Kenya/Tanzania lodge safari covering Maasai Mara/Lake Nakuru/Amboseli/Lake Manyara/Serengeti National park and Ngorongoro crater in 12 Days

This Safari begins and ends in Nairobi, Kenya

- Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)

Day One Highlights - Arrive: Nairobi City
Guaranteed accommodation choices: Nairobi Safari Club

Meal Plan: Bed & Breakfast
Activity: Airport Arrival - Meet, Greet & Assist. Transfer to hotel. Rest & Relax.

The trip to Kenya can be arduous - airports, crowds, lines, luggage, irritating snafus. But once you arrive at the airport, your guide will meet you and drive you to your hotel in Nairobi where you can relax for an evening in preparation for a travel adventure of another kind. In the morning, meet your guide for the drive to Maasai Mara. Think of your guide as your own regional expert, knowledgeable in the local flora and fauna, and, especially, the local roads.

Day Two Highlights - Venue: Maasai Mara National Reserve
Guaranteed accommodation choices: Siana Intrepids Tented Camp or Keekorok Lodge

Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Transfer to Maasai Mara. Private Afternoon Game Drive

Your safari begin in the Maasai Mara Reserve and domain of the Maasai, Kenya's cattle-herding nomads determined to preserve their traditions. The Mara is magnificent, home to Kenya's richest concentration of wildlife, and regarded by many travelers as an essential stop on any tour of Africa. When westerners think of Africa and safari, this is place they imagine - golden grassland plains pocked with acacia, wildebeests, zebras, lions, and jackals bound by together by the cycle of life and death. Three days here will only scratch at the surface of the wonders of the Mara.

Day Three Highlights - Venue: Maasai Mara National Reserve
Guaranteed accommodation choices: Siana Intrepids Tented Camp or Keekorok Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Private Morning and Afternoon Game Drive Free visit to Tribal Village + Walking Safari

Morning and afternoon game drives will lead you to some of Africa's largest lion prides, herds of zebra, antelopes, buffaloes, wildebeest, giraffes, cheetahs, and hyenas. Accommodations include en suite restroom facilities and secluded verandahs. In between game drives, lounge at the pool or bar, or enjoy a mid-day nap.

Day Four Highlights - Venue: Lake Victoria -Tz
Guaranteed accommodation: Speke Bay Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Cross Board into Tanzania, Clear Immigration, Transfer to Lake Victoria, Walking Safari or a host of optional activities.

Today we cross into Tanzania. Enroute enjoy a picnic lunch on the shores of Lake Victoria. Speke Bay Lodge is situated on the south-eastern shore of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. Speke Bay is part of Speke Gulf, named after the famous explorer John Hanning Speke, who, in 1858, discovered Lake Victoria as the source of the Nile. Embraced by savannah, the Lodge looks like a small village, stretched out along the shores of the lake. The main buildings and luxury accommodation are round in form, built to perfection, painted white and thatched with a grass roof in the traditional style of the local tribe, the Sukuma.

Day Five Highlights - Venue: Serengeti National Park
Guaranteed accommodation: Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Transfer to Serengeti - Private Afternoon Game Drive

Life in the Serengeti is a complex and dynamic ecological system in which all the animals and plants interact both with each other and with their environment. No organism is static or exists in isolation and all are dependent on the rains. The park is made up of several different vegetation zones: in the dry south are the short and long grassland plains, where an average of only 50cm of rain falls per year. In the centre lies an area of acacia savannah whilst the western corridor marks a region of wooded highlands and 'black cotton' soil curving in a great swathe to the edge of Lake Victoria. To the north is wooded grassland, which concentrates along the watercourses and tributaries of the Grumeti and Mara Rivers.

Day Six Highlights - Venue: Serengeti National Park
Guaranteed accommodation: Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Private Morning & Afternoon Game Drives+ Walking Safari + Visit Tribal Village

Set high on the saddle of tree-clad ridge commanding panoramic views over the endlessly rolling reaches and volcanic reefs of the Serengeti, the Sopa lodge is the ultimate fusion of traditional African architecture and world-class style. Drawing its inspiration from the circular 'Rondavel' dwellings and winding paths of a traditional Maasai village, the Lodge features thickly-thatched, stone-built rooms, spaciously set amongst groves of indigenous trees that are cooled by sparkling streams and papyrus-fringed ponds. The circular bar, its roof supported by massive carven figures of warriors, maidens and elders, looks out over the sky-blue, 'vanishing horizon' swimming pool towards the miles of lion-gold savannah that lie below, wherein is enacted the thunderous theatre of the million-strong wildebeest migration.

Day Seven Highlights - Venue: Ngorongoro Crater Conservancy
Guaranteed accommodation: Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Transfer to Ngorongoro, Private visit to Olduvai Gorge and Museum

After breakfast, take a drive in the Ngorongoro Crater Conservancy Area, with a mid-day break for a picnic lunch. We visit the Olduvai Gorge and museum, the site of the remains of prehistoric man. The Ngorongoro Crater was formed millions of years ago by the collapse of a long extinct volcano. The resulting 100 square mile depression, surrounded by a 2000 foot volcanic rim, contains water and forage necessary to support most of the familiar African wildlife. Don't be surprised to see Maasai herders and their livestock, especially on the crater rim; the Conservation Area protects both wildlife and Maasai.

