Kenya - Tanzania Safaris: MOUNTAINS & SAVANNAHS EAST AFRICA

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ITINERARY AT A GLANCE

ITINERARY DETAILS

Day 1 Nairobi
Arrival at Jomo Kenyatta Airpor, met and assisted by a tour representative. Transfer to your hotel. Rest of the day is spent at leisure in Nairobi. Overnight at Hotel Inter-continental Nairobi (BB)

Day 2 Mount Kenya National Park
After breakfast drive to the world famous Mt. Kenya Safari Club founded by William Holden. On a clear day you will see the magnificent mountain in its full splendor. The club offers glorious views of the mountain and forest, delightful gardens, a 9-hole golf course and a splendid colonial-style ambience with roaring log fires. Arrive for lunch at your lodge. Afternoon at leisure enjoying the clubs facilities. Meals and overnight at Mt Kenya Safari Club (LDBB)

Day 3 Aberdare National Park
After breakfast drive to the lush foothills of the Aberdare Mountain Range to the Aberdares Country Club for lunch. After lunch transfer to The Ark (children under 7yrs not permitted, light bags only) overlooking a waterhole and salt lick where the 'Big Five' occasionally gather for an exhilarating night of wild encounters. The Ark comprises three decks from which numerous balconies and lounges provide superb vantage points for game viewing. Dinner and overnight at The Ark (LDBB)

Day 4 Lake Nakuru National Park / Lake Naivasha
After breakfast, drive via Nyahururu to Lake Naivasha with its commanding setting at the foot of the Rift Valley Escarpment. Lake Naivasha is also an important horticultural area of Kenya. Arrive for lunch at your lodge. Afternoon drive to Lake Nakuru National Park, famous as the home to thousands of greater and lesser flamingo. The park also provides sanctuary for Rothschild giraffe, rhino and leopard. Afternoon game drive in the park. Return to your lodge in Naivasha in the evening. Meals and overnight at Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge ( LDBB )

Day 5 Masai Mara National G.R
After breakfast, drive to the Masai Mara National Reserve offering wonderful scenery and plenty of game. It is perhaps the only region left in Kenya where the visitor may see animals in the same super-abundance as existed a century ago. Arrive for lunch at your lodge. Afternoon game drive until sunset. Meals and overnight at Mara Sopa Lodge (LDBB)

Day 6 Masai Mara National G.R
{Early morning optional balloon ride with champagne-style breakfast.}
Whole day in Masai Mara with morning and afternoon game drives. Meals and overnight at Mara Sopa Lodge ( LDBB )

Day 7 Nairobi
After breakfast, drive to Nairobi, Kenya's colourful capital city. Arrive in the early afternoon and drop off at your hotel. Afternoon at leisure. Overnight at Hotel Inter-continental Nairobi (BB )

Day 8 Tarangire National Park
Drive to the border town of Namanga where you will clear customs and immigration formalities. Proceed in Tanzanian vehicles to the Tarangire to Arusha for lunch. Afternoon drive to Tarangire National Park, named after the Tarangire River which lures thousands of plains game to its banks. Afternoon game drive en route to the lodge. Dinner and overnight at Tarangire Sopa Lodge ( L-DBB )

Day 9 Ngorongoro Conservation Area
After breakfast, drive to the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact caldera in the world. Its enduring charm stems from its overwhelming physical beauty and the abundance of wildlife permanently resident on the crater floor. Arrive for lunch at your lodge. Afternoon at leisure. Meals and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge (LDBB )

Day 10 Ngorongoro Conservation Area
After breakfast, depart for half day tour of the crater floor. Return to the lodge for lunch. Afternoon at leisure. Meals and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge ( LDBB )

Day 11 Departure
After breakfast, drive to Arusha for lunch. Afternoon transfer to the border town of Namanga where you will clear customs and immigration formalities. Proceed in Kenyan vehicles to Nairobi, Kenya's colourful capital city. Drop off at Jomo Kenyatta Airport for your departure flight or City centre hotel for onward arrangements. A tour representative will re-confirm your onward flight, and assist you at check-in.

ACCOMMODATION INFORMATION

Hotel Inter-continental Nairobi
The popular Inter-continental is an ideal business cum leisure hotel offering high international standards of service and accommodation that are the hallmark of all Inter-continental hotels worldwide. Overlooking the city, the Nairobi Uhuru Gardens and the Kenyan Parliament, it is only 10 minutes walk minutes from the city centre and 20 minutes from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The hotel offers tastefully decorated rooms, excellent restaurants, conference and meeting rooms, shops, swimming pool, casino and a host of other facilities.

Mount Kenya Safari Club
The Mount Kenya Safari Club was founded in 1959 by William Holden, the late film star, highly eccentric American Ray Ryan and Carl Hirschmann, a Swiss financier. From the outset it attracted a cosmopolitan and glamorous clientele - those connected with Hollywood and the royalty and jet set who found the Hollywood connection irresistible. The Club still retains a strong sense of history and, unlike many hotels, has not swept away the old in favor of the new. The William Holden cottages retain an ambience recalling the 1950's glamour that is now so fashionable - huge french windows, white terrace furniture, and large cozy sofas in the central sitting room. The Riverside suites are more modern and very private, with vaulted ceilings and riverfront sites. The roaring fires, fuelled by huge logs that are lit every evening in the cottages add considerably to the feeling of soothing relaxation experienced by the visitor.

