ITINERARY
Day 1 - Nairobi
On arrival at the airport, you will be met by our representative for transfer to trademark Hotel. Later in the day head out to the National Museum’s bird gallery for familiarization with some of the bird species endemic to Kenya that are on display. Pass by a restaurant for early dinner before returning to the hotel for the night.
Day 2 - Nairobi / Lake Naivasha
After breakfast we depart from our Nairobi hotel for a scenic drive through the Great North road to Lake Naivasha, stop enroute at the various view points for a panoramic view of the valley with very clear views of Mt. Suswa and the dormant Mr.Longonot. Arrive Lake Naivasha mid morning and enjoy a walk along the lake shores for opportunity to see birds and other animals. Lake Naivasha being fresh water is home to an incredible variety of species. Over 450 species have been recorded here. Enjoy lunch at your lodge/camp. In the afternoon you have the option of boat ride on the lake or visit the nearby Hell’s Gate park.
Hell’s Gate named for the intense geothermal activity within its boundaries, the Hell's Gate National Park is a remarkable quarter of the Great Rift Valley. Spectacular scenery including the towering cliffs, water-gouged gorges, stark rock towers, scrub clad volcanoes and belching plumes of geothermal steam make it one of the most atmospheric Parks in Africa.
Hell’s Gate is an ideal venue for a day trip from Nairobi where, in addition to the bio-diversity that includes raptors, visitors can enjoy mountain biking, rock climbing and a natural spa. Return to Lake Naivasha Country Club for dinner & overnight.
Day 3 - Lake Naivasha / Lake Bogoria
Today take a leisurely drive through one of Kenya’s most scenic routes towards the northern rift valley lakes of Bogoria and Baringo. Arrive at lunch time at the Lake and have a picnic. Later walking along the shores of Lake Bogoria with it’s numerous hot springs & geysers coming straight from underneath the ground and thereby providing evidence of current volcanic activities. The Loburu hot-springs are a super heated bubble of mud that is estimated to be in excess of 300 degrees heat, other geysers shoot steam up to 3 meters high.The lake also provides you the opportunity to see millions of flamingos that live there.
Later in the evening drive to Lake Baringo. Dinner and overnight at Tumbili Cliff
This beautiful, magnificently scenic region lying to the north of Nakuru is a land of surprises. It is a flat-bottomed valley with a range of high hills to the west. The valley can be called Baringo Valley because Lake Baringo is its most prominent feature. The hills are the Tugen Hills. In the east, sharply separating the valley from the highlands of Central Kenya, are steep escarpment slopes such as the Laikipia Escarpment ---- which are, in fact, the defining eastern edge of the Great Rift Valley; the fault line at which the earth's crust cracked to form the valley many millions of years ago. The Tugen Hills, an example of what geologists call “block mountains”, here, in effect, divide, the Great Rift into two parallel North-South valleys; the Kerio Valley to the west and the Baringo Valley to the east.
Day 4 - Lake Baringo
After breakfast you will have beautiful views of the lake and the islands in the changing light of the sunrise. Lake Baringo is the second freshwater lake in the Rift valley after Lake Naivasha and is the highest at 970 m above sea level. There are over 450 species of birds in and around the lake area. Crocodiles and hippos are also frequently spotted with the latter coming out at night in many places to graze ashore. Here is one of the best places to photograph Squacco heron, Goliath heron and purple heron.
On the lake are local fishermen who paddle around in their balsa wood boats and fish Tilapia. Perhaps you would like to experience a special spectacle and buy a fish from one of the fishermen, then look out for African fish Eagles, which are usually found in pairs on the banks and on the islands. When you have tracked the big birds, the fisherman will raise the fish from the boat - and the fish eagle will try to catch the fish. Dinner and Overnight Tumbili Cliff Lodge
Day 5 - Lake Baringo / Item (Lake Baringo view)
Leave after breakfast and take one of the most scenic routes in Kenya enjoying great views of Lake Baringo, stop over at Cheploch Gorger where the river Kerio slices through the rocks, here you get an amazing opportunity to take great pictures. Arrive for lunch at Kerio View hotel in Iten – home to numerous Olympic champions. Dinner and overnight Kerio View Hotel.
