EAST AFRICA SUMMER SAFARI
August / September 2024
Welcome to the East African Summer Safari, August-September 2024. This is a high-end safari which brings you into the heart of East Africa and Kenya’s Rift Valley, which we will explore in depth.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey Clarfield
Safari Leader
SHORT ITINERARY
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Day 1, August 23, 2024: Arrival in Nairobi - transfer to Fairview Hotel.
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Day 2, August 24, 2024: Overnight Keekorok Lodge (3 meals/day).
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Day 3, August 25, 2024: Full day in Maasai Mara.
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Day 4, August 26, 2024: Return flight from Mara; Overnight at Lake Elementaita Serena Camp (3 meals/day); Bird drive.
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Day 5, August 27, 2024: Overnight Lake Elementaita Serena camp
(3 meals/day); Lake Naivasha. -
Day 6, August 28, 2024: Overnight Sweetwaters camp (3 meals/day).
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Day 7, August 29, 2024: Overnight Sweetwaters camp (3 meals/day); Chimps & Rhinos.
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Day 8, August 30, 2024: Overnight at Soroi Larsens camp, or similar (3 meals/day); Samburu game reserve.
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Day 9, August 31, 2024: Overnight at Soroi Larsens camp, or similar (3 meals/day); Samburu Park.
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Day 10, September 1, 2024: Kobe Suites Bed & Breakfast; Beach day in Watamu.
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Day 11, September 2, 2024: Kobe Suites Bed & Breakfast, Beach day in Watamu.
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Day 12, September 3, 2024: Kobe Suites, Bed & Breakfast; final beach day in Watamu.
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Day 13, September 4, 2024Return to Nairobi, Fairview Hotel, Bed & Breakfast :
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Day 14, September 5, 2024: Head for home.
INITIAL ITINERARY - AUG. 23 - SEPT. 5, 2024
DAY ONE - AUGUST 23, 2024
ARRIVAL IN NAIROBI - TRANSFER TO FAIRVIEW HOTEL
You will arrive in Kenya and touch down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the highlands around Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. You will be driven to the Fairview Hotel, an old-fashioned but very well-kept-up hotel built in colonial times with its own swimming pool, gym, gardens and restaurants. The Fairview is known to residents as the “Country Hotel in the City” and was founded by a late friend of mine’s father before WWII. The institutional culture has not changed.
DAY TWO - AUGUST 24, 2024
OVERNIGHT KEEKOROK LODGE (3 MEALS/DAY)
This is the airport from where famed paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey used to fly his airplane up and down the Rift Valley looking for the telltale signs of ancient human archaeological sites, some of them millions of years old. He often found them and this almost magical ability to find fossils by plane and later hard excavation has been called “Leakey’s Luck.” For two years he was my boss when I worked at the National Museums of Kenya.
We will fly over the Rift Valley, over Masai land and arrive in the Mara plains which is the home of the “Big Five.”
After Breakfast at the Fairview our driver will pick us up and take us to Wilson airport in Nairobi for our 10.00 a.m flight to Masai Mara on the Safarilink airline. We will be met on arrival at 11.00 a.m in Mara for transfer to the Keekorok Lodge. We will do a game drive in the afternoon.
Wilson Airport is an “in country” airport, that supports airplanes and brings tourists from Nairobi to the various lodges and game parks around the country.
DAY THREE - AUGUST 25, 2024
FULL DAY IN MAASAI MARA
Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives in this world famous game reserve and have the chance to view the big 5 - ELEPHANT, RHINO, BUFFALO , LION AND LEOPARD.
These lodges were first established by the lesser royalty of Britain and Europe before and after WWI and were the camps used for wildlife hunting. Since Kenyan independence hunting has declined and wildlife photography has gone up. Native born Kenyans are proud of taking the basics of their African tribal hospitality and pouring this cultural practice into its modern form, treating guests with courtesy as honored sojourners in the land which has made them “stewards of African wildlife.” They are happy to have us here and every dollar spent contributes to multiple livelihoods and wildlife conservation.
DAY FOUR - AUGUST 26, 2024
RETURN FLIGHT FROM MARA; OVERNIGHT AT LAKE ELEMENTAITA SERENA CAMP (3 MEALS/DAY); BIRD DRIVE
We will leave Mara for our return flight at 11.00 a.m to arrive in Nairobi at 12.20 p.m. Your driver will be waiting to pick you up from Wilson Airport to take you to the Lake Elementaita Serena Camp. It will take approximately 3 hours to get there. In the afternoon we will take part in a game drive to view the lovely bird life.
The lakes that are found north of Nairobi are rarely visited by tourists on packaged tours. These lakes attract ornithologists, those who desire to walk among wildlife. The places we stay maintain their early 20th century institutional culture.
