Magical Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru Safari

Arrive in Jomo Kenyatta Int’l airport – Nairobi (NBO); you will be transferred by our representative to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to acclimate to your new time zone and prepare for the African adventure that awaits you.

Nairobi is a surprising city, with excellent large hotels, small boutique properties and world-class restaurants. There is a strong British influence with everything from high tea to their bit of formal friendliness.

With an extra day, we can arrange for visits to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Center. Sheldrick's is located in the Nairobi National Park. It is here that orphaned or hurt baby elephants and rhinos are taken to rehabilitate back into their natural habitats.

Giraffe Center or AFEW, is a non-profit organization that has been established to educate visitors on Kenya's wildlife and environment. It is on the grounds of the world-famous Giraffe Manor where you can kiss a giraffe from a raised platform. Overnight at Ibis Styles Hotel. Meal Plan: Breakfast

After breakfast, we depart for Lake Nakuru National Park. Enjoy magnificent views of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment en-route to arrive in time for lunch at Lake Nakuru Lodge. Lake Nakuru was crowned a national park in the sixties and – in addition to its attractive lakeland scenery – it’s best known for its absolutely superb birdlife, with over 450 species recorded. This region of Kenya is also one of the densest rhino populations on the continent. Other many wildlife like buffalos, rhino, tree climbing cheetahs can easily be seen. Overnight at Lake Nakuru Lodge or Similar. Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, check out and drive to the world’s renowned Masai Mara National Game Reserve arriving for check in and lunch at Mara Camp, set high on a bush-cloaked hill with long views over the savannah and down to the winding coils of the hippo-filled Telek River. Throughout the year the Maasai Mara is a place of natural drama, a kaleidoscope of color and life. The famed "Big Five" - elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo - roam the reserve, together with hundreds of other species, from the fastest animal on earth, the cheetah to crocodiles and magnificent birds of prey. Overnight at Olengoti Eco Camp or Similar. Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Balloon ride: Participate in optional hot Air Balloon and a bush breakfast upon landing at an extra cost of $530 per person.

Enjoy full game drives for these two days in Mara. Technically Mara is an extension of Tanzania's renowned Serengeti National Park. The park stands Centre-stage to one of the most spectacular phenomena of the natural world -The Great Annual Wildebeest Migration, futured as one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World”. The Great Migration is the largest herd movement of animals on the planet. In fact, with up to 1,000 animals per km², the great columns of wildebeest can be seen from space.

The numbers are astonishing: over 1.5 million wildebeest and 300,000 zebras along with topi and other gazelle move in a constant cycle through the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem in search of nutritious grass and water, every year from July to September.

Guided by survival instinct, each wildebeest will cover 800 to 1,000km on its individual journey along age-old migration routes. Hungry predators including lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, wild dog and crocodiles make sure only the strongest survive in this natural spectacle also known as ‘the greatest show on Earth’. The journey is beset with danger: young calves are snatched by predators, the slow are brought down by prides of lion, brave beasts break legs on steep river slopes, crocodiles take their share of the stragglers, and the weak and exhausted drown.

The three groups of migrant grazers have different grass-eating habits: as one group eats the top of the tallest grass, the next group will eat away some of the medium-height grass, until finally it is almost completely eaten, and the herds move on. This means each group sticks to their own kind with only a small overlap in their distributions. The grasses of the plains have the highest protein content in the whole of the Serengeti, as well as being high in calcium.

It is unclear how the wildebeest know which way to go, but it is generally believed that their journey is dictated primarily by their response to the weather; they follow the rains and the growth of new grass. While there is no scientific proof of it, some experts believe that the animals react to lightning and thunderstorms in the distance. It has even been suggested that wildebeest can locate rain more than 50km away. One of the evenings after game drive, Visit to a Maasai Village for a glimpse into the lives of this semi-nomadic tribe. Kenya recognizes over fifty tribes of native people. The Maasai were the dominating tribe at beginning of 20th century. They are one of the very few tribes who have retained most of their traditions, lifestyle and lore. In common with the wildlife with which they co-exist, the Maasai need a lot of land. Unlike many other tribes in Kenya, the Maasai are semi-nomadic and pastoral: they live by herding cattle and goats. A Maasai warrior is a fine sight. Those young men have, to the utmost extent, that particular form of intelligence which we call chic; daring and wildly fantastical as they seem, they are still unswervingly true to their own nature, and to an immanent ideal. Their style is not an assumed manner, nor an imitation of a foreign perfection; it has grown from the inside, and is an expression of the race and its history, and their weapons and finery are as much a part of their being as are a stag’s antlers.

Overnight at Olengoti Eco Camp or Similar. Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Breakfast in the Camp. Later depart and drive back to Nairobi. On arrival we shall transfer you to the airport / hotel for your onwards arrangements. Meal Plan: Breakfast