Simply an arrival day, or should I say night, into the capital of Thailand-Bangkok.
After a ten hour flight from Seattle on Korean Airlines, we made my way to customs. Be sure to ask Adventure Life for a quick-pass through customs as the queue is about two hours. We grabbed our bags, cleared security and found our guide eagerly awaiting our arrival. Typically, traffic in Bangkok, a city of ten million, is bumper to bumper but arrival into Thailand at 11pm and exiting the airport around 1:30 am allowed us to quickly navigate the desolate streets. Our hotel was perched on the banks of the Chao Phraya River which flows to the Gulf of Thailand and then onto the Indian Ocean. Riva Surya is a beautiful hotel perfect for our first night in Bangkok.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.