15 Day Masai Heartlands (BS-YOM)

Karibu! Welcome to Kenya.

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 and park fees at this meeting. Please bring USD notes/bills printed after 2003 in large denominations.

Please note this is a combination trip. The composition of your group, your group leader and your overland vehicle will change in Narok.

Nairobi is a bustling city that is constantly alive with a wide array of restaurants, clubs, pubs and discos. 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.

We spend tonight in a hotel.

Leaving Nairobi in the morning, we drive north to the Lake Nakuru National Park (160km, approx. 3 hours), reaching it in time for lunch. The lake is nestled in a beautiful park of light acacia forest, a habitat which attracts large flocks of white pelicans, cormorants and a huge number of flamingos that transform the lake into an incredible shimmering pink haze. The savannah areas of this park also boast many fascinating mammals including giraffes, leopards, waterbucks and rhinos. We set up camp, before enjoying an afternoon game drive.

While tonight's campground is beautifully located, it is very basic, having drop toilets and cold showers.

We leave Nakuru after an early morning game drive, and head off to Lake Naivasha, one of the few freshwater lakes in the Great Rift Valley. The drive to Naivasha takes approximately 2.5 hours (70km). The road is under construction and is dusty, bumpy and slow.

Lake Naivasha has floating islands of papyrus reeds and a border of flat-topped acacias. It is also home to a healthy population of hippos and a tremendous variety of birds.

The following day is free to take part in some of the many activities available or to relax in the beautiful lakeside surroundings. Optional activities include a boat trip on Lake Naivasha, a walking safari within the Hell's Gate National Park, cycling trips or a visit to the Elsamere Conservation Centre (Joy Adamson's old home) to name just a few.

These nights we camp. There are hot and cold showers and flush toilets.

We depart Lake Nairvasha in the morning and do a spot of food shopping, taking our lunch break en route to our camp site at Loita Hills. Distance travelled today is about 200km and takes approximately 5 hours. The first 60km is on tar sealed road but the rest is rough, dusty and bumpy!

Today's drive crosses the Great Rift Valley, Africa's immense and spectacular great divide, and takes us into the remote region of Loita Hills, home of the traditional Masai people. Here, we visit the Masai, known for their vibrant red dress and elaborate jewellery, and gain an insight into the culture and ancient ways of these proud East African warrior tribesmen.

After setting up our tents, it is time to meet our Masai hosts as we receive a fascinating talk offering insights into this remarkable and ancient culture from a local elder.

It is 70km from Loita to Masai Mara which will take us 1.5 hours. The road is good but dusty when dry and could be slippery and soft when wet.

Enter the world-famous Masai Mara and explore this marvellously diverse environment.

After breakfast we head off to the local Masai village for a detailed encounter into the lives of these fascinating people. Enjoy being shown around a traditional Masai home, cattle enclosures and participate in the milking of the precious cattle before the chance to experience an optional warrior dance and participate in spear throwing.

After lunch and a rest at our Mara campsite, we will set off for our first game drive in this famous reserve. While we hope to discover the "big five" there is a multitude of wildlife to view. We will need to be very lucky to catch a glimpse of the elusive leopard!

On our second day here we spend the entire day in the reserve. After a pre dawn coffee and snack we head off in our wildlife spoting quest. We take our brunch by the side of the Mara river - a great chance to spot crocs and of course hippos.

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!

(Please note if you are taking a balloon ride over the Mara you will be taken to the launch place from our campsite before dawn and returned to the group when you have finished your ride).

These nights we camp in a campground with toilets and showers.

Today we drive to Narok, a town with a large Masai population. Take a break from pitching tents and relax at a hotel. Take a refreshing dip in the pool and enjoy a cool drink or go for a walk around the town and meet some local people.

Please note that this trip is a combination of our Serengeti Trails and Kenya Wildlife Safari. The composition of your group and crew may change on day 9. To save you driving all of the way into Nairobi to collect travellers who are doing the second half of your tour, the night of day 8 is spent with other travellers completing the combination tour in a hotel in Narok. This night is unaccompanied by a tour leader.

Tonight we stay twin share in a tourist class hotel.

After meeting our new travelling companions, we leave Narok and travel west.

Crossing the incredibly scenic Great Rift Valley on the way to the tea-growing highlands is a fantastic introduction to the beautiful landscapes of Kenya. We also pass through the ancient homeland of the Masai. Look out for these tall, graceful tribesmen dressed in distinctive scarlet robes, tending to their prized herds of cattle.

Our picnic lunch is in Narok town where we will pick up our fellow passengers who have previously completed an eight day trip around Kenya.

