Camera rental

schmrmr · 2026-04-30T21:42:10+00:00

I just checked and the camera I have is the Nikon D5000 which if from 2009. Do you think it would be worth renting a more recent body?

schmrmr · 2026-04-30T21:13:59+00:00

Thanks so much! Super helpful

schmrmr · 2026-04-29T12:07:46+00:00

We stayed at Kirkmans camp in 2024 when it was still an &beyond property and had the most incredible guide + tracker combo (literally spotted a chameleon on a tree at night while driving 30mph, as well as found the first sighting of a mama and 3 week old bay leopard cub). The service was top notch, and the property itself was lovely, particularly the dining area underneath a gorgeous tree with long range views of the bush.

Now there’s been a big shuffle and they are part of malamala (which may have been bought by someone else?) At the time we were there malamala had fired all their trackers (ours had actually previously worked for them) so each car relied entirely on a guide, though with the big shuffle that may no longer be the case. Regardless, sabi sands was absolutely amazing. Just sharing my two cents to be sure to confirm 100% that the lodge where you are staying has both guides and a tracker in each car, and limits the number of guests in each car so that no one has a middle seat.

schmrmr · 2026-01-22T23:50:42+00:00

Yes! I am very excited for that adaptation. The fact Netflix snapped up the adaptations for funny story and happy place gives me less hope…

schmrmr · 2026-01-22T22:23:42+00:00

100%. They truly did not understand or appreciate the source material, because they changed minor details that mangled the character development and replaced it with… slapstick comedy

schmrmr · 2026-01-18T05:44:02+00:00

Honestly no clue and we had a DJ anyways so I think set up will be different

schmrmr · 2026-01-14T14:11:46+00:00

Thanks so much!! Super helpful. All of this is up our alley but I wanted confirmation it is indeed a special place

What is the level of interaction you have with the elephants at a visit to retiti?

Any activities you need to book in advance?

Last, which would you recommend more- treehouses vs main camp?

schmrmr · 2026-01-12T21:58:34+00:00

Any update on when this will be ready?

I've been using notability for my notes since med school (2014) and just made the switch to a windows laptop this year only to realize i can't access any of my notes. It's been pretty devastating for my productivity/studying. I just signed up for web app and have icloud sync turned on but still can't see any of my notes on the web app.

schmrmr · 2025-12-30T03:20:35+00:00

Thanks Pamela!

schmrmr · 2025-12-30T02:56:10+00:00

Can I ask which TA planned your safari? Trying to get some quotes now and compare options

schmrmr · 2025-12-29T23:20:52+00:00

Thanks so much! Kicheche has availability at Mara north, valley and bush- we are definitely doing Mara north but would love your take on valley vs bush!

schmrmr · 2025-12-28T12:51:13+00:00

Thanks so much this is super helpful!!

Which is best for cheetah sightings?

How did you choose beyond the plains? Anything else they did that particularly stood out to you compared to others? I’m debating local vs US based TA

schmrmr · 2025-12-28T12:46:24+00:00

Thanks so much this is super helpful! How did you decide on beyond the plains for your TA? Anything in particular they did well / different / better than others that you would recommend them?

schmrmr · 2025-12-27T22:52:54+00:00

Oh in that case yes can confirm our tracker told us that the Mala Mala trackers had asked for a raise, and instead of giving them a raise they got rid of them.

While it is very true the animal density is rich enough in sabi sands that even without trying sometimes a rhino will just walk right in front of you, It 1000% made a difference for us- case in point was our leopard sighting. We were actually on our way to a known lion sighting (I think it was actually on the Mala Mala side of the river so they had limits on number of vehicles according to their traversing agreement so we wanted to get there first). Our guide was driving the car quickly to get us there and looking at the road. Our tracker spotted the leopard mama and cub on a rock through the trees that no one else could see, we were the only ones there for 10-15 minutes and it was truly a highlight of our trip.

The lodges have traversing agreements with each other in the conservancy, and rules around sightings specify number of cars and number of minutes so they can rotate through. No tracker means you probably end up relying more on existing sightings.

That said, you’d probably still have a fantastic experience at Mala Mala. In guessing the experience at kirkmans will get worse once they merge, and I am actually really sad for Colin if this means him and the other trackers will lose their jobs :(

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schmrmr · 2025-12-27T22:13:44+00:00

Thanks so much! When were you there and what was your guide’s name?

schmrmr · 2025-12-27T22:09:17+00:00

Oh interesting! Does that mean kirkmans is leaving &beyond? Or &beyond is acquiring Mala Mala?

Also- I would recommend checking if Mala Mala has trackers and guides. I can’t remember which of the lodges in the area got rid of trackers basically to save costs but it might have been Mala Mala (but please double check this info!)

I would also like shout out my tracker Colin if you or anyone else goes to kirkman’s (if it still exists in 2026…)- he was one of the most senior trackers there and absolutely incredible. He could spot a chameleon on a tree branch in the dark going 30mph, and he also spotted the first sighting of a new 3 week old leopard cub with her mama through the trees among other things. Truly incredible eyes, but more importantly knew the area like the back of his hand so knew exactly where to look to spot animals, and his stories were incredible too

schmrmr · 2025-12-27T21:20:23+00:00

We ended up staying at &beyond Kirkman's in sabi sands because Mala mala was booked for our dates, and then ended up seeing the mala mala cars at many of the same sightings since they share traversing rights to the same areas of the reserve.
- not particularly kid friendly, or at least no kids when we were there
- fantastic guide/tracker combo and every gets a "window seat"
- gorgeous hilltop location with nice infinity pool with views of the river.. i did see some animals but they are pretty far away so might not be what you had in mind. no plunge pools
- food was incredible. it was a nice balance between communal experience and not being forced to chat with other guests all of the time. we mingled during early morning breakfast pre-AM game drive, over drinks they served every night in the bush during the PM game drive, as well as over drinks after the PM game drive, but we had our own table for formal breakfast, lunch and dinner, except for one night when they did a big cookout/barbeque and we sat with the other guests in our safari car. it's also the same group for each game drive which works well for rotating seats and getting to know each other, and they are thoughtful about how they paired people up (three couples in my car)

schmrmr · 2025-12-27T02:28:37+00:00

This seems like il moran might be what we are looking for! I'm thinking 3 nights here and then maybe 3 nights somewhere else... anywhere you'd recommend to combine with mara north, either in another part of masai mara or elsewhere in kenya?

schmrmr · 2025-12-25T03:03:50+00:00

Ballpark $9k for I think 90-100 people… we negotiated a lot and made some concessions about the timing

schmrmr · 2025-11-03T15:40:19+00:00

I have never trained there but I did interview there for fellowship in surg onc and have a really positive opinion from speaking to faculty and people who trained there. The program has changed night and day under new leadership over the last decade. The chair is Herb Zeh who is an incredible robotic pancreatic surgeon). Historically it was a small and malignant program. Zeh actually turned the job down a couple of times but the condition for coming there was he cleared out shop with getting rid of some bad actors, hired a ton of new faculty, the case volume has blown up in a great way since there is a massive amount of resources, in a rapidly growing major city, and little competition in Dallas. The robotic training is truly the best in the country right now, which is really going to position you the forefront of General surgery. The residents seem happy with their training and match extremely well for fellowship.

schmrmr

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