I am an avid traveler and I often book most of my own travel/tours/accommodation/transportation. I generally like the flexibility of my own schedule. This trip was for my niece's graduation gift and when we decided on a safari, I knew it was a bit more complicated than my skillset. Through Lion World travel, we booked an inclusive package to Kenya. This trip was to be start-to-finish EVERYTHING from the flight there to the flight home (minus drinks and gratuities). I was grateful to have the details settled for such an adventure but I had no idea just what we were about to experience...

This was without a doubt the most perfect vacation of my entire life. We worked with Jean to find the perfect package. She answered SO MANY questions and logistical issues of coordinating multiple people and payments. She kept us on schedule for visas, vaccines, ect... Lion World provided some pretty great swag including luggage, travel wallets, luggage tags, all relevant documentation and travel/packing lists. Our flight was direct from NYC to Kenya. We were met at the airport by porters and brought to Kenny outside. He was the representative from Lion World local partner, Twiga Tours. Kenny was so warm, welcoming and funny. We clicked right away. He provided MORE Lion World swag in the form of safari hats, steel water bottles, and a sunscreen/insect repellant/antibacterial gel kit with a map and animal/bird identification book. We also stopped at a nearby park for a champagne welcome toast and he explained to us our itinerary before heading to the hotel. While Kenny wasn't our guide for the entire trip, he started us off on the right foot. (And we were able to see him again later that evening at the elephant orphanage.)

Our guide for the rest of the trip was Stanley. Or as we called him Stan Lee, our superhero. We're a big comic book group. He was amazing at making everything roll seamlessly and helping keep us on schedule. We can dawdle. He handled all of our exuberance for every single animal and all our questions and had a ton of patience as we wanted to take 50 more pictures of that one bird. hahaha. We had such a great time in sing-a-longs (hopefully he'll remember our Good Morning song and singing TLC whenever he sees a waterfall) and his catch phrase became "It's in the book!" as we were diligently trying to check off as many as possible! He even let us leave a few minutes early one day as I had spotted a lion from my balcony (with binos) and we wanted to be the first truck down there to see him up close! He also taught us so much (jackals have 42 teeth!) and helped us learn how to spot better in Kenya, something that has been a hobby at home in our own family for generations. Stanley, if you ever want a junior guide/spotter, call me! I'll do it for free! Thanks to his efforts, we saw the Big 5 in the first two days of the trip. And overall we saw over 20 lions! The only animal we hadn't see that we really wanted to see was a cheetah and he managed to find FOUR on our way out of the park heading to the airport. He was truly fantastic. We also made it a challenge to try and find harder/more unusual animals and we lucked out spotting three monitor lizards (one we found as it snatched up a heron we were watching, the leopard tortoise, several dik diks and hard to spot birds and of course the black mamba (although that one was on our lodging grounds) to name a few. Perhaps the best National Geographic moment was when, while trying to find a rhino in the area, we instead spot a leopard trying to hunt impala. The impala are alerted to the leopard making it have to dodge and weave it's way around to try to lose itself in the grass... until four giraffe come along and chase the poor leopard away. It was very exciting to watch it all play out and it was our only leopard sighting the entire trip.

Lion World booked all Serena properties for our tour accommodations and they just kept getting better and better. They exceeded our expectations every time in both accommodation and staff service/professionalism. My brother-in-law has Celiac Disease and each location took special care to ensure his dietary restrictions were met in a way that did not distract from his experience at all. The food the entire trip was scrumptious. The properties were all gorgeously appointed and luxurious. I slept so well (but bring earplugs if you don't want to enjoy the sounds of nature just outside.) The Lake Elementeita "tent" was almost as big as my first floor of my house. It had ROOMS. And at Sweetwater, you could sit on your porch and watch the animals come and go from the watering hole. You almost didn't need to leave the grounds! Then there was Masai Mari... The buildings look like something out of Star Wars (I'm going with Endor). While the rooms were much smaller than the other locations, the VIEWS are jaw dropping. This is where I literally spotted a lion on the plain below my room. I also looked out my window to see the reclusive Bushbuck and her baby standing a few feet away.

Jean also provided a very special moment for us by letting our lodge in Maasai Mara know it was a celebration trip. We had one of the funniest moments of the trip...one we'll never forget when the staff brought out a celebration cake (gluten-free!) for my niece and serenaded her for a couple of songs. The level of detail and thoughtfulness was so touching. We're so grateful.

It wasn't just all about safari either. We visited an elephant orphanage, a chimpanzee sanctuary, a rhino sanctuary, a Maasai village, and the equator. We also planted trees and had a cooking class.

Returning to Nairobi for our flight home, Twiga arranged for us to have access to the executive lounge at the Crown Plaza hotel until our evening flight. It was a beautiful place to relax and we had access to the swimming pool, sauna, and an assortment of beverages and snacks. It took away the stress of such a long "travel" day.

I don't know what else I can tell you. Normally, when I travel, at least ONE thing goes amiss. Some little misadventure happens and I scramble my way through it. It's actually a family joke. I EXPECT it. However, this trip was LITERALLY PERFECT from start to finish. I cannot think of a way to make it better. To put it in the words of my niece (which she uttered on multiple occasions during this trip), "I can't believe this is my life."

We have booked two groups to South Africa using Lion World, working with John A. Very easy to work with; accommodating. Wonderful experiences. Super accommodations. Fabulous safari. Don't try organizing everything on your own - use Lion World and you will not be disappointed.