Hi,

here are some of our pics of the Serena Mara Lodge where we stayed in 2007:

eastafrican-safari.com/pageID_4361126_1.html

Have not been to the Fairview or to the TTBC, but i am sure you will get some infos here.

Booking flights directly - well, i compared in the past and found out, that our tour operator only add a small amount and that was okay for me. The responsibility to check the flight dates or make changes is in his hands and so for me, i personally feel a little bit more comfortable with this.

We flew most times with "Mombasa Air", once Blue Sky and another once which name i am always forgetting.

Bye

Chrissy

Bye

Chrissy

Hi,

sorry me again, forgot to add, that you have to scroll down a little bit to get the buttons to start the diashow.

Bye

Chrissy

Thank you for your prompt replies. I have just started the mamouth task of deciding where to stay and putting our trip together for next year.

Thanks

Just returned from Turtle Bay beach Club had an excellent time here- see my review.

Just another option that will be open to you with regard to the safari - if you stay at TBBC you will be able to fly to Masai from Malindi aiport which is about 30 mins drive from TBBC.

Just to clarify on airlines: HoldayTime 40 is talking about the national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) and I think you're right, their website allows you to book exactly the fare you want (people might correct me, but agents won't get better rates than what KQ can offer themselves, they simply get commission on the published fares).

Medic_5 is talking about Airkenya (P2), a domestic airline, usually considered not as good as Safarilink (though I haven't heard of Airkenya using old planes with manual instruments as you describe – FL410, can you offer any illumination on veteran aircraft?).

HolidayTime40, it's a perfectly good plan to put together your own trip. Serena has good rates online (cheaper than walk-in rates), but do the sums and see what an agent could the same trip for once you've added up the price of doing it direct.

Hope that helps,

Richard

Thanks everyone. More options to look at and more homework.

Cheers

I am one of those people who always book holidays myself directly with airlines & hotels, however for Kenya after doing weeks of homework I was still confused as to what to do. For the first time in many years I have used a travel agent in melbourne (African Travel Specialists). The guy who owns the company has been to Africa hundreds of times and knows where, what & when. Admittedly we haven't been yet (booked for January) but it was so much easier than trying to organise everything myself. For $50 per flight it is well worth it to get an experts opinion on the most suitable lodges, different regions to visit etc. Doesn't hurt to get a quote - you probably need to set a budget first but our agent came up with a fantastic itinerary for our 2 week stay - we literally get picked up at the airport & then everything is done for us. Lee

African Travel Specialists is part of Four Corners (a good company), and they have lots of advisors who know Kenya well.

Richard

hi,

i am an a/c engineer and whether u have glass or analogue, does'nt matter, some are all glass some a mixture, kenya airways recent crash was all glass,if u are still concerned chk these sites for statistics.

"Aviation accidents are extremely rare, with the probability of a passenger being killed on a single flight at approximately eight million-to-one. If a passenger boarded a flight at random, once a day, everyday, it would statistically be over 21,000 years before he or she would be killed."

source http://www.planecrashinfo.com/rates.htm

also see

airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/search_keyword.cgi…

i have flown kq, 540 and precision but not air kenya but i would, as for the others i dont see any problems but if i find anything untoward i will make a further posting.

agy