Day 1 Nairobi to Selenkay
Sunday. Meet and transfer to your safari vehicle to be driven from Nairobi to Selenkay Conservation Area (100 miles, 3.5 hours), arriving for a late lunch after setting up camp. Evening game drive to explore the Conservation Area. Dinner in the camp.
Accommodation: Camp at Selenkay
Day 2 Amboseli National Park
Monday. Early breakfast and then drive through the bush into Amboseli National Park for good views of Kilimanjaro and close-up observation of elephants as well as many other species. Return to Selenkay with a picnic lunch en route and then take an afternoon walk with Masai trackers. Dinner and then take a night drive to seek out the nocturnal animals.
Accommodation: Camp at Selenkay
Day 3 Congreve
Tuesday morning drive back to Nairobi and on to Congreve Conservancy (190 miles) arriving in the late afternoon. Set up camp and then take an evening walk in the Congreve Conservancy. Dinner in the camp.
Accommodation: Camp in the Congreve Conservancy
Day 4 Lake Nakuru
Wednesday. Early morning departure after a continental breakfast for a full day in Lake Nakuru National Park with a picnic lunch. In addition to the spectacle of the masses of flamingo, we expect to see rhino and many other species. We’ll have an excellent chance of sighting leopard. Return to camp in the evening for dinner.
Accommodation: ? Camp in the Congreve Conservancy
Day 5 Masai Mara
Thursday after breakfast, pack up camp and drive to Siana Springs Group Ranch in the Masai Mara (170 miles) to set up camp. This is a long drive over a rough road and a stop is taken at Narik town for lunch en route. After setting up camp, we take an evening drive into the surrounding area to see some wildlife for which the Mara is famous. Return to camp for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation: ? Camp near Siana Springs
Day 6 Masai Mara
Friday an early breakfast and then spend a full morning in the Mara taking a picnic lunch. Return to the camp for dinner.
Accommodation: ? Camp near Siana Springs
Day 7 Masai Mara to Nairobi
Saturday. After breakfast we pack up camp and return to Nairobi (180 miles, 5 hours ) arriving around 2 pm.
Highlights
Amboseli National Park, Congreve Conservancy, Lake Nakuru National Park, Siana Springs, Masai Mara
Includes
- All meals
- 6 nights accommodation in two-person tents
- Camping equipment
- Sleeping mattress
- Transport in 4x4 vehicle
- Mineral water
- All park fees
- All game drives
- All activities
Not Included
- Visa fees (if required)
- Passport & Visa Costs
- Vaccination Costs
- Personal Spending Money
- Meals where not listed
- Drinks
- International Flights
- Domestic Flight or transport to and from start and finish point
- Travel Insurance
- Airport departure taxes
- Border taxes or fees
Joining Instructions
As things can change detailed arrival information will be sent 4 to 6 weeks prior to your departure date.
Notes
| January – June | July - September | October – November | December |
Per person | 1905 | 2125 | 1905 | 2270 |
Pre and post tour accommodation and transfers can be arranged on request.
Type of Safari:
Camping Safari. Camps are set up on our own exclusive camp sites.
Vehicle:
Transport is by four-wheel-drive Toyota Landcruiser with roof hatches. Your driver-guide is a wildlife and nature expert and member of the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association. Equipment is carried in a trailer behind the vehicle - when in camp the trailer is removed and game drives are done in the vehicle.
Accommodation:
Tents are heavy-duty canvas dome tents for two persons. Clients bring their own sleeping bag and a towel but all other camp furniture and equipment is provided, including a high density sleeping mattress.
Meals:
A safari cook travels with the safari. At each camp site we will have staff who do the work like washing up, heating water for showers, doing the cooking and serving the food but clients also help put up and take down their tents. Food is of the same quality as in a luxury camp - produced by our experienced safari cook.
First Aid:
Our guides are trained in basic first aid and the vehicle is equipped with a comprehensive medical aid kit. Preventative Malaria medication should be taken before the trip and throughout its duration, although it is advisable to consult a doctor prior to departure.
