The World In A Weekend

Kenya, Masai Mara, Masai, Kananga International, Julia's River Camp, Julias River Camo, Safari, East Africa, Migration, The Great Migration, Game Drive, Tented Camp, Luxury Camp

Africa, Fresh Air, Kenya, Review, The World Beyond

Julia’s River Camp – Review of this gem in the Masai Mara

Most importantly – Does Julia’s River Camp and room do what it’s supposed to do?

Yes – Julia’s River Camp is a glamping camp in Kenya’s Masai Mara, which offers simple but very comfortable accommodation, good food and friendly hospitality. They also pride themselves on excellent game drives with experienced drivers allowing you to see the diverse and beautiful wildlife living in this special corner of the world.

If you want evidence, you can read about our adventures with Julia’s River Camp exploring The Great Migration here, our lion encounters here and watching families of lions, cheetahs, elephants and warthogs here.

28th September 2016 by The World in a Weekend

Kenya, Masai Mara, Masai, Kananga International, Julia's River Camp, Safari, East Africa, warthog, warthogs, Tanzania, Napanda Safaris, Acacia Farm Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Mantra, Serengeti

Africa, Kenya

Stalking predators & prey in the Masai Mara

Kenya Safari Adventures with Julia’s River Camp: Part 3

We were slowly bumping our way down a dirt road in Kenya’s Masai Mara ‘enjoying’ what locals call “The African Massage”. Another Safari Jeep was coming the other way. As customary, our driver Eric slowed to a stop as we crossed and had a quick conversation in Swahili, exchanging information about where the animals were today. Usually these are fruitless but this time Eric seemed animated. The conversation was short. Eric pressed the pedal to the floor.

As we reached crested a hill, we could see hundreds of wildebeest and zebras scattered all the way to the horizon. Curiously, there was a strangely empty patch in the middle of the migration. We hurtled towards it.

As we drew closer other safari vehicles appeared out of nowhere, almost racing us to our target.

26th September 2016 by The World in a Weekend

Kenya, Masai Mara, Masai, Kananga International, Julia's River Camp, Safari, East Africa, Lion, Lions, Big 5, the big five

Adventure, Africa, Kenya

Lion encounters in the Masai Mara

Kenya Safari Adventures with Julia’s River Camp: Part 2

I’m sitting at a picnic table. Behind me are the sprawling and beautiful plains of Kenya’s Masai Mara. In front of me is a horseshoe bend of the Mara River. I can see hippos and crocodiles uneasily sharing the water. The tall and steep banks of the river offer me protection and a safe panoramic viewpoint. The heat of the morning sun radiates a silence across the river as it discourages the wildlife to move and hunt until the evening cool.

23rd September 2016 by The World in a Weekend

Kenya, Masai Mara, Masai, Kananga International, Julia's River Camp, Safari, East Africa, Migration, The Great Migration, Buffalo, Big5, Big Five

Adventure, Africa, Kenya, The World Beyond

Kenya Safari Adventures with Julia’s river Camp

Part 1: Flying into the Great Migration

It had been 20 minutes since we’d our twin propeller passed over the great rifts that separates modern Kenya and the timeless Masai Mara. Since then a carpet of cloud had prevented us from seeing the plains below. We had hoped to see the great migration from the sky but so far had been denied. The pilot ~~announced over the PA~~ shouted back to us that we were beginning our descent to Ol Kiombo airstrip. The nose went down and we slowly began to cut through the cloud.

As we descended the small black dots sprawled across the plains grew into creatures with horns, long necks and stripes. As the propellers slowed and the flaps started to fight the wind we could start to make out wildebeest, giraffe and zebra. From the air it looked like a battle scene from Braveheart or Lord of the Rings with a thousand creatures sprawled across the metaphorical battlefield.

21st September 2016 by The World in a Weekend

Zebras in the Masai Mara, Safari, Serengeti, Essential Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar

Adventure, Africa, Beaches, Destinations, Itineraries, Kenya, Misadventures, Our Weekends, Road Trip, Tanzania, The World Beyond

Our Essential Africa Itinerary

So far our blog has explored Europe, Northern and Central America, the Middle East and even Australia. 3 months ago, we decided it was time to explore a continent that we knew surprisingly little about: Africa.

