TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
Number of Days: 12 Days
Destinations: Nairobi, Amboseli, Sangare, Samburu, Nakuru & Masai Mara
Activities: Cultural immersions, game viewing & bird watching
Accommodation: City Hotels, Wilderness Lodges & Permanent Tented Camps.
DAY 1: ARRIVAL – NAIROBI NIGHT
Upon your arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, our guide will meet and assist you and then transfer you to your city hotel for the evening. The evening meal/dinner is on own arrangement as flights arrive in different hours some as late as midnight and therefore no need to include the dinner in the cost of the package. The hotel is also booked on bed and breakfast basis with any other meals coming in as extra cost.
Additional Optional Activities in Nairobi:
The Carnivore Gourmet
Described in the Wall Street Journal as the “Meat Eaters Paradise”, the Carnivore Restaurant is really famous for its succulent steaks and mouthwatering barbecue dishes. The menu includes every type of meat roasted over charcoal. A wide variety of vegetarian dishes are also available.
The National Museum of Kenya and Snake Park
This museum is located in Nairobi. it has a wider range of preserved animal species from different part s of the world . the preserved animal are arranged as per their different in phyla indeed this section of the field trip help us to develop rather than their morphological relationship of animals rather than their morphological similarity
For instance the rock hyrax early had been mistaken to resemble mice and rat but an analyzed phylogeny at the park reveal that the animals do bear a close resemblance with the elephants.
A part from the preserved species the museum contain live different species of snake in a snake park much analysis of snake to show the origin of man more so from fossil record is situated in the department of paleontology.
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
This morning we shall start with a visit to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This is a small flexible charity, established in memory of David Sheldrick, famous Naturalist and founder Warden of Kenya’s giant Tsavo East National Park in which he served from 1948 until 1976.
This orphanage is home to orphan baby Elephants and is open daily from 1100 – 1200 hours during feeding time. One is able to watch the orphans as they are brought out to feed and sometimes can participate in feeding them. There is no set entrance fee but a small donation is expected to help sustain the Elephants.
The Bomas of Kenya
Located adjacent to Nairobi National Park and a few kilometres from the city centre. Bomas is a Swahili word for villages and the Bomas of Kenya contains numerous homesteads reflecting Kenya’s cocktail of cultures, faithfully recreated for visitors to see traditional village life of the many Kenyan communities. There is a display of traditional dances, music and other folklore traditional songs in a splendid arena.
DAY 2: NAIROBI – AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK ( 2 NIGHTS)
After breakfast we make the journey to the Amboseli National Park, one of the most popular of Kenya’s national parks. At the foot of Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft.), the park lies southeast of Nairobi, very close to the Tanzania border. The snowcapped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro dominates every aspect of Amboseli. The snows of Kilimanjaro, white and crystalline, form a majestic backdrop to one of Kenya’s most spectacular displays of wildlife – lion, elephant, leopard, rhino, cheetah, buffalo and hosts of plains’ game, creating Kenya’s most sought after photographer’s paradise. After lunch there will be time to relax before taking an afternoon “game” drive.
Additional Optional Activities in Amboseli:
Visit to a Masai Cultural Village: Join the Masai dancers donning their African regalia and the jingling on their feet, flow by the rhythm of African beats and dance to their tunes that will leave you refreshed.
Guided Nature Walk/Bird Safari: We provide you with an opportunity to know the names of the birds, how to tell them apart, admire their beauty and observe their habits. Nothing refreshes as a walk in our cool quiet nature trails where the only interruptions are birds singing and trees whistling for you. Nature walks can be tour guided or self guided.
Bush Breakfast: Think of cold crisp fresh mornings, the feeling of dew on your feet in the morning, the unhampered views of sunrises and sunsets casting their golden rays over your glass of champagne. Our experienced chefs will prepare fresh sumptuous breakfast in the midst of the wilderness.
Bush Sundowner: Unwind in the evening with a refreshing sundowner on open plains as the sun sets and cast its orange rays on top of Mount Kilimanjaro. A perfect opportunity for best memories captured in photos. Here you have the opportunity to watch the changing colors of the African sky as the dust settles and the air cools.