Selenkay Conservation Area and Amboseli National Park
The Selenkay Conservation Area lies in the heart of Masailand a few miles north of Amboseli National Park and is an important dispersal area and rangeland for wildlife in the Amboseli ecosystem. The local Masai community has set aside the area as a reserve for wildlife so that the habitat can be protected and wildlife conserved. The community is receiving an income from leasing the area for ecotourism and also receives an entry fee for each tourist visitor. All roads have been constructed using local labour so that the members of the community gain employment from the Conservation Area.
In addition to the road maintenance team, Game Scouts have been employed to carry out patrols to see that the wildlife is protected. Selenkay Conservation Area is well off the beaten track and has not been visited by tourists until recently.
The animals are truly wild and not fully habituated to the presence of vehicles so their behaviour is more natural than in parks where they are accustomed to many visitors. The numbers of tourist visitors are being limited to under twenty per day to retain the wild and unspoilt nature of the area and to minimise the impact on the environment. Visitors on our camping safari are unlikely to see any other tourist vehicles in the Conservation Area and will have the opportunity to walk with Masai trackers and to take a night drive to see the nocturnal animals.
Within the conservation area there is a greater diversity of species than in Amboseli itself and the following animals have been seen recently: elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, Thompson's and Grant's gazelles, gerenuk, impala, eland, oryx, lesser kudu, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, warthog, spotted hyena, striped hyena, jackal, bat-eared fox, caracal, African wild cat, serval cat, genet cat, honey badger, aardvark, porcupine, zorilla, mongoose, bushbaby and dik-dik. Birdlife is prolific, especially birds of prey. Selenkay is linked to Amboseli National Park by a track through the bush so that we have the opportunity to spend some time in the park.
Amboseli National Park, at the foot of Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, is one of Kenya's most popular national parks. It lies 150 miles south-east of Nairobi very close to the Tanzania border. The snow capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro rising above the clouds dominates every aspect of Amboseli. Established as a national park in 1974 it covers 150sq miles and supports a wide range of mammals (well over 50 of the larger species) and birds (over 400 species). Years ago this was the locale around which such famous writers as Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark spun their stories of big game hunting in the wilds of Africa. The park encompasses dry lake beds, savannah woodland and extensive swamps constantly fed by springs emanating from the mountain. The water and seasonal lakes attract a wide variety of bird and animal life, in particular herds of elephant. Amboseli is one of the best parks in Africa to observe family groups of elephants and large bull elephants at close quarters.
Kigio Wildlife Conservancy and Lake Nakuru
Kigio is located beside the Malewa River on 3,500 acres, about thirty miles south of Lake Nakuru. The expansive private conservancy area offers the opportunity to walk safely amongst wildlife. Learn how to identify animal spoor and about the traditional use by the local people of medicinal properties of the many plant species in the conservancy. In addition to plains game like zebra, giraffe and antelopes, birdlife abounds and a walk along the river gives the opportunity to see hippo and maybe even a python!
Lake Nakuru, a shallow alkaline lake, lies about 30 miles north of Kigio on a tarmac road. The lake is world famous as the location of the greatest bird spectacle on earth - myriads of pink flamingo whose numbers are legion, often more than a million and which literally turn its shores pink. They feed on the abundant algae which thrive in the warm waters. But flamingo are not the only avian attraction, as the lake is rich in other birdlife. There are over 400 resident species on the lake and in the surrounding park. Large numbers of pelicans concentrate by the fresh water streams that flow into the lake and thousands of other birds may be seen including African fish eagles, white winged black terns, stilts, avocets, ducks and in the European winter, the migrant waders.
The national park surrounds the lake, offering a wide ecological diversity, from lakeshore, woodland, grassy plains to rocky escarpments and ridges. It now has one of the largest concentrations of rhinoceros in the country (both black rhino and white rhino), so the chances of spotting these are very good. There are also a number of Rothschild's giraffe, translocated for safety from western Kenya. Waterbuck, zebra and Cape buffalo are very common. Lion are present in the park and, like the lions of Lake Manyara in Tanzania, are quite often seen in the acacia trees. Leopard are also frequently sighted and Lake Nakuru National Park is one of the places where visitors have the best chance of seeing these elusive big cats. The bushlands offer eland, warthog, impala, Mountain Reedbuck and dik dik, whilst rock hyrax and klipspringer occupy the cliffs and escarpment.
