You will arrive into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and after clearing immigration and customs formalities, you will be met by our representative and transferred to Hemingways Nairobi.
Nairobi is the largest city between Cairo and Johannesburg. Though just south of the equator, it enjoys a spring-like climate. It is a modern city, yet its main avenues blaze with colour from tropical bushes and vines. The nearby Nairobi National Park boasts the presence of all but one of the `Big Five'. Nairobi has a wealth of international restaurants. Cuisine of all types is available from Chinese to French and Italian. Several restaurants also offer local favourites.
Nightlife varies from dining out to going to local nightclubs with discos and bands. Shopping in Nairobi varies from African clothing and craft shops to bazaar stalls and open-air markets where souvenir hunters find bargains ranging from woodcarvings to Persian carpets. There are three excellent museums, offering insights into the fauna, culture and history of Kenya.
Hemingways Nairobi is the new luxury boutique hotel in the serene Karen suburb. Ideally positioned to give sweeping views of the Ngong hills, the property offers 45 enchanting rooms housed in an elegant plantation-style building. Each room is large and airy with un-interrupted views of the forested valleys and the rolling hills in the distance. The hotel prides itself in offering outstanding, personal service which includes valet and butler service for each room. Hemingways is the place to be in Nairobi.
You have the day in Nairobi to explore the surroundings which include a visit to the Giraffe Centre and the Karen Blixen Museum in a vintage car (replica or similar to the one used in the Out Of Africa movie.) Once you have finished your visit in the museum you will be picked up in a 4x4 land cruiser and taken up to the Ngong Hills to Denis Finch Hatton’s grave with the museum’s caretaker. After you have been told all the stories and taken in the beautiful views you will have a late lunch at Talisman restaurant followed by a visit to the Kazuri bead factory and the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage.
After breakfast you will be transfered to Wilson Airport for the scheduled 0730hrs flight to Tsavo. You will arrive at 0830hrs at the airstrip where you will be met by your host and transferred to the camp with a game-drive en route. Once you have arrived at the camp you will check in and be shown to your room where you can freshen up in time for lunch. After lunch there are a few hours to relax and enjoy the view from your veranda before setting off into the bush for an afternoon game drive.
Alternatively described as 'Kenya's finest camp' and 'the most luxurious tented camp in Africa', Finch Hatton’s is richly deserving of the superlatives. Situated along three spring-fed pools on the southwestern edge of Tsavo West, this luxurious camp offers a wildlife-rich oasis in an otherwise dry and barren land. But what Finch Hatton’s really does best is the luxury business.
Its namesake, the hunter and Karen Blixen's lover, Denys Finch Hatton, was renowned for going on safari with a bathtub, a gramophone player and the finest French wines. Finch Hatton’s certainly lives up to his name, with its glinting chandeliers, crystal glasses and discreet kanzu-clad waiters. The 35 tents are a picture of sophistication, with broad beds, antique furniture, minibars and luxurious bathrooms. The camp has a large fleet of safari vehicles and, for those who miss its thrice-weekly flight from Nairobi, its own plane.
Full day in Tsavo National Park with morning and afternoon game drives.
Here you will get to experience a little of the views and wildlife that Denys looked upon when he first came to Africa. It is in fact in this very park that Denys met his early end, a story which explains in more detail what, where and when these outcomes occurred.
The section of Tsavo National Park south of the Mombasa Road, 9,000km2 Tsavo West provides a unique step back in time - to the days when tens of thousands of giant beasts roamed this forested land. Today, the forests are gone - the result of too many elephants and too little rain - but, thanks to the abundant snowmelt from Kilimanjaro, the land continues to water a huge variety of wildlife, from elephant and buffalo to lion, leopard, oryx, lesser kudu and klipspringer.
You will be transferred to the airstrip for the scheduled 0830hrs flight to Nairobi, Wilson Airport. At approximately 0950hrs you will arrive at Wilson Airport and you will be assisted to board the scheduled flight at 1020hrs to Lewa Downs. You will arrive at 1125hrs where you will be met at Lewa airstrip by your Lewa Wilderness Lodge representative and transferred to the camp with a game-drive en route.
