DAY 1:NAIROBI TO AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK

We’ll get an early morning start and drive to Amboseli National Park. Check-in at the accommodation and have lunch. In the afternoon we go on a game drive. Amboseli National Park is situated due south of Nairobi – most of the park consists of a dry, ancient lake bed and fragile grassland with patches of acacia woodland, while in the southern area there is a number of small, rocky, volcanic hills. Around the swamps Ol Kenya, Ol Tukai, and Enkongo Narok, the vegetation is lush with yellow-barked acacias and phoenix palms.

DAY 2:AMBOSELI 

Rising early for good views of Mount Kilimanjaro before clouds build up over the summit with packed lunch provided, an optional visit to a Masai village can be planned after breakfast. A visit reveals the singing and dancing that are part of their daily lives and sacred rituals. A glimpse into their homes and social structure is a poignant experience. Despite its changing habitat, Amboseli National Park is possibly the best wildlife area in the whole of Africa to experience elephants at close range. Less harassed by poachers, elephants feeding and bathing in the swamps will form the highlights of any safari.

DAY 3:AMBOSELI TO LAKE NAIVASHA

An early morning drive to Lake Naivasha, it is the highest and the most beautiful of the Rif Valley lakes. At 1910m (6200f), the water is fresh and the lake is fringed with dense clumps of papyrus (ancient Egyptian once used this to make paper). Kingfishers use the papyrus as a perch, herons hide in it while searching for food.

Naivasha is yet another area popular for bird watching (over 400species have been recorded). It is also a favorite weekend retreat for Nairobi residents, who come here to sail, water ski, and fish. There are no crocodiles in the lake as the water is too cold for them, due to altitude but there are a number of hippos. Along the lakeshore, vineyards produce grapes for the country’s fledgling wine industry.

DAY 4:LAKE NAIVASHA TO MASAI MARA

Depart early morning to Maasai Mara National Reserve. Arrive in time for lunch then have an afternoon game drive. Mara holds on as one of the few places left on earth where wildlife still lives comparatively undisturbed, in the numbers that once roamed the plains and forests of Africa. As the northern tip of the vast Serengeti ecosystem, the Mara hosts the spectacular seasonal migration of many thousands of Wildebeest, Zebras, and attendant predators.

DAY 5: MASAI MARA NATIONAL RESERVE

As you crest the hillside, spread out before you, as far as the eyes can see, is the vast Serengeti. Serengeti means “endless plains” in Kiswahili. This 6,900 sq. mile (18,000 sq. km) park is inhabited by more than 2 million large animals including more than a million wildebeest, hundreds of thousands of plains zebras, and Thomson’s gazelles. Large predators including lions, cheetahs, and hyenas are drawn to the area by this abundance of prey which migrates throughout the park. Many smaller animals like rock hyrax, bat-eared foxes, mongoose, honey badgers, jackals, monkeys, baboons and African hares also inhabit the area along with nearly 500 species of birds.

On the way into the Serengeti, you have an option to stop at the famous Olduvai Gorge, where Dr Louis and Mary Leakey made their discovery of the first man that walked the earth. You’ll have an afternoon game drive en-route to the campsite.

DAY 6 :MASAI MARA TO NAIROBI

Morning game drive in Mara and afternoon transfer to Nairobi arriving at about 5 pm. Lunch en-route Airport.