Day 2 : Masai Mara, Kenya
Spend the day in the park with morning and afternoon game drives. Optional visit to Maasai village can be arranged at $25 per person and hot air balloon ride at $425 per person. This natural wonder of Masai Mara is to be explored now which includes the extensive plains which include not only the well known predatory animals but also with Zebra, Wildebeest, Giraffe, Hippo and the dangerous Crocodiles. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and overnight at Sarova Mara Camp, B,L,D.

Day 3: Masai Mara - Lake Nakuru, Kenya

Depart to Lake Nakuru National Park to arrive in time for lunch at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge. Set on a plateau in an elevation above Lake Nakuru, Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge has 67 chalets all overlooking the lake, within the Lake Nakuru National Park . It is the perfect place to experience one of the world's largest ornithological spectacles, The Pink Flamingo, or a rich concentration of wildlife including black and white colobus monkey and is also a famed Rhino Sanctuary. In the afternoon proceed on a game drive in this famous ornithological spectacle for flamingoes. Dinner and overnight at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge, B,L,D.

 

Day 4:  Lake Nakuru - Aberdare National Park, Kenya

Distance: 190 km (3 hrs.). Breakfast at the Lodge. Continue with a drive via the Nyahururu Falls, formerly Thomson Falls, to the Aberdare Country Club. Lunch at the Club. Afternoon transfer into Aberdare National Park and on to The Ark Lodge for bird watching and overnight floodlit game viewing from the lodge viewing decks. Ark Lodge, set in the heart of the Aberdare National Park, is an unique tree lodge with a veranda that overlooks a floodlit waterhole and saltlick allowing undisturbed views of wildlife visiting the waterhole. Elephant, rhino, leopard, bushbuck and occasionally an elusive bongo and giant forest hog have been sighted. The 60 guest rooms are all en-suite. All cabins have private bathrooms with shower, and are comfortably furnished with bedside lamps and carpeted floors to ward off the evening and morning chill. Resembling and named after Noah's Ark, The Ark Tree Lodge is designed with 'decks' from which numerous balconies and lounges provide superb vantage points for game viewing. A ground level bunker provides excellent photographic opportunities and takes you closer than you would believe possible to the wildlife. Dinner and overnight at The Ark Lodge, B,L,D.

Day 5: Aberdare to Samburu Game Reserve, Kenya
After breakfast, return to the base hotel. Reconnect with your driver for a drive north through the Equator to northern frontier district to Samburu National Reserve. Afternoon game drive in this reserve famous for its exclusive game viewing. Dinner and overnight at Sarova Shaba Lodge,B,L,D.  

Day 6: Samburu Game Reserve, Kenya

Full day of game viewing drives in this dry semi-arid park with its striking background view of the Mathew's Range. The gently flowing Uaso Nyiro river which traverses this Park provides evergreen vegetation for the rare gerenuk, Grevy zebra and reticulated giraffe found in this park. All meals and overnight at Sarova Shaba Lodge, B,L,D.

 

Day 7: Samburu - Nairobi, Kenya

After breakfast, drive back to Nairobi with an en route lunch, where the tour ends, B,L.

 

Special remarks:

Children below 7 years are not admitted at the Ark Lodge and/or Treetops Lodge. Only an overnight rucksack is permitted at the tree lodges owing to limited space in the cabins. Excess luggage is stored at the base hotel. Travellers are advised to pack warm clothing for the Aberdare National Park since nights are pretty chilly. The above itinerary may be rerouted to operate on the reverse direction in which case the price remains unchanged.

 

Safari tour cost: US$ 1,875 Per Person Sharing. Single room supplement: US$ 531

Optional overnight at The Stanley Hotel before the trip: US$ 150 Per person on bed and breakfast

Kenya Safari | Masai Mara | Lake Nakuru | Aberdare | Samburu | Lodge Tour

Masai Mara, Kenya Safari, Wildlife Safaris, Africa Safaris:
The Masai Mara National Reserve is one of the best known and most popular reserves in the whole of Africa. Kenya’s finest reserve, the Masai Mara pulses with raw energy as an array of animals go about their daily lives. At times and in certain places it can get a little overrun with tourist minibuses, but there is something so special about it that it tempts you back time and again.

The Masai Mara Wildlife Reserve was established in 1961 and was originally known as the Mara Game Reserve. The inside area is developed along the guidelines of a national park, where no human settlement is allowed. The outer area is undisturbed except for the grazing cattle of the local Masai. The park is reputed as the only region left in Kenya where visitors may see animals in the same great numbers as existed a century ago.

Masai Mara is the best destination in Kenya for viewing wildlife - and lots of it! The Masai Mara is home to a great wildlife spectacle, as sometime between August and November more than two million wildebeest migrate from the Serengeti in search of water and grazing.

From forest and rivers to hills and escarpments to plains, bush and scrub this diverse landscape is home to an enormous number of different species. Giant herds of Elephants wander slowly but purposefully across the vast grasslands, Gazelle’s, Elands and Topi skip playfully through beautiful scenery and if you are lucky you will see one of their major predators, Lions, Cheetahs and Leopards cunningly lying in wait for their prey and giving chase.

For many people, timing their Masai Mara Safari to coincide with the migration seems vital - but with a very abundant and healthy resident population of animals, a holiday to the Masai Mara is great at any time of the year.

Seasoned safari travellers, travel writers, documentary makers and researchers often admit that the Masai Mara is one of their favourite places. So why is that? Perhaps it is because of the ‘big skies’, the open savannahs, the romance of films like ‘Out of Africa’ and certainly because of the annual wildebeest migration, the density of game, the variety of birdlife and the chance of a hot air balloon ride. Also because of the tall red-robed Masai people whose lifestyle is completely at odds with western practices, and from whom one learns to question certain western values.

The largest mass movement of land mammals on the planet and one of the most breathtaking events in the animal kingdom, The Great Migration involves millions of ungulates, most notably wildebeest, as they follow an annual circular route around the Serengeti Ecosystem in an endless quest for fresh pastures and water. The rumbling hooves of wildebeest and the clouds of red dust they leave behind have become a symbol of the Serengeti, as well as a strong migratory instinct that defies crocodile-infested rivers, wild currents, and flocks of predators lying in wait.

The Mara is a permanent water source for the area’s wild inhabitants and so even when the very last wildebeest has tardily set off for the southern Serengeti, massive resident herds remain, offering visitors everything they could want to see on an African safari. A Masai Mara safari provides a year-round safari experience.

When is the best time to visit?
During the dry seasons; it’s cooler from the end of May to early October, and warmer from late November to early March. The dry season from July to March is the best time to see wildlife, and the March of the Wildebeests occurs from June – August.

How to get to the Masai Mara?
The Masai Mara lies about 270 km from Nairobi and takes about 5 hours by road. There are scheduled flights, twice daily from Wilson Airport Nairobi, which take about 40 - 45 minutes
 

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