DAY 1:ARRIVAL AND TRANSFER TO HOTEL NAIROBI
A representative of African Sunset Safaris will be at Jomo Kenyatta Airport to pick you up from your flight. Depending on your arrival time you can visit some of Kenya’s craft markets where you can browse the pottery, carvings, batik, weaving, sculpture, musical instruments, leather, and fabrics for sale. Prepare to haggle! All activities today are at your own cost. You will spend the night in the tranquility of Panafric Hotel; ideally located on the outskirts of Nairobi. The rooms have an en-suite bathroom and overlook the tropical gardens. There is a swimming pool to refresh yourself.
DAY 2:NAIROBI TO SWEETWATERS IN OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY
After an early breakfast for the drive to Sweetwater Conservancy, sometimes known as Sweet Waters.
Your drive not only takes you back through bustling Nairobi and then through the beautiful farm country of Kiyuku, but brings you to the very foothills of Mt. Kenya – Kenya’s highest mountain.
After arriving at Ol Pajeta, you’ll pay a visit to the park’s famous chimpanzee sanctuary to meet its adopted residents and then head out into the park proper for an evening game drive.
DAY 3:OL PEJETA TO LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK
Your first glimpse of Lake Nakuru is almost unbelievable, as a sparkling, blue lake materializes before your eyes, its shoreline an explosion of cherry-blossom pink. These rosy hues are owed not to flowers, but to flamingos – millions of these blush-colored fowl line the coastline.
An afternoon game drive introduces you to flamingos, and then some: more than 400 bird species reside in Lake Nakuru National Reserve, which shares its lands with endangered Rothschild’s giraffes, black rhinos, white rhinos, lions, buffalos, and baboons, among other incredible animals.
DAY 4:LAKE NAKURU NP TO MASAI MARA NR
After early morning breakfast, you will check out and leave Lake Nakuru for Maasai Mara. You will pass through Narok Town, a famous Maasai town as you make your way to Maasai Mara. You will arrive in time to check in at Sarova Mara Game Camp and have lunch. After lunch, you will take off game drive through the park in search of lion, cheetah, elephant, buffalo, and other members of the “Big Five”, plus other animals. Later in the evening, you will return to camp for dinner and your overnight stay. The Masai Mara is regarded as the jewel of Kenya’s wildlife viewing areas. The annual wildebeest migration alone involves over 1.5 million animals arriving in July and departing in November.
There have been some 95 species of mammals, amphibians, and reptiles and over 400 birds species recorded on the reserve.
Nowhere in Africa is wildlife more abundant, and it is for this reason a visitor hardly misses to see the big five (buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhino).
DAY 5: FULL DAY MASAI MARA
Full-day game drives depart at 7.00 am, with your 4×4 fully equipped to cross the Mara plains in search of game. At 1800 meters above sea level it can get cold before the sun rises fully, so we provide blankets and hot water bottles to keep you warm.
By midday, it can become very hot indeed and sun-block lotion and hats are advised. Lunch is served under the shade of an Acacia tree or overlooking the snorting hippos which wallow in the Mara River.
As the afternoon draws to a close and the temperature cools, the shadows lengthen and the Bush changes once more. Evening sightings of rhino are not uncommon on the way back to camp. Even a bad day is a good day in the Mara since undoubtedly you will have encountered vistas, flora, and fauna new to you. Each can be revisited in the memory as you sink into your welcoming hot tub back at your tent.
A full day on safari
Lunch in the heart of the Masai Mara
Return for a soak in your hot tub.
DAY 6 :MORE OF MASAI MARA
If you start first thing in the morning, you are likely to find the Mara at its most active. With the sun rising at around 6.00 am, this means an early start to your day. The reward is likely to be the sight of predators who avoid the heat: additional attractions include subtle light on the landscape and the joyous sounds of awakening birds, you return for a hearty breakfast at the camp after 9.00 am.
At around 4.30 pm, we like to explore our own Conservancy, as the cooling temperature brings out the predators. Lion-kills are often fought over by packs of hyenas, jackals, and other scavengers. Yet these life and death scenes are juxtaposed with the impossible beauties of the African sunset, as nature’s ever-changing palette streaks the sky with orange, red, and gold.
Anticipating sunset, your guide will have stopped to prepare sundowners, with a wide choice of drinks. Clasp your favorite, ease back in your chair, and watch light shift to dark, heat gives way to the chill.
DAY 7 :MASAI MARA TO SERENGETI NATIONAL APRK
Transfer after your morning breakfast to Serengeti National Park. This will take up to 8 hours of driving through rough roads. Serengeti National Park is easily Tanzania’s most famous national park, and it’s also the largest, at 14,763 square kilometers of protected area that borders Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Park. Its far-reaching plains of endless grass, tinged with the twisted shadows of acacia trees, have made it the quintessential image of a wild and untarnished Africa. Its large stone kopjes are home to rich ecosystems and the sheer magnitude and scale of life that the plains support is staggering. Enjoy your en-route game drive at Serengeti National Park. Full board accommodation is included in the tour price.
