$8,456 pp (USD)
2 travelers on Start dateArrival
Arrival
Day 1
Nairobi
Nairobi
After landing in the Kenyan capital, you will be greeted by a guide and then transferred to a hotel on the city’s outskirts. While central Nairobi is full of color and bustle, the outskirts remain a place where wildlife can thrive. Nairobi National Park is partially unfenced, allowing for animals to migrate onto valleys that surround the city. Giraffes and elephants can be spotted from the highway as well as from your hotel room. These animals will provide a charming welcome to Kenya and will tease you with what is to come on the safari.
- Main Destination:
- Nairobi (City, Kenya)
- Accommodation:
- Sarova Panafric Hotel
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 2
Masai Mara National Reserve
Masai Mara National Reserve
The domestic airstrip is only ten minutes from your hotel, so it will be a short transfer this morning before a safari flight to the Maasai Mara. Once upon the Maasai Mara, the grass extends in every direction. Thomson’s gazelle may skip upon the grass, elephants may march around the grass, and zebra herds may graze all around the camp. You can venture off on a game drive where you will see something else: kopjes. These rocky outcrops were the inspiration for The Lion King, and they are home to lions. Entire prides perch on the rocks, surveying their kingdom and inspecting their dinner menu.
Afternoon Game drives.
- Main Destination:
- Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya)
- Accommodation:
- Sarova Mara Game Camp
Wildlife in Masai Mara NR
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 3
Masai Mara National Reserve
Masai Mara National Reserve
From dawn until dusk, you will spend the day exploring Maasai Mara National Reserve. An early start will help you to spot the big cats, especially cheetahs and active lion prides. Wildebeest are full of enthusiasm every morning, galloping and bucking with an almost comical glee. These displays of energy eventually lead up to the mating system where the most energetic bulls are preferred mates. By crossing the grasslands, you will experience the scale of this famous landscape, particularly how some areas are quiet and have already been grazed and how others feature long grass that the herds are yet to reach.
- Main Destination:
- Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya)
- Accommodation:
- Sarova Mara Game Camp
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 4
Masai Mara National Reserve
Masai Mara National Reserve
The Masai Mara National Reserve is a top-tier wildlife destination, renowned for its exceptional game viewing opportunities, including the "Big Five" (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo), and the Great Migration of wildebeest. Its diverse landscapes and abundant wildlife attract visitors year-round, offering a quintessential African safari experience.
- Main Destination:
- Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya)
- Accommodation:
- Sarova Mara Game Camp
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 5
Amboseli National Park
Amboseli National Park
The Maasai Mara provides a thrilling safari introduction, and Amboseli is more laid back. The park is a fraction of the size, and here, you will settle into a more traditional safari program with early morning and late afternoon game drives. Mount Kilimanjaro will provide your backdrop to it all, which is Africa’s highest mountain. Amboseli’s most famous image is of elephants that wander beneath this huge volcano, and it is something that you will witness directly from the camp. Giraffes are equally impressive in this postcard view as their necks turn to silhouettes when the sun leaves the sky.
- Main Destination:
- Amboseli National Park (Kenya)
- Accommodation:
- Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge
Wildlife in Amboseli NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 6
Amboseli National Park
Amboseli National Park
While the Maasai Mara has large areas to explore, a safari in Amboseli is a little more predictable. Most of the action takes place around one of the park’s swamps. Hippos may be wading and wallowing in the water, often offering a grunt to any ungulate coming to drink. Lions may lurk close to the water, especially around dawn and dusk. During the middle of the day, lions approach the swamps but make no attempt to hide. As such, the scene is often a conglomeration of many different species together.
- Main Destination:
- Amboseli National Park (Kenya)
- Accommodation:
- Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 7
Arusha
Arusha
From Amboseli, you will travel overland to the Serengeti. Today, you will cross the border into Tanzania and drive half a day to Arusha, which is a busy town that is the gateway for the Serengeti and northern safari circuit. Your lodge will be situated and will have a mountain view. Bush babies chirp from the garden as you enjoy some time to rest and recollect yourself before your Kenyan safari. The guide can accompany you into Arusha where a local market will provide an exciting perspective on Tanzanian life.
Arusha is situated beneath the towering peaks of Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro. Visit Shanga that employs disabled people from the community to create export quality recycled glass products. Go on the exciting and informative ‘Coffee Tour’, weaving in and out of the evergreen coffee trees, the coffee guide explains how the bean is nurtured, harvested, dried and finally roasted to produce a myriad of different blends that sate the taste of the most ardent of coffee connoisseurs.
- Main Destination:
- Arusha (City, Tanzania)
- Accommodation:
- Arusha Planet Lodge
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 8
Lake Manyara National Park
Lake Manyara National Park
After driving to Lake Manyara, you will first explore a dense forest. Raucous birds will provide a welcome at the gate, and the park’s narrow trails are very different from those in the Maasai Mara and Amboseli. On open plains, it will be easy to see wildlife for many miles around. That is not possible in a thick and tangled woodland as you can only see until the next bend in the ochre-colored, dirt track. This does make secretive animals like leopards harder to find. However, most animals do not see you coming either, so you may turn a bend and suddenly be surrounded by a dozen elephants.
The world’s largest baboon population occupies this forest, and they make a lot of noise. Giant troops battle for territory by banging on trees and yelping clamorously. Even the elephants may become a little uneasy by these antics. The lions do not though. In Lake Manyara, the lions climb trees.
