Kenya Wildlife Safari

Kenya Wildlife Safari
2017 Season

Nairobi, then 9 game drives in Samburu, Ol Pejeta, Lake Nakuru & Masai Mara; Stay in deluxe Nairobi hotels & superior safari lodges

Overview

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Style	Small Group TourTravel with a small, intimate group of no more than 16 likeminded travelers (and often much fewer), escorted by an English speaking guide and/or tour manager for some or all of your journey. (Some exceptions, including special promotional packages, may accommodate up to 30.) More of these packages Dedicated tour escorts & guides throughout
Departures		Group Size	18 travelers max
Themes	Active, Nature & Wildlife
What to Expect	This fast-paced, partially escorted tour includes a reasonable amount of walking or hiking and requires an average level of physical fitness. This tour also includes long scenic drives between destinations, sometimes on bumpy unpaved roads and may have limited rest stops. Travel safely and confidently with our new health & safety protocols.
Already booked?	Find everything you need to know before you go, including information about passport & visa requirements, flights, luggage, and more.

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Savvy travelers and novices alike include Kenya on their list of dream destinations, and for very good reason. Kenya is blessed with an abundance of spectacular wildlife and lavishly gorgeous, incredibly photogenic landscapes. Everywhere you go, from the teeming cities to the plains of the Masai Mara, the people are friendly and welcoming. Tourist infrastructure is amazing, often offering white glove service where the basics of running water and electricity appear impossible to find. Game reserves are magnificent, filled with all manner of wildlife, beautiful lakes and beaches, and sweeping vistas that seem to go on forever.

With more than 50 parks to choose from in Kenya alone, it's hard to decide where to go. But everyone agrees that the Masai Mara and Samburu parks are must-visit sites. Our Kenya Wildlife Safari includes them both plus a lot more! And like all Friendly Planet tours, you'll enjoy the best of Kenya at prices that are as amazing as the country itself. Want even more iconic Africa? Extend your stay with a post-tour to the majestic Victoria Falls (available for 2018 departures).

To enhance your visit to Kenya and make it more complete and memorable, we offer exciting optional excursions. These are available through your guide or tour manager and must be purchased locally. See our detailed itinerary below for full descriptions of each excursion. More information, including updates on pricing and availability, will be included with your travel documents.

Package includes

Flights
Coach
Transfers
Hotel
Meals
Guides

Round trip airfare from New York to Nairobi, including fuel surcharges and taxes and fees
All intra-Africa land transportation and transfers
7 nights accommodations at Deluxe Nairobi hotels and Superior Class safari lodges
20 meals: 7 full buffet breakfasts, 6 lunches, 6 dinners, plus a special farewell lunch (or dinner) at the famous Carnivore Restaurant
Comprehensive sightseeing tours and game-viewing drives
All-wheel drive (4x4) safari vehicles with guaranteed window seat and access to roof hatch, maximum 6 guests per vehicle
Experienced driver/guide
Comprehensive sightseeing tours in Nairobi by local English-speaking guide
Visit Jane Goodall Chimpanzee sanctuary

Optional add-ons

Masai Mara Hot Air Balloon Safari

Why you'll love it

Nairobi, Samburu Game Reserve, Visit Jane Goodall Chimpanzee sanctuary, OL Pejeta Conservancy, Lake Naivasha & Masai Mara National Reserve

Videos

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Depart USA

Depart the USA on your overnight flight to Nairobi, Kenya via Europe

Day 2: Arrive Nairobi

1 night EKA Hotel Nairobi.

Upon arrival, you’ll be assisted with passport & customs formalities and escorted to your hotel

Day 3: Samburu Game Reserve

2 nights Samburu Intrepids Camp. Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

Travel north to the remote Samburu Reserve

After a stop for lunch, continue to your lodge, enjoying a game drive en route

Full Day Itinerary: After breakfast, travel north to the remote Samburu Reserve. This is the homeland of the nomadic Samburu people, whose culture attaches great value to tending their livestock of cattle, sheep, goats and camels as their main economic activity. The Samburu people dress is dramatic with bright reds, braided hair and skin daubed in red ochre.

