My dad accompanied me on this trip - every other year I'm afforded the opportunity to travel 'on tour' with my company and this time around I managed to convince him to come along as a paying customer. We had never traveled together but it went off without a hitch, meeting people from around the US and experiencing crazy things that I'm sure neither of us ever though we'd do. From sightseeing in Nairobi to driving down dirt roads that rattled you right down to the bone for hours at a time, we spent many many hours in a Nissan van seeing much of southern Kenya.
We rose at sunrise numerous mornings, two of which to see Mount Kilimanjaro without it's typical daytime cloud cover (day two was a successful cloudless photo op). We almost saw the big five (that dang leopard eluded us) but saw literally everything else; from a lion ripping apart a wildebeest to a cheetah mom hunting impala for her teenage cubs, we couldn't have asked for anything more.
One of many highlights was the hot air balloon - 4am came awfully early and $450 wasn't cheap but I'm SO glad I did it. I watched the sun rise over the Masai Mara, saw packs of elephants roam from above and finished it off with a champagne breakfast (apparently a balloon ride tradition, who knew?) complete with omelet station and pancakes in the middle of the bush. You haven't lived until you've had a pancake with Nutella while zebras graze 100 yards away.
I could go on and on about this trip but will spare you the details and let the images speak for themselves. I managed to edit almost 2,000 pictures down to about 475 and then further down to the 60ish below. I know its a huge trip and might feel like one you'll never find the time and money to take but it's not negotiable - find a way to make it happen at some point!
I hope I give you a little motivation and inspiration below - enjoy!
