Destination: Kenya

Travel Dates: October 5th to 22nd 2010

'Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it.'
Eudora Welty

Highlights
Wildlife & Walking Holiday(Soft walks)
Vintage Destinations Tour Leader
Luxury/Comfort Tour
Karen Blixen Museum and the Langata Giraffe Center
Sangare Game Conservancy
Solio Conservancy (Largest population of Black Rhino)
Treetops (Aberdare National Park)
Crescent Island
Lake Naivasha
Crater Lake Game Conservancy
Masai Mara Game Reserve
Lake Nakuru National Park
Amboseli National Park
Tsavo West National Park
Taita Hills Game Sanctuary
Indian Ocean & Mombasa

View 'The Vintage Destinations Kenya Gallery'

Itinerary
5th October
Arrive Nairobi and transfer to your hotel. Visit Karen Blixen Museum and the Langata Giraffe Center to learn about these extraordinary animals. We have an opportunity to hand feed giraffes from a tall wooden platform.

6th October
Sangare Game Conservancy - O/N Sangare Tented Camp. Sangare is a 6500 acre private wildlife conservancy sandwiched between the Aberdares and Mt. Kenya. The 12- luxury tented camp overlooks a fresh water lake full of exciting bird life and where game comes to drink. The Sangare Hill forms a magnificent backdrop for the camp.

The Conservancy habitat is open savannah where we will find many of the plains game such as zebra, giraffe, antelope, warthog, leopard, hyenas, elephants and buffalo. Bird life in Sangare is rich with + 300 bird species recorded.

Activities include soft game viewing walks & vehicle game drives.

7th October
Solio Conservancy & Treetops in Aberdares National Park
After breakfast we drive to the nearby Solio Conservancy for an extensive game drive in the Rhino Sanctuary; which has the world's largest concentration of black rhino. The white rhino is also found here as well as the reticulated giraffe, leopard, lion and a wide range of plains game and bird life. We game drive in the Conservancy knowing that since this is a private sanctuary it is little visited by tour operators, you will see little or no other tourists around. It is common to see a dozen rhino or more - both black & white.

Many people come to the Aberdares National Park expressly to visit the Treetops hotel for game viewing. The history is interesting and there is no doubt that this has become a tourist destination, but for one night it is a fun experience to see elephant, buffalo, rhino and other game such as leopard and lion coming to a floodlit waterhole right below the balcony of the hotel.

Treetops gets its name from the original hotel in which Princess Elizabeth arrived on Feb 5, 1952 and checked out on Feb 6 as the queen of England after her father, King George died in London during the night.

8th October
We enter the Rift Valley staying at the Lake Naivasha Country Club. We will stop at the equator and the Thompson Falls in Nyahururu.

Our afternoon walk is in the privately owned Crescent Island, which is a peninsula on the eastern shore of Lake Naivasha. We use a motorized boat to get to the Crescent Island with good opportunities to see the many hippos that are resident in Lake Naivasha.

The Crescent Island walk has a lot of easy to see game such as giraffe, waterbuck, eland, zebra and impala. It is also a haven for birds with +200 species recorded.

9th October
Crater Lake Game Conservancy is a small lake in the chain of lakes in the Rift Valley but a good place where nature is at its best. With the option of soft walks or vehicle game drives this is a unique place to see giraffe, black and white colobus monkeys, eland, hartebeest and a range of gazelles, away from mass tourism.

10th - 12th October
We now take a break from walking to put all our attention to watching wildlife. To see the best of Kenyan wildlife in the famed Game Reserve the Masai Mara where we will find all the big game and hope to witness the many wildebeest in their migration within this ecosystem. O/N Mara Leisure Tented Camp.

During our time in the Mara we will visit a Masai manyatta (Homestead). An optional walk through the dry bush along the Talek River on the look out for birds and small game is available. Morning and afternoon game drives on both days.

13th October
Leave Mara in the morning and transfer to Sunbird Lodge on the shore of Lake Elementaita. This lake may not have the big name of Lake Nakuru but its scenic beauty is unmatched. It is coloured pink with flamingoes and has a wide variety of water birds.

