African Safari Holidays10 days in the Aberdare region, Rift Valley & Masai MaraThis is a well researched African safari holiday that has excellent wildlife viewing in areas not visited by mass tourism.
Your outfitter Ontdek, the leader in walking safaris in Kenya, includes soft game viewing walks that break the standard safari monotony of days spent cooped up in the minibus. The itinerary of this African safari holiday is in a close circuit, avoiding long road transfers and enabling you to maximize your time on quality wildlife viewing. Remember the more relaxed you are the more your will enjoy your African safari holiday. Go directly to the itinerary.
Your Kenya safari starts in the Aberdare sanctuary where you will see giraffes, elands, zebras with the backdrop of Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare Ranges. Move on to the Solio Conservancy and see the largest concentration of Rhinos in your Africa safari. Spend a night of wildlife viewing from the balcony of Treetops - a tree hotel in the Aberdares. The safari then progresses to scenic places in the Great Rift Valley for more wildlife viewing in Crescent Island and Crater Lake. These are private conservancies with huge numbers of giraffes, waterbucks, elands, zebras and various gazelles - easily seen on foot. An African safari holiday is nearly incomplete without a visit to Masai Mara which takes the last 3 days of the tour with elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, topis, wildebeest, and hippos all calling for our attention. A walk guided by Masai Morans is among the many highlights in this African adventure. We use quality lodge accommodation throughout the tour (no camping), making this a perfect African safari holiday for travelers of all ages. Click here to know what exactly you can expect or not expect on a luxury safari in Kenya. Choose to be in a small group safaris or use this itinerary as a base for your customized African safari holiday. Kindly contact us with your request.
Arrival at the airport at night and reception by Ontdek Kenya. Transfer from the airport to the La Mada or equivalent hotel in Nairobi.
A 3 hrs transfer takes you to Nyeri in central Kenya, home of the Kikuyu tribe. You will drive through the main farming areas of Kenya with a lot of coffee and pineapple plantations. We will make a stop at the open air Karatina market, which is the biggest farm produce market in the region. We arrive at the Outspan Hotel or Sangare tented camp and after settling in the comfortable rooms we will have our lunch in the veranda overlooking the garden and Mt. Kenya. In the afternoon we will go for a game drive or soft walks in the Aberdare game sanctuary which is only a 20 min drive away from Outspan. Game viewing will start at the gate of the Aberdare Country Club: the warthogs and impalas roam free on the golf course of the sanctuary. There are lots of opportunities to encounter Thompson and Grant's gazelles, zebras, reticulated giraffes and the biggest antelopes: elands. On their own these animals are a wonder to watch but to do so while you are walking is an experience that has always brought joy to our guests. Warning: kindly reserve your films or memory space! There is a big temptation to take all the pictures on this day but take our word: there will still be other opportunities. Overnight at the Outspan Hotel or Sangare Tented Camp.
After breakfast we drive to the nearby Solio Ranch which has the world's largest concentration of black rhinos. The white rhino is also found here as well as the reticulated giraffe, oryx, leopard, lion and a wide range of plains game and bird life. We will drive around in the ranch but since this private sanctuary is little visited by the main tour operators, we will not have many cars surrounding us. Back to Outspan / Sangare for lunch and overnight.
Many people who come to the Aberdare National Park expressly visit the tree hotels for game viewing, but there is more to Aberdares than a water hole. Over the years we have introduced our clients to the excellent wildlife viewing right in the park, there are huge herds of elephants, buffaloes, rhinos and other game. Unlike in the open parks (Masai Mara & Samburu) where you spot the game from far, Aberdares is real thick forest and the kick is in turning a corner and oh! a herd of elephants. Consider also that the park does not have minibuses as most tourist are dropped at the tree hotel to wait for game. Afternoon transfer to Naivasha in the Rift Valley. O/N Lake Naivasha Country Club.
A morning visit to the colorful Naivasha market - a typical African market where everything is sold in the open space.In the afternoon we walk in Crescent Island, which is a private conservancy on the eastern shore of Lake Naivasha. There is a lot of easy to see game e.g. giraffes, waterbucks, elands, zebras and impalas. It is also a heaven for birds with +200 species recorded. The walk is gentle and satisfying. We return to the Lake Naivasha Country Club for overnight.
Full day at the nearby Crater Lake Game Sanctuary. This is another private game conservancy where there are huge numbers of plains game. Game drives with options for walks give us good sightings of giraffes, waterbucks, bushbucks, black and white Colobus monkeys, elands, hartebeests and a range of Gazelles, all which are easily found in the sanctuary. Overnight at the Lake Naivasha Country Club.
We now move on to Masai Mara, the Africa that everyone dreams of. For the 3 days we will explore the open savanna plains, the riverine forests and meandering rivers for elephants, rhinos, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, gazelles, crocodiles and hippos. Wildlife viewing in Mara is an all year-round affair and not restricted to the July-September period of wildebeest migration. There are permanent resident population of wildebeest and plains game throughout the year. The cats, which by nature are territorial, are also permanently there defending their corners. You will possibly see a wide variety of game in Mara outside the migration period as most animals move out with the high stress of the wildebeest "invasion". On day 8, after a game drive in the morning, Masai Morans will guide us on a soft walk in the rolling hills and grasslands, out of the park boundaries where we will have close encounters with gazelles, zebras and giraffes. En route we will visit a Masai village. O/N Mara Simba Lodge / Sarova Mara Tented Camp / Keekorok / Mara Leisure Tented Camp.
Leave Masai Mara in the morning for lunch at the Kiambethu Tea Farm. This is an old colonial home established by the early settlers and the pioneers of tea growing in Kenya. There will be a talk on tea: its arrival in Kenya, the growing, processing and up to when you put it into your cup. A short walk in the tea plantation and into a small remaining part of indigenous forest completes the tour. We have a healthy farm lunch and thereafter transfer to Nairobi for the evening flight out. Itinerary changes on your African safari holiday may be made due to local conditions beyond our control.
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