Lewa Wilderness is located in Lewa Downs at the foot of Mt.Kenya and is one of Kenya's most successful private conservation areas. It has been the Craig family home since 1924 when the Craig grandparents came from England and began raising cattle here, and is still the home of Will and Emma Craig.
Accommodation is in 9 comfortable cottages with en-suite bathrooms and the food is wholesome, ranch style and organically grown. Lewa Wilderness offers an exclusive hideaway from which to explore the African bush with a diverse array of wildlife in some of Kenya's most spectacular scenery. Activities include day and night game viewing drives, bush walks, horse riding, camel rides, farm visits and cultural visits
Today the day is yours to do with it as you wish – you may want to start the morning off with a horse ride through the plains of Lewa Downs. This is a magical way to see the scenery as there is no sound of an engine in the background and you get a real feel for how vast the distances are. You can start to imagine how daunting it must have been for Karen Blixen when she first came to the country or for Denys Finch Hatton as he conducted his hunting trips across the plains.
You will have lunch at the lodge with Will & Emma Craig (subject to availability) who will regale you with stories of the bush that either they have experienced themselves or that have been passed down from their grandparents who moved to Kenya in the time that Karen Blixen moved to the country.
Once you have eaten your fill head out to the airstrip where the replica of the Gypsy Moth Bi-plane that Denys Finch Hatton flew is parked. Although not the original this wondrous machine definitely looks like it – with its open air cock pit and space for only two passengers and the pilot it is a beautiful sight to behold.
Optional activity: take a ride in the bi-plane (subject to availability). This will be a once in a lifetime experience and one that will give you a real feeling for the vastness of the Kenyan landscape and how utterly stunning the country is.
There are myriad of other activities available at Lewa Wilderness including game drives, walking safaris, camel rides, visits to the local schools and cultural interactions – the beauty of Lewa Wilderness is that you can make the day be as busy or as relaxed as you would like it to be.
You will have breakfast at the lodge and then transfer to the airstrip for your scheduled flight at 0935 which will arrive at 1100hrs flight to the Masai Mara. You will be met on arrival by an Angama Mara vehicle and transferred to Angama Camp.
Perfectly positioned high up on the Olololoo escarpment, with breath-taking views of the Mara Triangle below, the new Angama Mara is the destination for anyone looking for a superb location with amazing vistas. Opened in June 2015, the lodge features two camps with 15 tents each. The floor-to-ceiling windows in each tented suite give uninterrupted views of the Mara plains stretching out into the horizon.
After a delicious lunch you will head out on a late afternoon game-drive and return to the camp at dusk for dinner.
This morning head down into the reserve on an early morning game drive and take in the breath-taking scenery that captured Denys & Karen’s hearts all those years ago. As the light slowly strengthens you can watch all the wildlife either slowly waking up or retreating for the day. Once the sun has climbed high into the sky and the heat has driven all the animals to shelter, head back to Angama Mara for a very special, one of a kind, lunch.
You will be lead away from the camp up onto the hillside where you may recognize the view – it is the very same one that provides the backdrop for the picnic scene in the film. And indeed you will be provided with a blanket, a wicker hamper and a delicious spread accompanied by a delightful wine – an utterly wonderful way to spend the afternoon and the perfect setting to make your own Out of Africa memories.
The jewel in Africa's crown, Masai Mara is host to the most spectacular array of wildlife. Her 1,510 km2 of open savannah, woodlands and tree-lined rivers creates an eco-system which supports huge numbers of bird and mammal species. The western border of the park is the spectacular Siria Escarpment, and together with the acacia dotted plains, creates scenery of stunning beauty.
This afternoon you can walk over to the site where Denys Finch Hatton’s grave was shot in the movie with the famous scene of the two lions resting upon it. Finally, to wrap up the exquisite vacation, you will be able to watch the movie in the beautiful Angama Mara library where the sounds of the bush will filter in through the windows and reflect on your very own Out of Africa memories.
Today you must say goodbye to the bush and after breakfast at the camp you will meet your scheduled flight at 1100hrs to Nairobi where you will arrive at Wilson Airport at 1215hrs. Here you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel where you have a day room booked for the afternoon to give you the opportunity to freshen up before your flight home.
Early evening, transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your international flight back home.
