On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta Nairobi Airport, you will be met for assistance thru customs and immigration, then transfer with your driver to the Hemingway, overnight hotel.
A stay at Hemingways is the ultimate way to ease into East Africa. On the serene outskirts of Nairobi, this five-star all-suite retreat is well out of the city bustle, but remains perfectly placed as a springboard for your safari adventure. Its chic, plantation-style rooms are bright, light and airy, with private balconies gazing over the lush gardens to the dreamy Ngong Hills – ideal for relaxing after a long flight.
Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning , then meet your driver for transfer to the Wilson Airport where you will board a lite aircraft flight to Ol Donyo Airstrip. Meet your driver guides from Ol Donyo for the drive to your camp and home away from home for the next three days.
Located on the slopes below Chyulu National Park is Ol Donyo, which looks up to Kilimanjaro and over the open savannahs that make Kenya famous. Ol Donyo forms the core of a new, sustainable model for conservation which ensures protection of the area’s wildlife through an innovative sharing-of-benefits scheme with the local community and the creation of conservancies.
Over the next three days guests are treated to the widest variety of activities available at any wildlife lodge. All traditional safari activities are on offer, plus much more, including day and night game drives in open 4x4 vehicles, guided mountain bike rides across the wildlife filled plains and morning or afternoon game-viewing horseback safaris. Foot safaris and wildlife tracking with our Maasai trackers and interacting with our anti-poaching team are activities not to be missed, as are visits to remote Maasai villages that offer guests an authentic cultural experience. Sleep-outs under the stars out on the plains on ‘Seduction Rock’ will remain with guests’ memories forever. A safari highlight for many are the close up encounters with the enormous elephant bulls that frequent the camp’s waterhole just a few meters from the safety of our open-air ‘log-jam’ hide.
Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning , then meet your driver for transfer to the Ol Donyo airstrip where you will board a lite aircraft flight to Mara North. Meet your driver guides from Mara Expedition for the drive to your camp and home away from home for the next three days.
Located a few kilometers from Mara Plains, Mara Camp has been built on a small bend in the Ntiakitiak River, where a thick riverine forest meets the unending savannah in the north-central section of the Maasai Mara. It’s a perfect hideout for this small, intimate camp, which has been constructed in the spirit of mobility and non-permanence out of deference to the wilderness, which surrounds it. There’s an air of yesteryear in Mara Expedition Camp’s design, which draws stylistic reference from the old, authentic expedition camps of the colonial era.
The camp is in prime leopard territory and the annual wildebeest and zebra migration passes literally in front of your tent, offering you the chance to witness one of the miracles of nature first-hand from the comfort of your verandah. This is a place where lions own the night and hippos stake claim to vast territories, where we submit to the supreme power of wild Africa and take our lead from Mother Nature… It’s a place of learning, where Africa teaches lessons that will change the way you view the world in one of the most incredible classrooms on the planet – the incomparable Maasai Mara. Early morning and afternoon game drives in open 4×4 vehicles within the Maasai Mara Reserve. Hot air balloon flights are at an additional cost. Children from 8 years are welcome. Families will be joined by other guests on all scheduled game viewing activities. Private game drive vehicle hire is not available at this camp
Our final morning game activity before heading to the airstrip for your flight to Wilson Airport where you will be met by your driver for transfer to the hotel for overnight.
A stay at Hemingways is the ultimate way to ease into East Africa. On the serene outskirts of Nairobi, this five-star all-suite retreat is well out of the city bustle but remains perfectly placed for your safari adventure. Its chic, plantation-style rooms are bright, light and airy, with private balconies gazing over the lush gardens to the dreamy Ngong Hills – ideal for relaxing after a long flight.
After and early breakfast, meet your guide for transfer to the international airport and your departure flights to Victoria Falls. (These flights only operate mornings Mon/Wed/Fri).
On arrival you will be met for transfer to the intimate Mpala Jena safari camp positioned alon the beautiful tree-laden banks of the Zambezi River.
.Located within the 56,000-hectare Zambezi National Park, Mpala Jena is home to an ever-increasing number of wildlife that can be enjoyed on safari drives, from the Zambezi River when on a boat cruise, walking trails or even while sipping cocktails from the camp’s swing chairs. Higher concentrations of buffalo and elephants are typical from June to October. There are more lions per km² here than in any other park in Zimbabwe.
For those who wish to see the magnificence of the Victoria Falls - guided trips are available.
This morning depart by lite aircraft into the Selinda Spillway to Selinda Explorers Camp.
This classic camp, consisting of four custom-designed tents, transports us back to authentic safaris, but with a modern twist and hospitality. Subtly placed under the shade of the riverine forest, the camp is designed in the style of the early explorers both in philosophy and practice. Whiling away afternoons under the canopy of African ebony and mangosteen trees, interspersed with walks and canoeing, make this a respite from the ‘daily grind’ of a traditional safari.
This authentic tented camp draws on traditions of the classic East African safari with beautifully detailed campaign style furniture made from recycled hard woods, and soft furnishings from Zanzibar and the East. The custom-designed semi-permanent tents consist of two rooms plus verandah, as well as a private open air ‘bustani bathroom’ with hot water showers and flush loo. All tents are at ground level, including the main lounge and dining area. This is an unassuming camp, light on its footprint but heavy on its experiential luxury. The atmosphere of the camp is one of bush elegance with relaxed bohemian style, complemented by attentive staff, private professional service and fabulous food.
Selinda Explorers Camp is an ideal property for those guests who want to experience Botswana’s extraordinary wildlife but in the most private setting. The camp comes with a guide, but also has a guide’s tent for an accompanying specialist guide. Our guide will plan the whole itinerary for the duration of their stay for the guests, or in conjunction with the specialist guide.
Camp sits in prime predator habitat, in a location, which we handpicked based on exploring this area for years. Lion, leopard and cheetah and the Explorers Pack of African wild dog hunt these parts regularly. Good densities of giraffe, buffalo (in the dry season) and all the antelope – including even roan and sable and recently spotted eland – are possible sightings. At the peak of the dry season in late September, the Selinda Reserve has been documented to hold up to 9,000 elephants. There is phenomenal bird life along the Spillway’s banks for those looking for some ‘lifers’.
Early this morning meet your guide for a tour of the Victoria Falls before departing for the airport and your lite aircraft flight to Kasane and then over the shimmering water-world of the Okavango Delta to Duba Explorers camp.
Sitting in the heart of classic Okavango Delta habitat the camp is surrounded by a matrix of palm-dotted islands, flood plains and woodland, the 77,000-acre private concession typifies the region’s unique landscape; a wildlife connoisseur’s getaway.
Built on a wooded island, connected to the prolific wildlife area by an elaborate set of bridges, the area is the base of many famous wildlife documentaries by National Geographic filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert. It is the only camp on the concession, thereby offering guests the ultimate opportunity for private sightings. Duba Expedition Camp, and the Kwedi Reserve, where it is located, is part of a joint venture partnership between Great Plains Conservation and the Okavango Community Trust, the representative body for five villages in the Okavango Panhandle. This partnership ensures that these communities receive tangible and substantial benefit from using their ancestral land for wildlife conservation.
The intimate camp consists of six expedition-style tents of light airy canvas on slightly raised decking, each with views of the surrounding floodplain. Each tent has a small desk and private verandah plus en-suite facilities consisting of flush loo, double basins and indoor shower. Fans and careful open-air design maintain comfortable climate for rest and relaxation. The main area is under sweeping marquis canvas, on raised decking and consists of an open-concept dining and lounge area which opens to the outdoors on all sides. In the evenings, the fire pit is always a popular spot to enjoy an Amarula and recount the day’s events. Children from 6 years are welcome. Families with children between the ages of 6 & 15 need to book a private vehicle at the time of enquiry.
The homogenous extraordinary wildlife experience is renowned with regular sightings of a diverse range of species, including large herds of Red lechwe along with Greater kudu, tsessebe and even giraffe which in previous years has been a rare sighting. Of course, elephant and hippo trudge through the swamps happily, and are regularly seen. Leopard and nocturnal species such as Brown hyena can be sighted as well. Wildlife is a regular sight right in camp! Birds abound, and the area is reputed as a birdwatcher’s paradise. Okavango ‘specials’ include the rare Wattled crane, Pel’s Fishing owl, White-backed Night heron and Marsh owl. Some activities include early morning and late afternoon/early evening game drives in an open 4×4 vehicle and boat-based activities when water levels permit.
Over the next three days the camp is fully inclusive of all activities, meals, park fees, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (excluding imported and premium spirits).