Day Eight Highlights - Venue: Ngorongoro Crater Conservancy
Guaranteed accommodation: Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Spend a private day of amazing game viewing in the Crater, Picnic Lunch

Spend another day on the crater floor viewing game; as many as 30,000 animals populate the crater. Lions, cheetahs, and jackals prey upon large herds of zebra, wildebeest, and antelope. The lake on the floor of the crater supports wading hippos and a myriad of birdlife. Elephants are rare within the crater, though lone, non-breeding bulls roam the region, their great tusks reaching out before them. Arrange to visit a local Maasai village and see how this proud, resourceful people live in harmony with the animals.

Day Nine Highlights - Venue: Lake Manyara National Park
Guaranteed accommodation: Lake Manyara Serena Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Transfer to Lake Manyara - Private Afternoon Game Drive

Today we travel to Lake Manyara, an amazing wildlife sanctuary famous for its tree climbing lions and dramatic views. It is located in a depressed valley where the red and brown cliffs of the western wall of Great Rift Valley seem to rise up out of the lake itself. Springs rising from the base of the escarpment provide a welcome water supply. While the lions may be shy (visitors who spot them are lucky indeed), Manyara includes a variety of habitats, home to a variety of big game and a rich assortment of birdlife.

Day Ten Highlights - Venue: Amboseli National Park
Guaranteed accommodation: Amboseli Sopa Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Cross Board into Kenya, clear immigration, Transfer to Amboseli. Private afternoon Game Drive

Amboseli National Park provides the classic Hollywood image of Africa. Set in rolling savannah scenery it is dwarfed by the presence of the pink-tinged, snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro which, at 5,896 meters, is the highest free-standing mountain in the world and topped by one fifth of all the ice in Africa. The lodge itself draws on a subtle Maasai cultural motif, featuring natural woodcarvings, traditional artifacts and a glowing selection of local art. Sensitively located and built from ecologically sympathetic materials, its architectural shapes, style, textures and colors reflect the true essence of the African bush. They also enable it to blend effortlessly into the landscape and work in gentle harmony with the natural environment.

Day Eleven Highlights - Venue: Amboseli National Park
Guaranteed accommodation: Amboseli Sopa Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activity: Private morning and afternoon Game Drives + Free Walking Safari + Free visit to Tribal Village.

This day features morning and afternoon game drives over the park's dusty roads (some of these are impassable during the rainy season due to the ashy soil), and you're likely to spot wildebeest and zebra attracted to the marshes and swamps fed by the melting snows of Kilimanjaro. You may also spot white rhinos on the fringes of the marshes as well as a great variety of birdlife (some 425 species of bird populate the park). With Kilimanjaro providing a dramatic backdrop, your photographs will be stunning. East Africa game avoids the mid-day heat by dozing in the shade. You can avoid the mid-day heat in the lodge's pool, at the bar, or like the beasts of the savannah, with a nap in the shade.

Day Twelve Highlights: Amboseli National Park > Nairobi City
Meal Plan: Breakfast
Activity: Predawn Game drive > Breakfast > Transfer to Nairobi at Leisure. Optional Activity include Souvenir shopping, farewell dinner etc. Airport departure transfer

An early morning game drive is followed by a breakfast feast. Take your time to say Kwaheri to simba and his friends. We leave when you're ready. In the evening we chauffeur you to the airport and bid you bon voyage as you catch your flight home.

Optional Extensions: Beach Vacation in Mombasa or Zanzibar. Additional days in Nairobi to visit places of interest

Included with this package:

Accommodation as detailed in the itinerary
All meals noted in the itinerary. Each day generally includes Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner buffets consisting of both western and local dishes.
Transportation in standard game viewing safari vehicle complete with pop-up roof for easy viewing and photography.
Every passenger is guaranteed a window seat.
Your driver/guide speaks English and has in-depth knowledge of the flora, fauna, landscape, and Kenyan culture.
A private minivan outfitted with two-way, long range high frequency radio communications equipment.
Each minivan carries safari accessories including wildlife books, beanbags to support cameras on car doors and window sills, binoculars, a first-aid kit, an ice-chest, and a fire extinguisher.
Bottled mineral water during game drives.
Park entrance fees and game drives as noted in the itinerary.
All government taxes, levies, and fees
All arrival and departure transfer fees between airports, hotels, parks, etc.
Twenty-four hours stand-by contact telephone number

Not included:

Domestic and international airfares and departures taxes.
Personal communications charges for telephone calls, faxes, email, etc.
Tips and gratuities for hotel, lodge and camp staff and for your driver/guide.
Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. (Bottled mineral water is provided in the minivan while on game drives.)
Laundry services.
Between meal snacks, additional entrance fees to reserves, parks, attractions, and events not included in your itinerary