Description
Summer Wildlife Safari in Africa | African Summer Safari
Masai Mara | Lake Nakuru | Samburu Wildlife Tour
The best of Kenya Safari to the most famous National Parks and reserves.
Day 1- Morning Arrival, Nairobi city and environs Tours
Arrive at Nairobi after your international flight. Abana safaris representative will meet you at the airport and assist you with freight. Board your van and depart for a city tour of Nairobi. You will get to visit places like the Nairobi Provincial Commissioners offices, the Faculty of Engineering Department of our biggest Campus, the Nairobi University, and Norfolk Hotel. Historically, the Norfolk was “The Place” for starting safaris as way back in 1904, the Kenya Conservatoire of Music and the National Theater, book shops and publishers, Former American Embassy which is now a memorial place, the Railway Station, the Railway Museum and the Kenya Railways Headquarters. You will also drive directly to Nairobi hill viewpoint from where you have a panoramic view of the city. You will proceed to “Gods corner”, significant for the number of different churches situated in this area.
After here, visit The David Sheldrick National Wildlife Trust. This is an orphan-elephant rescue organization, devoted to conserving East Africa’s wildlife and habitats. Founded in 1977 by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick in honor of her late husband and famous Warden of Tsavo East National Park, David Sheldrick, the trust is one of the most successful elephant and rhino rescue programs in the world. After having your delicious packed lunch, continue forward with your itinerary to the giraffe Centre. This Centre protects the highly endangered Rothschild’s giraffe, combines serious conservation with enjoyable activities. You can observe, hand-feed or even kiss one of the giraffes from a raised wooden structure, which is quite an experience. You may also spot warthogs snuffling about in the mud, and there’s an interesting self-guided forest walk through the adjacent Gogo River Bird Sanctuary. Board your van and continue to Karen Blixen Museum. If you loved the movie Out of Africa, you’ll love this place. This museum is the farmhouse where author Karen Blixen lived between 1914 and 1931. She left after a series of personal tragedies, but the lovely colonial house has been preserved as a museum. The museum is set in expansive gardens, and is an interesting place to wander around. After the tour have a sumptuous dinner at the carnivore restaurant, renowned worldwide for serving the most range of meats even game meat such as Ostrich and Crocodile cuts. Return to you hotel for overnight.
Day 2: Nairobi to Samburu / Shaba / Buffalo Springs Game Reserves
Have your daily breakfast at the hotel, check out and depart Nairobi for Samburu County. head north via the shoulder of Africa’s second largest mountain, Mount Kenya, making your way to the Samburu Game Reserve. You will arrive just in time for lunch. After lunch, you will check in to your camp rest and freshen-up for a while as you get ready to explore the wilderness of Samburu. Proceed for an evening game drive. Animals expected to be seen here include the elephants, lions, leopards and the Samburu Big Five. Dinner and overnight at the lodge
Day 3: Samburu / Shaba / Buffalo Springs Game Reserves
This day is spent viewing game in Samburu Reserve, exploring its open grasslands and diverse landscapes in search of the variety of wildlife found here.You will have a pre-breakfast game drive, have breakfast at the lodge and then start your full day game drive with packed lunch. Samburu hosts beautiful forests, springs and rivers, offering stunning scenery. The game park is part of a lava plain that includes varied habitats, from thorn scrub, red dirt and dried river beds, to broken volcanic rock, steep hills and rocky outcrops. This region is home to Samburu Special Five. The uncommon Gravy’s zebra with huge fury ears, gerenuk antelope standing on hind legs to feed, Somali ostriches with distinct blue legs, the Reticulated giraffe and the shy Beisa Oryx. Elephant and crocodiles are guaranteed sightings. The reserve is also excellent for bird watching, with over 365 species, including varieties of weaver birds and the martial eagle. Leopard sightings are also a special feature here. The Samburu area is also home to interesting Samburu people with a rich heritage just like their cousins Maasai’s. This gives one a colorful cultural experience. Dinner and overnight will be at the lodge.
