9 Days Intrepid Memoirs

Upon arrival in Nairobi the capital city of Kenya, you will be met by our tour representative who will drive you to the Kenyan highlands. After about two hours’ drive from the airport, you will find Karatina Town. You will then make a detour up the beautiful coffee / tea plantations in the foothills of Mount Kenya, and have a stop over to take some photos. Thereafter, you will continue with your safari to the delightfully placed Aberdare Country Club for lunch in glorious surroundings that oozes colonial Kenya. The place reeks of the old colonial days with atmospheric rooms and a stunning garden. Then, you will have a drive safari through the forest. Here you will be able to see the elephants, buffaloes and other distinctive animals often seen in the dense vegetation or in the open glades in the forest. You will arrive at recently, stylishly renovated tree-top The Ark Hotel, which offers different and exciting experiences directly from the lodge balcony or a secret that lies at the end of an underground walk from the lodge. You will have your dinner and stay at the Ark hotel.

After breakfast, the safari will continue north to the Samburu National Reserve. After vigor in the highlands, it is now time to experience the very dry and beautiful areas of Samburu and buffalo’s spring. You will arrive in time for lunch at Samburu Sopa Lodge, located with a dazzling view of the breathtaking scenery. The area you are in now is noticeably warmer than they were at Aberdare, and many veteran African travelers called this area as the “real” Africa, where the great species variation provides ample opportunities for incredible experiences. In the afternoon after lunch, you will have your first large animal experiences, maybe you will meet some of the animals rarely seen elsewhere, for example the narrow-striped Grévy's zebra, the beautiful reticulated giraffe and Somali ostrich. Explore the Samburu landscape and wildlife either starting early morning and afternoon or on a long-day “game drive” with picnic lunches.

After breakfast, you will drive from the dry north and head through the lush highlands to the west to grave lowering the Great Rift Valley and the beautiful Lake Naivasha. En-route you will stop at the beautiful waterfall, Thomson’s Falls, where you will enjoy hot lunch from Thomson’s Falls Lodge. The tour continues to Lake Naivasha for dinner. Your accommodation will be at Olerai House, located in a beautiful park. The park is often visited by giraffes, antelopes, zebras and water bucks that come to graze, and at night comes hippos on land to satisfy your hunger. When hippos often come right up to the rooms and grasses, you are not allowed to go out in the dark hours without guard. Included is both a boat ride on the lake, where you do not at least get close to hippos and a hike on the small Crescent Island, where you can see giraffes, zebras, antelopes and gazelles as well as a great bird life.

After early breakfast, you will depart to the famous Maasai Mara. The trip is varied and gives a new and excellent impression of the savanna embossed part of Kenya’s landscapes. You will experience two full days' safari. From the early morning, when the light coolness still prevails, you will seek out the great experiences among Africa’s famed “Big Five” - elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, and rhinos. Through the 1,500-square-kilometer reserve meandering rivers crisscrossing where both hippos and crocodiles holder. Here, you will be looking animals naturally turn to drink, and there are often great opportunities to take some great pictures. On Maasai Mara plains you get to see herds of wildebeest, zebras, antelopes, giraffes and gazelles as well as a large and diverse number of different birds. Actually, there are more than 450 different bird species registered in the Maasai Mara, of which 53 species are birds of prey, which all thrive. The Maasai Mara is also home of the largest concentration of lions in Kenya, just as leopards and cheetahs are very well represented. In the period from July to October there is great opportunities to experience the great wildebeests and zebra migration, which has arrived from the Serengeti and the amount of the many predators are extra-large.

After several days with large and unforgettable nature experiences, you are heading back toward Nairobi. On the way, you will enjoy the packed lunches before the visit of Karen Blixen Museum. In the evening, you will fly back home.