While it wouldn’t be cost effective to travel all the way to Africa for a long weekend away, we decided to build an ambitious itinerary of 3 back to back ‘long weekends’ in Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Over the next couple of months we’ll be bringing you all the tales of our adventures, reviews of the places we’ve stayed and a ton of advice as to how to travel to East Africa and experience the amazing Safaris and romantic getaways in this unique corner of the globe.

Here’s a brief snapshot of what we did and what will be coming up in the next couple of months:

19th September 2016 by The World in a Weekend

acacia farm lodge, Tanzania, Karatu, Ngorongoro, Ngorongoro crater, safari, napanda safaris, Lake Mantra, Serengeti

Adventure, Africa, Tanzania

Finding Wifi in the Heart of Tanzania at Acacia Farm Lodge

We landed in Nairobi before first light and by sundown we had kissed giraffes and hugged baby elephants, flown over the Masai Mara, and stood at the centre of the great migration.

48 hours later we’d seen lions, cheetah, zebra, giraffes, hyenas and flown over hippos and crocodiles in a hot air balloon before flying to the border of Tanzania and crossing over at a little town called Isbania.

And then suddenly there was no wifi. Our skyroam stopped working. Our phones received texts saying “Welcome to the United Arab Emirates!”.

And alas we could blog no more.

12th September 2016 by The World in a Weekend

Julia's River Camp, masai mara, kananga international, safari

Adventure, Africa, Kenya

Out of Office …I mean Africa

The World in a Weekend team are currently Out Of ~~Office~~ Africa at Julia’s River Camp in the Masai Mara in Kenya and so won’t be able to post our regular bi-weekly posts.

However, our two days at Julia’s River Camp have given us plenty of inspiration for future articles including:

4th September 2016 by The World in a Weekend

Niagara Falls, Into the Mist, Hornblower cruises, boat ride

Adventure, Canada, Day Trips, Review, The World Beyond, Ultimate Layovers

Into the Mist with Hornblower Cruises

As we reached the eye of the storm I experienced something for the first time: Sensory overload. As over 2 million litres of water beat down on us every second all I could see was white. All I could hear was constant unrelenting thunder. All I could feel was drench. I’m not sure if that’s word, but it’s certainly a very physical feeling when you’re standing at the bottom of Niagara Falls.

Yet it was all so exhilarating, exciting and very unique. Travel often takes us to places of immense natural beauty. However, it’s not often you experience both the beauty and the frightening power of one of the natural worlds’ most iconic beauties.

22nd August 2016 by The World in a Weekend

Niagara Falls, Toronto, King Tours, Niagara Helicopter

Adventure, Canada, Day Trips, Our Weekends, Review, The World Beyond, Ultimate Layovers, Weird & Wonderful

Flying over Niagara Falls with Niagara Helicopters

Soaring above the mighty Niagara Falls is something that imprints on your soul. A truly once in a lifetime experience. I tried to remember every moment, every little detail that I could see from my birds eye vantage point, but something of that magnitude is hard to express.

As part of our Ultimate Layover experience in Toronto, we had booked a day trip to Niagara Falls with King Tours and had the opportunity to visit Niagara Helicopters to take their signature ‘Scenic Flightseeing Tour.’

16th August 2016 by The World in a Weekend

Niagara Falls, Toronto, King Tours, Hornblower Cruises

Canada, Day Trips, Itineraries, The World Beyond, Ultimate Layovers

Ultimate Layover – Toronto Edition with King Tours

Air Canada is an airline on the up, meaning that travellers flying transatlantic or transpacific are increasing going via Toronto. Regular readers of the World in a Weekend will know that our philosophy is, whenever possible, you should get out of the airport and turn your long, boring flight into an exciting, ultimate layover.
When we booked our flights for our Jewels of Jamaica trip we had the choice of a 2 hour layover in Toronto or a 25 hour layover at no extra cost and couldn’t resist an action packed day in Canada’s biggest city. Continue Reading

15th August 2016 by The World in a Weekend

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