Nairobi - Nairobi 13 days/12 nights 2011 Dates: Sat 1 Oct 2011 - Thu 13 Oct 2011 Wed 14 Dec 2011 - Mon 26 Dec 2011 (Christmas celebrations in Arusha after leaving the Tanzanian game park) Tue 20 Dec 2011 - Sun 1 Jan 2012 (Christmas in the Masai Mara) 2012 Dates: Sat 14 Jan 2012 - Fri 27 Jan 2012 Mon 6 Feb 2012 - Sat 18 Feb 2012 Mon 25 Jun 2012 - Sat 7 Jul 2012 Sun 22 Jul 2012 - Fri 3 Aug 2012 Wed 25 Jul 2012 - Mon 6 Aug 2012 Tue 31 Jul 2012 - Sun 12 Aug 2012 Mon 6 Aug 2012 - Sat 18 Aug 2012 Mon 27 Aug 2012 - Sat 8 Sep 2012 Sat 8 Sep 2012 - Thu 20 Sep 2012 Mon 17 Sep 2012 - Sat 29 Sep 2012 Tue 2 Oct 2012 - Sun 14 Oct 2012 Fri 2 Nov 2012 - Wed 14 Nov 2012 Thu 20 Dec 2012 -Tue 1 Jan 2013

Overview:
An overland trip with game drives in Kenya and Tanzania's favourite game parks - The Masai Mara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater offering the very best chance to see the Big Five and more! Time to cycle in Hells Gate National Park, for a hippo cruise on Lake Naivasha and to enjoy the antics of the colobus monkeys on the lawns at Elsamere, with visits to Sheldricks Elephant Orphanage, The Safari Walk, a Maasai village, Olduvai Gorge Museum and on the board walk at The Giraffe Park come face to face to kiss a gentle giraffe! Please note safari itineraries are given as a guide only. A safari is a journey and true journeys in Africa unfold and are of an adventurous nature. The unexpected can arise, so do allow for this.

Meeting up at the Heron Hotel, Nairobi, on Day One we spend some time in Nairobi shopping and visit Kazuri, a bead factory
operating to help the lifes of local women in need. We then travel upcountry to camp near Nakuru. On the way we stop to
enjoy the stunning views from the Rift Valley Lookout and shop for Maasai curios in the markets. We have our Departure
Meeting on reaching camp.
Optional excursion: Safari Walk, Nairobi National Park.
Meals: (Dinner)

We now have two free days in Naivasha and can enjoy different options. Two of the main options to consider are a hike or cycle in Hells Gate National Park and a guided walk to the Crater Lake Sanctuary. A hike or cycle in spectacular Hells Gate National Park is always a popular choice. Here you can view volcanic plugs and dramatic red cliffs of columnar basalt heading through Njorowa Gorge – Hells Gate. Herds of plains game, such as buffalo, zebra, eland, hartebeest and Thomson’s gazelle can be found particularly by the water holes in this otherwise waterless region. The Maasai Cultural Centre in the park is also worth a visit and the effort to cycle deep into the park where it is located. Alternatively take a guided walk on the nature trail to the jade green Crater Lake set at the bottom of a small volcanic crater found on the western shores of Lake Naivasha. Here we can often see flamingo. Other options during our time at Naivasha are a visit to Crescent Island, a hippo cruise on the lake as well as horse riding.
Optional excursions: Cycling in Hells Gate National Park, guided walk to Crater Lake Sanctuary, horse riding, Crescent Island.

Meals: (Breakfasts/Dinners)

This morning we leave Naivasha to make tracks along the bumpy dusty road to our next big highlight, Kenya’s most famous game reserve. The Masai Mara is set on a remote plateau and we arrive around lunchtime for an afternoon game drive. The Mara is one of the natural wonders of the world. The reserve is perhaps best known for being part of the setting for the famous wildebeest migration, a mass movement of up to 1.5 million wildebeest, accompanied by 600,000 zebra and Thomson’s gazelle. The migration moves between the plains of the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Masai Mara in Kenya. Numerous documentary teams have captured the treacherous river crossings of the Mara and Talek Rivers. Apart from the ever watchful crocodiles found in and by the rivers, the other ever-vigilant predators, particularly lion, cheetah and hyena, closely follow the herds on their seasonal migrations adding to the drama. The Mara is particularly famous for its lion population as well as cheetah and leopard. On the months when the migration arrives any time from late June vast herds can be regularly found on the grassy plains, and the herds tend to stay on through to October. Regardless of the season though there is always plenty to see here, and the park offers as well a wonderful chance to see resident hippo, crocodile, elephant, buffalo, eland, warthog and giraffe, as well as an immense variety of bird life. There are also a few treasured rhino in the park.
Meals: (Breakfasts/Dinners)

This morning we have another morning game drive using every moment we can in the park. An early morning balloon safari
can also be arranged.Leaving the park by lunchtime, we stop off to visit a traditional Maasai village to learn more about these cattle herding people, who still practice their age-old lifestyle. Maasai can be seen throughout the region in their red robes. Our night is spent in the Masai frontier town of Narok.
Optional excursion: Balloon safari.

