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
Awake, have a sumptuous breakfast courtesy of Macushla House and make your way to the Giraffe Centre for an up-close and personal touch with the endangered Rothschild’s Giraffes. The Giraffe Centre also known as African Fund for Endangered Wildlife have played a pivotal role in breeding the Rothschild Giraffes and re-introducing them back into the wild ever since the late 1970’s and double up as a Conservation Education centre for the Kenyan Youth. A 1 hour stay here is enough to be followed by a pre-booked 11AM public visit to Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to see the baby elephants. This visit puts you in touch with elephants under the age of 2 years who have gone through traumatizing near death situations, lost their families and parents and are now orphaned – thanks to the Trust for having given them hope, a new home and family for them to grow and later own will be introduced back into the Wild. After this we head for lunch at the Matbronze where you will have lunch and afterwards some souvenir shopping. We then head back to our accommodation spot to digest all we had for the day as we look forward to the safari days to come.
On Day 3, you will have an early breakfast after which you will be transferred to the Railway station where you will catch your 2.5 - hour train ride to Kibwezi Station where you will be picked and driven (2-Hour drive) to Ithumba Camp in Tsavo East which will be your home for the next 2 nights. Ithumba is one of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant re-introduction locations located in the Northern Area of Tsavo East for elephants who have graduated from the Nairobi Nursery. This experience will give you exclusivity of elephants, keepers and a lush, lax tented home all to yourself, having early morning/evening visits to the elephant stockades and 11am mud baths sessions topped up with amazing sundowners at their infinity pool.
On Day 5, you will have an early breakfast after which you will be transferred to Ithumba Airstrip to catch your flight to Wilson Airport connecting onto another flight to Samburu Game Reserve where you will stay for 3 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
After your Samburu experience, On Day 8, you will be transferred to Kalama Airstrip where we will fly you to the Maasai Mara for 4 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 Entim Mara Camp.
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