Bush Dinner: Enjoy the sounds of the African night and the hospitality of our experienced chefs as they prepare a sumptuous live BBQ for you in the midst of the wilderness. This will make your evening truly memorable.
DAY 3: FULL DAY AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK
Today we will explore the Amboseli, a national park since 1974. The park covers only 150 square miles, yet, despite its small size, its fragile ecosystem supports a wide range of mammals (well over 50 of the larger species) and birds (over 400 species). Years ago this was the locale around which such famous writers as Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark spun their stories of big-game hunting in the wilds of Africa. It is also the home of the Maasai people.
Perhaps more than any other community in Kenya, the Maasai have learned to live in complete harmony with their environment and the wildlife which surrounds them. All around the park are occupied and abandoned manyatta, Maasai villages, quickly built out of bent poles and sticks and plastered with cow dung, swiftly abandoned when the grazing is finished and the herds must move on. Swamps and springs, fed by underground rivers from Kilimanjaro’s melting snows, form permanent watering places for the wildlife through times of drought.
DAY 4: AMBOSELI – NAIROBI – SANGARE RANCH (ABERDARES REGION)
After breakfast this morning, we drive to Sangare via Nairobi where we shall stop over for lunch in one of the city restaurants. The lunch can be eaten either at Capital Center, Panari Hotel or at Ole-Sereni Hotel on the borders of Nairobi National Park. After lunch we will drive north to the Aberdares region. Arrive in Sangare Tented Camp Located within Sangare Ranch. This is a private Ranch near Aberdare National Park. The Ranch offers diverse adventure activities.
After check in, you will relax and then go for an evening guided nature walk/birds safari. Sangare Ranch Day Game Drive with a visit to the Mau Mau caves Enjoy a superb game drive in the Sangare Ranch’s wild vast plains as you admire the different species of animals, including giraffes, elephants, leopards, zebras, buffalos, antelopes, zebroids amongst others.
Afternoon visit to Mau Mau Caves: Visit to Mau Mau Caves for a sneak preview into Kenya’s pre-colonial times. Mau Mau Caves may have been the hideout of Mau Mau freedom fighters. That is the reason why they were destroyed in 1959. The Mau Mau Caves which were hideouts for the freedom fighters from central region of Kenya’s during the fight for independence.
Additional Optional Activities in Sangare Ranch:
Sundowner – On top of Sangare Hill
Driven by the Sangare 4 wheel vehicle to the top of the Sangare Hill. Unwind in the evening with a refreshing sundowner on open plains where you watch the changing colors of the African sky as the dust settles and the air cools.
Bush lunch
Enjoy a delicious ‘gourmet’ lunch overlooking magnificent plains and savannahs while you watch the most elegant giraffes and zebras passing nearby.
Night Game Walk
With lamps tied to your head, a 45 minute night game walk after dinner is a lovely idea. You cannot go to bed without having seen the leopard!!
Horseback Riding
Gallop along the magnificent lake across the vast forest while enjoying the humming tunes of our many beautiful species of birds.
Mountain Biking
Have fun riding bikes on the wonderful terrain as you watch the animals walk by. You can travel long distances, at your own pace in a completely natural environment. There are few better ways to see the bush!
Boat riding
Spend a leisurely afternoon drifting along the lake in our inflatable canoes in the most peaceful and tranquil environment.
DAY 5: SANGARE RANCH – ABERDARES NATIONAL PARK (1 NIGHT)
Breakfast at the camp and then head to Aberdares National Park. Arrive in Aberdares National Park and you will be transferred to Tree Tops Hotel for check-in. Rest of the afternoon and evening at leisure to observe wildlife as they come to drink at a waterhole, floodlit by night. Dinner and overnight stay.
DAY 6: ABERDARES NATIONAL PARK – SAMBURU GAME RESERVES (2 NIGHTS)
After breakfast we will travel further north this morning to the Samburu Game Reserve. We shall carry packed lunch from the hotel to eat along the way. We shall relax along the way where we shall have lunch. After lunch we will continue with the journey arriving in Samburu in the late afternoon in time for a late game drive in search of the rarely found species of wild game like the rare liver-red reticulated giraffe, grevy’s zebra, long necked gerenuk antelopes. Beisa Oryx, blue flanked Somali ostrich, vulturine guinea fowl and also braving lions on the grass, leopards in the trees and plenty of other plains game.
