with us.

Six months later, we landed in the early morning and fumbled out of the airport in a dark Nairobi. Outside I saw a tall and stately masai, with a red blanket over his shoulders. I recognized his face from Instagram – Moses!

Then a 16 days long adventure began and it has given us memories for life. We visited several of Kenya and Tanzania’s beautiful national parks – Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Amboseli and Tsavo West – and we got to experience so much. We saw a leopard with his prey in a tree, we saw two lions mate, a cheetah trap her prey and an impala which had just come into the world.
After we seen so many lion flocks that we lost count and seen our fourth leopard Moses found that we were very lucky and said; If you have an open heart luck comes to you. However, we believe that it had a lot to do with our guide. As masai, grown up in the bush, Moses have the right eyes!

And, it was not just us who were impressed by Moses. Another tour guide said; you know that Moses is one of Kenya’s best guides? And, another tourist who met Moses on a previous trip came up and said; you know you are lucky and pointed towards Moses.

We know that these statements aren’t a coincidence given everything Moses did for us and all the knowledge he possesses. Speaking of “If you have an open heart, luck comes to you”… of all people in the world, I managed to contact Moses. How lucky!
Now we have raised Moses to the skies (which he’s worth), but we should not forget the rest of the crew, Allan – our driver in Kenya, Tonkei – Moses son, Benjamin – our chef and our driver in Tanzania “The Jungle Master ‘. All the guys were superb!
And, then it is one more person who should have a lot of credit. Before the trip, we had contact with Moses colleague Olena and she was the one who made the whole trip possible. She was the one who answered all our questions and helped us put together a good program. Olena gave us a basic proposal, which we could rework together, according to our requests and our budget. Olena is incredibly helpful and is always quick to respond. She is super nice!

We can highly recommend a trip with Empakaai Cultural Safari. Everything was well organized and everyone took care of us in the best way. We experienced so much that it is impossible to describe everything. Besides all animal experiences, one of our best memories is our three nights in tents. The feeling of waking up in the African wilderness is both magical and powerful. During those nights, we also had our own chef who cooked good food for us. To camp a few nights is a must. Something else you can’t miss, is a visit to a Masai village and learn about their history and culture. It´s very interesting.

Take the chance to experience wonderful people, wildlife, other cultures, nature and feel life, real life! Asante sana Empakaai Cultural Safari!

Cindy, Fredrik, Carina and Patrik from Sweden”

Would like to know more about the trip of Cindy and family? Don’t wait too long with planning your own dream trip in Kenya and Tanzania – just go for it and we are here to help you!
Check our our Instagram profile for more inspiration and ideas (this button below will take you there):

Or drop us a quick email on empakaai.cultural.safari@gmail.com and we will be happy to discuss your plans with you! Welcome!

Trip feedback: Our mentor in Africa

We are very thankful for this positive review to our guests Sara and Alberto, who traveled with us on a private trip in October 2016.

Thank you dear Sara and Alberto, it was a pleasure to travel with you, as you’ve been open, flexible and enjoying every moment!

“Hello everybody!

We wanted to contribute our part to a great company and share our opinion with people who are thinking about making a trip to Kenya and Tanzania.

We returned two weeks ago after spending 19 days in Kenya and Tanzania. Before doing this trip we were going crazy trying to find something that would fit our needs. Now we say – we have not only found it, but we are totally delighted, with the trip, with the experience and above all with people whom we met. Thanks to them we have been able to live this adventure.

It began with Olena as we contacted her before the trip. She explained every detail, responded instantly and began to make this a reality. Titus our driver and guide in Kenya, Stanley and Costa, our guide and cook in Tanzania, each and every one of them made our trip an unforgettable experience. And we will never forget the great Moses, our mentor in Africa. He has been our guide, our teacher. He was not afraid to roll up his sleeves and help us, with border procedures, maintaining our security, or making hundreds of miles to take us to the airport and say goodbye to us. We can only be very grateful.

For people who are thinking of traveling to these countries – first we thought to do the trip by ourselves, but after our experience we know that this was the best way. Empakaai Cultural Safari www.empakaaiculturalsafari.com is a small company. Moses is in charge of getting everything done with the help of people we mentioned. Our trip had a very tight price, which was important for us, and we got it adapted to our needs, itineraries, accommodations, etc.