14th October
Full day game drive at the Lake Nakuru National Park - famous for its flocks of over one million flamingoes. Lake Nakuru National Park was the first place in Kenya selected as a rhino reserve. Here is one of the few places where we can see rothschild's giraffes. Close friends of ours were born and raised on this lake when it was surrounded by farms. They worked with Peter Scott, Roger Troy Peterson and the World Wildlife Federation to have it protected.

15th - 16th October
Today we arrive for lunch in Amboseli National Park, right on the border with Tanzania, at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro which is Africa's highest mountain at 19,340 feet (5,895 meters). Although it is situated inside Tanzania, the best views of the mountain are from Amboseli on the Kenyan side of the border. This afternoon we enjoy a game drive in majestic Amboseli. O/N in Kibo Safari Camp.

17th - 18th October
This morning we enjoy a game drive in Amboseli National Park. The park is particularly famous for its huge herds of elephants which take on a red color from the dust they coat themselves in. This afternoon we travel east from the flat plains and swamps of Amboseli to Tsavo West National Park. Outside the park gates is the Shetani Lava Flow that appears as a frozen river of molten black rock twisted into bizarre shapes. The Mzima Springs are the source of the freshwater pools much favored by hippos and crocodiles. There is even a glass wall for viewing the pools from under the water line. Our lodge overlooks a watering hole where we can observe many animals coming down to drink at dusk and in the early morning. O/N in Tsavo West.

19th October
From Tsavo we drive south to the Taita Hills Game Sanctuary, a private game reserve of 42,000 acres. This afternoon we shall have a game drive in the fertile hills of the Taita Hills Reserve. Overnight in Taita Hills.

20th October
This morning we drive further east from the interior of Kenya to the Indian Ocean Coast, we pass through a spectacular panorama on our way to Mombasa. After settling into our beachfront hotel, the rest of the day is free for you to relax and enjoy the soft sands and warm waters of the turquoise Indian Ocean.

21st October
After a relaxed morning at the beach, we begin our exploration of Mombasa and Kenya's Indian Ocean Coast. The town of Mombasa is situated on an island on the southern coast of Kenya. It is the oldest town in Kenya and is the largest port on the coast of East Africa with a history going back 2,000 years. With such a long and rich history it is not surprising that there is much to see in the old section of town. Most of the buildings here were constructed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when Mombasa was a major trading center at the height of its power. Many of the streets in the Old Town are too narrow for cars, and the buildings here are known for their elaborately carved wooden doors, decorated with brass studs. We will also see the Old Law Court, several mosques and The Leven House which was once the headquarters of the British East Africa Company. The highlight of a visit to old Mombassa is the enormous Fort Jesus. Built in 1593 by the Portuguese, it dominates the entrance to the Old Harbor and is positioned so that, even under siege, it was still possible to bring supplies in from the sea. Inside, we see the so-called Omani House and visit the museum.

22nd October
After breakfast we transfer you to the airport.
End of services

Tour cost notes - Important information about the price on this tour:
Due to the nature of this exclusive tour, and the locations we visit, we have priced the tour, based on the total number of people signed up. As we don't know this in advance, we have broken this down, to reflect different numbers of guests, to a maximum of 12.

Check with us for the number of people signed up, and we will honour the price listed below, to all as the group grows. If you would like this tour 100% exclusive, (Just your party) these prices will be effective for the size of your group. Please ask for clarification if you need more information. Note: If your an experienced traveler, and you would like to do this tour without a tour leader, or as a camping trip/budget hotels, Please ask for details.

Tour cost, per person sharing, for this comfort & luxury tour...

Single Room Supplement - USD880.00
To help singles - As this tour fills we will try and match up singles to share rooms if you desire.
Each passenger has a window seat.


Notes: Special rate available for group booking - ask for details(6+).

In Nairobi and Mombassa we have not included activities as people may wish not to do them – The cost for the Karen Blixen Giraffe Center, Nairobi Museum & Fort Jesus is US$20.00 each.

Please contact us to join this tour

Back to Kenya

Back to Feature Tours