Samburu is rich in species not seen in southern Kenya's more famous parks, such as Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, beisa oryx and gerenuk. You'll also have a good chance of spotting lions, cheetahs and the elusive leopard. The semiarid landscape is dramatic, with the rugged outcrop known as Mt. Ololokwe a prominent feature. After a stop for lunch, continue to your lodge, enjoying a game drive en route.

Day 4: Samburu Game Reserve

Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

Morning game drive

Lunch, followed by some free time to relax

Early evening game drive

Full Day Itinerary: Enjoy another day of game viewing drives in the Samburu Game Reserve during two safari drives, one in the morning and another in the early evening, in a safari vehicle with roof hatch access for perfect game viewing and photography. Guided by your expert driver, enjoy searching for animals native to this fascinating and beautiful area.

Day 5: Ol Pejeta Conservancy

1 night Sweetwaters Tented Camp, Ol Pejeta. Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

After a morning game drive and breakfast, depart for Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Upon arrival, enjoy lunch at your camp

In the afternoon, visit the Jane Goodall Chimpanzee sanctuary followed by a game drive

This evening sit by the lit waterhole to view the animals

Full Day Itinerary: After a morning game drive and breakfast, depart for the 90,000 acre Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The conservancy is situated on the equator, in Kenya’s Laikipia District, between the foothills of the Aberdares and the snow-capped Mount Kenya. The conservancy hosts a large variety of animals, including Grevy’s zebra, Jackson’s hartebeest, cheetah and chimpanzee. Enjoy lunch at your camp. In the afternoon, visit the Jane Goodall Chimpanzee sanctuary followed by a game drive. In the evening sit by the lit waterhole to view the animals.

Day 6: Lake Nakuru & Lake Naivasha

1 night Naivasha Sopa Lodge, Lake Naivasha. Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

Early this morning, travel to Lake Nakuru National Park

Enjoy lunch at one of the lodges, followed by a game drive

Later drive to Lake Naivasha for overnight

Full Day Itinerary: Early this morning, travel to Lake Nakuru National Park. Travel south through the town of Naromoru and then head west via Nyahururu (still known to many as Thompsons Falls). This park is a rhino sanctuary, offering the rare opportunity to see these endangered animals. It's also home to rare Rothschild's giraffes, buffalo, leopards and lions. Enjoy lunch at one of the lodges, followed by a game drive. Later drive to Lake Naivasha for overnight.

Day 7: Masai Mara National Reserve

2 nights Mara Intrepids Camp, Masai Mara Reserve. Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

After breakfast, head out for the Masai Mara National Reserve

Enjoy lunch at your lodge then relax

Later this afternoon take your first game in the Masai Mara

Full Day Itinerary: After breakfast, head out for the Masai Mara National Reserve, which borders Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. Every year, between July and September, millions of wildebeests and zebras migrate into the Mara in search of water. The timing of this phenomenon varies, depending on the rains, but they usually start heading back to the Serengeti in October.

Whether you see the migration or not, the grassy plains and lush landscape offer a huge variety of game including lions, cheetahs, buffalo and abundant bird life such as ostriches, cranes and storks. Enjoy lunch at your lodge then relax until later this afternoon when you'll take your first game drive through this haven of wildlife.

Optional Excursion: Masai Village Tour, $25 (purchased locally). This afternoon, you can get an in-depth look at this colorful and pastoral people in their natural setting. Experience what the Masai tribal life is like as you walk through a traditional village compound. You'll be greeted by the village chief and be escorted around the village by a local host who will explain the history, culture and practices of the Masai. Before departing the village, enjoy a cultural performance by the young men of the tribe, the famed warrior "morans". Credit cards not accepted for this excursion.