All in all our trip exceeded our expectations. We learned about the culture, mixed with people and got to know these two great countries.

Sara and Alberto”

The original text is posted on the travel forum Los Viajeros (in Spanish language):

Empakaai cultural safari: Kenia, Tanzania, Zanzíbar

And here is the trip itinerary of Sara and Alberto:

Day 1: Nairobi to Lake Nakuru

Day 2: Lake Nakuru to Maasai Mara

Day 3 and Day 4: Maasai Mara

Day 5: Maasai Mara to Lake Naivasha

Day 6: Lake Naivasha to Amboseli

Day 7: Amboseli

Day 8: Amboseli (Kenya) to Karatu (Tanzania)

Day 9: Karatu to Serengeti

Day 10: Serengeti

Day 11: Serengeti to Ngorongoro

Day 12: Ngorongoro to Mto Wa Mbu

Day 13: Mto Wa Mbu – Arusha – Zanzibar

Day 14 – Day 19: Zanzibar

Want to start planning your own adventure to Africa, but don’t know where to start? Just contact us on empakaai.cultural.safari@gmail.com

And on our Instagram account you will always see fresh photo impressions from our recent trips: animals of Africa, landscapes, places to visit, accommodations, activities and special moments! Our Instagram: empakaai_cultural_safari

Trip feedback: “The safari drives, tours, accommodations… all was perfect!”

We are delighted to receive this warm review from our recent trip!

Nuria, Elisabet, Jordi and Oscar did a 10-day Kenya and Tanzania trip with us last August. And here is what they shared with us:

“If you are planning a custom trip to Kenia and Tanzania, Empakaai Cultural Safari is THE TOUR OPERATOR!

Are you looking for a local (Maasai) experienced flexible and very kind guide? Moses is THE GUIDE!

We are four people and our trip in Kenya and Tanzania with Moses lasted for ten days. We had nothing but excellence throughout the planning and execution of the trip, with a fantastic guide on the ground, his knowledge of the countries and seamless coordination between all the different aspects of the trip.

They planned and adjusted the itinerary and dates to our interests, budget and convenience. We were interested in animals (of course!), but also people and history. Moses got the pacing just right. The safari drives, tours, accommodations… all was perfect! The drivers and cook were excellent! And there is no better guide in those countries than Moses, surely!

We highly recommend this tour operator to anyone planning on going to Kenia and Tanzania.”

The route was intensive, but very exciting:

Day 1: Nairobi to Nakuru

Day 2: Nakuru to Maasai Mara

Day 3 and Day 4: Maasai Mara

Day 5: Maasai Mara to Musoma

Day 6: Musoma to Serengeti National Park

Day 7: Serengeti

Day 8: Serengeti to Ngorongoro

Day 9: Ngorongoro to Mto Wa Mbu

Day 10: Mto Wa Mbu to Arusha (and then flight to Zanzibar)

Would you like to plan a trip to Kenya and Tanzania? Please drop us an emails to empakaai.cultural.safari@gmail.com and we will take it from there! And don’t forget to check out our Instagram account @empakaai_cultural_safari

Trip feedback: Kenya and Tanzania, 15 days

Happy to be back and let everyone know that our adventure in Kenya and Tanzania was excellent! And here is a letter from our friend Olena (instagram: @olena.oz) who was with us on the journey:

“A week ago we were in Nairobi, boarding our plane back to Amsterdam. They never ask at the customs if you are carrying some Africa back home with you (in your heart) – though I’m certain that everyone does.

If they asked, I’d tell them that my husband Henk has certainly kept some Lake Naivasha of Kenya, and some Karatu of Tanzania, in his heart and in his feelings. And maybe other places too, he just has not confessed yet. And that I am bringing back the bright buzz of Lake Victoria, the stunning calmness of Empakaai Crater, the “frozen-in-time” beauty of Amboseli crowned by Mount Kilimanjaro.

And then, our minds did not even start processing what had actually overcome us on this journey. Technically speaking, we did about 3,000 km in 2 weeks, including a couple of hundred km on “African massage” roads, 5 national parks, two country border crossings, one camping in the bush next to grazing wild buffalo, one dancing together with Maasai, and I can continue on and on for a long time….