Day 4: Samburu –Lake Nakuru National Park
After breakfast you will say your good bye as you depart your way out of Samburu National Reserve. Drive all the way to Lake Nakuru National park with lunch enroute. Check in your hotel, have dinner and rest. Lake Nakuru is famous for its greater and lesser flamingos. These birds make the lake shores appear pink out of their concentration. Other wildlife includes Black and White Rhino, Leopards, Rothschild’s Giraffe and many more. Occasionally you are able to spot a lion. You will also proceed to the baboon cliff where you will have a panoramic view of the whole park from an aerial view. Overnight – Nakuru
Day 5: Lake Nakuru National Reserve- Masai Mara
Early breakfast in your hotel followed by check out. Have a game drive in Lake Nakuru National park and afterwards, proceed forth with your journey to Masai Mara.Masai Mara is considered to be the jewel and highlight of any Kenyan safari. You’ll be enchanted by the diversity of animals, and topography. In late spring, the grazers mainly wildebeest, cross the river bordering Tanzania with Kenya and travel north to the Maasai Mara for the green grasses. Of course, the predators follow. Here there are sightings of lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, hyena, warthog, wildebeest, and zebra, just to name but a few. On arrival at the lodge you will check-in and have lunch. Afternoon game viewing drives through the park in search of animals and return to Lodge for dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Day 6: Masai Mara National Reserve
You will have an early morning game drive, this being the best time to see animals as they roam the plains feeding before the heat of the day sends them to the shades, return to the lodge for a late buffet breakfast. The rest of the morning will be spent at leisure with lunch till late afternoon where you will embark on another game viewing drive. The Mara is the ancestral home of the ancient warrior people – the Maasai. Fiercely proud and self- reliant, traditionally pastoral nomads, who have clung to their ancient way of life; living in harmony with their environment and the wildlife, together with their cattle, with whom they share a strong, almost mystical bond. An optional visit to a Maasai Manyata is an interesting opportunity for you to learn their lifestyles. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Day 7: Masai Mara National Reserve- Coffee Tasting – Nairobi
Early Morning breakfast at the lodge and check out. This day you will bid Mara “Kwaheri” or good-bye and proceed to Nairobi via Limuru / Kiambu for some tea / Coffee plantation visit and tasting. with a brief stop at the Masai Town of Narok. You will arrive in Nairobi in the afternoon.
Day 8: Nairobi City Tour
After your breakfast in the hotel, depart for the city tour of Nairobi exhausting the activities not done before. Depart for a visit of the National Museum, a major International Center for natural history and especially the study of human evolution. Visit also the Snake Park. After lunch in your hotel, you will visit tea and coffee plantations and learn how the cash crops are bred and processed into the finished products. Return to your hotel for dinner rest and overnight.
Day 9: Nairobi –Mombasa
After your breakfast in the hotel, board your pre booked flight to Mombasa. On arrival, get transferred to your hotel .Day at leisure. Overnight in Mombasa
Day 10: Mombasa
This day after your breakfast you will have a city tour of Mombasa and visit the major highlights like the Fort Jesus, the narrow streets, the hanging balconies, the Akamba wood carvers and much more.Proceed to yet another adventure as you visit the former Bamburi nature trail currently called Haller Park. This is the only place in Kenya where you can see the giant tortoises in large numbers and go close to even touching them or sitting on them. This is a place where learning takes place as nature leads the talk. You will be guided through the trails to the fishponds and through the crocodile firm. Here also, science takes place as you will be taken through a lecture of how the fish and the crocodiles are bred, how and why albino crocodiles, and fish come up. Agriculture also has its way as you learn how the plants and trees have adopted the salty soils and the symbiotic relationship between the millipedes and the casuarina trees. There are a number of animals and birds to be witnessed here like Hippos, Buffalo, Elands, Crowned crane, Sacred Ibis and many more. You will drive further to the famed Mamba Village where an experienced site guide will welcome you and guide you through the reptile farm that habours crocodiles and snakes, and more to learn comes with a visit to the botanical garden. Various types of species are displayed and their magic explained. You will also tour the aquarium to witness different types of fish found in the Indian Ocean. Your lunch will be enjoyed here. For another adventure you will drive to Likoni Ferry where you will sail to the south coast here you will have some minutes of looking around and shopping and sail back to the Island.
Continue northwards of Mombasa to Malindi. You will thereafter arrive at the hotel in the late afternoon. After checking in, you will have time to relax as you acquaint yourselves with the hotel. Overnight in the Hotel.
Day 11: Malindi
Early breakfast in the hotel then depart for Malindi Marine Park. This is one of the oldest marine Park in Kenya covers 213 sq km of powder-blue fish, organ-pipe coral, green sea-turtles and beds of Thalassia sea grass. Depending on the level of the water you can take a boat ride or even walk about 500 meters in the ocean. Here you will have an explanation of the kind of fish that you can find around the area, the importance of coral reef and how they are formed, the different land formations that we have in our Kenyan coast and many more at the shore. Have your packed lunch and relax on the beach. In the afternoon, you will walk to the famed Vasco da Gama Pillar. Vasco da Gama built this pillar after receiving a warm welcome by the sultan of Malindi after the hostile Mombasa people. You will be narrated of how the pillar came to be and have time to ask questions regarding the same. Time permitting, you will visit the oldest Portuguese Church in East and Central Africa, which was built by Francis Xavier and was named after him. Continue forward to Gede ruins. Ruins of Gede are series of 13th to 17th-century coral palaces, mosques and townhouses which lies quietly in the jungle’s green grip, but excavation has unearthed many structures that were once inhabited by a mix of Arab and Bantu residents. Here you will have a chance to learn about the rise and fall of Gede through the different tales told over the years. Although some of the structures have been ‘repaired’, the place retains a spooky, spiritual feel and is watched over by a strangled flamboyant tree. Proceed forward to Gede ruins museum where you will site artifacts that were found in the city. Here you will have a chance to take lots of photos. Return to your hotel for Overnight.
Day 12: Nairobi-Departure
After your breakfast you will leave all the breezes, the beach, and buffets, the palms to fly back to Nairobi were you will catch your flight home.
