Day 1 - Arrive Nairobi

On arrival at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you are met by your representative after clearing immigration and customs. Thereafter, you are assisted on to your vehicle for transfer to your Nairobi hotel and assisted to check into your rooms.

Nairobi is the largest city between Cairo and Johannesburg.  Though just south of the equator, it enjoys a spring-like climate. It is a modern city, yet its main avenues blaze with color from tropical bushes and vines. The nearby Nairobi National Park boasts the presence of all but one of the 'Big Five'. Nairobi has a wealth of international restaurants. Cuisine of all types is available from Chinese to French and Italian. Several restaurants also offer local favorites. Nightlife varies from dining out to going to local nightclubs with discos and bands. Shopping in Nairobi varies from African clothing and craft shops to bazaar stalls and open-air markets where souvenir hunters find bargains ranging from woodcarvings to Persian carpets. There are 3 excellent museums, offering insights into the fauna, culture and history of Kenya.

Overnight:  Tamarind Tree Hotel 

Day 2 - Aberdares National Park

After an early breakfast, drive to the Aberdares National Park. Lunch at the Aberdare Country Club before driving through the pristine forest to Treetops Lodge for the night. The lodge overlooks a water hole which is often surrounded by forest elephants. Whilst here safari goers can opt to be woken up during the night if there is anything exciting spotted at the waterhole - a very different, and exciting, experience.

The Aberdares present an unexpected and welcome hiatus between the parks to the south and the deserts in the north of Kenya, their startling chill and dense forest the perfect foil to hot, dry savannah. The forests are home to a range of wildlife that includes secretive species seldom seen anywhere else including the Blue Duiker, the Giant Forest Hog, Golden Cat and rare melanistic leopard and serval cats - whose coats have turned black as a survival adaption to help them absorb warmth from the sun faster in a cooler, darker environment. The Aberdares are also home to Kenya's rarest antelope, the pretty and bashful Bongo with its chestnut coat and chalk stripes across its back; watch for them as they slip shyly through the forest, dappled sunshine filtered bottle-green by trees catching the gloss of their coats.

In the afternoon, head down to the animal viewing bunker where you get to almost patting distance of buffalos and elephants as they hang out at the nearby salt lick.

Overnight: Treetops Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 3 - Samburu National Reserve

Today drive north to Samburu Game Reserve - Kenya’s dry country. This will be a sharp comparison after the lush forests of the Aberdares, Arrive in time for a late lunch and the chance to explore the reserve on an afternoon game drive.

Samburu National Reserve in the dry country in the north of Kenya is thriving big game country thanks to the mighty Ewaso Nyiro River. The river takes its name from the local dialect meaning “River of Brown”. It rises from glaciers on Mount Kenya and flows through the reserve on its journey north. The river provides the lifeblood of this harsh wilderness, without which the game would not survive. You'll see animals here that you won't see in the south: the impressive Beisa oryx which stand a meter at the shoulder and thrive because of a physiological ability to store water, the reticulated giraffe, the thin-striped Grevy's zebra and the gerenuk antelope with its improbably long neck. This is also lion country - the Samburu was home to George and Joy Adamson who raised Elsa and brought us Born Free. Samburu's remoteness means it has clung to much of its appeal of yesteryear, it feels as untamed as it looks.

Overnight:  Samburu Sopa Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 4 -  Samburu National Reserve

Enjoy an early breakfast and head out on a morning game drive. After a morning spent in search of the Samburu Five, return back to the camp/lodge for rest and lunch and a dip in the pool.

16:00: Head out in search of any of the animals that you may have missed in the morning game drive. There is also the opportunity to visit a Samburu village where you get to learn about the ‘butterfly’ people.

Together with neighboring Buffalo Springs and Shaba National Reserves, this area is home to the Samburu tribe, cousins of the Maasai, who share the same nomadic, cattle-herding existence and staunchly observe age-old rites and customs.

Overnight:  Samburu Sopa Lodge

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 5 - Drive to Lake Nakuru National Park

Today drive down into the Great Rift Valley and have an afternoon game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park. This little park is a haven for rhinos and guests will see a number of them grazing the shoreline of the lake or wallowing in the mud.

Lake Nakuru, a shallow, soda lake in the Rift Valley was once famous for being home to some of the biggest flocks of flamingos in the world. Due to increase in water level, the flamingos migrated to other lakes in the Rift Valley however Lake Nakuru and its surrounds are home to many other bird species including pelicans, cormorants, black-winged stilts, avocets and in the European winter dozens of migrant waders. From the large - fish eagles with their enormous six-foot wingspan and haunting cry - to the small - tiny jewel colored pygmy kingfisher - life thrives here in feathered abundance.

Lake Nakuru National Park, created in 1960 specifically on account of the extraordinary bird life here, complements what the lake has to offer. Beside its magnificent bird life, it is also a rhino sanctuary, one of the best places in Kenya to see both black and white rhino. As a result of the haven, you'll see Rothschild's giraffe here, relocated from Uganda in the mid-seventies to protect them. The park shares other secrets: it's home to the rare long-eared leaf-nosed bat and a resident population of tree climbing lions.

Overnight: Lake Nakuru Lodge 

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 6 - Drive to Masai Mara National Reserve

After breakfast drive to the Masai Mara National Reserve - the jewel in Kenya’s wildlife crown. Arrive at the camp in time for a late lunch and an afternoon game drive.

The Masai Mara plays host to the most spectacular array of wildlife. 1,510 square kilometers (583 square miles) of broad biscuit-colored savannah sprawls as home to huge numbers of birds (almost 600 species) and animals and is adjacent to the enormous expanse of the Serengeti; the two make up the most diverse ecosystem on the continent.

The word 'mara' comes from the local dialect, Maa, as spoken by the Maasai and means 'spotted'; certainly, the vast grasslands here are dotted by the shadows of small clouds which scud across a huge sky above. Every year this special place witnesses the most incredible animal phenomenon on the planet - the wildebeest migration. The mass of plains game moving north from the Serengeti in search of fresh pasture returning south around October, a heaving line of grunting, snorting life that stretches for miles. At the Mara River they mass together nervously on the banks before plunging onwards; their pursuit of food overwhelming their fear of the crocodiles that lie in wait for the annual feast. This incredible spectacle involves the movement of over a million wildebeest and their fellow travelers, half a million Thomson's gazelle, half a million zebras as well as smaller herds of topi and eland all operating on the principle of safety in numbers. They are followed, inevitably, by predators, primarily lions and hyena.

Overnight: Mara Leisure

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 7 - Masai Mara National Reserve

Today there are morning and afternoon game drives to explore the Masai Mara and search for the big five on the lush plains. The huge abundance of wildlife in this reserve is second to none and whilst out travellers will be treated to sightings of elephants, lions, cheetah and lots more.

Overnight:  Mara Leisure

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 8 - Drive to Nairobi - Depart

Drive back to Nairobi after breakfast to catch the international flight home.

Meal Plan: B