A trip like this can only be enjoyable if someone is constantly working on the background to keep all things impeccably organized and delivered. Our luck is that we know Empakaai Cultural Safari run by the best trip leader in East Africa. He is very professional and he greatly enjoys his work. We can never thank you enough, Moses.

Ashe naleng for your friendship, positive mindset, sense of humor, for having friends in the most remote spots of Kenya and Tanzania, for your patience with us who were constantly showing up late for breakfast and (here comes the most challenging one!) for teaching Henk to embrace the concept of “pole pole” (“no hurry”).

Asante sana for your endless love for your land and culture. You know, those precious pieces of Africa that we took away in our hearts, they made us more enriched and wise people. They will also lead our paths back to your beautiful land very soon.

Still so many places in Africa waiting to be discovered with Empakaai Cultural Safari!”

Lake Baringo, you are in my heart

We sincerely thank our guest who visited Lake Baringo with us, for writing and sharing this story with Empakaai Cultural Safari.

A big place in my heart belongs to Kenya since I’ve visited this fascinating country with Empakaai Cultural Safari some months ago. And Lake Baringo is one special place that keeps stirring up my memories and does not let them become vague or even distant. It is as if I’m just back after having experienced a sharp sense of belonging there and always being expected there.

This feeling of knowing a place that I visit for the first time is one of the reasons why I am addicted to travelling. A moment when this feeling takes over usually gives mystical goose bumps, makes me think of soul reincarnation, previous lives and roots of my distant ancestors. It is a true gift. And Africa is always very generous in giving me these gifts of feeling welcome. I am very thankful to Kenya, especially for Lake Baringo, for many moments of warm welcomes.

Lake Baringo and its magnificent nature feel very peaceful and slow, but there is always something going on here, in the most delicate, natural, non-intrusive way. So even if your body is tired and your mind is preoccupied, it is guaranteed that you will come to peace here fully, just by observing and keeping your eyes and ears open. Just know with all your inner senses that you are welcome and accepted. The nature of Lake Baringo embraces you fully.

The road from the town of Nakuru to Lake Baringo was very bumpy and a harsh drive made me even more impatient to arrive. We stopped at Roberts Camp – a charming well organized place with a very good restaurant that surprised us with fresh food and cold beers. Their terrace is a perfect viewing ground for bird watching. When we arrived there was a British family of bird watchers sitting on the restaurant terrace, complete with various sets of binoculars, impressive knowledge of birds’ names and a local guide who sat shyly a bit behind. It crossed my mind that it is actually a perfect scene from a book of colonial stories.

Every time of day and night has got a special sound around Lake Baringo. Especially the night was fantastic. Its sounds made me think that walls and roof of my chalet disappeared. Suddenly all sounds became so close and intensive. The water level must have risen quite high, so I heard sounds of splashing water all around me. With sounds of water came sounds of hippos. And they brought those fantastic adrenaline-provoking wildlife-triggered shivers caused by a realization that there is only a thin wall between a loud wild animal and myself.

Lake Baringo opens up and shows its real strength and diversity when you are on water. You might even suddenly discover a passionate bird watcher within yourself! So make sure you take a boat ride: to watch many rare and beautiful birds, to see a sleeping crocodile from very close or to observe local ladies doing their laundry next to hippos showing only their head tops and nose tops. You will no doubt hear stories of many tribes who live around the lake and will see them crossing the lake in their boats.

And here is some practical advice about doing a trip to Lake Baringo:

Before departure, make sure you stock up on bottled water for consumption during your drive. This is a hot and dry area of the Great Rift Valley. If you started your drive in Nakuru, you will be crossing the equator.

The road condition will most probably be the worst you’ve experienced so far in Kenya. This means two things: 1) your trip might take longer than you expect just by checking the distance; and 2) if you are sensitive to sea sickness, consider hiring a better vehicle for this part, the one that can go over serious holes on the road without getting its passengers thrown from side to side.

With Empakaai Cultural Safari you can relax and let your guide take care of all logistics and necessities. I am so grateful to Moses for his hard work that created valuable space and time for me to enjoy the beauty of Lake Baringo.

Just drop him a line to empakaai.cultural.safari@gmail.com to book your own fascinating experience at Lake Baringo. And check his Instagram account empakaai_cultural_safari for more photos from our Lake Baringo trip!