When the invitation to a National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures Kenya safari arrived, I jumped at the opportunity. Of course, I knew National Geographic’s 130-year-old brand very well, but I had barely heard of G Adventures. During the course of a week-long trip, however, I became more and more impressed with G Adventures’ mission to improve communities through tourism.
Founded in 1990 by Social Entrepreneur Bruce Poon Tip, G Adventures focuses on small group tours (fewer than 12 people). The company, named one of the best tour operators in the world by the editors at TourScoop, believes in travel as a force for global good—utilizing tourism to positively impact communities and making sure tourism money is going into the community instead of extracting from it.
After partnering with National Geographic in 2015, the two organizations collaborated to combine G Adventures’ experience with small group travel and commitment to community tourism with National Geographic’s legacy of science, exploration, education, and storytelling. Now there are a whole suite of National Geographic Expeditions with G Adventures tours including Journeys, Family Journeys, and Signature trips offered as part of their portfolio.
I learned that every G Adventures trip, including the National Geographic Expeditions collaborations, receives a Ripple Score. The Ripple Score is calculated using a tool that shows the percentage of money spent in the local community on trip services like accommodations, restaurants, and transportation. The average Ripple Score across all of G Adventures tours (the company offers more than 1,500) is 92, meaning 92% of the money G Adventures spends to operate a tour goes to local businesses and services in the destination itself.
The tour I experienced was National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures Kenya safari, with a Ripple Score of 100. That score indicated that all of the services used to create that specific tour are locally owned, including the accommodations, meals, transportation, and other associated costs.
Journey into the African bush
My National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures Kenya Safari was an eight-day itinerary beginning and ending in Nairobi. Highlights included multiple wildlife game drives, a talk by the Kenya Wildlife Service, and visiting the Café Ubuntu social enterprise project.
Game Drives and Wildlife
Let’s not kid ourselves. When you come all this way for a safari, you want to see big animals roaming in their natural habitat. Every game drive with our guide delivered in a massive way. Our first stop was Lake Nakuru National Park where we spent two nights.
This national park has a dense forest surrounding Lake Nakuru, and is known for attracting multitudes of birds. It’s rare to see lions due to the thick brush, yet we came across them every day, including a pride of three adult female lions caring for a litter of five cubs, as well as a male guarding recent prey. We also found rhinos in this sanctuary, endangered Rothschild’s giraffes, and plenty of waterfowl including flamingos, pelicans, spoonbills, storks, and herons. After all the animals we saw during two nights at Lake Nakuru, I could not wait for our next safari destination at Masai Mara.
Masai Mara National Reserve was the highlight of my safari experience, and we spent another two nights here. Upon entering the reserve, we witnessed herds of wildebeest and elephants. The expansive savannah allowed us to see large groups of roaming animals as well as admire how the sun played on the landscape during our drives.
We were up before sunrise and saw hot air balloons lifting off to chase the sunrise. Hyenas settled down after night stalking, and zebras stretched and scratched themselves on acacia trees during their morning ritual. A large herd of gazelles and Topi attracted a pair of cheetahs (although the male cheetah was much more interested in shadowing his female cheetah partner). The morning ended with a bush breakfast alongside a boisterous hippo pool. There was so much to see, I never wanted to leave the savanna.
Following a rest after the sunrise safari, we were back out for one final evening on the savanna. This last game drive culminated coming across a pride of 11 lions. Our guide pointed out subadult males and females, and discussed the social nature of lions. Observing these large cats, I couldn’t help but notice how similar lion behavior was to our own cats at home. We watched this group for more than an hour, as a faint rainbow appeared in the sky.
Kenya Wildlife Service Talk
In between the two safari destinations of Lake Nakuru National Park and Masai Mara National Reserve was an overnight stop at Lake Naivasha. This offered a break from the safari vehicles, and allowed us to stretch our legs. Here we hiked to the top of a cliff overlooking the surroundings with a local guide.
Afterwards we attended a presentation by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). This KWS discussion was part of National Geographic Journeys’ promise of a deeper dive into a destination with immersive storytelling and authentic insights. The KWS ranger described the Kenya national park system, nuanced issues around wildlife poaching, and conservation efforts for elephants and rhinos.
As much as I was looking forward to meeting our KWS ranger, the talk was the one component of the trip that fell a little flat for me. I was hoping for much more interaction and discussion.
G for Good Moment – Café Ubuntu
After five full days in the African bush, we headed back to Nairobi. Along the way we visited Café Ubuntu for lunch, a G Adventures for Good-supported project. The Ubuntu complex includes the café, but also the Ubuntu Made maker shop and, most importantly, a children’s wellness center. The center takes care of children with special needs including epilepsy, autism, etc., who had previously been isolated from the community. Parents of the children are taught skills for jobs such as sewing, beading, and screenprinting. Merchandise sold at the Ubuntu Made store as well as the café supports the children at the center and provides jobs for the community.
Tour Guides
G Adventures believes so strongly in their its guides, it makes them CEOs (“Chief Experience Officers”). These are local experts from the region that offer insider knowledge on the destination. Our tour guides lived up to their CEO reputation. Rose, David, and Joe were all based in Kenya, had led this tour itinerary many, many times, and (along with our drivers) were instrumental in finding the animals we saw on safari.
They taught us some basic Swahili words, shared insight on the animal’s behavior and ecology, introduced us to local food and culture, and generously shared their personal stories and background. These tour guides were essential in helping us connect with the destination, the other members of our group, and the communities we visited. By the end of the tour, we felt like one big group of friends.
Meals and accommodations
Our National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures Kenya safari utilized all locally owned accommodations (no global chains). This helped the tour achieve its 100 Ripple Score, and also gave us a sense of the local flavor.
In Nairobi, we started and ended at Sarova Panafric, a four-star hotel near the central business district. This business-class hotel was perfect to relax and adjust to the time change following the long 15-hour flight to Nairobi. Soaking in the pool under the Equatorial sun really loosened up the muscles. By the time we returned from our week in the wild, our group of new friends were socially loose enough to play a spirited game of “Marco Polo” with each other.
The remainder of our accommodations were extremely comfortable game lodges that included full buffets serving local dishes for each meal. Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge was inside the boundaries of Lake Nakuru National Park, and I had a private single bedroom cabin with en suite bath and outdoor patio looking out over the grounds.
At Naivasha Kongoni Lodge, I shared a family villa with one of my fellow travelers. We each had a private bedroom with en suite bath, and shared a large living, dining area, and porch. This cabin in the woods would be perfect for a family with plenty of space. In Masai Mara, Fig Tree Camp was our home base perched above the banks of the Talek River. My luxury tent included a queen bed and a single, and an en suite bath with shower. This spacious tent could house a small family.
However, the best part was the river view where hippos splashed and played throughout the night. In the morning, three young lions prowled the riverbank to the dismay of these bathing hippos. The game lodge experience was fantastic, and more luxurious than I expected. Each evening the room attendant would come round to lower the mosquito netting around our bed.
TourScoop Takeaway
As you would expect from National Geographic, the wildlife encounters on G Adventures Journeys were unsurpassed. There was something new and unexpected to see on every game drive. The Kenya Wildlife Service talk was a little dry, but this could vary based on the speaker and group. G for Good at Café Ubuntu made a powerful impression that readily demonstrated how tourism can make a positive impact that ripples through the community.
Our group included people from around the world including the United States, England, South Africa, South Korea, as well as our Kenyan guides, drivers, and the people we met along the way. I may have come on this Kenya safari expedition for the wildlife, but, in the end, discovered the adventure was just as much about the people.
