Destination:
Masai Mara Game Reserve, The Great Rift Valley
Departures:
Weekly
Price:
From US $1,940 (7 days) excluding
flights on our regular scheduled small group departures (12 - 16 pax).
Note:
Private departures can usually be booked to depart on any date to
suit you or your group.
Highlights of this tour
I love journeying and seeing fast hand the diversity of mother
Nature. My interest lie in learning about people and different
cultures. I have a deep love for bio diversity including both
flora and fauna. This tour takes you through a journey of discovery
through Kenya that is more than just one wildlife park after
another. A superb wildlife viewing opportunity and insights into the
way of life and cultures of local communities. Discover the
contrasting scenery, wildlife conservancies and cultures of the
Masai people and the Great Rift Valley. This tour gives you a much
more rewarding and richer safari experience and the local people get
a more direct share of the benefits that foreign visitors can bring.
Accommodation is in a bush
camp (fully supported), permanent tented safari camps (with beds and
hot water showers) and small bungalows. The bush camping section on
this trip allows us access to wilderness areas. We do not use the
luxury lodges but neither do we compromise on health, safety or
reasonable comfort. Lodge accommodation can be arranged for private
group departures if required. Equipment is carried by vehicles or
local porters, you only carry a day-pack with personal gear. When
camping you will not have to participate in camp chores. We buy
fresh produce locally and to ensure good standards of hygiene all
food is prepared by our own staff. We can cater for special dietary
requirements and there are no extra food-kitty payments.
Best time to go
All times of year are possible but there are two rainy seasons – Nov
and April/May. There are positives about traveling during rainy
season as it doesn’t rain all the time and there are virtually no
other people in the wildlife parks. Perhaps best times are June,
July, Sept, Oct, Jan, Feb. August and Dec are great weather-wise but
get busy as peak holiday season.
Daily itinerary
Drive from
Nairobi via the Masai town of Ewaso Ngiro for lunch and
colorful market visit. Then into the bush to a small
Masai homestead (“boma”) for insights into their
fascinating culture and way of life. Our stay here
supports their small primary school and we can arrange
visits during term times. Overnight camp under acacia
trees by a small spring – dinner around camp-fire,
starlit skies and sleep to the sounds of the African
night – often lions and hyenas roaring in the distance.
(The camp is guarded all
night ).
Optional 2-3
hour walking safari along small river course and through
the savanna for wildlife viewing with the Masai as
guides and interpreters of their lands, where you will
often walk amongst giraffe, impala, zebra and
wildebeest. Drive to a natural hot spring at Maji Moto
(where you can take a dip or just dip your toe in) and
then on to a camp in the Masai Mara and late afternoon
game drive. Or option to hike all or part-way up nearby
Naumare Hills to watch an invariably stunning sunset
over the Mara. Overnight in our comfortable permanent
tented safari camp.
Ecologically
the Masai Mara mara is an extension of the great
Serengeti plains and teems with wildlife. We spend all
day in the reserve doing game drives and this is where
you can see elephant, buffalo, lion, cheetah, leopard,
zebra, giraffe, hippo, crocodile and a whole ark-full of
other animals. Our expert naturalist guides and 4WD
vehicles ensure you have the very best chance of seeing
them all. From July to September, the Mara is home to
the great wildebeest migration. Overnight again in a
tented safari camp.
Depart Mara
and take an early morning game drive (to see any animals
you may have missed yesterday) we drive up and over the
forested Mau Escarpment, and descend to Lake Elementaita,
a soda lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley and
overnight in small bungalows right by the lakeside with
thousands of pink flamingos just a few meters away.
Take an
early start for short drive to Lake Nakuru. This is a
small but spectacularly picturesque park with abundant
wildlife and where there is an excellent chance of
seeing the rare rhino – both black and white species,
vast herds of buffalo and the unusual Rothschild's
giraffe. It has also had nearly 400 species of birds
recorded within its boundaries. Return to bungalows
again at the Elementaita lakeside for overnight.
A day
exploring the lakeside environment. There won’t be time
for everything but there are options to bathe in hot
springs (with amazing heat tolerant fish); explore an
archaeological site where early humans sat and made
stone tools; visit a school (except April, August,
November and December); visit nearby Kikuyu farms and
homesteads or relax in the afternoon watching the
flamingos and pelicans, while the sun goes down over the
lake. Bungalows overnight.
After early
breakfast drive to Lake Naivasha, a vast freshwater
lake, famed for its bird life particularly fish eagles,
love-birds and pelicans. There are also many hippos and
we take a morning boat trip to see some of them. Leave
mid morning for return to Nairobi arriving around
lunchtime.
Rates:
From US $1,940
How this holiday makes a difference
Our commitment is on responsible travel practices that benefit local
communities. It is our belief that all members in local communities
must benefit from tourism for them to have an interest in
safeguarding and protecting their environments. In Kenya we are
envisaging establishing strong ties with local community elders on
how well we can contribute to their livelihoods. After taking this
holiday a part of what you pay will go towards a specific project
identified by elders and you will receive from us a detailed summary
of how your visit benefited the local community and you may
choose to follow up on any projects that we initiate.
Kenya