We make our final stop near the hilltop town of Kisii, our last chance to stock up on supplies before heading into the African wilderness. Today's drive will take approximately 5 hours (230km) and the roads are pretty rough!

Tonight we camp with hot/cold showers and flush toilets. If we arrive late you may be acommodated in very, very simple share style rooms with ensuite (bedding provided).

We begin this morning we a visit to a one of this areas famous sandstone carving co-operatives. You can watch the master craftsmen at work and perhaps also pick up a few hand-carved souvenirs while you're here. Along the way today we visit an African market place for a chance to interact with the people of Musoma.

Today we cross the border into Tanzania (230km, approx. 6 hours including border crossing at Sirari, Kenya/Isebania, Tanzania) and camp on the shores of Africa's largest lake. This section of Lake Victoria is one of the least visited and, as a result, also the least developed. Enjoy being one of the only tourists around!

This afternoon there are plenty of activities to choose from. You may wish to hire bicycles for a facinating local experience from handlebar height. It is possible to hire a boat and visit a local island, or you may prefer to just chill out with a cold drink lakeside.

Tonight we camp with hot/cold showers and flush toilets.

Today we cover 100km from Lake Victoria to the Park gate on a smooth road before enjoying our picnic lunch at the entrance to the Serengeti. The following 120km is completed driving through the Serengeti and the driving will be slow as we game drive our way to our campsite. We reach our bush camp in the heart of the park at around 6pm.

The Serengeti National Park is world-famous for the quality of its game viewing. We spend two days exploring the vast grass plains, rock outcrops (kopjes) and sparsely wooded river valleys of this wonderful park- a haven for lions, cheetahs, leopards, wildebeest, zebras, giraffes and gazelles. For the ultimate safari experience we search for animals in the early morning and late afternoon, when most creatures come out to feed.

Our second day here we awaken at dawn to begin our game drive. We will head out while the animals are at their most active and head back to camp for brunch around 11am. After spending the day relaxing (just like the animals do) we head out again as the day begins to cool for our dusk game drive, returning in time for another delicious camp dinner.

An optional balloon ride over the Serengeti 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 Serengeti 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!

These nights we bush camp with drop toilets and cold showers. Camping within the Serengeti itself you will hear the sounds of nocturnal animals as you drift off to sleep.

This morning we game drive out of the park, leaving around lunchtime, as we continue our journey to the extraordinary Ngorongoro Crater. It will take us 3 hours to get to our camp on the rim of the crater once we leave the Serengeti (70km).

Along the way we stop at Olduvai Gorge, better known as the Cradle of Mankind, where some of the world's oldest humanoid skeletons were discovered.

Our campsite on the rim of the crater overlooks jagged volcanic peaks and rolling grasslands thousands of feet below - you can be sure that there are few campsites in the world that have a better view than this!

Tonight we camp with drop toilets and cold showers.

Please note- you will notice many Masai villages in the region of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. While it is of course fascinating to visit different cultures, past experience has shown that these villages exist primarily as businesses. You will be charged an entry fee of US$20 and the Masai will try very hard to sell souvenirs to you. While many clients still enjoy the experience, others have found it artificial and uncomfortable. We would very much prefer that Intrepid clients choose to by-pass this activity as we feel it negatively impacts the Masai culture and your perception of this culture. Unfortunately the tourist village business is such a high earner that we have been unable to find an "Intrepid" Masai experience in Tanzania such as that we are able to offer on our Kenyan Wildlife Safari, which is disappointing for all."

We spend this morning on the crater floor, travelling in smaller 4WD vehicles accompanied by a local driver. There is excellent game-viewing all year round here, as the crater has about 30,000 resident animals. The photographic opportunities are unrivalled and this is one of the best places to see critically endangered black rhinos.

After the safari, ascend the slopes of the volcanic massif to the village of Mto Wa Mbu where we will make a short stop. Time allowing, there is the opportunity in this tiny town to browse the bustling markets and maybe bargain for some ebony makonde carvings or brightly coloured Tanzanian fabrics. We then continue on to tonight's campsite. It takes approx. 4.5 hours to get to our camp once we ascend the crater (140km).

Tonight we camp with flush toilets and hot/cold showers. There is also a bar allowing the chance for some final night drinks to celebrate our journey.

We travel across open plains to the beautifully-situated country town of Arusha and then on to Nairobi where the tour ends in the late afternoon. The drive to Nairobi including lunch and the border crossing into Kenya takes about 7 hours (300km). We use the Namanga, Tanzania/Namanga, Kenya border crossing.

Your tour ends between 4 and 6pm. Please do not book your departure flight until after 9pm. We are able to arrange additional accommodation for tonight in Nairobi - please enquire at time of booking.