Kenya - Tanzania Safaris: BEST OF EAST AFRICA

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ITINERARY AT A GLANCE

ITINERARY DETAILS

Day 1 Nairobi
Arrival at Jomo Kenyatta Airport, met and assisted by a tour representative. Transfer to your hotel. Remainder of the day at leisure. Overnight at The Norfolk Hotel ( BB )

Day 2 Samburu & Buffalo Springs N.R
After breakfast, drive north via Nanyuki and Mt Kenya to the Samburu National Reserve. Rugged and remote, this wildlife reserve provides some the best and most colourful game viewing in the country. Lunch en route at Kentrout Grill. Afternoon game drive en-route to your lodge. Dinner and overnight at Samburu Samburu Intrepids Camp ( L-DBB)

Day 3 Samburu & Buffalo Springs N.R
All day spent in the Samburu National Reserve with morning and afternoon game drives. Samburu Intrepids Camp ( LDBB )

Day 4 Aberdare National Park
After breakfast drive towards 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. Overnight at The Ark (LDBB)

Day 5 Lake Nakuru National Park
Drive via Nyahururu to Lake Nakuru National Park, famous as the home to thousands of lesser and greater flamingo. This park also provides sanctuary for Rothschild giraffe, rhino and leopard. Arrive for lunch at your lodge. Afternoon game drive until sunset Meals and overnight at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge (LDBB)

Day 6 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 Safari Club ( LDBB)

Day 7 Masai Mara National G.R
Whole day in Mara with morning and afternoon game drives. Meals and overnight at Mara Safari Club (LDBB)

Day 8 Serengeti National Park
After breakfast, drive to the border town of Isebania where you will go through the normal immigration and customs procedures. Proceed in Tanzanian vehicle to Serengeti National Park. Picnic lunch en-route. Afternoon game drive en route to your camp. Dinner and overnight at Kirawira Camp (L- DBB)

Day 9 Serengeti National Park
All day spent in the Serengeti with morning and afternoon game drives. Meals and overnight at Kirawira Camp ( LDBB)

Day 10 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. En route visit the Olduvai Gorge site of archeological findings , where traces of pre-historic man dating back to 3.5 million years ago have been discovered. Arrive at your lodge for lunch. Afternoon at leisure. Meals and overnight at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge (LDBB)

Day 11 Ngorongoro Conservation Area
After breakfast, depart for half day tour of the crater floor. Return to your lodge for lunch. Afternoon at leisure. Meals and overnight at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge (L-DBB)

Day 12 Lake Manyara
Breakfast at your lodge, then drive to Lake Manyara National Park, one of the Rift Valley's numerous alkaline lakes, which apart from its abundant bird life, is known for its tree-climbing lions. Arrive for lunch at your lodge. Afternoon game drive until sunset. Meals and overnight at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge ( LDBB)

Day 13 Departure
After breakfast, drive 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. You will be dropped at a city centre hotel (OPTIONAL DAY ROOM) . Evening transfer to The Carnivore Restaurant for farewell dinner. After dinner you will be transferred to Jomo Kenyatta Airport for your departure flight back home. A tour representative will re-confirm your onward flight, and assist you at check-in.

ACCOMMODATION INFORMATION

The Norfolk Hotel
The exterior of the Norfolk Hotel has changed little since the colonial era. Timbered walls covered in vines and creepers, the taxi rank with old London cabs queuing to take guests where they will, look much the same as they did in the old photographs that chart the history of Kenya. Opened on Christmas Day 1904, (and still justifiably famous for its Christmas Morning cocktail party) the Norfolk has hosted such luminaries as Lord Delamere, Theodore Roosevelt and Karen Blixen. Now expensively refurbished the hotel still retains a sense of history. The new reception areas of the Norfolk Hotel are light, bright and immediately welcoming. Ceiling fans, cane chairs, plump animal-print cushions and deep sofas combine with locally sourced woods to create a tranquil ambience with echoes of the colonial period in which the Norfolk featured so strongly. However, not all is new - the long case clock in the hall, for example, was presented to the hotel by the drivers in the Nairobi to Johannesburg Race on 26th October, 1936.