Note that the entry tickets used in Samburu Game Reserve allows you to gain entry to Buffalo Springs but not Shaba. Also note that all game drives are done in Samburu Game Reserve since that is where the animals are found. To enter Shaba Game Reserve, you will be required to pay again.
This evening you are free to have a walk around the lodge and watch the birds. Guided Nature Walk/Bird Safari: We provide you with an opportunity to know the names of the birds, how to tell them apart, admire their beauty and observe their habits. Nothing refreshes as a walk in our cool quiet nature trails where the only interruptions are birds singing and trees whistling for you. Nature walks can be tour guided or self guided.
Additional Optional Activities in Samburu:
Bush Breakfast: Think of cold crisp fresh mornings, the feeling of dew on your feet in the morning, the unhampered views of sunrises and sunsets casting their golden rays over your glass of champagne. Our experienced chefs will prepare fresh sumptuous breakfast in the midst of the wilderness.
Bush Sundowner: Unwind in the evening with a refreshing sundowner on open plains as the sun sets and cast its orange rays on top of Mount Kilimanjaro. A perfect opportunity for best memories captured in photos. Here you have the opportunity to watch the changing colors of the African sky as the dust settles and the air cools.
Bush Dinner: Enjoy the sounds of the African night and the hospitality of our experienced chefs as they prepare a sumptuous live BBQ for you in the midst of the wilderness. This will make your evening truly memorable.
DAY 7: FULL DAYS SAMBURU GAME RESEVE
Today we will enjoy a full day of African game viewing and bird watching. Samburu Game Reserve offers what is arguably Kenya’s greatest – and least changed – encounter with the wild Africa of yesteryear. This harsh, savagely beautiful wilderness depends on the steady flow of the Uaso Nyiro River for its existence. The river waters house a wide variety of animal species not found south of the Equator including the majestic Beisa Oryx, the reticulated giraffe, the thin-striped Grevy’s zebra, and the ‘giraffe-necked’ gerenuk antelope, which stands on its hind legs to feed. Elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard can all be seen along the river, and the 400-plus species of birds are spectacular. This is the home of the Samburu tribe, cousins of the Maasai, who share the same nomadic, cattle-herding existence, and an even stricter adherence to their age-old rites and customs.
DAY 8: SAMBURU GAME RESERVE – LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK (1 NIGHT)
After breakfast, we depart Samburu for Lake Nakuru National Park with packed lunch. Lake Nakuru National Park is situated in the Rift Valley Region. Kenya straddles the center of the Great Rift Valley, the vast prehistoric fissure that stretches from Jordan to Mozambique. From the North to the South of Kenya, the valley is lined with a series of freshwater and soda based volcanic lakes.
Visit the Equator and Thomsons Falls enroute. Subject to time availability, we shall visit a coffee or tea farm along the way and also have a taste of the rural life and how tea and coffee is grown, picked and processed. Have early lunch in Nyahururu or carry packed lunch from Sangare in order to enjoy game drive in the afternoon in Lake Nakuru.
1600hrs: Arrive in Nakuru and head straight for an afternoon game drive in the park. Lake Nakuru National Park, the world famous haunt for pink flamingos, is a shallow alkaline lake in Kenya’s Rift Valley and some 62 km2 in extent. The road from Nairobi to Nakuru passes down the Kikuyu escarpment with fine views of the Kedong Valley and Mounts Suswa and Longonot. The landscape is picturesque, areas of sedge, marsh and grasslands alternating with rocky cliffs and outcrop. In late 80’s the park also became Kenya’s first rhino sanctuary and is today home to both the White and Black Rhinos. Lions, leopards, hippos, giraffes, waterbucks are equally at home in this unique park.
