Serengeti Safari Bush Rover Suites
We flew with Turkish Airlines who without doubt in my opinion offers the most comfortable in-fight experience in both economy and business class cabins. I also had to opportunity to experience the new airport at Istanbul and WOW it is incredible!
We started off with a night and a day in Istanbul. What an amazing city and one I would highly recommend visiting. We had a lovely dinner on the evening we arrived in the old town of Istanbul. It was incredibly authentic and alive with locals socialising in outdoor cafes and restaurants. There was such a lovely vibe and buzz and I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the old, historic city after dinner.
The next morning, we visited the Grand Bazaar, the largest covered market in the world. Prepare to get lost and embrace this as a part of the authentic experience. If you love shopping and haggling this will be paradise. I also noticed how friendly and fun the vendors were. All in all, an excellent experience and one not be missed in this amazing city.
We spent the afternoon on an Istanbul City Boat Cruise. This trip allowed us to see both the European and Asian sides of Istanbul and view the most incredible monuments, private homes, historic buildings and hotels on the riverside.
Istanbul is a sprawling city and the city boat cruise and a fantastic introduction and history lesson to this city and I would highly recommend. Whilst my trip was a whistle stop visit, I will most certainly return to Istanbul to experience the city and indeed the incredible airport which is by far the best in the world.
Onwards to Tanzania, we flew direct from Istanbul to Dar es Salaam and onwards to Kogatende Airstrip on a small aircraft. Kogatende is the gateway to North Serengeti National Park. Here we were met by the “Tent with a View” team, Travel Counsellors’ partners in the Serengeti. We jump on-board our safari jeep and drove to our accommodation in the heart of north Serengeti experience plenty of wildebeest, zebra, elephants and more on the way to our Bush Rover Suites.
The Bush Rover Suites are full working Land Rovers that, once in-situ, fold out and transform into a stunning home. You must see it to believe it, so I have attached loads of pics. The beautiful elevated bedroom has its own balcony looking out to the wilderness. Down the spiral staircase to a lovely wood panelled bathroom and out-door private shower. Solar powered hot water, lights and power sockets to recharge your batteries. What more could one want? Most importantly, unlike fixed camps and lodges, the Bush Rovers move to the right places to provide the safari of a lifetime, to experience splendid isolation in total comfort. When the wildebeest migrates the camp folds up and moves to the next exciting area within the Serengeti destination leaving no trace of human footprint. We had “front seat views” of the wildebeest and it was a mind-blowing experience watching these incredible animals crossing the river just below the Bush Rover Suites. This was truly a “once in a lifetime” experience and I feel incredible fortunate to have being a part of it. We also came across a “kill” where a lioness had a full belly of Wildebeests!!! We saw Rhinos, buffalo, hippo, lions, zebra, wildebeest, hyenas and plenty of vultures hovering overhead. The Bush Rover Suites are without doubt the most special and unique way to experience the might Serengeti.
Our next destination was at Little Okavango Camp near Lake Victoria where we were met with peace and quiet apart from the bird song from the most beautiful birds. We had a very tasty dinner followed by drinks, chats and songs around the campfire.
Next morning, we were taken to a local fishing village to see the catch being brought in from Lake Victoria and then the fish were laid out for sale by the women of the village. Our tour guide, Amos, a local of the village gave a fantastic insight about life on this famous lake.
From here we headed along the lake by boat into narrow water channels which led us to the fabulous Little Okavango tower where we were treated to a delicious brunch and take in the view from of 3 of its decks. We arrived back to the camp by boat and were very sad to be bidding farewell to the incredible staff of Little Okavango Camp and Tanzania.
If you’re sense of adventure is calling you and you’re interested in embarking on a Safari trip of a lifetime contact me to find out more!