- Main Destination:
- Lake Manyara National Park (Tanzania)
- Accommodation:
- Africa Safari Lake Manyara (Premium Bungalow)
Wildlife in Lake Manyara NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 9
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
This morning, you can choose to do another Lake Manyara game drive or to take a relaxed breakfast on a deck above the watering hole. Even by staying at the camp, you will see animals, including elephant herds that drink in the cool morning hours. From Lake Manyara, it is a short drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area where your lodge is located on the rim of the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera. Every vehicle is allowed to spend six hours on the caldera floor, so you will wait until midday before starting the game drive, which ensures that you can still be out exploring just before dusk.
Descend steep slopes into the caldera, and there will be little energy at midday. During the day, many animals retreat to the woodland or find shade close to the caldera slopes. Naturally, these are the areas that you will explore first. Some of the world’s largest elephants march through these trees with their tusks curling above the safari vehicle.
- Main Destination:
- Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania)
- Accommodation:
- Ngorongoro Crater Camp
Wildlife in Ngorongoro Crater
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 10
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park
The Serengeti stretches far beyond the horizon with great sweeps of grassland that are dotted with up to two million mammals. Wildebeest gallop, hyenas snarl and vultures circle while lions hunt, elephants march and hippos bathe in the mud. It is all here, and it plays out in high definition. The Serengeti rumbles north, where it meets the Mara River and the Maasai Mara, and it continues west, towards the private Grumeti Reserve along the Serengeti's Western Corridor. You will arrive here by flight and soar over the plains from Ngorongoro to Grumeti.
- Main Destination:
- Serengeti National Park (Tanzania)
- Accommodation:
- &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas
Wildlife in Serengeti NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 11
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park
You will have exclusive use your next lodge, a decadent place with elegant views over the grasslands. Sit back and sip fine wines as the wildebeest gallop past. Ride a horse onto the plains and encounter wild zebra or mountain bike along trails left by an elephant. Take bush picnics on rocks that overlook the great wildebeest migration or relax in the spa as the sound of lions roars float through the windows. The reserve and your private accommodation provide a luxurious and contemporary conclusion to your journey through East Africa's fables. It's still in the Serengeti, so there is always wildlife roaming around.
- Main Destination:
- Serengeti National Park (Tanzania)
- Accommodation:
- &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 12
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park
Using the private concession opens up new activities. Horse riding and mountain biking safaris can encounter all the antelopes. Bush walks are guided by Maasai warriors, who have expert knowledge of tracking the herds. Nighttime game drives have an eery intimacy while daily game drives are private and always tailored to your interests. Create your own program and live out your own fable as it is just you and the world-famous wonders of the Serengeti. Just when you think it's all been documented, that the final chapter is closing on your East Africa story, a black rhino will slow amble past the house as rare as the gorillas in Rwanda, one of only a thousand left in the wild. That's the thing with East Africa; there is always a new treat when you least expect one.
- Main Destination:
- Serengeti National Park (Tanzania)
- Accommodation:
- &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 13
Kigali
Kigali
Today, you will fly directly from the Serengeti to Kigali, which is Rwanda’s capital city. Upon your arrival, a local guide will take you for lunch in the city, before your 2 ½ hour drive to Volcanoes National Park. It is a beautiful journey, weaving through the Land of a Thousand Hills and contrasting the green landscape with Kenya and Tanzania. After arriving at the lodge, the rest of the day will be at your leisure. There are some hikes in the nearby forest, but most guests prefer to rest before their gorilla trek.
- Main Destination:
- Kigali (Rwanda)
- Accommodation:
- Kigali Serena Hotel
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 14
Kinigi
Kinigi
The transition from genocide to a modern nation is even more impressive after a visit to the Genocide Memorial. While the photos and stories are difficult to take in, the moving memorial paints a personal picture of what happened, one less concerned with numbers and more focused on the who and the why. Visiting the memorial is the conclusion of a half-day Kigali tour and after lunch, you will drive across The Land of a Thousand Hills, rolling and rising towards Ruhengeri, and then Kinigi, located at the base of Sabyinyo Mountain. With photo stops along the route, it is a three-hour journey. From your opulent safari lodge, there are uninterrupted views over the Virunga Volcanoes, where layers of mist ripple across the green canopy. You will gaze into the rainforest that contains over half of the world's wild mountain gorillas that you will be tracking the next day.
- Main Destination:
- Kinigi (Town, Rwanda)
- Accommodation:
- Sambora Kinigi Lodge
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 15
Virunga Volcanoes
Virunga Volcanoes
The rainforest is dense and tropical and reduces visibility with the overhanging branches and wild grasses that are swiped clear by the guide. Occasionally, you will reach a clearing and gaze over at the mist, but mostly you are journeying along the rugged trails left by elephant herds, and an armed ranger accompanies the group, mainly in case of the rare encounters with forest elephants. Smells will guide you, as do sounds, like a distant call or chesty drum beat. It might take 30 minutes before you find the gorilla troop, perhaps even hours as trekkers are allocated to troops based on their fitness levels, but you can request a shorter or longer hike. However long it takes, you can sense the gorillas during the last few moments before you see them.
- Main Destination:
- Virunga Volcanoes
- Accommodation:
- Virunga Lodge
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 16
Depart, Transfer Kigali
Depart, Transfer Kigali
From Volcanoes National Park, you will drive 2 ½ hours back to Kigali for your outbound flight. You have experienced the wonders of African safari by exploring the beauty of East Africa, the splendor of the wildlife, and the diversity of the culture. You will have plenty of time to check into your flight home, bringing an end to your perfect safari adventure.
- Main Destination:
- Kigali International Airport (Kigali, Rwanda)
- Accommodation:
- No accommodation (End of tour)
- Meals & Drinks:
