CRAWFORDX3, MARTHA & RUTH - KENYA SAFARI EXPERIENCE DECEMBER 2022

Day notes

You arrive in Nairobi with your flight ***Preferable PM flight***. You will be met by an Absolute Vantage representative who will then facilitate your transfer to your Bed & Breakfast accommodation – Macushla House in the suburbs of Karen for overnight

Day notes

On Day 3, you will have an early breakfast then check out of Macushla house and transferred to Wilson Airport to catch your 1-hour flight to Amboseli National Park where you will stay for the next 2 nights. This is where you get to see elephants in the wild, living in harmony with other animals. Amboseli National Park is an open ecosystem boasting huge herds of elephants, zebras, buffaloes, hyenas, lions, giraffes, gazelles and numerous bird species not to forget the magnificent Mt. Kilimanjaro. Here you will indulge in mostly morning and late afternoon game drives as this is when you get action of the elephants getting into and leaving the swamps and crossing the park roads from or to where they call home. There is an opportunity to visit the Amboseli Elephant Trust to get enlightened about the work of Cynthia Moss highly recognized by her work researching elephants from the 1980’s. The talk and visit to AET must be pre-arranged early and pre-booked early along with a donation of $800 for the entire group.

While at Amboseli, you will stay at the Tortilis Camp

Day notes

On Day 5, you will have an early breakfast after which you will be transferred to the Amboseli Airstrip to catch your flight to Wilson Airport connecting onto another flight to Samburu Game Reserve where you will stay for 4 nights. The Samburu National Reserve was one of the two areas in which conservationists George and Joy Adamson raised Elsa the Lioness, made famous in the best-selling book and award-winning movie Born Free. The reserve is reach in wildlife with fame for abundance in rare northern specialist species such as the Grevy Zebra, Somali Ostrich, Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk and the Beisa Oryx (Also referred as Samburu Special). The reserve is also popular with a minimum of 900 elephants. Large predators such as the Lion, Leopard and Cheetah are an important attraction (Kamunyak the Miracle Lioness that adapted the baby Oryx is a resident in the reserve). Wild dog sightings are also a common attraction to this unique protected area. Birdlife is abundant with over 450 species recorded. Birds of the arid northern bush country are augmented by several riverine forest species. Lesser Kestrel and the Taita Falcon are species of global conservation concern and they both utilize the reserve.  Five species categorized as vulnerable have been recorded in the reserve. These are African Darter, Great Egret, White-headed Vulture, Martial Eagle and the Yellow-billed Oxpecker. Critically endangered species under CITIES – Pancake tortoise is found in the reserve.

While at Samburu National Reserve, we will host you at Elephant Bedroom Camp 

Day notes

After your Samburu experience, On Day 9, you will be transferred to Kalama Airstrip where we will fly you to the Maasai Mara for 3 nights stay. The Maasai Mara is well known for the annual wildebeest migration in which we have crossings take place in the Mara River between the months of July and September thereabouts. As a result, the Mara is home to the big cats and a range of herbivores not to forget the big five. Some of the famous wild animals in the park you are likely to encounter include lions, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, giraffe, wildebeests, zebras, buffalo, warthogs, hyenas, jackals, wild dogs, buffalo, leopard, cheetah, many kinds of birds, antelopes, and elephants.

On one of the days, you have the option of per taking an early morning balloon ride over the Mara plains that will be crowned with a champagne bush breakfast. As you ascend aerially, beautiful features unfold before your eyes – gentle rolling hills, meandering rivers, and lush grasslands. From this vantage point, you realize that you can locate wildlife with little guidance – giraffes, elephants, gazelles, hippos and many other grazers and foragers. If you are lucky, you may even spot the lordly predators like lions, hyenas, cheetahs, and other hunters You also have the option of visiting a Maasai Village to get enlightened about the Maasai Culture

While in the Maasai mara, you will be accommodated at the Sandriver Mara Camp.

Day notes

Today you awake at leisure, have breakfast, and bid the Maasai Mara farewell. A drive to the airstrip to catch your scheduled 1-hour flight back to Nairobi. Arrive Wilson Airport after which you will be transferred to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for a day room/refresh moment at Four Points Sheraton Airport Hotel where you will re-group as you await your transfer to the terminal to catch your international flight back home