DAY 9: LAKE NAKURU – MASAI MARA (3 NIGHTS)
After breakfast we shall visit the nearby villages and have a feel of the culture of the local people and then travel to Masai Mara Game Reserve. The jewel in Africa’s crown, Maasai Mara, is host to the most spectacular array of wildlife. Almost 600 square miles of open savannah, woodlands, and tree-lined river creates an eco-system that support huge numbers of bird and mammal species. The western border of the park is the spectacular Siria Escarpment that, together with the acacia-dotted plains, creates scenery of stunning beauty. Lions are found in abundance throughout the park, as are elephant, giraffe, a variety of gazelle species, and zebra. Cheetah and leopard are also regularly seen and, if lucky, you may also find rhino. Game viewing is never dull in the Mara and patience is often rewarded with unique sightings: a pride of lion stalking their prey; a solitary leopard retrieving its kill from the high branches of an acacia tree; a male wildebeest sparring to attract females into their harem; a herd of elephant protecting their young from opportunistic predators.
The annual wildebeest migration traditionally is present in the Mara from July through September. During this time of year, nature’s dramas unfold before your very eyes at every turn. As well as wildlife, the Maasai Mara is also home to many members of the colorful Maasai tribe who may be seen around the borders of the park – morans (warriors) loping across the plains, young boys herding goats, or elders grouped under a tree discussing matters of the day.
We will proceed to our camp for a late lunch. This afternoon we will enjoy a drive through this spectacular game area before returning to camp for dinner this evening.
DAY 10 AND 11 – MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE
The next two days will be spend in Masai Mara with both morning and afternoon game-viewing drives. Mara National Reserve offers an absolutely unique variety of animals. The reason is that this hilly region is both humid and fertile, and is crossed by the rivers Mara and Telek, full of crocodiles and hippos, which carry water the whole year round. The banks of the rivers are covered in thick forest, which gradually makes way for bush and grassland. The abundance of water and excellent availability of food are the reasons why the Masai Mara, which in fact is a continuance of the Tanzanian Serengeti National Park, has the greatest population of wild animals in the whole of Africa. There is a particularly dramatic “spectacle” from July to November, the annual migration of huge herds of Gnus and Zebras. Predators such as Hyenas, Jackals, Leopards and Lions of course, closely follow these herds. Gigantic herds of over 200 buffaloes can also be observed. Plenty of food is available for elephants, giraffes, and the many species of antelopes and gazelles all of which can be observed in their natural habitat.
Afternoon Visit to a Masai Cultural Village: on the afternoon, we shall join the Masai dancers donning their African regalia and the jingling on their feet, flow by the rhythm of African beats and dance to their tunes that will leave you refreshed. After the dance and an overview into the culture and traditions of Maasai community, we shall return to the camp for dinner and overnight.
Additional Optional Activities in Masai Mara:
Maasai Mara Balloon Ride: As an optional excursion we may spend the morning ballooning over the plains, getting a bird’s eye view of the game below as the sun creeps slowly over the horizon. After approximately one hour aloft, the balloon lands while a breakfast is being prepared for us nearby. The smell of bacon, sausages and eggs drift on the breeze as we sample exotic Kenyan fruits and homemade pastries and, if you wish, glasses of bubbly to toast our flight, a tradition initiated by the Montgolfier brothers.
Bush Breakfast: Think of cold crisp fresh mornings, the feeling of dew on your feet in the morning, the unhampered views of sunrises and sunsets casting their golden rays over your glass of champagne. Our experienced chefs will prepare fresh sumptuous breakfast in the midst of the wilderness.
Bush Sundowner: Unwind in the evening with a refreshing sundowner on open plains as the sun sets and cast its orange rays on top of Mount Kilimanjaro. A perfect opportunity for best memories captured in photos. Here you have the opportunity to watch the changing colors of the African sky as the dust settles and the air cools.
Bush Dinner: Enjoy the sounds of the African night and the hospitality of our experienced chefs as they prepare a sumptuous live BBQ for you in the midst of the wilderness. This will make your evening truly memorable.
DAY 12: MASAI MARA – NAIROBI – EVENING DEPARTURE
This morning we will enjoy an early morning game-viewing drive and then will return to the hotel for our farewell breakfast. After breakfast we will start your journey back to Nairobi. On arrival in Nairobi you will be transferred to a city restaurant for lunch and then buy artifacts in the city market before being transferred to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for our return flight home.