DAY 8 :SERENGETI FULL DAY
If you start first thing in the morning, you will find the Serengeti at its most active. This is when Africa can reveal its cool side, so you should wrap up warm, we aim to be on the road before the sun rises at around 6.00 am. Our pop-up 4 by 4 bring you as close as possible to the wildlife, just when the action is likely to be most exciting. Few predators hunt during the heat of the day, so the early morning is the best time to observe the thrill of the chase. It is also a magical time, with the subtle light dappling the landscape.
Heading into the bush for an evening game drive has a level of excitement and character all its own, as predators begin their nightly search for prey. As the day cools and the sky is streaked by red, gold, and orange hues, you may be surprised by the roar of a lion, a galloping giraffe, or the high-pitched giggling of hyenas fighting over a kill. At a suitable vantage point, your guide will pause, allowing you to enjoy a sundowner in blissful comfort.
DAY 9 :SERENGETI TO NGORONGORO
Depart after your morning breakfast with your picnic lunch boxes via the Olduvai gorge where it is believed the cradle of mankind began. Thereafter transferred to Ngorongoro Crater which is often called ‘Africa’s Eden’ and the ‘8th Natural Wonder of the World, a visit to the crater is the main drawcard for tourists coming to Tanzania and a definite world-class attraction. Within the crater rim, large herds of zebra and wildebeest graze nearby while sleeping lions laze in the sun. At dawn, the endangered black rhino returns to the thick cover of the crater forests after grazing on dew-laden grass in the morning mist. Just outside the crater’s ridge, tall Masaai herds their cattle and goats over green pastures through the highland slopes, living alongside the wildlife as they have for centuries.
DAY 10 :NGORONGORO TO TARANGIRE
After breakfast, you are met by our tour guide/driver, who will deliver a short safari briefing. After the briefing, you will be transferred to Tarangire National Park with your picnic lunch. Tarangire derived its name from the Tarangire River which crosses along the center of the park and which provides permanent water for the wildlife and birdlife of the park around the year.
Its natural vegetation mainly consists of Acacia woodland and giant African Baobab trees, with huge swamp areas in the south. The Tarangire National Park is reputed to contain some of the largest elephant herds in Africa. Also, it is in Tarangire by chance you can see the tree climbing African pythons. Tarangire National Park accommodated migratory and resident birdlife and is believed to be a paradise for birdwatchers as more than 350 different species have been recorded to date.
We will enjoy a picnic lunch inside the park and do two exciting morning and afternoon game drives.
DAY 11 : TARANGIRE TO AMBOSELI
Depart after your breakfast for Amboseli via Arusha. Amboseli National Park is famous for its big game – elephants, lions, and cheetahs are the main attractions – and for its great scenery beauty. Amboseli embodies five main wildlife habitats, plus a generally dry lake-bed – Lake Amboseli. These are open plains; extensive stands of yellow-barked acacia woodland; rocky, lava strewn thorn-bush country; swamps and marshes; and at the western end of the reserve, above Namanga, the massif of Ol Doinyo Orok rising to over 2,760m (8.300ft) and still for the most part zoologically unexplored.
DAY 12 : AMBOSELI FULL DAY
You will have two game drives scheduled for this day. After breakfast you will take off for the morning game drive on the open flat plains; the ideal place to search for pride of lion, buffalo, cheetah, zebra, and wildebeest. The swamps are good places to catch the elephant as they bathe in the mud. There is a wealth and diversity of bird species to see as well. Ensure your camera has a liberal memory card since Africa has a few better blends of untamed life and landscape. The Royal Court of Kilimanjaro is best known for its views of Mt. Kilimanjaro and its expansive crowds of a free-wandering elephants. You can also visit Maasai Manyatta Village where you can take in more about Africa’s most renowned tribal society. Later in the day, you will return to camp for dinner and your overnight stay.
DAY 13 : AMBOSELI TO TAITA HILLS
The 2nd last day of the safari is for transfer from Amboseli national park to Taita hills wildlife sanctuary, after morning breakfast you will meet your safari driver and embark on your journey to Taita hill wildlife sanctuary is a privately-owned wildlife sanctuary located in Taita-Taveta county, Taita hill wildlife sanctuary covers an area of 110 square kilometers and hosts wildlife species like Cape buffalo, African bush elephant, leopard, lions, cheetah, Masai giraffe, zebras, Thomson’s gazelle, lesser kudu, dik-dik and a reasonable population of bird species. When you arrive at the sanctuary you will have lunch at the lodge and then go for a game drive where you will spot many animals and birds, in the evening you will have dinner and stay overnight. Accommodation is got from Sarova salt lick game lodge or Sarova Taita hills game lodge. Meal plan: full board.
DAY 14 : TAITA HILLS TO MOMBASA
Early morning breakfast at your lodge. After breakfast check out with a game drive proceeding to Mombasa a drive of 4 hours. You will arrive around lunchtime. Drop off to North coast Mombasa or South coast Mombasa Diani to your respective hotel.
