Best of East Africa

Day 1 : Nairobi > Samburu National Reserve

You will be met at your hotel in Nairobi and transferred to Samburu National Reserve. Stop for lunch along the way at Trout Tree Restaurant, then enjoy your first game drive en route to your lodge.

Day 2 : Samburu National Reserve

Enjoy a full day in the reserve, embarking on morning and afternoon game drives. Samburu is different from many of Kenya’s other parks with its dry and dramatic terrain and specially adapted wildlife such as oryx, Somali blue necked ostrich and Grevy’s zebra. Herds of elephant are drawn to the brown waters of the Uaso Nyiro River which cuts through the reserve, and the park has a large variety of birds for the keen birder.

Day 3 : Samburu > Aberdare National Park

After breakfast, drive to the Aberdare region, arriving in time for lunch and check in at the Aberdare Country Club. Later transfer to your lodge and spend the rest of the day watching wildlife from the viewing decks at the lodge’s natural waterhole, frequented by giant forest hogs, buffalo, elephant, hyena, Egyptian geese and the occasional leopard. The waterhole is floodlit by night so that guests may see the nocturnal wildlife.

Day 4 : Aberdare > Lake Nakuru National Park

Enjoy breakfast at the lodge then travel to Lake Nakuru National Park for a game drive. Savour a sumptuous lunch at Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge, then enjoy an afternoon game drive in the park. The park’s ecosystem is based around the lake, which is surrounded by mainly wooded and bushy grasslands. The park is an important Ramsar site (wetlands deemed to be of international importance) and supports a wide ecological diversity. The 188 square km Lake Nakuru is the only Kenya Wildlife Service-administered reserve that is fully enclosed.

Once just a bird sanctuary, Lake Nakuru is now the best place in Kenya to see the highly protected black and white rhino. Among other animals found in the park are rhino, lion, leopard, flamingo, Egyptian geese, waterbuck, giraffe, hyena, buffalo, baboon, vervet monkey and gazelle, with other water birds being among other major attractions of the area. In the evening head out on a game drive as the animals start getting active, returning to your lodge at sunset.

Day 5 : Lake Nakuru National Park > Masai Mara National Reserve

After breakfast, drive to the Masai Mara National Reserve, arriving in time to check in at your lodge and enjoy lunch. An afternoon game drive in the reserve offers 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.

Day 6 : Masai Mara National Reserve

Today spend a full day in the reserve with morning and afternoon game drives. The Masai Mara Game Reserve is approximately 1510km² of incredible wide-open landscapes and fertile riverine woodland following the looping meanders of the Mara and Talek rivers. It is typical open savannah, with a mass of amazing wildlife, hosting over 95 species of mammals and 570 recorded species of bird. All of the “Big Five” (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and black rhino) are found in this reserve, along with hippo, Nile crocodile, hyena, cheetah, jackal and bat–eared foxes.

Day 7 : Masai Mara > Lake Naivasha

After breakfast drive to Lake Naivasha. Check in and enjoy lunch at your accommodation before heading out on an afternoon boat ride – a great opportunity to get closer to the hippos!

Day 8 : Lake Naivasha > Amboseli National Park

After breakfast, drive to Amboseli National Park. Check in and enjoy lunch at your lodge – your accommodation for the next two nights. Located in the heart of the Amboseli National Park, this lodge offers stunning views of Mount Kilimanjaro. This afternoon take a game drive in the park.

Day 9 : Amboseli National Park

A full day is spent in the park on morning and afternoon game drives. Amboseli is set at the foot of the most famous symbol of Africa – Mt Kilimanjaro broods high over the park, generally cloaked by clouds but appearing in all its snow-shrouded magnificence from time to time. Kilimanjaro was once part of Kenya, but on the marriage of Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, Queen Victoria gifted it to her beloved grandson, whose colony Tanzania then was, as the perfect wedding present. The mountain now provides water for the park, wonderful views and, of course, the most glorious background for animal photography.

Day 10 : Amboseli > Lake Manyara National Park

After breakfast drive to the Namanga border, and after clearing customs and immigrations, meet your Tanzania driver-guide. Drive to Arusha for lunch, then enjoy an afternoon game drive in Lake Manyara National Park en route to your lodge.

Day 11 : Lake Manyara > Central Serengeti

After breakfast, travel to the central region of Serengeti National Park. Check in and enjoy lunch before an afternoon game drive. As well as plains game, the park is also renowned for its predators including lion, cheetah, leopard, hyena, jackal and wild dog.

Day 12 : Central Serengeti

A full day is spent in the park with morning and afternoon game drives. Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly the most famous wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and the greatest concentration of plains game anywhere. This park is home to the largest concentrations of animals in Tanzania and is the southern extension of the famous Masai Mara Game Reserve of Kenya.

Day 13 : Serengeti > Ngorongoro Crater > Karatu

Enjoy breakfast before your drive to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area with a picnic lunch on the way. On arrival you descend to the crater floor for rest of the day’s game drives. The Ngorongoro Crater is often called ‘Africa’s Eden’ and the ‘8th Natural Wonder of the World’. A visit to the crater is a main draw card for safari-goers in Tanzania and is a world-class attraction. The Ngorongoro Crater is actually a caldera, which was formed some 2.5 million years ago from a volcanic mountain sinking due to inactivity. The mountain is thought to have been higher than Mount Kilimanjaro.

The crater has evolved into a unique and integral part of Tanzania’s eco-system. Measuring 22.5 km across, with 600m high rim walls, views from within and from the rim are absolutely breathtaking. The crater houses 30,000 animals and a large variety of birds, which rarely move from the area due to the availability of water through wet and dry seasons.

Day 14 : Karatu > Arusha > Kilimanjaro

After breakfast at your lodge, drive to Arusha and onward to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward flight.