Highlights: Nairobi - Aberdares - Lake Nakuru - Masai Mara

Other departures: Glasgow - £2035, Edinburgh - £2039, Birmingham - £1999, Manchester - £1949, Bristol - £2085, Norwich - £2089, Southampton - £2095, Newcastle - £2035   Alternate Date: 24 Dec 19 - 30 Dec 19
Itinerary:

Day 1: Nairobi
Jambo! Upon arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, you will be met by a representative from Rickshaw Travels who will greet you and assist with the transfer to your chosen hotel in Nairobi. The rest of the day and evening are at leisure to do what you want to do.

Overnight at your hotel on bed and breakfast basis.

You can choose to explore the hidden sights of Nairobi and visit the Karen Blixen Museum. Alternatively you can have a visit to the Giraffe Centre and experience up close and personal how beautiful and majestically tall these creatures are. The Daphne Sheldrick Foundation which is open to the public from 1100 hrs to 1200 hrs and open in the evenings (for foster parents and needs to be booked in advance) for a personal visit to see the baby elephants and rhinos who have been orphaned and are being hand reared to be released back into the wild. You might just want to relax after your long flight and simply enjoy the hotel facilities. Dinner is on your own account and whereas Nairobi offers such a vast range of restaurants which we can assist with you might wish to just simply stay in and have room service.

Day 2: Nairobi – Aberdares (180 kms – approximately 3 hrs)
After breakfast, your private guide will meet you in the reception at 0800am to commence your drive north towards the Aberdares. You will drive past sisal farms, pineapple plantations and coffee farms, through green undulating landscapes arriving at the Aberdare Country club for lunch. After lunch you will join the lodge vehicle for a transfer into the Aberdares National Park and check into the Ark. Its an excellent quiet way to be introduced to safari in Kenya where you can game view from the privacy of your room or from the outside top terrace and even from the lounge area where you can enjoy an aperitif.

Dinner and overnight at your chosen lodge.

The Aberdare National Park, with an area of 767 Km2 covers the higher areas of the Aberdare Mountain Ranges of Central Kenya, from altitude of 1829M to 4001M above sea level. Animals easily observed in the park include; the Black Rhino, leopard, baboon, black and white Colobus monkey and Sykes monkey. Rare sightings include those of lions, the golden cat and the bongo- an elusive forest antelope that lives in the bamboo forest.

Day 3: Aberdares – Lake Nakuru (180 kms – approximately 4 hrs)
After breakfast, departure will be around 0830 am, you will start your journey across Kenya towards the Lake Nakuru area. Arrival at the lodge will be in time for buffet lunch. After check in a quick lunch in the lodge you will depart for a game-drive in the park along the shorelines of the lake.

Dinner and overnight at your chosen lodge/camp in Lake Nakuru/Lake Elementaita/Lake Naivasha.

Lake Nakuru is a shallow alkaline lake that is world-renowned for its huge concentration of flamingos; at times, hundreds of thousands of these birds give the lake a pink shimmering glow (flamingo numbers are dependent on water levels in the lake). The park boasts a huge variety of animals, including leopard which is often found snoozing on the branches of the magnificent yellow-barked acacias, lion, buffalo, hippo, waterbuck, warthog, baboon, the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe only found in this park in Kenya, white rhino and the rare black rhino which is protected and guarded here.

Day 4: Lake Nakuru – Masai Mara (320-370 kms – approximately 6-7 hrs)
After an early breakfast, your journey now takes you to the Masai Mara, Kenya’s most famous wildlife reserve. The drive takes you down the Great Rift Valley offering great views over the wilderness and Mt Longonot. The drive is around 4 hrs to the gate. Arrive in time for lunch followed by afternoon game viewing drive.

Overnight at your chosen lodge/camp.

The Masai Mara is arguably Kenya’s most popular game reserve. It is the most visited game reserve in Kenya. The film “Out of Africa” was made to a great extent in this sanctuary. There is a profusion of all types of wildlife including the big five. A spectacle worth seeing is the annual migration of millions of wildebeests, zebras, and the gazelles from the Serengeti plains across the Tanzania border and the Mara River to reach Masai Mara grazing fields from late June. The game reserve abounds with birdlife since close to about four hundred and fifty two odd species have been recorded

Day 5: Masai Mara
Today spend a full day in the Masai Mara. Depending on what the wildlife situation is like which the guides will discover on your arrival day, they will discuss with you how to plan this day accordingly. You might like to do an early morning game drive returning to the lodge for breakfast and then going out again and coming back for lunch with the afternoon to relax and then going out again in the afternoon around 1600 hrs. Alternatively, you might take an early breakfast and then go out for the day and carry lunch boxes with you. The choice is yours and the best solution will be discussed between yourself and your guide. Returning in the evening for dinner and overnight at your chosen property.

Meals and overnight at your chosen lodge/camp

Day 6: Masai Mara – Nairobi - Depart (280-330 kms – approximately 5-6 hrs)
After an early breakfast at the lodge/camp, bid farewell to the Mara as you set on your journey back to Nairobi. Drive back down the Great Rift Valley to Nairobi, passing the dormant volcano, Mount Longonot. Keep an eye out for herds of giraffe and gazelle and head up the escarpment. Arrive in Kenya\'s bustling capital city Nairobi where you will be transferred to the Jomo Kenyatta International airport for your departure flight back home.