Animal viewing from AKV -- when?

[mecllap]

When are animals out on the savannahs generally during the day? Has anyone stayed in a savannah-view studio and not seen animals easily? Does it vary by time of year or anything? (am aware that some changes may happen due to construction, etc. -- just trying to get an idea what we might reasonably expect). Are they harder to see from a studio Sav-view, and does it make any difference which Savannah you are located on? Thanks.

 

[spiceycat]

when it is cool - early morning, sunset.

that say the CM are trying so they feed them more often and try to feed them in area closer to the rooms.

but if you could stay in the cool shade away from the people - or in the hot sun - which would you pick. now there are shaded area near the rooms. animals seems to like privacy too.

best time is feeding early morning.

 

[starbox]

We've been lucky enough to talk with animal keepers on two occassions. According to them, there are two 12-hour shifts of Animal Keepers. Mid-afternoon (around 3-4) the day keepers start to feed the animals to draw them out so that they can give the evening keepers a full report on each animal's status. Evidently, they also timed the feeding to concide with guests taking a mid-afternoon break.

We've always seen tons and tons of animals in the afternoon.

 

[spiceycat]

been there at 3pm - so where are they feeding them?

more information please.

where do you meet the feeders?

 

[starbox]

been there at 3pm - so where are they feeding them?

more information please.

where do you meet the feeders?

Oddly enough, we met the first animal keeper outside of RnR @ DHS (at the time MGM). She noticed that DS was wearing an AKL shirt and asked if we were staying there. She was really nice and sent a letter and some nice 5x7 photos of giraffes to the kids.

The second animal keepers were met when we took my parents last summer - you have to know my mom and dad - they are very outgoing and treat the whole world like their friends. My dad had just had surgery and, knowing he'd be in the room quite a bit, we requested a room on Arusha where he could animal-watch during the day. He ended up calling down from the balcony to the keepers one afternoon and asking them about all their job. The keeper was nice enough to come right over and chat w/my dad.

(On the same trip, my mom asked the waiter at a restaurant if she could get a recipe and the waiter actually went back to kichen and brought out a hand-written recipe!)

 

[bobbiwoz]

There is a period every day when the animals are off the savannah for CMs to do savannah clean up. This is usually in the mornings and during this time the animals are in their barns for meals. I think it's 2-4 hours total.

Our Sunset safari vehicle broke down when we were doing the sunset savannah, and as a consolation for our inconvenience, we were brought into that barn area. This time out of the savannah is used to check up on the animals, healthwise. Some of the animals don't necesarilly get along with each other, so some of them are out on the savannah only every other day.

Bobbi

 

[Greg K.]

We've arrived for dinner at Jiko around 5 and popped over to the main viewing area, off the lobby, while waiting for our table. We've often been delighted to see animals roaming around, while handlers distributed food. They were having THEIR dinner, before we had ours.

 

[Greyhound22]

Oddly enough, we met the first animal keeper outside of RnR @ DHS (at the time MGM). She noticed that DS was wearing an AKL shirt and asked if we were staying there. She was really nice and sent a letter and some nice 5x7 photos of giraffes to the kids.

The second animal keepers were met when we took my parents last summer - you have to know my mom and dad - they are very outgoing and treat the whole world like their friends. My dad had just had surgery and, knowing he'd be in the room quite a bit, we requested a room on Arusha where he could animal-watch during the day. He ended up calling down from the balcony to the keepers one afternoon and asking them about all their job. The keeper was nice enough to come right over and chat w/my dad.

(On the same trip, my mom asked the waiter at a restaurant if she could get a recipe and the waiter actually went back to kichen and brought out a hand-written recipe!)

Great stories...if everyone could be that friendly!

 

[mecllap]

Do you "always"/usually see giraffes from a Savannah view -- are there enough of them that they can be seen from all the Sav-V rooms? DD is a tall blonde, and always enjoys a bit of empathy with giraffes.

 

[TSMIII]

There is a period every day when the animals are off the savannah for CMs to do savannah clean up. This is usually in the mornings and during this time the animals are in their barns for meals. I think it's 2-4 hours total.

Our Sunset safari vehicle broke down when we were doing the sunset savannah, and as a consolation for our inconvenience, we were brought into that barn area. This time out of the savannah is used to check up on the animals, healthwise. Some of the animals don't necesarilly get along with each other, so some of them are out on the savannah only every other day.

Bobbi

When we went in November, we spoke with a CM who stated the same thing. IIRC, she said the Sunset Savanna took their break from 6-7am, Arusha from 7-8am and Uzima from 8-9:30am.

 

[TSMIII]

Do you "always"/usually see giraffes from a Savannah view -- are there enough of them that they can be seen from all the Sav-V rooms? DD is a tall blonde, and always enjoys a bit of empathy with giraffes.

We went last November for 7 nights and just returned yesterday from a 6 night stay (I'll post a trip report in a day or two with pics). Both times we were on the Arusha Savanna and saw the giraffes every day except one day last November.

Usually we would see them in the afternoons and evenings after returning from the parks. They seemed to be a bit more scarce during the morning hours for us.

Also, back in Nov. we only saw the zebras two days out of our stay - this time we saw them every day and at all hours and typically 3-4 of them at a time.

 

[pilferk]

When are animals out on the savannahs generally during the day? Has anyone stayed in a savannah-view studio and not seen animals easily? Does it vary by time of year or anything? (am aware that some changes may happen due to construction, etc. -- just trying to get an idea what we might reasonably expect). Are they harder to see from a studio Sav-view, and does it make any difference which Savannah you are located on? Thanks.

I'm going to echo the sentiments I've read:

Early in the AM, and later in the afternoon into early evening (and, in the warmer months, sometimes well into the night...we've had animals sleeping RIGHT outside our window).

But we've never had a real hard time seeing animals when we're there. We don't spend a LOT of time during the "heat of the day" hours around the hotel, though..we're typically off at the parks. But DW and I usually "share" our morning coffee with the animals, sitting out on the balcony together, and can usually also share a night time cocktail with them, once the kids are in bed.

 

[lisareniff]

When we went in November, we spoke with a CM who stated the same thing. IIRC, she said the Sunset Savanna took their break from 6-7am, Arusha from 7-8am and Uzima from 8-9:30am.

A few years back we went on the Sunrise Safari and found out similar info. The animals are on the safari 24 hrs except for a 1-2 hour period in the morning when they went into the barns for their daily check-up, meds, etc. The info I jotted down at the time had the Uzima starting at 6:30am, then the Sunset, and the Arusha at 11:30am. This was a few years ago so I'm sure the order and times may have changed.