8 Day Kenya Adventure (BS-YSE)

Jambo! Welcome to Kenya.

IMPORTANT: As of 01/09/09 this trip will not be visiting Samburu National Reserve due to some localised violence occurring in the area. Many local farmers have moved their stock into the area of and around the park due to the prevailing drought conditions and there has been sporadic violent clashes between rangers and farmers. We wish to avoid any possibility of our passengers and staff being caught up in these problems.

New itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Nairobi

Days 2: Lake Nakuru

Days 3-4: Lake Naivasha

Day 5: Loita Hills

Days 6-7: Masai Mara National Reserve

Day 8: Nairobi

Added included activities in the new itinerary are:

• 1 day game viewing in Lake Nakuru National Park.
• A visit to New Hope Centre.
• A boat ride to Elsamere Conservation Centre.
• Walk in Crater Lake Game sactuary.
• A night with the Masai in Loita.
• 2 days game viewing in Masai Mara Game Reserve.

You can arrive at any time on day 1 as there are no activities planned until the important welcome meeting tonight at 6pm. Your leader will leave a note at reception telling you where this important meeting will take place. Please ask a member of reception for this information. After the group meeting there is the option of joining the group for dinner.

Your leader will collect your local payment today. Please bring USD notes/bills printed after 2003 in large denominations.

Nairobi is a bustling commercial centre known for its extraordinary ethnic diversity and for being East Africa's largest, highest (1,700 m) and youngest (founded in 1899) city. If you arrive early, head out to explore the National Museum of Kenya or the Karen Blixen Museum (author of Out of Africa), or Bomas which displays the traditional homesteads of several Kenyan tribes in an outdoor village.

Tonight we stay in a lovely hotel with swimming pool and restaurant. Rooms are clean and comfortable and have ensuite bathrooms.

Meal Plan: No meal provided

Today we journey northwards from Nairobi. Travelling through hilly countryside dotted with Kikuyu villages, we reach the slopes of Mt Kenya and are rewarded with marvellous views of Africa's second highest mountain as we cross its shoulders and continue north to the Samburu National Reserve. Here we make a stop in one of the many homesteads and have lunch with the locals.

The Samburu region has hardly been touched by tourism and its pristine wilderness is home to a fascinating mix of Kenya's nomadic tribes who still retain traditional ways of life. These tribes include the Samburu, Rendille, Turkana, and Kalenjin.

The Samburu National Park is famous for its reticulated giraffes, Grevy's zebras, graceful gerenuks, and Beisa oryx whilst crocodiles are often seen in the river. If we are lucky, we may also see lions or leopards here. We'll take a game drive into the park to see what we can spot. The Ewaso Nyiro River meanders through the reserve forming a ribbon of oases in the parched landscape. These patches of green are inhabited by local tribespeople and there is an option to visit the Samburu people and enjoy an informative tour of a village.

The camp is in the heart of the park. Facilities are drop toilets and cold showers. There is no running water tap. It takes roughly 8 hours (390km) to get to Samburu.

Meal Plan: Lunch & Dinner.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

Leaving the park early this morning, we travel through the fantastic scenery of the Great Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru National Park.

The lake is famous for its varied birdlife and, according to the ornithologist Tory Petersen, it is 'the world's greatest spectacle'. Nakuru's nutrient-rich waters often attract over 1 million flamingos, as well as pelicans, cormorants, and several hundred other bird species. Land animals are also well-represented here, including waterbucks, rare Rothschild's giraffes and zebras. We arrive here in time for a short afternoon game drive along the lakeshore.

The camp ground has drop toilets and cold showers. There is a running water tap.

Distance covered is 370km, (approx. 8-9 hours).

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

This morning, we spend time in the park looking for some of the abundant wildlife such as black rhinos, white rhinos, leopards, hippos, buffaloes and an impressive array of birdlife.

Later, we travel to Naivasha town where we have a chance to engage on a walk in the local market. This is a great chance to check out the different foods and items for sale and meet some of the characters who make their living in this interesting arena. Why not take the chance to try some nyama choma. It takes 1.5hrs (60Kms) from Nakuru to Naivasha town

We then drive to our camp on the shores of Lake Naivasha, one of the most beautiful of the Great Rift Valley bodies of water, to relax by the lakeside. Here, there are a wide variety of birds to view in and around the lake, and hippos are usually seen wallowing along the shores. It takes about 30 minutes from Naivasha to our camp.

There is an option here to take an afternoon boat trip along the scenic shallow waters for a closer look at these creatures.

The camp ground has hot showers and flush toilets. There is a running water tap.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

We drive south from Lake Naivasha, crossing the floor of the Great Rift Valley and passing through the homelands of the traditional Masai tribespeople. The distance today is 282km, about 6-7 hours drive. As we near the Masai Mara National Reserve, around mid-afternoon, we will briefly stop to plant a tree as part of Intrepid’s carbon offsetting campaign. We then enter the rolling plains of the Masai Mara Game Reserve, widely acknowledged to be Kenya's finest wildlife area.

The Masai Mara, with its undulating plains framed by riverine woodlands, is the northern extension of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. This reserve is especially famous for its black-maned lions, cheetahs and leopards. These predators find an abundant food supply in the herds of wildebeest, zebras, Thomson's and Grant's gazelles which roam the grasslands. Elephants are a fairly common sight here, while hippos and crocodiles are plentiful in the Mara River.

We spend all of our second day game driving around this world famous park. You'll never forget having your brunch in the wild beside the Mara river, if you are lucky surrounded by hippos and crocs. Don't worry, there's a friendly ranger present to keep us safe.

An optional balloon ride over the Masai Mara at sunrise is an unforgettable experience. If you have pre-booked this activity (please see Important Notes) you will be picked up and drive to the launch site, receive a safety briefing from your pilot and help inflate the balloon. You then glide through the dawn, sometimes at tree height providing amazing wildlife photography opportunities, sometimes ascending to get an overview of the enormity of the Masai Mara plains and the teeming herds of early morning wild life movements. Upon landing and before being returned to your accommodation you'll be treated to a five star bush breakfast!

There is an option (please see optional activities section of these trip notes for approximate prices) to visit the local Masai people and have a short informative tour of a village.

The camp is on the edge of the Mara and has a mixture of flush/drop toilets and cold/hot showers. There is a running water tap.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

Today we cut back across the Great Rift Valley, passing through the lands of magnificently dressed Masai tribespeople, who are often seen tending to their herds of cattle. Our return trip to Nairobi takes roughly 6 hours (250km). The tour ends on arrival in Nairobi, around mid afternoon. Our tour will end back at the start point hotel. Airport transfers are available, please enquire at time of booking.

Meal Plan: Day 8 - Breakfast.

No accommodation is provided for this night. if you would like to book additional accommodation please enquire at the time of booking. Pleasse do not book your departure flight before 7pm on day 8.