The huge grounds at the Club are absolutely fabulous! Immaculately kept, abundant with beautiful blooming shrubs and trees, dotted with ponds and lakes, and alive with marabou storks, little egrets and peacocks, they stretch verdantly into the distance with the dramatic bulk of Mount Kenya behind. A beautiful pool, surrounded by colonial style cane furniture, also has the mountain as its backdrop. Often wreathed in cloud it appears from time to time allowing the observer a sense of privilege. The main club building is dotted with memorabilia - huge trophy heads from the days when hunting was permitted and photographs of famous actors, actresses and various luminaries, from the past up to the present day, adorn the walls.

The Ark
Set in the heart of the Aberdare National Park, this unique game lodge overlooks a floodlit waterhole and salt lick which attracts a host of wildlife: elephant; rhino; leopard; bushbuck and occasionally an elusive bongo or giant forest hog. Resembling, and named after, Noah's Ark, the Ark comprises three decks from which numerous balconies and lounges provide superb vantage points for game viewing. A ground level bunker provides excellent photographic opportunities and takes you closer than you would believe possible to the animals.
Comfortable en- suite cabins are fitted with buzzers to announce the arrival of one of the "Big Five"; at the water hole. Before embarking on the half-hour drive to The Ark, lunch is served at the charming Aberdares Country Club. Dinner and breakfast are served on board!

Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge
Set on 200 acres of Lake Naivasha's southern shoreline in Africa's Great Rift Valley, the resort blends in perfectly with its natural surroundings. Being one of Kenya's most upmarket destinations, it is the ideal base from which to explore the surrounding countryside and nearby National Parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Double storied cottages offer extremely spacious rooms with en suite bathrooms and either balconies or solariums. Spacious rooms with ensuite bathroom, private lounge and balcony. Each room boasts two queen-size beds with mosquito nets on all windows. Facilities include: swimming pool, children's pool, nature walks, fitness centre, Telephone, Hairdryers, 3 Bars and babysitting facilities. Minimum temperatures of 11 degrees Celsius and maximums of 32 degrees. The short rains fall between November and December and the long rains between April and May.

Mara Sopa Lodge
The Masai Mara is one of the most famous game viewing areas in Africa. Large herds of game, including the amazing Great Migration of wildebeest and zebra, are still found here. Masai Mara Sopa Lodge is set in the Oloolaimutia Valley and blends perfectly with the surrounding hillside landscape. The lodge is located 206 km south of the Equator on the eastern boundary of the Masai Mara Game Reserve in southwestern Kenya, 2km from the Oloolaimutia Gate. The accent here is on the indigenous Masai people and the fabulous wealth of wildlife, birdlife and natural flora. Luxuriously appointed bedrooms, a refreshing swimming pool, a boutique and gift shop, wildlife films and CNN all ensure that your stay will be blissfully comfortable.

The lodge has 77 rooms, 12 suites and 1 Presidential suite, all of which are 'rondavel' style and have en-suite bathroom facilities which provide shaving sockets and hairdryers. Every room and suite has a private, elevated verandah with splendid views across the valley. Here guests can relax, sunbathe and watch resident birds and wildlife. Mini-bars are also available in each room. Like all pools at other Sopa lodges, the free-form swimming pool here too has a stunning location, overlooking the Oloolaimutia Valley.

Tarangire Sopa Lodge
Tarangire is now known as the best national park on the northern circuit for elephant and Tarangire Sopa is ideally placed for visitors to this lovely park where beautiful stately baobab trees pepper the landscape and give the park its nickname of "Baobab Forest". Tarangire Sopa welcomes travelers to its vast marble-floored reception area with cold flannels and iced juice. In the pretty gardens a large circular pool with a central island, a pool bar and elegant wooden loungers demonstrates the lodge's commitment to comfort. Delicious barbecue lunches are often served here. A broad verandah wraps itself around the lodge and gives prime viewing for the waterhole below which is filled during the dry season (June-Oct) and becomes a magnet to wildlife.

The rooms at the lodge are comfortable and arranged in groups of four, in African-style buildings, within the grounds. Large sliding doors open to a private balcony. However, the pool, games room, hospitality lounge with complimentary newspapers and, above all, the stunning scenery and wildlife of the Park, will ensure that your days are satisfyingly full.

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Sopa means welcome in the Masai language and is representative of the warm welcome you will receive at the Sopa lodges. Ngorongoro Sopa is spread out along the uppermost rim of the Ngorongoro World Heritage Site, an ancient extinct volcano that contains the largest permanent concentration of game in Africa. Ngorongoro Sopa offers breathtaking views of the crater floor far below. A sparkling swimming pool refreshes those returning from game drives. The rooms are cool and comfortable.

Opened in 1992, the lodge can accommodate 190 guests in 92 suites, each enjoying wall-to-wall carpeting, central heating, a private lounge with a mini bar, a bedroom with two queen size beds and ample room for a third, an en-suite bathroom with shaver sockets and a hair dryer, and a private solarium which offers stunning views of the crater floor below and the sun setting over the western horizon.

The lodge has direct-dial satellite telephone facilities as well as satellite television and wildlife-video-film options. A number of lodge electrical generating systems provide 240 volts, 50 cycles 24 hours a day. The water supply comes from nearby springs but guests are provided a complimentary bottle of mineral water for drinking. Children of all ages are welcome and special meals at convenient times can be arranged together with a non-professional baby-minder. A swimming pool is situated on the very edge of the crater itself and the cool water is bracing, even invigorating, at any time of year. The pool is also a super area to unwind and relax while enjoying the views of the crater floor below or the stunning sunsets.