9 days (not including air travel)
For the adventure traveller with a love for wildlife photography, Kenya’s Samburu, Aberdares, the Great Rift Valley and Masai Mara are the places to be. These holiday destinations guarantee you the most stunning views of animals and birds as well as unique landscapes. Wildlife is abundant and easy to spot. But it’s the great wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara that will hold you captive in the wilderness. In the July-September period, over a million wildebeest, zebra and antelopes come to the Mara from across the Serengeti. It’s a wonderful time to be in the Mara.
Day 1: Nairobi-Samburu
Drive north for 6 hours to Samburu Game Reserve. Lunch and afternoon game drive.
Accommodation: Samburu Sopa Lodge
Meals: Lunch and dinner
Day 2: Samburu
Full day of game drives in the Samburu Game Reserve which lies in the semi-arid northern part of Kenya. The Uaso Nyiro river that flows through the reserve is the lifeline of this dry bush country. Some endemic animals found here are found nowhere else on our tour circuit. These are commonly referred to as the Samburu Special Five – Grevy’s zebra, Somali ostrich, Reticulated giraffe, Gerenuk and the Beisa Oryx. Along the river, marked by Doum palms, we may find lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, crocodile etc.
Accommodation: Samburu Sopa Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 3: Solio Conservancy
Breakfast and then check out and drive towards Mount Kenya as you enjoy good views of the majestic mountain. Then on to the Rhino Watch Safari Lodge for lunch and afternoon game drives at the Solio Conservancy. Solio is a private wildlife sanctuary with a large population of black rhinos. This is the best place in the world to watch rhinos and leopards. There are also many other animals including zebra, lion, cheetah, hyena, as well as two northern species, the reticulated giraffe and the beisa oryx. The area is also a bird watcher’s paradise with over 100 species of birds recorded so far.
Accommodation: Rhino Watch Safari Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 4: Lake Naivasha
Depart at 0900 Hrs for a 3-hour drive to Lake Naivasha, a freshwater lake in the Great Rift Valley, famed for its birdlife. Covering over 140 square kilometres, Lake Naivasha — which derives its name from the local Maasai word Nai’posha meaning ‘receding waters’ — is a Ramsar world heritage site and home to some of the world’s rare birds, other wildlife and plants. Over 300 species of birds live around the Lake. The African fish eagle — one of the continent’s most loved birds, known for its graceful aerial skills and distinctive plumage — is among the birds that not only nest in the woodlands around the lake, but are major tourist attractions. Others include Pelicans, Herons, Storks, Kingfishers, Hammerkop, Egrets, Cormorants, Ibis, Red knobbed Coots, etc. There are also hippos in the lake. We take an evening boat trip to watch the birds and hippos.
Accommodation: Lake Naivasha Crescent Camp or similar
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 5: Masai Mara
Leave after breakfast for a 3-4 hour drive to the Masai Mara. We drive through the Great Rift Valley’s floors and western escarpments, created over the centuries due to the natural shifting of the earth’s tectonic plates. We will head to the Masai Mara National Reserve and will arrive in time for lunch. After an early afternoon at leisure, we proceed to the reserve for our much-anticipated date with the gem of African wilderness.
Accommodation: Mara Simba Lodge or similar.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 6: Masai Mara
Full day of game drives in the eastern areas of the Masai Mara, with time to explore more of Maasai Mara’s scenery and to catch a glimpse the “The Big Five” animals of Kenya: lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and rhino. In addition to these, Maasai Mara teems with other fascinating wild animal species: giraffes, zebras, hippos, baboons, wildebeests, warthogs, gazelles, crocodiles and numerous bird species.
Accommodation: Mara Simba Lodge or similar.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Days 7 & 8 Masai Mara
Two more days of game drives in the central and north-eastern areas. We will shift accommodation and stay at Ashnil Mara Camp
Accommodation: Ashnil Mara Camp
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 9: Nairobi
Morning game drive and transfer to Nairobi.
Meals: Breakfast