Kenya, our first transcontinental trip with a baby. And boy, were we in for an experience of a lifetime. By now we consider ourselves pretty seasoned travelers. But traveling with a baby in tow is a whole different ball game. Overall, traveling to Kenya with an almost 6 month old was definitely doable, not as difficult as imagined, but still harder than traveling sans children. Let’s start with the flight.
We were able to secure the bulk head row so that a bassinet was an option for the baby. Despite all the preparation, flying with a baby was still daunting and intimidating. We definitely did not want to ruin any one else’s flying experience.
At this point, MJ has already flown 4 times before, with one other being an international flight. Though none was as close to the length of this long haul flight. At that time, he was still on a schedule where he stays awake for only 1.5 hours. We took turns sleeping with him. Either I would side lay with him or John would wear him in the Moby baby carrier. We didn’t use the Boppy at all, although it was highly recommended we bring it for such a long flight.
After a full day of traveling, we finally made it to Nairobi. We stayed in Sankara Nairobi. It was awesome to finally sleep in a bed after a long travel day with a baby. The hotel was very nice. They were able to accommodate us with a Pack ‘n Play. Because the baby woke every 3 hours anyway, the baby had no real jet lag. Although we were definitely feeling it the first day!
View from our hotel room
The first day in Nairobi was spent adjusting to the time zone and sleeping! Jet lag and traveling with the baby can get pretty bad. Instead of sleeping to adjust, you are on the baby’s time. Luckily we didn’t have much planned except for meeting with our dear friends, the Musees, and having dinner at their family’s house. We were super excited to experience Nairobi like a local and eat home made food too!
We planned a full day for our second day in Nairobi. On our list was the elephant orphanage at the Sheldrick Wildlife Center and the Giraffe Center. With Nairobi traffic and jet lag, that was all we were able to do. Although definitely worth seeing, we found the elephant orphanage center to be crowded and not at all the intimate experience I imagined or have seen on YouTube. But if you decide to go, make sure you get there before 11 am before they start feeding the baby elephants!
The following day, we headed straight to the domestic airport to take a 45 min flight to Maasai Mara. We were lucky that we were traveling with our friends. Originally from Kenya, they were able to help arrange the entire safari trip. We headed to Sarova Mara Game Camp. It was the perfect location for game drives and was very family friendly.
With three nights there, we were able to get 6 game drives in. It was plenty of time to see everything that was on our list: The Big Five and cheetahs!
One thing that we missed during our last safari was seeing lions. So we were excited to see a whole pride with cubs and also two male brothers!
The name of the game with this safari was definitely cheetahs. We have never seen so many before and we were actually able to see a baby cheetah up close!
I would say, overall, a safari was a great place to take a 6 month old. All he did was nap while wearing him in a carrier! Mommy and daddy got to enjoy the game drive and the bumpy road made for a nice nap for the baby!
