KENYA AND TANZANIA BUSH EXPEDITION WITH ZANZIBAR BEACH EXTENSION
Day 1: NAIROBI
On arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you will be met by our representative who will transfer you to the Nairobi Safari Club for your overnight stay.
You will find a city that is lively, cosmopolitan and full of contrasts. It’s a place of smart office workers, mansions and expensive suburban shopping centers as well as overcrowded slums of people trying to struggle on as best they can. Nairobi, one of Africa’s major cities: the UN’s fourth “World Centre”, and East Africa’s hub for commerce and aid, displays enormous vitality and buzz. It’s hard to imagine a city with a more fascinating variety of people, and almost all of them newcomers. Most are immigrants from rural areas, drawn to the presence and opportunities of money, and Nairobi seems to accept everyone with complete tolerance. It’s hard to imagine that this city celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1999 and that where it now stands, only Maasai manyatas stood barely a century ago!
Overnight stay: Nairobi Safari Club
Meal Plan: Bed and breakfast
Day 2: NAIROBI – MASAI MARA NATIONAL GAME RESERVE
After your breakfast, you will depart for the Masai Mara National Game Reserve with a brief stop at the Great Rift Valley view point before proceeding with the drive to arrive in time for check in and lunch at the Basecamp Masai Mara. You will then spend the afternoon leisurely before going for an evening game drive game drive till dusk when you return to your camp.
A pioneering Mara eco-camp, opened in 1998, Basecamp Maasai Mara is a moderately sized tented camp in Koiyaki Group Ranch, just outside the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Close to Talek Gate and the small settlement of Talek, the camp is ranged in riverine forest along the north bank of the Talek River, which forms the reserve’s north-east boundary. The camp has direct access to the reserve via a private footbridge. Basecamp Maasai Mara achieved world fame in 2006 by hosting Barack Obama during his visit to Kenya two years before he became US president.
Overnight stay: Basecamp Masai Mara
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 3 & 4: MASAI MARA NATIONAL GAME RESERVE
Spend the next two days on game drives exploring the Masai Mara with picnic lunches taken out in the wild. The open grasslands are home to incredibly rich and varied wildlife and the awesome, annual migration of millions of wildebeest and antelope is the highlight of any visit to Africa from July to October. The Masai Mara Game Reserve is arguably Kenya’s most popular game sanctuary. It is the most famous and most visited game reserve in Kenya. The film ‘Out of Africa’ was made to a great extent in this reserve. Virtually every type of wildlife can be seen at the Mara.
A spectacle worth seeing is the annual migration of millions of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle from Serengeti plains across the Tanzania border and the Mara River to reach Masai Mara grazing fields from late June. The dramatic crossing of the river and the preying on the migrants by predators can be viewed from early July to August. The reserve abounds with birdlife since dose to about 452 species have been recorded. Hot air balloon safaris are readily available in this park.
Overnight stay: Basecamp Masai Mara
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 5: MASAI MARA NATIONAL GAME RESERVE – LAKE NAIVASHA
0730hrs. After your breakfast, you will depart for the Lake Naivasha to arrive in time for check in and lunch at the Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort. You will then spend the afternoon at leisure followed by an evening boat ride to the crescent island – The Park where you walk with the Animals!
There is just one “Crescent Island Game Park”. Located on Lake Naivasha, Kenya in the Great Rift Valley. There are more animals per acre than any other Kenyan Park; hence many film companies have been to the Island to film the herds of Wildebeest, Waterbuck, Zebra and Gazelle.
They are not fenced to allow the wildlife on the mainland to come in as they lose their habitat to development and the ever increasing population. Hippo graze all over us at night then sleep under the acacia or rest in the water by day. The giraffe who were born on the Island return to give birth; sometimes you see three generations at a time. Hyena come to hunt at night but are not resident on the island, the many python who do live here can be seen occasionally with a kill. Groups of Buffalo come and go but they are always monitored.
From the top of the hill there is a 360 degree view across the Lake from Longonot to Hell’s Gate to the Mau Escarpment to Eburu and onto the Aberdares. Walking along the ridge in the golden hour before sunset whilst watching the animals grazing with the water shimmering beyond, is what Africa is all about. Take a boat back to the lodge.
Overnight stay: Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 6: LAKE NAIVASHA – ARUSHA
0700hrs. After your breakfast, you will depart for Nairobi to arrive in time for lunch at the Silver Springs Hotel. Thereafter, you will be picked up by a local bus shuttle and depart for Arusha at 1400hrs via the Namanga border town where you will have the cross border formalities and proceed with the drive to arrive in Arusha in time for check in at the Kibo Palace Hotel.
