AVAILABILITY: Yearround

ACCOMMODATIONS: Hotel, lodge or campsite

HIGHLIGHTS: Nairobi, Great Rift Valley, Lake Nakuru, Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Serengeti, Big Five, Ngorongoro Crater, Maasai Village, Olduvai Gorge, Arusha
 

ITINERARY

• DAY 1: You’ll be met on arrival in the morning at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and briefed by our representative. After immigration formalities, you’ll have breakfast at a city hotel. (If arriving in the evening, you’ll be transferred to your city hotel for overnight.) You’ll then depart Nairobi and descend to the floor of the Great Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru National Park. You will stop for lunch at the lodge and relax before your first game drive. In addition to the flamingos that make this lake famous, there are approximately 400 other species of birds, as well as giraffes, black and white rhinos, waterbucks, reedbucks, lions, buffalos, leopards, baboons, and many species of plains game. Dinner and overnight will be provided at your lodge or campsite.

• DAY 2: After breakfast we will make our way to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, which is known for the Big Five – lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and cape buffalo. After lunch and some relaxing, explore the reserve on an evening game drive. If traveling between July and October, you have the opportunity to see the annual wildebeest migration. Dinner and overnight will be provided at your lodge or campsite.

• DAY 3: After breakfast you will depart for Tanzania. After immigration formalities, you will meet your Tanzanian guides who will bring you into Serengeti National Park for another game drive. This park is home to giraffes, hippos, antelopes, gazelles, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, crocodiles, lions and more. Dinner and overnight will be provided at your lodge or campsite.

• DAY 4: We’ll get up early for a 6 am sunrise game drive to spot hunters waiting to ambush their prey, and to visit the hippo pool. We’ll return to camp at 9 am to enjoy a late breakfast. We’ll continue our game drive at 10:30 am. Dinner and overnight at your lodge or campsite.

• DAY 5: After breakfast we will continue game viewing en route to Ngorongoro with picnic lunches. We’ll stop at Olduvai Gorge, which lies on the site of an ancient lake, covered by thick layers of volcanic ash, which carefully preserved the world’s earliest records of mankind. It was here that Louis and Mary Leakey and their team discovered a multitude of hominid fossils dating back to 1.75 million years ago. You will also have the opportunity to visit the Oldupai Gorge Museum, located on the gorge’s rim. Next on this exciting day is a visit to the Maasai group, a semi-nomadic people who are one of Africa’s best-known ethnic groups. Dinner and overnight at your lodge or campsite.

• DAY 6: This morning we will descend into the Ngorongoro crater floor. From the comfort of your open-top vehicle, you will have the opportunity to again see the Big Five on your half-day game drive. This caldera exhibits more than 120 species of mammals, such as lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard. We will also visit saline lakes which host habitat for flamingos and other birds, as well as the secretary bird, white stork, kori bustard, crowned cranes and ostriches. We will also see pools full of hippos, and possibly even the endangered East Africa black rhino. Finally we will drive you back to your Arusha hotel for dinner and overnight.

• DAY 7: After breakfast you will have time to explore Arusha, Tanzania’s safari and tourism capital, to see street markets, craft shops, museums, Makonde carving workshops, street cafes and bars. We will have lunch here for an opportunity to try traditional Tanzanian food. Following lunch we will proceed to Nairobi. Enjoy a special dinner at Carnival Restaurant before returning to the airport for your flight.

 

Program includes: Hotel/lodge/camp accommodations for the duration of the safari, private 4-wheel drive vehicle with a roof hatch. Professional English-speaking safari and tour guide/driver, all park entrance fees, all meals on the safari, water and hot drinks during the safari, camping equipment if applicable (tents, mattresses, sleeping bags, pillows, table and chairs), all game viewing activities.

 

Program excludes: International flights, airport taxes, entry visas, travel insurance, tips and gratuities, personal costs, medical and personal insurance.