Kenya and Tanzania Safari

You will be met on arrival at Jomo Kenyatta Airport and transferred to Nairobi Serena Hotel, Nairobi’s finest hotel for your overnight stay.

After a leisurely morning, we visit the nursery at Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Orphanage. Working across Kenya, their projects include anti-poaching, safeguarding the natural environment, enhancing community awareness, addressing animal welfare issues, providing veterinary assistance to animals in need, rescuing and hand rearing elephant and rhino orphans, along with other species that can ultimately enjoy a quality of life in wild terms when grown. We then depart Nairobi and travel to our accommodation at Sweet Waters Tented Camp, with magnificent views across the plains to the snow-capped peaks of Mount Kenya. The luxury tents overlook the waterhole, floodlit at night, providing excellent and rarely seen game viewing. We stay here for two nights.

This morning, we enjoy our first game drive before returning to our lodge for breakfast. There is the opportunity for another game drive in the afternoon, or you can opt to relax and enjoy the facilities.

After breakfast, our drive takes us to the floor of the Great Rift Valley up the Mau Escarpment, destination Lake Nakuru National Park where the waters of the lake are often coloured shimmering Flamingo pink from thousands of birds lining the shore. We enjoy a hot lunch before proceeding on an afternoon game-viewing drive. We end the day at Soysambu Conservancy, where we can relax for 2 nights at our stunning accommodation, Lake Elmenteita Serena Luxury Camp.

After breakfast, the drive will take us to Lake Nakuru game reserve.  This is another famous lake that has a plentiful population of aquatic birds who enjoy the alkaline lake environment.

We drive to the Masai Mara National Reserve offering wonderful scenery and plenty of game. It is perhaps the only region left in Kenya where the visitor may see animals in the same super abundance as existed a century ago. We arrive at our camp in time for lunch and an afternoon game drive. Our accommodation for the next two nights is Mara Intrepid Tented Camp. It is on this very terrain where the great annual migration takes place, when millions of wildebeests, zebras and gazelle traverse the landscape to feed on rich new grass and give birth to their young calves. The Masai Mara National Reserve is home to gazelle, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, elephant, buffalo, cheetah, leopard, the legendary black-maned lion and many more.  Our lodge is ideally located to enjoy this unique phenomenon.

Today we enjoy a full day here in the Mara.  We have morning and afternoon game drives to make the most of witnessing the plentiful game in this part of the Mara.

The lodge has a splendid swimming pool overlooking the Talek river where you can watch the Hippos in their own natural habitat.

Today we travel to our next lodge, Mara Elatia Camp – nestled in the peaceful Northwestern plains, gracefully perched along the Oloololo escarpment of the Masai Mara. The camp overlooks the Mara River, which is famous for the annual wildebeest migration between the months of July and September and faces one of the three “Kalema Hills” where the epic movie “Out of Africa” was filmed.

The game viewing is excellent with a large population of the “Big Five” – lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard, together with prolific wildebeest, giraffe, zebra, cheetah and hyena.

Today, we can take some time out to relax and enjoy our surroundings.  The early risers may wish to enjoy an optional balloon ride offering spectacular views over the region or you may wish to have another morning game drive.  For some, just sitting by the wonderful pool enjoying the view will suit just fine.

Today, we cross the border into Tanzania as we drive to the Serengeti National Park, undoubtedly the most famous wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and the greatest concentration of game anywhere. The exquisite Kirawira Tented Camp stands high on the bluff of a bush-cloaked ridge, commanding panoramic views over the endlessly rolling reaches and volcanic reefs of the Serengeti National Park.  The tented camp is the epitome of colonially styled safari luxury.

A full day in the Serengeti with game drives and the opportunity to relax. (Look out for the surprise breakfast today!).  It was 1913 and great stretches of Africa were still unknown to the white man when Stewart Edward White, an American hunter, set out from Nairobi. Pushing south, he recorded: “We walked for miles over burnt-out country… Then I saw the green trees of the river, walked two miles more and found myself in paradise.” He had found Serengeti which has come to symbolize paradise to many, especially the Masai, who have grazed their cattle on the vast grassy plains for millennia. To them it was Siringitu – “the place where the land goes on forever.”

We spend another full day in the Serengeti, enjoying the surroundings and viewing wildlife. The wildlife is plentiful, the landscape is fascinating, and our lodge is filled with all the comforts one could need. We stay at Mbuzi Mawe this evening.

Take time to enjoy this very special part of the Serengeti today.  More game drives, or maybe time to sit and watch the landscape unfold before you.

We drive to the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact caldera in the world. Its endearing charm stems from its overwhelming physical beauty and the abundance of wildlife permanently resident on the crater floor. En route, we visit Olduvai Gorge, site of archeological findings where traces of pre-historic man dating back 3.5 million years have been discovered. We arrive at our lodge in time for lunch with the remainder of the day at leisure. We spend 2 nights at Serena Ngorongoro Lodge.

The jewel in Ngorongoro’s crown is the deep volcanic crater, the largest un-flooded and unbroken caldera in the world. About 20kms across, 600 meters deep and 300 square kms in area, the crater is a breath-taking natural wonder. It contains a huge number and variety of wildlife and fauna.  We have the full day to explore the crater.

Tonight, we enjoy our last dinner together in Africa overlooking the Crater.

Today we drive to Kilimanjaro airport to join your flight home.