12 Nights 13 Days Meru / Samburu / Masai / Serengeti /Ngorongoro – Manyara
ITINERARY AT GLANCE
Day 01 Nairobi Day 08 Serengeti
Day 02 Meru Day 09 Serengeti
Day 03 Meru Day 10 Ngorongoro
Day 04 Samburu Day 11 Ngorongoro
Day 05 Samburu Day 12 Manyara
Day 06 Masai Mara Day 13 Nairobi
Day 07 Masai Mara
FULL ITINERARY
Day 01: NAIROBI
Met upon arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with our unique & special welcome (cold towels, champagne and presentation of authentic safari hat to every guest). Dinner and overnight at hotel
Accommodation Options:
The Norfolk Hotel
Nairobi Serena Hotel
Day 02: Nairobi/Meru
After breakfast you will be transferred to Wilson Airport for your scheduled flight to Meru National Park at 0800hrs.On arrival at the airstrip, you will be transferred to the lodge/camp. Elsa’s Kopje is named after Elsa the lioness who was made famous by George and Joy Adamson’s biographical film “Born Free”.
Elsa’s Kopje is almost invisible to the eye as you approach it’s home on Mughwango Hill in Meru National Park. It blends into the rocky crags of the “kopje” (small hill), built very near to the site of George Adamson’s original campsite. All meals and overnight at the lodge.
Meals: F/B
Accommodation Options
Leopard Rock Lodge
Elsa Kopje
Day 03: Meru
Full day with morning and afternoon game drive in the park. The park does, however, have a wide range of wildlife including elephant, hippopotamus, lion, leopard, cheetah, reticulated giraffe, and zebra. The birdlife is also impressive and there are roughly 280 recorded species. All meals and over night at the camp/lodge
Day 03: Meru/ Samburu
Transfer to the airstrip for your flight departing at 0830hrs to Samburu/Shaba Game Reserve. On arrival at the airstrip in Samburu, you met and transferred to the lodge/camp. Lunch at the lodge/camp. In actual fact there are three adjoining reserves – Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba, situated in arid country north of Mount Kenya, and watered by the Uaso Nyiro River and natural springs. In the afternoon proceed for a game drive, later retire to the camp/lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation Options:
Samburu Lodge
Larsen’s Camp
Day 05: Samburu
Full day at Samburu and Buffalo Springs Game Reserve with morning and afternoon game viewing in search of the ‘big five’, other wildlife and a large number of bird species. The Ewaso Nyiro River dotted with doum palms meanders through the reserve giving it an oasis setting. In this Northern Region you will have an exciting game-viewing in search unique species only found in this region including the reticulated giraffe, Beisa Oryx, Lesser Kudu, Grevy’s zebra, and the Gerenuk, known as the “giraffe gazelle”.
Most of the game viewing takes place around the forests along the river, and this is a good place to spot the elusive Leopard.
All meals and overnight at lodge/camp
Accommodation Options:
Larsens Camp
Samburu Lodge
Day 06: Samburu/ Masai Mara
After breakfast check out and transfer to the Airstrip for your scheduled flight departing at 0915hrs to the world’s famous Masai Mara Game Reserve. On arrival at approx 1045hrs you are met by lodge vehicle and transferred to the camp for check in. Followed by lunch.
It’s perhaps the only region left in Kenya where you may see animals in the same super abundance as existed a century ago.
In the afternoon proceed for an exciting game viewing in this vast and expansive reserve teeming with game. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight
Accommodation Options
Governors Main Camp
Richards Camp
Elephant Pepper
Day 07
Full day at the reserve with morning and afternoon game drives in search of the ‘big five’. Masai Mara is at the northern most extension of the Serengeti Plains and one of the richest wildlife game reserves. Its home to the awesome black –manned lion, the elusive leopard, stately giraffe, vast bulk of elephants, rhino, thundering herds of zebra, migrating wildebeest and numerous other plains game. Most stunning of all are the months between July and October, when the savannah teems with animals during the Great annual Migration. Millions of Wildebeest gather in the Masai Mara in one of the natural wonders of the world. Thereafter return to the lodge/camp for dinner and overnight.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Dawn Balloon Safari over the Mara Plains ending with a champagne breakfast
Day 08
After breakfast drop off at the airstrip to board a flight to Wilson and connect with an afternoon flight to Kilimanjaro Airport. On arrival board a flight to Serengeti. The Serengeti National Park is one of the most popular and spectacular game areas in East Africa, covering an area of 14,765 square kilometers, teaming with game.
Proceed for an afternoon game, later in the evening retire to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation Options
Serengeti Serena Lodge
Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Mbalageti Lodge
Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp
Day 09
Full day at the park with morning and afternoon game drive. A particular feature of the Serengeti is the annual migration of the wildebeest and zebra herds. Each year, after the traditional “short” rains in November the migration starts when the herds amass in their thousands on the plains below the Ngorongoro highlands. During February they move north and west following the rains and the new grasslands, and they start to move into the Masai Mara in July. In October they move back to Tanzania .This annual phenomenon involves more than 1.5 million animals, including the lion and other predators who follow the herds for easy pickings. The whole process affects the lives of thousands of other species who rely on the passage of the migration for their survival, even the insects, not to mention the trees and plants which rely on the droppings for their fertilization. Dinner and overnight at lodge.
Day 10
After breakfast proceed to one of the wonders of the world, Ngorongoro Conservation Area via Olduvai Gorge, which is about 50 kilometers long and in some places 90 meters deep. Commonly heralded as the “Cradle of Mankind” it was made famous by the discovery in 1959 of the remains of early man. Your stop includes a visit to the small museum overlooking the Gorge. Afterwards continue to Ngorongoro for the lunch. Afternoon relax and enjoy the panoramic views and comfort of your lodge. Dinner and overnight at the lodge
Accommodation Options
Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Ngorongoro Serena Lodge
Gibbs Farm Lodge
Ngorongoro Farm House
Day 11
After an early breakfast you descend into the Crater in a 4 x 4 vehicle for a full day of game viewing with a picnic lunch taken on the Crater floor. The area is also home to the proud, colourful and unique Maasai tribe, This is where you will see unusual feature of Maasai cattle and buffalo grazing together, with a lion kill just a few hundred metres away.
The conservation Area consists of grasslands, swamps, forests, rivers, and even an arid area of shifting dunes. The Crater supports a year round resident population of varied wildlife, and as the game is concentrated into a relatively small area you are likely to see lion, elephant, hyena, jackal, cheetah, the very rare Black rhino, primates and many more. After lunch, afternoon relax and enjoy the panoramic views and comfort of your lodge. Dinner and overnight at your lodge. Later in the evening return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 12 Lion in Tree
After morning breakfast depart to Lake Manyara, you get a spectacular view, approaching from the east the Great Rift Valley wall forms an impressive backdrop to the Lake. From the west, with a pause at the top of the escarpment, the park lies below, a green strip beside a glistening lake.
Lake Manyara National Park covers an area of 330 square kilometers, of which about two thirds is the lake itself, and the rest is forest, acacia woodland and some grasslands by the lake shore. The wildlife can be migratory between Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park across the lake, but you should see elephant, hippo, Cape buffalo, giraffe, several species of primate and antelope, and prolific birdlife. Dinner and overnight at the lodge
Accommodation Options
Lake Manyara Serena Lodge
Kirurumu Tented Camp
Eunoto Lodge
Day 13
After breakfast drive to Arusha and drop off at Kilimanjaro Airport for the onward flight to Nairobi, arrive for a farewell dinner at The Tamarind before transferring to the airport for the flight back home.