The Ibis Restaurant, at the Norfolk, is renowned locally for its innovative use of the best and freshest of ingredients Kenya has to offer. The executive chef ensures that the chefs gain experience in the finest hotels and restaurants in Europe. The cosmopolitan cuisine features classic and new dishes exquisitely prepared, and finely tuned as to seasoning and accompaniments.

Accommodation at the Norfolk varies from large opulent suites to smaller, more intimate rooms. All are beautifully furnished and many look out onto the hotel's lovely gardens. The grounds are immaculate and profusely planted with indigenous plants. Artifacts from the hotel's history are dotted around including a sedan chair from the colonial era. The Norfolk Hotel offers all the comforts of a modern first class hotel yet combines it with an intriguing sense of history.

Samburu Intrepids Camp
Exceptionally light, cool and airy, Samburu Intrepids Camp is a welcoming place to arrive at in the heat of the day. Staff await you with chilled flannels and iced fruit juice. High makuti roofs (palm thatch) rest on huge timbers to shade the open spaces of the main lodge.

The lodge lies on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River, an excellent spot for wildlife, and guests may watch the local Samburu tribe in their traditional red robes watering their goats on the far side. The camels, on which guests may ride, rest under the trees beside the still green waters of the river. The richly colored woods, stylish black leather safari chairs and tent green canvas upholstery used within the lodge building are highlighted by the tropically bright gardens. Hornbills cluck and woodpeckers tap among trees dripping with yellow blooms. A large free-form pool is surrounded by white cushioned sun loungers and bright towels the blue of an African sky. Samburu Intrepids is an ideal base for both safari and relaxation.

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!

Sarova Lion Hill Lodge
Situated in the heart of the Rift Valley, Lake Nakuru is one of Kenya's most famous soda lakes. A major feature of this park is the wonderful birdlife, particularly the thousands of flamingos, which create a shimmering pink hue over the lake. A rhino sanctuary also provides the opportunity to see the endangered black rhino.

Sarova Lion Hill offers a unique vantage point. Each of the 64 superbly appointed chalets with private secluded verandah enjoys views over the lake and the distant hills. Even the glorious pool has a view!

Mara Safari Club
The well-appointed Mara Safari Club is set by the Mara River at the foot of the Aitong Hills in the Ol-Choro Oiroua Conservation Area that borders the Masai Mara Game Reserve. The Club is a five-hour drive from Nairobi, or a forty-five minute flight from Wilson Airport (Nairobi) and a ten-minute drive from Ngerende Airstrip. All tents have their own private river frontage with a viewing deck from where hippo and crocodile are regularly seen.

Occasionally elephant wander past to drink the water and during the migration period large herds of wildebeest can sometimes be observed attempting to cross the river nearby. The rooms have twin and double four-poster beds, electricity and modern en-suite facilities with hot and cold running water. The main building, with lounge, bar and dining room is cantilevered over the river, providing a superb vantage point to view the resident hippos and the amazing riverine birdlife. The superb pool set on the banks of the river, al fresco lunches and evening Masai dances, cultural and wildlife talks and wildlife shows all add greatly to the Club experience. The restaurant serves a high standard of international cuisine combined with traditional Kenyan dishes. Game drives here are conducted by experienced "driver-naturalists", in 4x4 Land cruisers and despite being close to the farmlands, the game viewing around the Mara Safari Club is excellent.

The camp has 8 double and 42 twin bedded tents accommodating a maximum of 100 guests. Each has netted four poster beds and veranda overlooking the Mara river. Each tent is comfortably furnished with its own private bathroom (with shower, washbasin and flush loo) and hot and cold running water. Each tent also has complimentary mineral water, insecticide, air-freshener, electric lamps, dressing table, hand-woven rugs, flashlight and umbrella. Shampoo, hand and body lotion, shower and bath gel, and freshly laundered towels are also provided.

The Mara Safari Club boasts 7 premium tents, which are larger than the standard tent, have mini bars. Two of the tents have sunken baths, and three have double beds. There is a viewing platform between tent No. 45 and the five new tents.