​
Set like jewels on the Baringo Valley floor are Lakes Baringo and Bogoria. They are only a few kilometers apart with Bogoria higher by only 20 m. Some believe they were once linked together. However, presently they are very different indeed in their character and attractions. Baringo is one of only two fresh-water lakes in this region (the other being Naivasha), whereas Bogoria is strongly alkaline.
Driving towards Kabarnet, abruptly, at the first hairpin bend, 500m beyond Iten, a magnificent view of the Kerio Valley opens up before your eyes. The prominent line of hills to the east, and running parallel to the Keiyo Escarpment you are now about to descend, is the Tugen Hills. At the northern end of this range is the fine pyramidal shape of Tiati, the sacred mountain of the Pokot people.
At the Kolol view point you will see the 200m Torok waterfall North of the lakes are the cones of a number of extinct volcanoes. One of them is Silali, from the side of which bubbles a river of almost boiling water — the Suguta River, which flows north, gradually descending, into the infamous Suguta Valley of Turkana, where the warm and highly saline water dissipates into the rocks and arid dust.
The northern Suguta is one of the most inhospitable places on earth and is separated from Lake Turkana by only a narrow barrier of solidified lava. This is the lowest point of the Great Rift in Kenya.
Day 6 - Iten / Kisumu
Visit the training ground for Kenya’s World beating champions before departing for Kisumu, declared by the UN as the World’s Millenium City. Enjoy lunch and a relaxed evening on the shores of Africa’s largest fresh water lake and the source of the great river Nile. Dinner and overnight the Souvereign hotel
Day 7 - Kisumu
Optional visit to Kakamega forest for a days excursion or transfer to Rusinga island to spend time on the shores away from the city. Dinner and overnight the Souvereign hotel
Day 8 - Lake Victoria
Spend your day relaxing by the shores or enjoy the optional numerous water activities and visits to other islands for sightseeing. Dinner and overnight the Souvereign Hotel
Day 9 - Maasai Mara
Travel to Maasai Mara Game Reserve, so named to mean the “spotted plains” in Maa language. This is home to the greatest concentration of large mammals and is widely recognized as Africa’s ultimate wildlife reserve. The park is the northern extension to the vast Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, famous for its annual migration of wildebeest.
Transfer to the lodge with a game drive en route and after check-in enjoy hot lunch. Later in the evening enjoy a game viewing drive in this spectacular place of breathtaking sceneries, never-ending plains and the most abundant variety of wildlife remaining anywhere in the world. The landscape is made up of rolling savannahs dotted with patchy shrubs and bush thickets. All meals and overnight at Basecamp
Day 10 & 11 - Maasai Mara
During your stay, you have the opportunity to explore this great reserve in depth. You may see elephant, giraffe, prides of lion, and thousands of impala, topi, grants and Thomson's gazelle. Birds are prolific including immigrants, 450 bird species have been recorded among them 57 birds of prey. The Mara is the scene of annual migration of millions of wildebeest up from the Serengeti plains in search of water and grasses. You get a chance to visit a Maasai tribal village or while in Mara, you will have the option to float above the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem on board a hot air balloon followed by a gourmet champagne breakfast (Options at an extra cost)
Day 12 - Maasai Mara / Nairobi / Departure
After an early morning game drive and breakfast, drive off to Nairobi arriving for late lunch before transfer to airport for flight home.
​
INCLUDED
-
Overnight stay and meals according to the itinerary.
-
Transport in Mini Van with folding roof for sight and photography.
-
English speaking tour guide
-
Game drives and park fees according to the itinerary.
-
All taxes and duties.
-
Mineral water during game drives.
-
All airport transfers.
-
24 hours stand by service for your questions.
EXCLUDED
-
Visa fees and travel insurance.
-
Tips.
-
Drinks.
-
Surcharges at Easter, Christmas and New Year.
-
Laundry.
-
Anything not mentioned in the itinerary.
​