Meals: (Breakfasts/Dinners)

Arriving early in Nairobi we visit Sheldrick's Elephant Orphanage. Arriving at the Orphanage about 11 am we view a morning feeding session for the small elephant orphans, as well as the fun of the elephant play sessions. The play sessions are an essential part of the programme helping in the survival of each of these highly social animals. We also visit the Langatta Giraffe Park today. Set in the grounds of a traditional manor house an elevated wooden walk way has been created so you can get up close to hand feed the gentle giraffe, including the rare Rothschild’s giraffe. Watch out as you are in kissing distance!! Tonight we enjoy a fun night out in one of Nairobi's famous restaurants.
Optional excursions: Nairobi day trip including Sheldrick’s Elephant Sanctuary and the Giraffe Park, Dinner in a restaurant, Carnivores or similar.

Meals: (Breakfasts/Dinners)

We head off on the long drive across the vast Athi plains that characterise this part of East Africa. Crossing the border into Tanzania at Namanga, we reach the town of Arusha, at the foot of Mount Meru. Over dinner tonight at our camp in Arusha we finalise our arrangements for the next three days. There are different safari options available over this time from which you can choose, including safaris into the world famous Serengeti and/or the Ngorongoro Crater.

Meals: (Breakfasts/Dinners)

Rising early most in the group will head to the wide savannah plains of the Serengeti. This 14,000 square kilometre park is
home to a huge array of Africa’s renowned wildlife, from hyena, lion, leopard and cheetah to elephant, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, antelope and much more. The Serengeti is best known for the part it plays with the Mara to stage the world famous wildebeest migration, with the large herds of wildebeest and other plains animals moving seasonally between here and the Mara. We spend the night camping in the middle of the park, with just the canvas of your tent between you and the vast plains that stretch out around us in all directions. If you don’t head to the Serengeti this morning you can spend time in the Maasai Cultural Centre and Museum, and if you are up for it visit the Snake Park which has a large collection of reptiles. Arusha also has busy markets, a shopping mall and internet. A camel safari can also be arranged to visit a Maasai village. The campsite where we are based has a comfortable entertainment area.
Optional excursions for days 10 to 12: Three day/two night safari with game drives in both the Serengeti and Ngorongoro
Crater; Overnight excursion with game drives in Ngorongoro Crater, Maasai village visit. Camel safari, Maasai Museum,
The Snake Park. Balloon safari in the Serengeti (only available in conjunction with the three day/two night safari), Olduvai
Gorge Museum (only available in conjunction with the three day/two night safari).

Meals: (Breakfasts/Dinners)

Another early morning finds those who elected to visit the Serengeti out on game drives across what the Maasai call Siringet, meaning endless plains. An early morning balloon safari can also be arranged. On leaving the park early afternoon we pay a visit to a Maasai boma and the Olduvai Gorge Museum. The museum records the work of Louis Leakey who uncovered the traces of early man here. The finding of a 1.75 million year old Australopithecus jawbone in 1959 was the first conclusive evidence that hominids had existed for over a million years and that they had evolved in Africa.
We spend our evening in a camp on the rim above the Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest extinct volcano. Those
on the overnight excursion join us tonight.

Meals: (Breakfasts/Dinners)

This morning we head out on our final game drives descending onto the floor of a perfectly intact volcanic caldera, the
Ngorongoro Crater. The Crater is full of animals - rhino, hippo, lion, elephant, hyena, buffalo, zebra, impala, ostrich, flamingo, and many, many more. It is a green garden of Eden, full of all the wildlife for which Africa is famous. Our game drives here are a wonderful conclusion to our wildlife viewing. Following our picnic lunch we head back to Arusha, stopping
on the way in the village of Mto Wa Mbu, where Maasai display their ebony carvings, spears and beadwork. Back in
Arusha we enjoy a group barbecue to celebrate the conclusion of our overland safari.

Meals: (Breakfasts/Dinners)

This morning we transfer you to the shuttle for the seven hour return journey to Nairobi. The shuttle drops off at either
Nairobi airport or the Heron Hotel. (Alternatively if you are wishing to head on to Kilimanjaro transfers through to Moshi
can be arranged.)

Meals: (Breakfast)