The Migration Luxury Kenya Safari 9 Days

Depart from Nairobi city this morning, passing through savanna grasslands, to reach your lodge in Amboseli. Upon arrival, set out into Amboseli National Park for a chance to share the terrain with the parks famed herds of free roaming elephants, as well as some of the world’s most elusive animals. Game viewing can be arranged either before or after checking into your camp, so call upon the knowledge of your expert guide to gain their recommendations based on your arrival time, animal activity and park hours.

This afternoon you’ll meet with your guide and head into Amboseli National Park. The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to spot free-roaming elephants, however, a wide array of other species including bushbucks, dik-diks, duikers, and warthogs are also commonly found here. The park is also host to an incredible range of birdlife, with over 400 species identified, and on a clear day, you’ll also enjoy spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. After an afternoon exploring the park, you will return to your lodge to get set for a delicious safari dinner.

Accommodation: Tawi Lodge

Meal Plan: (Lunch, Dinner)

This morning we’ll leave our lodge early after breakfast for the day’s game drive. Enjoying the spectacular Kenya’s sunrise lighting up the Maasai countryside and homesteads and brightly coloured Maasai herdsmen with their cattle while the spectacular Mount Kilimanjaro creating our magical background.  

Upon entering the park, we’ll see herds of elephants, with many of them adorning massive ivory tusks. We’ll set out for an informative wildlife viewing on a mid-morning game drive where Amboseli’s sparse vegetation especially during the dry months, offers wonderful opportunities for spotting wildlife.

Apart from the big animals, the birdlife is also abundant in Amboseli, with huge conglomerations around the swamps and marshlands of the park. In Amboseli, birds species range from the nomadic Lesser and Greater flamingos to the raptors, terrestrial birds and waders.  

Combining wildlife viewing with other options, we’ll take a ride up to Observation Hill. This vantage point will give us an overall vista of the entire park. Check out the swamps below where the elephants gather daily. You can also walk about the hill as it’s one of the few places in the park you can explore on foot.

From the park, we’ll drive back to the lodge for lunch that will be followed by spending your afternoon at leisure. Alternatively, you may take the opportunity to visit the Maasai village to learn more about their lifestyle and culture. This evening, we may get views of Kilimanjaro’s snow-capped peak as its cloud-shrouded summit can clear toward evening.

Accommodation: Tawi Lodge

Meal Plan: (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

This morning we’ll leave Amboseli National Park and head off to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia. The drive from the sun-scorched plains of the Amboseli National Park through the urban center of Nairobi, and the fertile central highlands, the semi-arid frontier of Kenya is breath-taking and great way to see the countryside. The drive will be about six hours.

Our arrival at the conservancy will be late in the afternoon giving us an opportunity to enjoy our first game drive in the plains of the conservancy with the breathtaking backdrop of snow peaks of Mount Kenya.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy has more endangered mammals within its borders than any other area in East Africa. Half of Kenya's black rhino resides here, along with other endangered and northern species: Northern white rhino, Somali ostrich, gerenuk, reticulated giraffe and silver backed jackal.

Accommodation: Sweetwaters Serena

A sheltered oasis, clustered around a water hole and set in the pristine calm of the private Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Sweetwaters Serena Tented Camp offers a charming blend of under-canvas ambiance and safari luxury. Located on the plains of Mount Kenya, the camp features luxury tents, each with their own private veranda overlooking the water hole. The central Rhino Restaurant is housed in the former manager's house of this once colonial farm, and offers both regional and international cuisine. Also within the house is the Kashoggi Bar and lounge, which centers on a blazing log fire. The Waterhole Bar, built in the style of a game-viewing hide, overlooks the waterhole and offers unrivaled wildlife viewing.

Accommodation: Sweetwaters Serena

Meal Plan: (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

This morning, we’ll have the whole day to enjoy a game drive in world-renowned Ol Pejeta. The conservancy is host to all members of the African Big 5 namely, (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo and leopard), along with a wide range of rare species including the African wild dog, oryx, serval, Jackson’s hartebeest and Grevy’s zebra. Famously, Ol Pejeta is one of only eight sanctuaries in Africa will more than 100 black rhino’s, so spotting these critically endangered animals is also possible while exploring the Laikipia region.

Today, we have the option of visiting the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary; the only place in Kenya where these highly endangered and remarkably intelligent primates can be seen. The Sweetwater’s Chimpanzee Sanctuary opened in 1993 in a negotiated agreement between the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Jane Goodall Institute. Here the animals are carefully nursed back to health and integrated into families. The chimpanzees live in two large groups separated by the Ewaso Nyiro River. Watch them romp and play, visit the local shop, or even sponsor a chimp! Please Note: Visitors to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy have free access to the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, which is open daily from 9:00am to 10:30am and 3pm to 4:30pm.

Accommodation: Sweetwaters Serena

Meal Plan: (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

We’ll today leave the Ol Pejeta Conservancy and drive down into the Great Rift Valley arriving in good time for lunch and an afternoon game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park. This little park is a haven for both white and black rhinos and if lucky, guests will see a number of them grazing the shoreline of the lake or wallowing in the mud.

In the past, Lake Nakuru, a shallow, soda lake in the Rift Valley was once famous for being home to some of the biggest flocks of lesser and greater flamingos in the world. However, this has changed due to the increase in water level. This has resulted to the flamingos migration to other lakes in the Rift Valley ecosystem. Fortunately, the park and its surrounding environment are home to many other bird species including pelicans, cormorants, black-winged stilts, avocets, while during the European winter dozens of migrant waders call the park an alternative home.

