Day 1 - Arrive Nairobi

Today you arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. After clearing Immigration & Customs, you are met by your Guardian Angel and transferred to your Nairobi hotel.

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. Less than 100 years ago, there was a river in an empty wilderness where Nairobi now stands. Nairobi has a wealth of international restaurants with worldwide cuisine available including Ethiopian. French, Italian and Chinese. Several restaurants also offer local, Swahili 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 is also a thriving gemstone and tailormade jewellry industry in Nairobi offering rare and unusual local and regional stones.

Overnight: Bronze: Tamarind Tree Hotel | Silver: Ole Sereni Hotel

Meal Plan: 

Day 2 - Nairobi

After breakfast, you meet your driver-guide who briefs you on the day's events. First stop, the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. Set on the edge of Nairobi National Park, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was set up by the late Dame Daphne Sheldrick in 1977 in order to raise and rehabilitate orphaned wild animals (mainly elephant and rhino) and later successfully reintroduce them into the wild. The sanctuary provides a perfect home for growing youngsters, with the habitat and space mimicking those that elephants enjoy in the wild. The orphans grow up in mini herds, are bossed about by mini matriarchs and enjoy mud baths which are filled with a hose pipe. When they slap wet mud to their skins this acts as sun block and insect repellent. Their care in the sanctuary is described by the head keeper during a visit.

Next stop is the AFEW Giraffe Center. The Giraffe Center was established in 1983 as a sanctuary for the then endangered Rothschild giraffe. The breeding program has been a great success and visitors can now watch these gentle giants at eye level from a raised platform. There is also the opportunity to learn more about giraffe at the interpretation center and hand-feed them whilst watching the semi-tame family of warthogs snuffle around their hooves in search of titbits.

Lastly proceed to Kazuri Beads. In 1975, Lady Susan Wood the founder of Kazuri Beads started making ceramic beads with the help of two disadvantaged women from a local village. She quickly discovered that there were many other women who needed regular employment. Today the workshop employs over 340 women producing thousands of beautiful handmade and painted ceramic beads and pottery. Visit the workshop and feel free to try your hand at making the lovely beaded jewelry or the pottery.

Overnight: Bronze: Tamarind Tree Hotel | Silver: Ole Sereni Hotel

Meal Plan: B-L-D

Day 3 - Ol Pejeta Conservancy

After breakfast, meet your guide in the hotel lobby and drive north to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy (approximately five hours). Arrive in time for lunch and then there is time for a dip in the pool before heading out on a game drive.

Ol Pejeta has magnificent views across its plains to the peaks of Mount Kenya; a variety of herbivores are found within the reserve and the big cats may also be seen. As a private reserve, you can enjoy activities such as escorted bush walks, night game drives and camel riding. Orphaned rhino and warthog (one of which was the model for Pumba, from the movie the Lion King), which have been reared by hand, provide a wonderful treat for children, as does the chimpanzee sanctuary. The sanctuary homes chimps mainly from the Jane Goodall Institute in Burundi, where a great many were placed after being rescued.

The conservancy has a strong commitment to endangered species and boasts of the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa. Ol Pejeta is also home to all the members of the Big 5, the endangered white rhino, the Jackson hartebeest, the spotted hyena among many other wildlife species. It also plays host to the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in Kenya.

Apart from visiting the rhino and chimpanzee sanctuaries, there are plenty of activities for you to enjoy at Ol Pejeta. Go in search of nocturnal animals on night drives, get close to nature on a guided bush walk, monitor collared lions during a lion tracking expedition, spot resident and migratory birds on a bird walk, or learn about the local culture during a community visit.

Overnight: Bronze: Sweetwaters Serena Camp | Silver: Kicheche Laikipia

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 4 - Ol Pejeta Conservancy

After breakfast, enjoy a nature walk on the conservancy or a maybe camel ride. In the afternoon, take a visit to the chimpanzee sanctuary which has rescued 42 chimps from terrible situations and given them a safe haven in which to live out their days. Slso visit the endangered species center and meet and feed Baraka the blind rhino.

Overnight: Bronze: Sweetwaters Serena Camp | Silver: Kicheche Laikipia

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 5 - Naivasha

Drive to Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley (approximately five hours). Arrive at the lodge in time for lunch before heading out on a boat ride on the lake.

Cruise through pods of hippos and listen to the shrill cry of the fish eagle on this fun boat ride. Lake Naivasha is Kenya’s second largest freshwater lake and it plays host to massive number of birds including kingfishers, herons, pelicans, fish eagles among many others. Your guide points out different birds and animals in the water and on the shore - keep your camera ready!

Overnight: Bronze: Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge | Silver: Loldia House

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 6 - Naivasha

Spend the day in Hells Gate National Park cycling, hiking through the savannah or walking through the numerous gorges.

Dramatic, vertical cliffs rising steeply from the floor of the Great Rift Valley mark the entrance to Hell's Gate National Park situated at the south end of Lake Naivasha. Hell's Gate is home to numerous plains game, including Thomson's gazelle, Impala, and Hartebeest as well as big-winged birdlife: Verreaux's eagles, augur buzzards and rare lammergeyer - or bearded - vultures, considered an old world bird of prey, can all be seen here.

The park presents as towering cliffs, gorges, extinct volcanoes - Olkaria and Hobley's - and rock towers; the most impressive is Fischer's Tower; formed 25 million years ago, it is 25 meters (82 feet) high and is one of the park’s many popular rock-climbing sites.

Overnight: Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge | Silver: Loldia House

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 7 - Masai Mara National Reserve

Today, catch your morning flight to the Masai Mara National Reserve. You are met by the camp guide and vehicle and arrive at the property in time for lunch and an afternoon game drive to experience this remarkable wilderness.

The jewel in Africa's crown, Masai Mara is host to the most spectacular array of wildlife. Her 1,510 square kilometers (583 square miles) of open savannah, woodlands and tree-lined rivers creates an eco-system which supports huge numbers of bird and mammal species. Lion are found in abundance throughout the park as are elephant, giraffe, a variety of gazelle species and zebra. Cheetah and leopard are also regularly seen and, if lucky, you may also find rhino. Game viewing is never dull in the Mara and patience is often rewarded with unique sightings: a pride of lion stalking their prey; a solitary leopard retrieving its kill from the high branches of an acacia tree; male wildebeest sparring to attract females into their harem; or even a herd of elephant protecting their young from opportunistic predators.

Overnight: Bronze: Kichwa Tembo Camp | Silver: Naboisho Camp

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 8 & 9 - Masai Mara National Reserve

Spend the next two days exploring the beauty of the Masai Mara with game drives, nature walks plus the exciting Wild Child Club teaches kids how to shoot a bow and arrow, track animals, bake and make necklaces. Child minders, trackers and cooks are available to ensure the children have new and exciting daily adventures.

Overnight: Bronze: Kichwa Tembo Camp | Silver: Naboisho Camp

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 10 - Nairobi

Today, fly back to Wilson Airport, Nairobi. You are met on arrival by your representative and transferred to your day room to freshen up before the flight home.

Meal Plan: B

To continue your journey onto the beach please see the Kenya Coast or Zanzibar Extensions.