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East Africa Explorer - 14 days -
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Day 1 Leave Arusha and drive to the Serengeti! Afternoon game drive in the rolling grasslands. Criss-crossed with forested riverine valleys, the Serengeti plays home to millions of Africa’s large mammals, making this one of the world’s most famous wildlife destinations. Camp overnight in bush campsite. |
| Wildebeest everywhere |
| Day 2 All day game drive in Serengeti. Best time for the wildebeest migration is late Dec to June but there are spectacular wildlife sights at anytime of year. Camp overnight in bush campsite. |
| Day 3 Further game drive in Serengeti and then on to the Ngorongoro Crater. Lunch en-route at Olduvai Gorge and a view of the archaeological sites ( and visit the museum) where early human tools and fossils have been found. Camp overnight on the Ngorongoro Crater rim. |  |
| Cheetah in Ngorongoro |
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Day 4 Ngorongoro
is collapsed volcano - an incredible natural amphitheatre, 25 km across
and teeming with all of the African big game. Early morning descent into
the crater for day’s game drive. In mid afternoon continue on to Mto Wa
Mbu in time for local market visit or relax in our own permanent campsite
near Lake Manyara.
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| Day 5 Leisurely
walking safari through farms and villages along the richly cultivated foot
of the rift valley escarpment. You can discover the farming, irrigation,
fishing and cattle husbandry techniques, visit houses, sample local
cuisine, visit income generation projects, wood carvers and generally gain
a deeper understanding of the lifestyle of the people who live and work
here.
Camp overnight in permanent campsite near Mto Wa Mbu village again.
Strolling through the farms |
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Day 6 Game-drive around Lake Manyara National Park. This park is famed for the bird life around the soda lake - flamingos in particular, and is home to unusual tree-climbing lions. It also has a large elephant population. In mid afternoon drive on to Esilalei, a small village in the wildlife corridor between Tarangire & Manyara national parks for Maasai lands and life experience. Your visit supports the building of their school here. Camp overnight, and although you’ll sleep to calls of hyenas and the African night, here will be Maasai sitting up round the fire and guarding the camp. |
| Elephants in Manyara National Park |
| Day 7 Cultural insights around the village. Here with Maasai as
guides you can visit traditional huts, take part in activities like
herding goats, milking cows, jewellery beadwork, spot animals & birds
on a walking safari in the bush, find out about the medicinal uses of the
savanna plants and learn from an elder the history and culture of these
fascinating people. Return to Arusha in late morning for 14.00 shuttle-bus
transfer to Nairobi.
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Day 8 Drive from Nairobi to the Maasai town of Ewaso Ngiro for lunch and colourful market visit. Then into the bush to a small Maasai village for insights into their fascinating culture and way of life. Our stay here supports their small primary school and we can arrange visits during term times. Overnight camp under acacia trees by a small spring - dinner round camp-fire, starlit skies and sleep to the sounds of the African night - often lions and hyenas roaring in the distance. (Don't worry! - our camp is guarded by the Maasai all night). |
| Day 9 Optional 2-3 hour walking safari along small river course and through the savanna for wildlife viewing with the Maasai as guides and interpreters of their lands, where you will often walk amongst giraffe, impala, zebra and wildebeest. Drive to a natural hot spring at Maji Moto (where you can take a dip or just dip your toe in) and then on to our secluded camp in the Masai Mara and late afternoon game drive. Or option to hike all or part-way up nearby Naumare Hills to watch an invariably stunning sunset over the Mara. Overnight in our comfortable permanent tented safari camp. |  |
| Male impala & female group |
| Day 10 Ecologically the Masai Mara is an extension of the great Serengeti plains and teems with wildlife. We spend all today in the reserve on game drives and this is where you can see elephant, buffalo, lion, cheetah, leopard, zebra, giraffe, hippo, crocodile and a whole ark-full of other animals. Our expert naturalist guides and 4WD vehicles ensure you have the very best chance of seeing them all. From August to October, the Mara is home to the great wildebeest migration. Overnight again in our permanent tented safari camp. |
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Day 11 After another morning game drive in the Mara (to spot any animals you may have missed yesterday), we drive up and over the forested Mau Escarpment, and descend to Lake Elementaita, a soda lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley and overnight in small bungalows right by the lakeside with thousands of pink flamingos just a few metres away. |
| Flamingos in Lake Elementaita |
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Day 12 Early start for short drive to Lake Nakuru. This is a smallish but spectacularly picturesque park with abundant wildlife and where there is an excellent chance of seeing the rare rhino - both black and white species, vast herds of buffalo and the unusual Rothschild's giraffe. It has also had nearly 400 species of birds recorded within its boundaries. Return to bungalows again at the Elementaita lakeside for overnight. Lake Nakuru viewpoint |
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Day 13 A day exploring the lakeside environment. There won’t be time for everything but there are options to bathe in hot springs (with amazing heat tolerant fish); explore an archaeological site where early humans sat and made stone tools; visit a school (in term times); visit nearby Kikuyu farms and homesteads. There is also a possibility of an overnight stay in a villager’s house for fascinating and personal insights into the lives of the locals, (no extra cost but advise in advance please). Or relax in the afternoon watching the flamingos and pelicans, while the sun goes down over the lake. Bungalows overnight. |
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Watching fish in the hot spring |
| Day 14 After early breakfast drive to Lake Naivasha, a vast freshwater lake, famed for its many hippos and bird life - particularly fish eagles, love-birds and pelicans - and we take a morning boat trip to see them. Then return to Nairobi, arriving around 13.00.. | |
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One of our recent guests made a diary during her Kenya safari - you can see her blog (with pics, sound and video) here and it will really give you a feel for what this section of the safari is like. |
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General: Accommodation is in bush camps (fully supported), permanent tented camps, bungalows and very comfortable local hotels. The camping section on this trip allows us access to wilder areas. We do not generally use the luxury lodges but neither do we compromise on health, safety or reasonable comfort. Lodge accommodation can be arranged for private group departures if required. Equipment will be carried by vehicles or local porters, you only carry a day-pack with personal gear. When camping you will not have to participate in camp chores. We buy fresh produce locally and to ensure good standards of hygiene all food is prepared by our own staff. We can cater for special dietary requirements and there are no extra food-kitty payments. We can also arrange extra hotel bookings and airport transfers for before and after your trip.
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