8-day Highlights of Kenya

For those looking for a slightly different tour, which takes in the arid beauty of Samburu, stunning views of Mount Kenya, the glorious and world-renowned Masai Mara Reserve and the flamingos and rhinos of Lake Nakuru, this road safari makes the ideal choice. It offers optimum game-viewing options, and the opportunity to view ‘The Big Five’ against a vivid selection of exceptionally varied backdrops.

Highlights: Nairobi, Samburu, Mt Kenya, Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara
Group Size: maximum 6 people
Type of Safari: Adventure accommodated safari
Accommodation: Lodges

Price: USD$1965 per person sharing depending on season*

Includes: All meals as specified in the itinerary, one litre of mineral water per day, game drives, park fees, English speaking driver guide

Excludes: Meals not mentioned in the itinerary, all personal expenses, insurance for luggage, tips, drinks, laundry.

Day 1: Arrival in Nairobi
Upon arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you will be met by our representative and transferred to the historic 5-star Sarova Stanley Hotel. One of Nairobi’s oldest and best renowned city hotels, it stands in the city centre within easy reach of both shops and tourist attractions, and offering a health club, roof-top swimming pool and a wide selection of restaurants and bars.

Day 2: Nairobi to Samburu
After an early breakfast, drive north of Nairobi up the Great Rift Valley to the Samburu/Buffalo Springs National Reserve arriving in time for a late lunch at the Samburu Sopa Lodge. Built on raised ground allowing for panoramic views of the distant Samburu Hills and Mount Kenya, the lodge stands in the centre of this pristine reserve and features a curve of cottages clustered around a waterhole that attracts a wide range of wildlife both day and night. After lunch, take a game drive in the twin Samburu and Buffalo Springs Reserves, which provide one of the few sanctuaries in Kenya for the endangered Grevy’s zebra, the rare beisa oryx and the blue-shanked Somali ostrich. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

Day 3: On safari in Samburu
Enjoy a full day on safari in Samburu (morning and afternoon game drives). In the evening, there is an option of sundowners before dinner in the central dining room.  A place of endless skies, dust-red plains and palm-fringed rivers, Samburu National Reserve lies on the fringes of the vast and arid desert once known as the Northern Frontier District, whose heat-scorched scrublands extend all the way to the jade-green waters of Lake Turkana and beyond. Physically dramatic, the 104 sq km landscape of the Reserve features rocky battlements, craggy scarps, dry river beds and fallen boulders rising out of the thorn scrub against a backdrop of the far-distant hills and the great red table mountain known as Ololokwe.

Day 4: Samburu to Mount Kenya
Leave the lodge after breakfast and travel south along the flanks of Mount Kenya to enter the Serena Mountain Lodge. Sailing like an ark amid the primeval forests of Kenya’s highest mountain, Mount Kenya, this timbered tree hotel offers champagne-clear mountain air, sweeping views across the tree-canopy, sparkling trout streams, and gentle forest walks. Cool, tranquil and hushed for optimum game-sightings, the open-air viewing-deck looks down onto its own water hole, which attracts numerous herds of elephant and buffalo. The panoramic tree-level dining room offers both local and international cuisine, while the central bar offers a blazing fire and its own private game-viewing terrace.

Day 5: Mount Kenya to Lake Nakuru
After breakfast, drive south to Lake Nakuru National Park in time for lunch at Lake Nakuru Lodge. In the afternoon enjoy your first glimpse of the Lake’s fabled 1.2 million flamingos, perhaps find rhinos grazing on the lakeshore (this park is the nation’s largest rhino sanctuary), and arrive back at the Lodge in time for a swim and a sumptuous buffet supper.

Day 6: Nakuru to the Masai Mara
Leaving the lodge after breakfast, continue up the floor of Rift to arrive in the famous Masai Mara National Reserve, and at the Mara Sopa Lodge in time for a late lunch. In the afternoon, enjoy your first game-drive in the Mara. World renowned for the breathtaking spectacle of ‘the greatest wildlife show on earth’, the awe inspiring annual migration of the wildebeest, the Mara is Kenya’s most visited protected area. Technically an extension of Tanzania’s renowned Serengeti National Park, the Mara constitutes only 4% of the entire Serengeti ecosystem but its rolling grasslands, meandering rivers and towering escarpments offer one of the world’s most rewarding and evocative wildlife arenas. Returning to the lodge, enjoy a swim, relaxation on your private veranda, sundowners at one of the lodge’s many bars and dinner in the central restaurant.

Day 7: On safari in the Mara
Spend all day on safari in the reserve with morning and afternoon game drives and breakfast, lunch and dinner at the lodge. When it comes to game-viewing, there is nowhere in Africa richer in wildlife or more eventful in encounters than the Mara. A pristine wilderness of haunting beauty, it promises its visitors a profusion of wildlife, prolific bird life and the unprecedented opportunity of catching up with all the members of the ‘Big Five’ in one morning.

Day 8: The Mara to Nairobi
After breakfast at the lodge, drive to Nairobi and take lunch at the world famous Carnivore Restaurant, rated among the top 500 restaurants in the world. Depart for your flight home.