Kenya and Tanzania Lodge Safari

Day 1 Nairobi
Explore the biggest city between Cairo and Johannesburg. Early birds should explore the impressive National Museum or the Bomas of Kenya, a fascinating cultural centre where artists perform traditional dances and songs.

Days 2-3 Samburu National Reserve
Spot the traditional thatched roofs of Kikuyu houses while travelling into Samburu tribal lands. The open savannas, scrub desert and verdant river foliage of this vast reserve are home to a vast array of animals including giraffes, Grevy's zebras, Somali ostriches and elegant gerenuks. From the verandah of the lodge, relax and survey the crocodile-filled river that winds its way through the parched landscape.

Day 4 Aberdare National Park
Perched among the trees on 12 m high stilts, tonight's world-famous game-viewing hotel offers superb panoramic views of the forest wildlife below. From its lofty verandah, spot animals drinking at the nearby waterhole, including buffaloes, rhinos and elephants.

Day 5 Lake Nakuru
See the famous flamingos of Lake Nakuru and embark on game drives to look for rare black and white rhinos. This lake is justly famous for its visiting flocks of flamingos, as well as pelicans, cormorants and several hundred other species. Land animals are also well-represented here, with waterbucks, rare Rothchild's giraffes and zebras being fairly common. Relish the breathtaking sight of the afternoon sun casting its warm glow across the park from Baboon Cliff.

Days 6-7 Masai Mara National Reserve
Today we drive south from Nakuru, crossing the floor of the Great Rift Valley and traversing the escarpment before reaching the town of Narok in the land of the Masai. As we near this marvelous area, we are likely to see many colourfully dressed Masai tribes people attending to their herds of cattle. We arrive in time for lunch at our lodge.

The Masai Mara has a very high population of plains animals such as wildebeest and zebras which are preyed upon by lions, leopards, hyenas, among others. Elephants are also a fairly common sight here while hippos and crocodile are plentiful in the Mara River. On our first day here we'll head out in the late afternoon for an evening game drive.

Our second day is spent with a dawn game drive, returning to relax at our tented camp during the heat of the day and heading out again in the late afternoon as the animals become more active.

Day 8 Nairobi
Leave the wilderness behind for the night and spend a night in the city.

Day 9 Lake Manyara National Park
Look out for black-maned tree-climbing lions and watch exotic birds, including flamingos and pelicans, skim its picturesque Pink Lake. The park also boasts an abundance of hippos, which can often be observed at close range.

Days 10-11 Serengeti National Park
Leaving Lake Manyara mid morning, we travel on to the world-famous Serengeti National Park, arriving in time for a late afternoon game drive to our lodge. The endless plains of the Serengeti are the essence of Africa, and are home to massive numbers of plains animals and attendant predators, providing some of the best wildlife viewing anywhere in the world.

Making the most of the wildlife opportunities, we enjoy early morning and afternoon game drives following the natural pattern of the animals, who tend to be more active in the cooler hours. We depart before dawn on the morning of our second day here to watch how the animals of the Serengeti start their day. Depending on the whereabouts of the game, we can either return to the lodge to relax until heading out for our afternoon safari, or packing lunch boxes we may choose to spend the day exploring the Park.

Days 12-13 Ngorongoro Crater
We depart the Serengeti this morning, making our way to the Park boundaries while completing a leisurely game drive. We will have a boxed picnic lunch today. Leaving the Serengeti, we travel to the Olduvai Gorge, an area famed for the fossilised remains of prehistoric man, before continuing on to our scenic lodge on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, arriving in the late afternoon.

On the morning of our second day in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area we descend to the crater floor 600 m below the rim (2,250 m) in the early morning for a half-day game drive within the crater until the mid afternoon, enjoying a boxed picnic lunch. The Ngorongoro Crater is the remains of an ancient volcano, and within its walls lie 250 sq km of floor space, home to remarkable concentrations of wildlife. Over 30,000 animals live here including endangered black rhinos, lions, leopards, elephants, impalas, zebras and hippos to name just a few. Afterwards, we return to the lodge for a second night.

Day 14 Nairobi
Today we start our return journey to Nairobi. Our first stop will be the village of Mto Wa Mbu (drive time from the crater approx. 1.5 hours) where we will visit the local market and have a chance to meet the local people. You may also wish to take the chance to indulge in a spot of shopping with wood carvings and local artwork a speciality of this area.

After a brief stop in Arusha (drive time between Mto Wa Mbu and Arusha is approx. 2 hours) we will head to the border with Kenya. Putting into consideration the border crossing might take close to one hour, the drive from Arusha to Nairobi will take 6 hours (300Kms).

Our tour finishes on arrival at the Panafric hotel at around 6pm. Please do not book your international flight until after 10pm on this day. Accommodation is not included for tonight, but we are able to arrange additional accommodation. Please enquire at time of booking.

For those wishing to avoid the long drive back to Nairobi we can also drop passengers who arrange their departing flights out of Arusha, enroute back to Kenya. Post tour accommodation can also be arranged in Arusha, as well as Nairobi, for those who may require it.