These African safaris are different from anyone I've done before

Perhaps the toughest question you can ask a travel writer is: “What is the best place you've ever been?” At some point, the highlights of travel tend to blend and blur. So many special moments are separated by new moments. It's a rare moment to be a true “pinch me” that you know you won't forget.

Over the past month, I have been lucky enough to have a safari tour arranged by Stanley Safaris, a company specializing in custom-made luxury safaris. I've been to safaris in South Africa, Botswana and Uganda and saw the Big Five (Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffalo and Rhino), so when planning a trip with Shaun Stanley, the boss of the company, I stressed that I wanted to be a little different from the trip I've been. I don't know what the difference is, but I just want to walk away and feel like I don't have the same type of experience as before.

The more we talk about it, the more I like it, it boils down to two things: I don't want to spot wildlife with a large number of other vehicles, and I don't want the daily monotonous routine of the game drive every day. I want some kind of mix.

The itinerary Stanley Safaris is combined. My trip started with the unique and intimate Manzli House in Kenya. It is strongly inspired by French expats, inspired by Swahili architecture found on Lamu’s ultra-fashionable Kenyan island, and consists only of two creamy houses surrounding the swimming pool surrounding the walled garden. The ample part of arriving in Africa can be a brutal journey, an option that is both a much-needed breathing option and a journey to start on the hotel’s hidden gems.

Relatively fulfilling, our second day started a short drive to the domestic airport, taking a small plane to fly north of Nairobi to the other side of Mount Kenya for our first match, Lodge -Lodge -Lewa Wilderness.

The cabin is located in a valley above the river, on the opposite rise, stable rhinos, giraffes, zebras, gazelle and more throughout the day. The inn consists of elegant colonial Manse, separate thatched villas spread out on the edges, gym, open-air dining room, stone and wood living room and pool deck. We stayed in the hillside suite, which is located on the edge of the property and has uninterrupted views of the wild reserve. It features a private pool, a living room with elegant organic architectural elements and a fireplace.

The moments as luxurious and seductive as the surroundings, the real “pinch” moments are on our two gaming drives, as they are the most incredible two of the ones I've ever experienced. So much that I have an obligation to tell my friends who have never been to a safari before that it is essentially not normal to see the race on the road every lap. On the first drive, we found the elusive black rhino and several endangered grey zebras within minutes. They are people with Mickey Mouse ears and thinner stripes. They also tend to be lonely, which is a theoretically ridiculous idea in the rational natural world, thus making them prone to prey in wild meat mills in Africa. Lewa has these weird creatures the largest population in the world.

A bull elephant escapes from a herd of grazing cattle, hypes to our vehicles, then evaluates from time to time, and then stops pace. Our frozen behavior is believed we weren't sick and he ended up hanging out, but it took a lot of time for my heart to slow down. On the same drive we see giraffes, waterbucks, more elephants and a gorgeous tan eagle perched on sparse trees a few feet away.

At sunset, the lion's pride was found wandering on the rocky outcrop. Adult women and a few young men spread, and the occasional rough houses would interrupt some grumpy mood. Then, like our guide brings the engine back home, a young man, who doesn’t know the motto about cats and curiosity, also fills our vehicles. He paused, stared, and approached the filling. When young men are not threatening to a few feet away, we all find ourselves still in stock. The driver transferred the car to the driving situation and the lion bombed, but we drove back to the hotel at night, filled with lion entertainment, crossing in front of our vehicles, crossing in front of our cars.

Lewa is especially famous for an animal, which is the rhino. There are estimated 273 rhinos here, accounting for 12% of Kenya’s total, and this number is almost evenly divided into the docile behemoth of white rhinos, while the white rhinos and mean but black compact fighters are black rhinos. The next morning, our gaming drive saw so many rhinos, it was almost hard to believe, as they were often sparse elsewhere. Left a woodland, with a dozen chewing on the road, we exited a few white rhinos. Even though we were away from us again, they were completely uninterested in us, but they did not move. It is difficult to shed light on the enormousity of these animals, but such moments make it difficult to step into the zoo again.

After a quick tour of the Rhino Center, where the guide rides guests on the methods used to protect these dangerous animals, it returns to the dirt plane runway, and another small plane arrives north to Ol Malo.

While at Lewa, we ate with a group of luxury travel consultants specializing in African safaris. We stroll them through our itinerary and for one, they poured in Ol Malo to announce something unique and special in the Safari experience. They assure me that I have to satisfy anything other than what I ask for from Stanley Safari.

After a rock and rolling hourly drive through the wild landscape, we arrived at Ol Malo from the runway. Follow its dense plant path to this unique cottage and slowly reveal yourself. Located on the literal edge of a plain, this private complex is one of the most spectacular complexes I have ever seen. The villa is finished in this excellent organic style, enjoying 180-degree views of the valley and mountains below. One of my terraces has a heart-shaped bathtub. The iconic location in the cabin is the green infinity pool, which is probably one of the most fascinating places I have been lucky enough to hang out on. So breathtaking is that on our last day we were shockingly telling the owner that we would rather spend an afternoon relaxing and soaking in the landscape than heading to another tour.

Game drives are an option for OL Malo, but the premise here is that you will seek something different from other hotels. The owners are a bit of a “chopper” and one of the iconic experiences of OL Malo is helicopter riding in northern Kenya if you can afford it. I was scared of the helicopter, so I didn't do it. Not only should they be epic, but traveling hooks have cute hooks, such as landing on a mountain top for sunset. Instead, we hiked from the cabin to the valley sunset, climbed up a granite boulder to riding on the plain above, where we approached creatures ranging from Oryx to Giraffes. While many cabins offer a “real” experience for locals, Ol Malo offers us something far from the controlled environment of the controlled experience, a day trip to Samburu people in the surrounding area. We are the only foreigner there because the suppliers involve beaded works, weapons, goats, cattle and hundreds of other items browsing from a distance.

Breakfast and lunch are casual business, but dinner is the edge of magic, spinning in different locations on the property. One night it was in the candlelight in a small garden and the other was on a sofa in a country living room surrounded by small blades of generations of families, which made you feel like you’ve spent the whole day hunting big game.

One morning we rode on the hills overlooking the river canyon, and the staff set up breakfast under the trees. One of the more unique experiences on Safari is that you have a mantra of discomfort or procrastination – like I ride a camel for breakfast – you start wondering what you were thinking when you sign up. Then you turn and something unforgettable happened, and that morning, two male impalas in a mature brawl, repeatedly sprinting against each other, the horror of their crashed antlers rings up the hillside.

Another moment of “pinch me”.

As far as travel experience is concerned, African safari still exists due to the lack of better iconic words. However, they may vary depending on where you are and what you want to see. But from their core you want to see wildlife in beautiful scenery without too many others. Given the roughness of a lot of travel, as well as knowledgeable, enthusiastic and skilled guides, you might also want to stay in a friendly place. And, given how much they often cost (usually thousands of dollars per person), you deserve to know what you want to experience.

Who knows, maybe you will end up having some of your own “pinch me” moments.