Day 8: Masai Mara National Reserve

Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

Morning game drive, or take an optional hot air balloon safari

Lunch at the lodge, followed by some free time to relax

Late afternoon game drive

Full Day Itinerary: Today you will take two safari drives, one in the morning and another in the early evening, in a safari vehicle with roof hatch access for perfect game viewing and photography. You have the option of replacing one safari drive with an optional balloon safari, which provides a thrilling opportunity to soar high over the plain for animal viewing from above.

Whether you go by air or land, you will enjoy searching for animals native to this fascinating and beautiful area guided by your expert driver, who will amaze you with his ability to spot game hidden in the bush.

Optional Excursion: Masai Mara Hot Air Balloon Safari & Champagne Breakfast, $450 (purchased locally). Enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take a balloon ride across the Masai Mara. Weather conditions permitting, your flight begins in the pre-dawn hours, when the view over the park is most magnificent. Toward the end of your adventure, you'll rise to a height of 1,500 feet for a panoramic view of the twisting Mara River and the savannah below. After an hour or so in the air, your safari finishes with a champagne breakfast in the bush, cooked on the balloon's burners. Flight may not operate if weather conditions are not suitable.

Day 9: Masai Mara & Nairobi/Depart Kenya

Breakfast & lunch (or dinner).

Depart the Masai Mara for Nairobi

Visit the Karen Blixen Museum and the Kazuri Bead factory

Stop at the Langata Giraffe Center

Enjoy a farewell lunch (or dinner) at the famous Carnivore Restaurant

Transfer to the airport for your overnight return flight via Europe

If continuing on the Victoria Falls extension, overnight in Nairobi

Full Day Itinerary: After breakfast, depart the Masai Mara for Nairobi and the Karen Blixen Museum. Before becoming a museum in 1991, the house and surrounding 4500 acre farm were owned by "Out of Africa" author Karen Blixen from 1917 till 1931.

Continue to the Kazuri Bead factory. Kazuri, which means "small and beautiful" in Swahili, began in 1975 as a tiny workshop experimenting in making handmade beads. The factory is located on part of the former Blixen estate. Its founder, Lady Susan Wood, started with two Kenyan women and soon discovered that there were many other women in the villages around Nairobi, most of them single mothers, who were in great need of regular employment.

Later, visit the Langata Giraffe Center, established to protect the endangered Rothschild's giraffe. There are also several warthogs which roam freely with the giraffes. Guests may feed the giraffes from a raised feeding platform.

Finally, enjoy an "all you can eat" farewell lunch (or dinner) at the famous Carnivore Restaurant. After your meal, bid farewell to Kenya as you transfer to the airport for your return flight via Europe. (Note: Lunch may be substituted with dinner on some departures.) If continuing on the optional Victoria Falls post-tour extension, you will overnight in Nairobi and continue on the extension itinerary below.

Day 10: Arrive USA

Arrive in the USA today

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Trip Details

What should I know before I go? We've compiled a comprehensive checklist, including information on how to pay your balance due, flights & transfers, packing & luggage, and more.
Do I need a visa or other documents? Are there any entry requirements? Travel visas are required for this package. Please review the visa & entry requirements.
Can I make changes to my trip? Want to upgrade your seats? Depart from another city? Stay a few extra days? Something else? Just ask!
Can I bring my kids? Are there any age restrictions? To book this package, you must be 18 or older. Your traveling companions must be 12 or older at time of travel.
Should I purchase travel insurance? Yes! We recommend you purchase travel insurance to help protect you and your travel investment against the unexpected. For your convenience, we offer a plan provided by Travelex Insurance Services.
What's the fine print? Review the terms & conditions for this package.
What should I know about Kenya? Check out our guide for practical travel tips, the best time to go, videos, and more.
What should I know about Zimbabwe? Check out our guide for practical travel tips, the best time to go, videos, and more.
What should I know about Botswana? Check out our guide for practical travel tips, the best time to go, videos, and more.