Overnight stay: Kibo Palace Hotel
Meal Plan: Bed and breakfast
Day 7: ARUSHA – NGORONGORO NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA
After breakfast depart for Ngorongoro Conservation Area where you will have lunch at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. The lodge sits on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater from where you get awesome views of the collapsed volcano.
After your lunch you will go for an afternoon crater tour. This area’s main attraction is the Ngorongoro Crater, fondly known as “Africa’s Garden of Eden”. A candidate for the new seven wonders of the world, this massive crater holds its own in that category. Being the world’s largest unbroken caldera, Ngorongoro is home to over 25,000 animals. It is considered one of the best game viewing spots in the world with a chance to see the big five, zebras and wildebeests. The crater holds almost every individual species of wildlife in East Africa including the extremely rare and critically endangered Black Rhino.
Overnight stay: Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 8: NGORONGORO NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA – SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK
After your breakfast you will depart with picnic lunch boxes for the Serengeti National Park, arriving in time for your afternoon game drive enroute to the Serengeti Sopa Lodge. You will then spend the evening at leisure.
Serengeti is the stage on which the most spectacular wonder of nature takes place, the Great Migration. It is on this park that millions of ungulates comprising of wildebeests and zebras make that all important trek from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara National Park in Kenya. But that’s not all the Serengeti has to offer, it boasts the largest and highest concentration of wildlife in the world. Spanning an impressive 15,000 sq km area, this savannah is home to all the members of the Big 5, the splendid cheetah, gazelles, African wild dog, giraffes and approximately 500 species of bird, making it a bird watchers’ paradise as well.
Overnight stay: Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 9: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK
You will spend the whole day in the Serengeti National park with both the morning and evening game drive. An alternative would be to go for a whole day’s game drive with picnic lunch boxes and return to your lodge later in the evening.
Overnight stay: Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 10: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK – LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK
0700hrs. After your breakfast, drive to the Ngorongoro Highlands. You will have lunch at Gibbs Farm, formerly a working coffee farm. Then proceed for an afternoon visit of the waterfalls en-route to Lake Manyara to arrive in time for dinner at your lodge.
Lake Manyara Park area is famous for its unusual species of lions and countless species of migrating birds, including pelicans and flamingos. In the area of high vegetation, closer to the entrance to the park hosts a number of populations of baboons, “black monkeys”. In addition, you can meet more than 350 species of birds. The lodge stretches unforgettable view of the salt lake inhabited by large numbers of hippos and the edge of the Great Rift Valley (Great Rift Valley).
Overnight stay: Lake Manyara Hotel
Meal Plan: Full Board
Day 11: LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK – ARUSHA – ZANZIBAR
After breakfast, depart at 0630 hrs for a morning game drive in Lake Manyara National Park. Famous for its breathtaking show of flamingos, this park also host to the very rare tree-climbing lions. This is the only other location in the world where you can encounter these elusive lions. Add the over 400 species of birds, Big Five, blue monkeys, dik-dik, gazelle, hippo, giraffe, impala among others and this 330 sq. km park is a game lover and birdwatchers’ paradise.
You will the depart for Arusha to arrive in time for lunch at the Arusha Coffee Lodge before proceeding to the Arusha Airport in time for your afternoon flight to Zanzibar where upon arrival, another of our representative will transfer you to the Bluebay Beach Resort for check in.
Bluebay Beach Resort is situated on the finest wide, white, sandy beach on the island of Zanzibar.
The Resort is on the most beautiful 30-acre site with its bedroom cottages located on rising ground overlooking verdant gardens, the public areas, the pool, the more than 1,000 beautiful palm trees, the sparkling white beach and the azure seas beyond.
Overnight stay: Bluebay Beach Resort (Superior Sea View Room)
Meal Plan: Half Board
Day 12- 14: ZANZIBAR
You will spend the whole day leisurely at your beach hotel with optional water sport activities and Zanzibar excursions available at extra costs.
Zanzibar Island, whose local name is Unguja, is one of two main islands that make up the semi-autonomous state of Zanzibar. It is a partner state in the United Republic of Tanzania, the largest country in the east coast of Africa. Zanzibar is located in the Indian Ocean, about 35 km off the coast of mainland Tanzania, at Longitude 39 degrees East and Latitude 6 degrees south of the Equator. The highest point of the island is 150 meters above sea level.
The Island’s capital, also known as Zanzibar, is one of the oldest cities in Africa and boasts of a World Heritage Site in its collection of some of Africa’s most valuable ancient architecture. It was established and for centuries ruled by Omani Sultans who reigned supreme in the east coast of Africa before the Portuguese and later the British came calling.
Overnight stay: Bluebay Beach Resort (Superior Sea View Room)
Meal Plan: Half Board
Day 15: DEPART
After your breakfast, depending on your departure flight, you will spend the morning at leisure before being transferred to the Zanzibar Airport in time for your flight back home
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