Highlights: This is a budget camping adventure which starts from Nairobi and ends in Nairobi. You will be able to visit the 7Th wonders of the World – Maasai Mara from Nairobi then proceed to Nakuru National Park and then to Samburu National Park. You will stay in tents or Guest houses at the various campsites within the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Nakuru National Park and Amboseli and Tsavo west National Parks.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Nairobi – Maasai Mara
On arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or if you are staying in a Nairobi City Hotel, our tour manager will meet you and brief you on your safari, and thereafter depart for the Maasai Mara Game Reserve with stops at the viewpoint of the Great Rift Valley and Narok town for lunch and refueling. Arrive in time for a late afternoon / early evening game drive enroute to a campsite for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Maasai Mara
Early breakfast then proceed for a full day of game viewing in the reserve.
The day will be taken up tracking game with your guide though there will be a break for a picnic lunch at the hippo pool. The abundance and variety of game in this reserve is nothing short of amazing. Practically every mammal can be seen in the Mara with a few exceptions. Various antelopes, scavengers like hyena and vulture are common. The reserve contains all the cats that are; lion, cheetah and leopard; sighting leopard needs luck more than just being there but lions are abundant and there are excellent chances for spotting cheetah. The hippo pool is a popular spot to watch out for hippos; with luck, you may catch crocodile basking on the rocks. Elephants, buffalo, the Maasai giraffe, wildebeest and the common zebra abound.
Return to the campsite for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Maasai Mara
After breakfast proceed on another game-viewing session. After lunch you will have the option to go for a game drive or at extra cost, visit a nearby Maasai village to see their nomadic lifestyle.
The Maasai Mara, now The New 7the wonder of the world and 4th preferred tourist destination in the world is a home to wildlife in such abundance and variety that it is difficult to imagine. The most spectacular event of the natural world takes place here; The annual migration of millions of wildebeest and zebra from the Serengeti (Tanzania) in search of water and pasture while being followed on their heels by the predators of the
savanna; lion, cheetah, wild dog, jackal, hyena and vultures.
It hosts over 450 species of animals which include lions, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, giraffe, wildebeests, zebras, buffalo, warthogs, hyenas, jackals, wild dogs, buffalo, leopard, many kinds of antelopes and elephants.
Day 4: Maasai Mara – Nakuru
Maasai Mara Balloon (Optional)
Early morning game drive – if you still want to go for more
OR
Take the opportunity to fly over the Mara in a Hot air Balloon provided at an extra cost. The balloon package includes a champagne breakfast in the wild! If you can spare the money, viewing abundant game afloat a balloon is an unforgettable experience.
After breakfast, depart the Mara region for Nakuru. The drive offers panoramic views of Mount Longonot and Lake Naivasha from afar; this means that you will see them from the main highway. Arrive at Nakuru in time for dinner and overnight at a campsite.
Day 5: Lake Nakuru / Amboseli via Nairobi
Wake up to an early morning game viewing drive in Lake Nakuru National Park.
Flamingos and other water birds that thrive in a salt-water environment can be seen. With luck you may track the white rhino and the Rothschild’s giraffe which both have endangered species status. The park is 188 km and is home to cats (both lion and leopard), various antelopes, and grazers like warthog and the waterbuck and Cape buffalo that breed near the shoreline.
Lake Nakuru is a soda lake on the floor of the Rift valley. It is famous due to its being a home to about 1.5 million flamingo’s and the over 450 species of birds found here. The sight of the millions of flamingos is quite spectacular. From a distance the lake appears ringed in pink. The Lake has also earned a reputation as an important haven for endangered species – particularly the Rothschild Giraffe and the black and white rhino. It is a home to Lions, waterbucks, buffalos, baboons and pelicans.
After breakfast, drive to Amboseli via Nairobi arriving in time for lunch in one of the restaurants in Nairobi. Continue to Amboseli via Kenya/Tanzania border (Namanga) arriving in Amboseli in the late afternoon.
An evening game viewing drive.
Dinner and overnight at a campsite.
Day 6 & 7: Amboseli
After breakfast, proceed on a game drive in this park, which lies in a dried-up lakebed. There are swamps and springs fed by underground rivers from the melting snows of Mount Kilimanjaro, which give permanent water to the wildlife. The animals seen here include lion, elephant, cheetah, buffalo, plains game and the rare Taita weaver and the gerenuk. The animals are mainly found around the Ol Kenya swamp. If the weather is clear and there is no low cloud cover, you may see the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, which forms a beautiful backdrop to the park. The observation hill offers a view of the entire park and beyond.
Amboseli National Park has the combination of scenery, people and animals is what makes the Amboseli national park of fascinating. Beautifully situated at the foot of the towering Kilimanjaro, it Is the home of the brightly painted Maasai tribe, here you can see lions , cheetahs, spotted hyenas and wild dogs as well as gnus , Kaffir buffaloes , Burch ell’s zebras and herds of elephants . All these animals come to drink at water holes consisting of small lakes or muddy ponds kept filled up by water from the melting snows of Kilimanjaro. The northern lake Amboseli contains water only after rain.
An afternoon game drive will follow after lunch. Dinner and overnight at a campsite.
Day 8: Amboseli – Tsavo West
After breakfast, depart Amboseli for Tsavo West National Park, lunch enroute.
You will visit the Shaitani Lava flows as the area where the park lies is of volcanic origin. The Mzima Springs which contain 20 million tonnes of crystal – clear water from the underground streams of the nearby Chyullu Hills are an additional attraction; various aspects of marine life including hippos, crocodile and fish can be seen from the specially constructed underground glass tank. The animal species seen at Tsavo are hippo, crocodiles, elephant, gazelle, zebra, giraffe, various birds, buffalo, and kudu in a thick acacia setting.
Tsavo East and Tsavo West, both national parks are managed separately but together they form the largest reserve in East Africa. The northern part of Tsavo east may not however be visited by tourists. Nevertheless the Tsavo national park founded in 1947 is one of the most visited tourist attraction in Kenya. In spite of its arid countryside and savannah vegetation about 60species of mammals and 400 different species of birds are to be found here. The Tsavo is particularly famous because of its dramatic scenery and the “Red Elephants” which owe their colors to the dust prevalent in this area as well as lions and cheetahs. There are many antelopes (Oryx, kudus, giants gazelles and giraffe) Burchell’s zebras, Maasai giraffes baboons and vervet monkeys of the birds the most impressive is the Maasai ostrich. Where
there is water such as at Mzima springs, crocodiles and hippos can also be seen.
Dinner and overnight at a campsite.
Day 9: Tsavo West – Nairobi
After breakfast, your final game viewing drive will follow during which you may see plains game; zebra, antelope, lesser kudu, ostrich and large herds of elephant. Lunch will be taken enroute. Arrive in Nairobi in the evening ready for your departure flight.
Package Includes:
• All game parks or national parks entrance fees
• All game drives in the various parks accompanied by our professional English-speaking driver cum guide
• transport by comfortable safari vehicles with hatch-roofs for Game viewing and photography all campsite fees
• All camping equipment (except sleeping bags)
• accommodation in the campsite
• Three sumptuous meals per day whilst on safari, prepared and served by our cook
Package Excludes:
• Hot air Balloon flight in Maasai Mara – US$ per person extra (Price is subject to confirmation at the time of booking.)
• Tips to driver guide, cook and porter.
• Extras at the lodges – tips, drinks, telephone, laundry.
• Items of personal expenses
Niche Africa Holidays 