Siana Springs Wildlife Trust and Masai Mara
The Siana Springs Wildlife Trust is a wilderness area owned by the local Masai people and stretching alongside the Mara Reserve. This is prime wildlife country and the Masai community allow a number of safari operators to use their area for camping and wildlife viewing. From our private campsite near Siana Springs we explore the surrounding savannah plains to seek out the huge variety of wildlife species for which the Mara is famous, in particular the large population of lions.
Considered by many to be Kenya's finest wildlife area, the 650sq miles of the Masai Mara adjoin Tanzania's well known Serengeti, forming one ecosystem. The open rolling savannah grassland of the Mara is the home of numerous animals including elephant, rhino, lion, cheetah, leopard, hyena, jackal, buffalo, eland, topi, impala, gazelle, warthog and zebra. From June to September, the annual wildebeest migration takes place when thousands of these animals sweep across the plains and seek out new grazing areas.
Nairobi
Nairobi could easily be described as the largest, youngest, most modern, fastest growing and highest (1.700m) city in East Africa. Nairobi is also known as ‘City in the sun’ and ‘City of flowers’, just to mention a few. Nairobi, less than a century old, has real claims to Western-Style sophistication but it lacks a convincing heart. Nairobi is as compelling a place as any and displays enormous vitality and buzz. It's hard to imagine a city with a more fascinating variety of people. On any downtown pavement you can see a complete cross-section of Kenyans, plus every variety of tourist.
Worthwhile destinations lie all around, with the first and closest target Nairobi National Park. Lake Naivasha to the west and Lake Magadi to the south are two utterly different Rift Valley lakes, each just a few hours away from the capital. The National Archives are housed in the striking old Bank of India building amounting to a museum/art gallery in the heart of the city. It houses a collection of paintings, a photographic exhibition of the struggle for Independence as well as a delightfully jumbled collection of African ethnographies, which includes musical instruments, masks, weapons and domestic artifacts.
Now privately run, Nairobi's Railway Museum is a natural draw for rail fans and of more than passing interest for anyone else. The National Museum is probably the city's prime sightseeing attraction with an extensive ornithological collection as well as a Gallery of Contemporary East African Art where principally Kenyan, Tanzanian and Ugandan artists display their work and wares. Nairobi is the best place in East Africa to buy handicrafts, with the widest selection and the best facilities for posting the stuff home. There are dozens of shops to browse through, with very reasonable prices when purchasing traditional fabrics and clothes, traditional masks, beads, and lots more. The Maasai Market where anything from twenty to fifty Maasai women display their wares, is a hot recommendation if you are after Maasai traditional and tourist gear. For the few days that most people spend in Nairobi – it's a stimulating city.
Masai Mara
Although not Kenya's largest park, the Masai Mara, as the Kenyans call it, is undoubtedly its best known and contains great concentrations of wildlife. Covering an area in excess of 1.800 kmē (almost 700 sq miles) it was established in 1961 and adjoins the Serengeti in Tanzania forming the northern end of the great migration ecosystem. This is the traditional land of the Masai people, nomadic herders who choose a traditional lifestyle and who are permitted to graze their cattle in the area. The park's habitats include the forests along the banks of the Mara and Talek Rivers, acacia forests and open savannah. These various habitats are home to a great variety of game including lion, leopard, cheetah, zebra, wildebeest (gnu), giraffe, buffalo, jackal, topi, gazelles, impala and elephant. Hippopotamuses and crocodiles are plentiful in the rivers and the bird life is also abundant. No less than 53 different species of birds of prey alone have been recorded. From June through October you may see the annual migration as hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra move through the area in search of fresh grass. Driven on, by those behind, the first animals ford the Mara River. This perilous crossing undertaken by hordes of beasts is truly dramatic and an obvious highlight.
