January 13

Day 1: Arrival in Nairobi, Kenya
Please plan to arrive on the afternoon of January 13th. You'll be met at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and transported to the Savora Panafric Hotel for our welcoming orientation and overnight stay.

• The Savora Panafric Hotel is rated amongst the best hotels in Nairobi.

January 14

Day 2: Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and Karen Blixen Museum
Our driver will pick us up from the Sarova Pacific Hotel at 7.00 am for a day of local attractions starting at the Nairobi National Park. We’ll visit the Sheldrick Elephant Trust, where baby elephants are rehabilitated and released into the wild when possible. We'll also visit the Giraffe Center. Lunch will be served at Africa’s most famous eating experience location: Carnivore Restaurant. After lunch, we’ll visit the Giraffe Centre, followed by a short tour of the home and museum of the pioneer coffee farmer and writer Karen Blixen, author of “Out of Africa." We’ll overnight again at the Sarova Panafric Hotel.

• The Sheldrick Elephant Trust operates the most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world.

• The Giraffe Centre lets you get up close and personal with the world's tallest animal.

• Carnivore Restaurant offers a rare feeding frenzy that doesn't stop until you declare defeat.

January 15

Day 3: Nairobi-Masai Mara National Reserve
We’ll have an early breakfast, be picked up by our guide at 6:30 am, and head out through the Great Rift Valley to Masai Mara, where we’ll spend most of our day on game drives. We'll also make a stop at a Maasai village for a first-hand experience with jumping warriors. 

• Dinner and overnight are at the Mara Sopa Lodge. 

• The Mara Sopa Lodge is famous for the abundance of lions and the Maasai people.

January 16

Day 4: Masai Mara National Reserve
Mara offers wildlife in such variety and abundance that it is difficult to comprehend. Over 450 species of animals have been recorded here. We have the possibility of seeing lions, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, wildebeests, zebras, buffalo, warthogs, hyenas, jackals, buffalo, leopards, cheetahs, vultures, elephants, antelopes, and more. 

• Dinner and overnight are again at the Mara Sopa Lodge.

January 17

Day 5: Masai Mara – Lake Victoria
We leave the camp after breakfast and head to Tanzania and Speke Bay Lodge, embraced by savannah on the southeastern shore of Lake Victoria, just 15 kilometers from Serengeti National Park where we're likely to encounter wildebeest, zebra, Thomson's gazelle, lion, spotted hyena, hunting dog, cheetah, black rhino, elephant, giraffe, buffalo, topi, eland, jackal and otter. Over 350 bird species have been recorded in the Serengeti National Park, including 34 raptors. The Speke Bay Lodge was named after John Hanning Speke, the explorer who discovered Lake Victoria to be the source of the Nile River. This charming lodge stretches along the shore of the lake, looking like a small village.

• The Speke Bay Lodge features bungalows on the shores of Lake Victoria.

January 18

Day 6: Lake Victoria- Serengeti National Park
After breakfast, we'll leave the lodge at 9 am and drive to Serengeti via Ndabaka Gate in search of a variety of wildlife. A picnic lunch in the park is on our agenda at midday before continuing our afternoon game drives. Later in the day, we'll row along the shoreline with local fishermen in traditional canoes to a nearby village, where we'll explore by foot. 

• Dinner and our overnight stay are at Serengeti Serena Lodge (or *similar).

• The Serengeti Serena Lodge is an award-winning gem located in one of the most beautiful areas in Tanzania.

 

January 19

Day 7: Central Serengeti  - Seronera
We’ll spend the whole day exploring Seronera, one of many world-famous attractions in the Central Serengeti. The Seronera Valley supports a greater diversity of resident wildlife than anywhere else in the Serengeti, including elephant, giraffe, impala, waterbuck, hippo, topi, reedbuck, buffalo, and baboon. This resident prey, in turn, attracts the highest concentrations of large predators in Africa, including lion, hyena, leopard, and cheetah, and a multitude of smaller predators such as mongoose, jackal, serval, and bat-eared foxes. Serengeti is Tanzania's most famous national park and its largest at 14,763 square kilometers of protected area. 

• Our dinner and overnight stay will be at the Serengeti Serena Lodge (or *similar) again.

January 20

Day 8: Ndutu Area - Wildebeest Calving
After breakfast, we’ll spend the day exploring the grassy plains and woodlands, tracking herds of wildebeest and zebra, witnessing the birth of new calves, and trailing predators such as lion, cheetah, and hyena on the hunt. The area also teems with other wildlife, including elephants, eland, various gazelle species, Kirk’s dik-dik, giraffe, and the elusive leopard. 

• Dinner and overnight stay will be at Angata Migration Camp (or *similar).

• The Angata Migration Camp / Ndutu is at the doorstep of the Serengeti.

January 21

Day 9: Serengeti - Ndutu Area

You will enjoy full days in the Ndutu Plains. The area has high densities of cheetahs and lions particularly when the wildebeest inhabit these plains from December to March. There are two beautiful sodic lakes in the vicinity. Being in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCAA) you will be able to drive off road – a great advantage for getting close up to Africa’s large mammals! This area is also the traditional birthing ground for the wildebeest, which are attracted to the area by the high concentrations of phosphorus in the soil, an essential mineral for lactating mothers. It is one of the greatest places in Africa to sit around a campfire and listen to the night sounds under a sky full of stars.       

• Dinner and overnight stay will be at Angata Migration Camp (or *similar).

• The Angata Migration Camp / Ndutu is at the doorstep of the Serengeti.

January 22

Day 10: Ngorongoro Crater
We’ll enjoy an early breakfast, we'll descend the 600 meters (2,000ft) into Ngorongoro Crater for superb game viewing with picnic lunch boxes. The Ngorongoro Crater is a natural enclosure supporting 20,000-30,000 animals at any one time making it virtually a Noah’s ark and inhabiting almost every species of wildlife that is indigenous to East Africa. The Crater is considered one of the natural wonders of the world and has the highest densities of predators in Africa such as lions, hyenas and leopards. It is also one of the best places in Africa to see the endangered black rhino. In the late afternoon, slowly begin the climb out of the crater and head toward Karatu for dinner.

• Overnight Mareravaley Lodge

January 23

Day 11: Lake Eyesi

You will wake up before sunrise to visit the Hadzabe tribe, one of the last true nomadic tribes in Africa. After some explanations about the tribe, you will join them in their daily morning activities. This experience is very off the beaten track with amazing photographic opportunities and a highlight of our safari. You will join the tribe in their daily hunting and experience the Hadzabe way of life. Later, we'll visit the Datoga or Black Smith tribe who recycle metal to forge tools, jewelry, and weapons, and often trade with the Hadzabe tribe.

• Dinner and overnight at the Marera Lodge

 

January 24

Day 12: Katatu and Mto Wa Mbu Village visits

We’ll enjoy breakfast at the camp, then proceed to Karatu Village where we'll take a coffee tour on a small, family-owned plot that includes an immersive look at local farming, and allows us to experience how the coffee beans are processed. And of course our tour includes tasting freshly-made coffee. Our special "Mama Africa" lunch experience will be in the vibrant community of Mto Wa Mbu near Lake Manyara. Mto Wa Mbu is a melting pot of East African cultures with a mix of traditions, dialects, and rituals.

• Overnight the Airport Planet Lodge

January 25

Day 13: Amboseli- Kilimanjaro - Departure
We'll enjoy a leisurely breakfast and with luck, get a photo with a Mount Kilimanjaro backdrop before transferring to Killimanjaro International Airport for you flight home.

• Please DO NOT schedule your outbound departure before 4 p.m. on January 18.