The park was established in 1960 specifically on account of the extraordinary bird life here, complements what the lake has to offer. Besides its magnificent bird life, it is also a rhino sanctuary, one of the best places in Kenya to see both black and white rhinos. Because of the conservation effort and dedication, you'll see Rothschild's giraffe here, relocated from Western Kenya in the mid-seventies to protect them. The park shares other secrets: it's home to the rare long-eared leaf-nosed bat and a resident population of Kenya’s only known tree climbing lions.

Accommodation: The Cliff

Meal Plan: (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

This morning you'll meet up with your guide and head off to the Maasai Mara. We will arrive here in good time for lunch then head into the national reserve for game viewing.

Best wildlife sighting locations will be determined by your expert guide as they have an intimate understanding of the daily routines of animals and how best to track them.

On this afternoon excursion, visit several wildlife hot-spots with an aim to spot the elusive animals such as the leopard. These spotted cats blend almost seamlessly into the tall grass and shrubbery, and are even more challenging to spot when in their favorite hangout, the sausage trees. Exploring the region, we will take investigate nearby watering holes where on a good hot day, you’ll spot many birds and mammals, including the serval cat. After a thrilling afternoon game drive, you will return to your lodge in time to freshen up for a delicious safari dinner.

Accommodation: Kichwa Tembo

Artistically laid out along the Sabaringo River on the edge of the Oloololo escarpment, the &Beyond Kichwa Tembo Maasai Mara Tented Camp looks out onto the vast plains of the Maasai Mara. Set on a private concession leased from Maasai landowners in the north of the Mara, the camp offers total seclusion and abundant wildlife throughout the year.

Each of the tents and suites are laid out on immaculate grounds, with leisurely groups of resident warthog feeding right outside the tent doors.  Pass some quality time as you browse for souvenirs from your safari in the well-stocked Safari Shop or share your experiences around an evening cocktail in the bar. Meals packed with fresh ingredients and flavored with aromatic spices are served in the simple but elegant dining room, open to the warm breezes coming off the Mara plains or beneath the star-studded night  over looking at the African plains.

Accommodation: Kichwa Tembo

Meal Plan: (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Being in the Maasai Mara translates to sometimes, having an early beginning. Following an early breakfast, we’ll set out for the long full day game drive Today, you will go on a full-day game drive, complete with packed lunch. This means that you will only be back at the lodge in the evening. 

This will be good for exploring the dazzling bio-diversity of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve right at the Mara Triangle. To most of our guests, the most recognized animals worldwide are the African Big 5, and this group includes the African elephant, Cape buffalo, rhinoceros, leopard, and, the lion. 

Our first stop is by the Mara River, where all the action occurs. As the guide drive there, you will meet different herds of wildebeest and other wildlife going about their business.

Occasionally something interesting that warrants a stop happens. For instance, a lions’ kill! We’ll continue with our game drive on our way to the river. Our arrival at the Mara River will be met with a few safari vehicles all positioned strategically.

Of course, we’ll join them and be immersed in the happenings on the riverbanks and across the plains.  As is typical with the animal migration in Africa, thousands of wildebeests have assembled at the Mara River, trying to make their way across.

The crossings aren’t only being watched from the land alone, crocodiles await in the deep waters below, and the unlucky ones will not get to the other side. Beyond the river crossing there are predators and up in the air vultures and other birds of prey.  The wildebeest migration is only for the strongest and the undeterred where lucky ones will enjoy some good life across the Mara River.   The wildlife migration safari is certainly the best wildlife show where unlimited wildlife photography opportunities come at its best not only once, but in a lifetime.

At lunchtime, we’ll find an open are with a shaded tree to make a picnic area for lunch. Even here, we still stand chances of having some wildebeest herds nearby. After a satisfying lunch in the African bush, we’ll head back as while enjoying our afternoon game drive. This will give us better options as we sample other parts of the Mara Triangle and hopefully, we could have encounters with some elusive cats of the Maasai Mara, you head back to a different position by the river. We'll return back to the comfort of the camp in the early eveing hours.

Accommodation: Kichwa Tembo

Meal Plan: (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Today after breakfast, we’ll go out for the second time for the second wildlife migration game-drive. The great migration is always exciting, and it never follows the same pattern that isn’t understood. This time, we’ll head back through a different route that will lead us to a new river crossing position by the river.

The banks of the Mara River are steeper in some places than others, and similarly, the water is deeper in some areas. Having this combination presents different dynamics for the wildebeest when they try to cross during the wildebeest migration from Serengeti.

The deeper the waters are the more challenging it is gets for the migrating wildebeests. Predators also enjoy the advantage by hiding below. Like the previous day, we’ll spend the rest of the day enjoying the spectacle of the Maasai Mara. Apart from seeing the wildebeest migration the Maasai Mara.

We could search for the Big 5, 7 or expand our wildlife checklist to explore some of the regions lesser-known animals. The Mara Triangle and the Maasai Mara not only has a rich mix of mammals both large and small, but is also host to an incredible array of birdlife that surpasses 470 species, from the tiny but colorful sunbirds to the elegant Secretary bird. We’ll drive back to the camp in the evening for a relaxed evening.

Accommodation: Kichwa Tembo

Meal Plan: (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Depart the Maasai Mara National Reserve after breakfast with your guide and travel to Nairobi. Your guide will drive you from Maasai Mara to Nairobi, with short stops for refreshments and souvenirs along the way. The drive will take approximately 6 hours.

We will enjoy our last stopover at the Great Rift Valley viewpoint. This will grant you the opportunity to use the washroom and also to explore the local curio shops. Enjoy the moment and interact with the local vendors in search for the perfect handicraft or souvenir for yourself or your loved ones. 

If you so desire, reservations for dinner at a local restaurant can also be arranged. Please speak to your Experience Designer Expert in order to make dining reservations, and also be sure to mention any dietary restrictions or preferences.

Meal Plan: (B)

Accommodation: No - End of your safari.