For a premium of $50 per person per night, you have the added pleasure of one Bush Dinner (with half bottle house wine per person), one nature walk and bush breakfast, free laundry, free beverages from the mini-bar, which is restocked once a day. At the request of guests staying in Premium Tents, dinner can be served on the game-viewing platform instead of the dining room.

Kirawira Tented Camp
This luxury tented camp is a stylish evocation of the Victorian colonial period. Guests have all the comforts that colonial travellers would have taken on safari, supplemented by more modern luxuries. Located on one of the Kirawira range of hills in the western corridor of the Serengeti, the camp overlooks, in the near distance, the famous Grumeti River with its giant crocodiles and, some distance beyond, Speke's Bay, a part of Lake Victoria.

The camp is all canvas and is almost invisible from afar. It is designed and sited to harmonise with the natural surroundings whilst offering the highest standards of comfort and service. Twenty-five double tents on platforms have either twin or king-sized beds, mosquito netted and covered in bright patchwork covers. The en-suite bathroom contains a generous selection of Floris goodies including blissful aromatherapy oils, a robe and large, soft white towels. The wardrobe is leather cornered and studded just like a colonial travelling trunk. A dish of delicious treats awaits the weary traveller - fresh fruit, chocolate, sweetmeats and nuts tempt the palate. A large tented verandah allows you to gaze at the lovely views as you sip your drink and think about the Empire!

A covered terrace flanks the main lounge and frames vistas across the plains to the misty-blue Bunda Hills rising in the distance. A thoughtfully placed telescope allows you to pick out minute detail. Here you may take afternoon tea, served from a silver teapot. This is also a favourite spot in which to take a sundowner. Kirawira serves a potent cocktail called the "paralytic weaver". The second part of the name refers to the little birds that weave their straw nests in the trees around the camp, the first part is self-explanatory! Dinner is served in the dining tent, where white napery, crystal and porcelain recalls colonial dinner parties. Waiters wearing the khanzu - a long white tunic - will serve the high quality cuisine in which East African flavours predominate yet are never overpowering.

Local guides have expert knowledge of tracking and game movement and, if you are there at the right time, will show you the magnificent and inspirational migration of well over a million wildebeest and zebra as they move towards the Masai Mara in search of fresh grazing and water. The Serengeti is also deservedly famous for its lions and boasts over five hundred species of birds. The camp has strategically placed birdbaths dotted around which were, in earlier times, grindstones once used by local inhabitants. Kirawira provides a tranquil environment from which to enjoy the African scenery and wildlife.

Ngorongoro Serena Lodge
Ngorongoro Serena Lodge is perched on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater with exquisite views of the crater, one of the wonders of the natural world. Your first sighting of the crater will simply take your breath away. The lodge is built of local stone and blends harmoniously into its surroundings. From here you will descend the wall of the crater for a most amazing game drive inside the crater. Glorious sunrises and sunsets, roaring log fires and excellent food all form part of the renowned Serena experience.

Lake Manyara Serena Lodge
Lake Manyara Serena Lodge is located at the edge of the Mto Wa Mbu escarpment, overlooking the Great Rift Valley and the stunning Manyara soda lake. The views of the lake from this escarpment are simply breathtaking. Lake Manyara National Park is only a 15 minute drive down the escarpment. The Park has long been known for its tree-climbing lions and the large elephant population, while ornithologists from around the world come to observe the masses of pink flamingos and great birds of prey around the lake which can also be seen from the lodge and its rooms.

Lake Manyara Serena Lodge is built in a traditional African architectural style, with graceful domed ceilings, swooping curves, geometric patterns and circular buildings that look like large African huts. Colourful murals adorn the walls. Manyara Serena Lodge has a private balcony with panoramic views of the Great Rift Valley and of Lake Manyara. The views from the simply yet elegantly decorated bedrooms are terrific, especially at sunrise. Sunset, however, is best viewed while downing a sundowner at the superbly located poolside, a welcome facility for those who want to cool off in the scorching afternoon heat. Meals at the lodge are eclectic and of a high standard. Full English breakfasts are a Serena specialty and worth every penny! The full-service lounge and bar serves fresh fruit juices, soft drinks, tea and coffee, cocktails, wines, spirits and liqueurs.