Kenya Safaris: MAJESTIC KENYA VINTAGE SPECIAL

Please check for seasonality.

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. Rest of the day is spent at leisure in Nairobi. Overnight at The Norfolk Hotel ( BB )

Day 2 Samburu & Buffalo Springs National Reserve
Drive north via Nanyuki and Mt Kenya to the Samburu National Reserve. Rugged and remote, this wildlife reserve provides some the best and most colorful game viewing in the country. Lunch en route at The Trout - Tree Restaurant. Afternoon game drive en route to the lodge. Meals and overnight at Samburu Intrepids Camp ( L-DBB )

Day 3 Samburu & Buffalo Springs N.R
Full day in Samburu with morning and afternoon game drives. Meals and overnight at Samburu Intrepids Camp (LDBB)

Day 4 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 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
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
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 Safari Club ( LDBB )

Day 8 Amboseli National Park
After breakfast, drive to Nairobi for lunch at a Nairobi restaurant. Afternoon proceed to the Amboseli National Park, lying below the most famous symbol of Africa, Mt Kilimanjaro. Afternoon game drive en-route to your lodge. Dinner and overnight at Ol Tukai Lodge (L-DBB )

Day 9 Amboseli National Park
Day spent in Amboseli National Park with morning and afternoon game drives. Meals and overnight at Ol Tukai Lodge ( LDBB )

Day 10 Departure
After breakfast, drive to Nairobi and drop off at your hotel or 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!

Ol Tukai Lodge
Deep in the heart of the world famous Amboseli National Park is the magnificent Ol Tukai Lodge with amazing views of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Ol Tukai is surrounded by yellow barked acacia trees and blends effortlessly into this celebrated African wilderness. This is an exceptional location for the naturalist - elephant, lion, buffalo, cheetah, leopard, giraffe, wildebeeste, gazelle are all found here in this haven dominated by acacias, phoenix palms and a partially dry lakebed of evaporated salts, all under the shadows of Africa's highest mountain. Speakers from the elephant research centre stay within the sizeable grounds of the lodge and give fascinating lectures daily. Bird-walks offer the professional or amateur ornithologist a wide variety of bird species.

At Ol Tukai, each of the 80 twin rooms, furnished in African woods and fabrics, is extremely comfortable and contain en-suite bathroom facilities. All have breathtaking views of the mountain and the wetlands where elephant and buffalo wallow in the afternoon when it is hotter. For the guests there is a superb swimming pool and a bar to relax at. The open-air Elephant Bar is the ideal place to enjoy drinks or sundowners as you watch the wildlife wander past. A well-stocked library is available to those who wish to learn more about Amboseli. With wildlife right on your doorstep day and night combined with the gorgeous views of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Ol Tukai offers a perfect stay inside Amboseli National Park, one of Africa's greatest wildlife reserves.

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.