DAY 1: NAIROBI – MASAI MARA

We leave Nairobi by safari bus going south through the Rift Valley. Picnic lunch will be served on the way. We will pass Narok to climb the Western Wall entering Hemingway’s “Serengeti Plains”. Late afternoon we will arrive at campsite or lodge. There will be time for a game drive either en-route to the lodge or camp or after arrival. Dinner will be served at the camp or a lodge in masai mara.

DAY 2: MASAI MARA

We will take an early morning and late afternoon game drive to explore and enjoy the Maasai Mara in search of the “Big Five”. All meals are taken at the camp or lodge and served by our camp or Masai mara lodge.

Masai Mara National Reserve (also known as Masai Mara or The Mara) is situated within the Great Rift Valley (a fault line some 3,500 miles (5,600km) long that extends from the Mediterranean Sea through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and to South Africa)in the southern part of Kenya. Measuring approximately 1510sq. kilometres (approx. 938sq. miles) in size. The Masai Mara is one of the best known and most popular reserves in the whole of Africa. The reserve’s topography is mainly open savannah (grassland) with clusters of acacia trees along the southeastern area of the park. The Mara and Talek rivers grace the rolling plains of the reserve. Myriad seasonal rivers appear during the rainy season but dry out once the rains are gone.

Wildlife and Game Viewing in The Masai Mara National Game Reserve

The Mara is also home to the richest concentration of wildlife, including the “Big Five” (elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, and buffalo), zebras, antelope, gnus, Oribis, hyenas, giraffes, warthogs, gazelles, hartebeests, hippos, crocodiles and others. The park has the largest concentration of African lions, including the black-manned lion.

Birdlife is as plentiful as wildlife at the Masai Mara, which boasts over 400 different birds species. In the Mara and Talek rivers you’ll find crocodiles as well as Hippos.

The Great Wildebeest and Zebra Migration of The Masai Mara National Game Reserve

Then of course there is Wildebeest and Zebra migration which has made the Masai Mara famous. The trek happens with a fair share of animal drama as the migrating herds attract the attention of hungry predators – the hyenas and lions that prey on the lame and sick animals along the way. The Masai Mara Wildebeest and Zebra migration last for four months (July-October) towards the Mara. The months of July and August are the best times to see what is truly the world’s most spectacular wildebeest migration and the dramatic sights that occur during the mass crossing of the swollen Mara River

DAY 3: MASAI MARA

A second day to feel the wonderful atmosphere unique to this National Park while at the same time enjoying the game playing out their normal lives before our very eyes. Morning and afternoon game drives. Dinner and overnight at Masai mara lodge

DAY 4: MASAI MARA/NAKURU

A pre-breakfast game drive before returning to the permanent camp or lodge for breakfast and our departure for Lake Nakuru. A picnic lunch will be served on the way. Lake Nakuru is a bird’s paradise, especially for the flamingoes. In fact Lake Nakuru is quite often called “The Pink Lake”. Apart from birds, Nakuru also offers a wide variety of small game such as Rhino, Water Buck, Impala, Buffalo and Gazelle. Dinner will be served as a simple but clean hotel to include an overnight stay with hot showers. The lodge clients will be dining and sleeping at Lake Nakuru Lodge / Sarova Lion Hill.

Lake Nakuru National Park was first gazette as a bird sanctuary in 1960 and upgraded to National Park status in 1968. A northern extension was added to the park in 1974 and the lake was designated as a Ramsar site. Lake Nakuru is world famous for its stunning flocks of lesser flamingo, which literally turn its shores pink. Its birdlife is world renowned: a beacon for leading ornithologists, scientists and wildlife film-makers. The park spans an attractive range of wooded and bush grassland around the lake offering wide ecological diversity, from lake water, woodland to the rocky escarpments and ridges.

Lake Nakuru Natio0nal Park rivals Amboseli as Kenya’s second-most-visited park. This is one of the best places in Kenya to see leopards, white rhinos and black rhinos and the endangered Rothschild Giraffe. Lake Nakuru National park’s most famous attraction is the flamingos that ring the lake in thousands.

Notable game within the lake includes hippo and clawless otters. On the shores roam waterbuck, Bohor’s Reedbuck and zebra. The woodlands and forest are now home to both black and white rhino. In 1987, only two black rhinos remained following the ravages of poaching. By creating a rhino sanctuary within the park and reintroducing a breeding herd from Laikipia, the K.W.S. has now successfully re-established rhino in the park. Lake Nakuru National Park is also a sanctuary to the endangered Rothschild Giraffe.

Game viewing is relatively easy: buffalo, leopard, lion, Rothschild’s giraffe, Black and White Colobus monkey are plentiful in the forest. The bushlands offer eland, steinbok, impala, Chandler’s reedbuck and dik dik, whilst rock hyrax and klipspringer occupy the cliffs and escarpment.

DAY 5: LAKE NAKURU/LAKE BARINGO

During the morning we will game view at Lake Nakuru before proceeding to Lake Baringo after lunch. Boat trips are available on this lake and are available to our clients. There is an extra charge for this service. Dinner and overnight rest at the camp in our mobile two person tents or at the Lake Baringo Lodge.

Lake Baringo in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley is a dramatically situated freshwater lake approximately 22 km long by 11 kms wide. Evidence of its violent volcanic origins is all around, and especially in the extraordinary stepped basalt cliffs to the West of the lake. It lies at an altitude of 1100 meters and is surrounded by mountains rising to almost 3000 meters above the ambient ground level in places. Beyond the northern end of the Lake rises the dormant volcano, Karosi, 1449 meters high.

The Lake is home to hippos and crocodiles as well as an abundance of colourful birds and small reptiles. Giraffe and other grazers are also present to the north of the lake.

To enter the Lake area visitors need to pass through the Baringo District Council

Lake Bogoria is most famous for its spectacular Flamingo populations, the surrounding bush and grassland is home to a number of animals. The Reserve’s herd of rare Greater Kudu make it unique and other game to view includes buffalo (rare), zebra, baboon, warthog, caracal, spotted hyena, impala, dik dik and many small mammals. The south shore has acacia-ficus (Fig Tree) woodland and to the north is a papyrus swamp. Much of the local roofing material is made from Papyrus.

Apart from Flamingo, of interest to the specialist will be Little Grebe, Tawny Eagle, Pratincole, Swift, Little Bee-eater, Cape-wigeon, Yellow-billed Stork, African Spoonbill, Augur Buzzard, Gabar Goshawk, Water Dikkop, Great Tit, Starling, Hornbill and Crombec.

The climate is warm (25 to 35 degrees) all year round, day and night. While a welcome breeze blows off the Lake in the evenings, the sensation of coldness is practically unknown here. The annual average rainfall is 640 mm, a large proportion of which falls in May-July and a lesser amount in November-December.

DAY 6: LAKE BOGORIA/NAIROBI.

This is the true naturalists lake with flamingos in their thousands. We will be able to explore on foot but caution must be taken while walking near the hot springs. In the afternoon we will depart from Nairobi to arrive late evening.