DAY FIVE - AUGUST 27, 2024
OVERNIGHT LAKE ELEMENTAITA SERENA
Visit Lake Naivasha in the morning; we will take a boat ride to see the resident hippos, and trek on Crescent Island amongst the giraffes and the zebras to the other side where your boat will bring you back to meet your driver. Return to Elementaita Serena.
Anyone who grew up and saw the 1960s Hollywood hit film, Born Free about Austria born Jane Adamson’s adoption of lion cubs and her work to return them to the wild has seen Lake Naivasha. Adamson and her then husband George built their house on the shores of this lake. The film was filmed in and around their house. Lake Naivasha is a fresh water lake, deep and mysterious with an unknown water source, and it is home to fish eagles, other tropical birds, hippos as well as the zebra and giraffe on Crescent Island. As they say in the song it is a place that you can “walk with the animals.”
DAY SIX - AUGUST 28, 2024
OVERNIGHT SWEETWATERS CAMP (3 MEALS/DAY)
We will depart Lake Elementaita Serena Camp after breakfast around 08.30 a.m. for Sweetwaters camp in Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The drive is very scenic and will take around 4 hours. We will arrive in time for lunch, and in the afternoon will take a game drive to discover this beautiful conservancy in the Mt. Kenya Region.
A century ago, writers who travelled and hunted up and down the Kenyan Rift Valley would marvel at the numerous Rhinoceroses who lived in and among lion, zebra, antelope and giraffe. The Rhinos of Kenya are now almost extinct and can only be seen in special, managed game sanctuaries.
Ol Pejeta is such a sanctuary and may be the model for future conservation efforts in this part of the world. We will see Rhino close up living amongst other wild animals, elephants, zebra and giraffe and—hard to believe—cattle, as that was how it once was with the Masai who, until game parks were established, lived freely among the wildlife in this part of the world; food for thought for anyone who thinks about the future of “community based” conservation in Africa. There need not be a conflict between cattle and wildlife. Here we will see how that works.
DAY SEVEN - AUGUST 29, 2024
OVERNIGHT SWEETWATERS CAMP (3 MEALS/DAY); CHIMPS & RHINOS
We will spend a full day in the Ol Pejeta conservancy where we will visit the chimpanzee sanctuary and view the endangered rhinos with the other game.
This property is a bit of a “spa” and you can have a massage and then enjoy coffee in front of your tent in the hope that elephants and other animals may show up for a visit, a safe twenty yards away over a safe, man-made moat! When there are no clouds you will see Mount Kenya on the horizon, across the plains and up the hills. Quite magical!
DAY EIGHT - AUGUST 30, 2024
OVERNIGHT AT SOROI LARSENS CAMP, OR SIMILAR (3 MEALS/DAY); SAMBURU GAME RESERVE
We will check out of the Sweetwaters camp after breakfast, then depart for the Samburu game reserve, a park in the beautiful northern part of Kenya, where you get a chance to see Grevy zebras , and more rare species of animals.
The international vision of Kenya is its glacial mountain that towers 18,000 feet, its warm and sandy palm tree coast and coral reefs its rift valley wildlife and tribes like the Masai cattle herders. But, there is a less visited Kenya: it’s northern frontier. This is the land of fierce nomadic tribes whose lifeways have not changed for centuries. This is Kenya’s “Desert Northern Frontier,” a vast semi desert and desert area with myriad tribes of cattle and camel herders that stretches north to Ethiopia, northwest to the Sudan and northeast towards the Horn of Africa. We will drive from Ol Pejeta down into the territory of the Samburu (northern Masai) who herd their goats, sheep, cows and camels in and among the wildlife that we will visit during game runs. A night the stars will seem just an arm’s width away.
DAY NINE - AUGUST 31, 2024
OVERNIGHT AT SOROI LARSENS CAMP, OR SIMILAR (3 MEALS/DAY); SAMBURU PARK
We will spend a full day in Samburu park, enjoying morning and afternoon game drives.
Samburu speak the Samburu dialect of the Nilotic Maa language. The Maa language is also spoken by other 22 sub tribes of the Maa community otherwise known as the Masai. They will be our hosts in this unique camp that is literally in the “back of beyond.”
DAY TEN - SEPTEMBER 1, 2024
KOBE SUITES BED & BREAKFAST; BEACH DAY IN WATAMU
After breakfast we will fly back to Nairobi, arrive at Wilson Airport and then depart for Malindi on a scheduled flight. You arrive in Nairobi with Air Kenya at 1:00 p.m. and depart 2:20 p.m. with Safarilink for Malindi. Upon arrival in Malindi we will travel to the Kobe Suites B&B in nearby town of Watamu after which you can enjoy a relaxed afternoon on the beach.
The Indian Ocean coast is an area rich in history. It was the western half of the medieval spice trade and the Indian Ocean trade route. It’s lateen sail boats went to India and back each year. Its peoples are the result of intermarriage with Persian and Arab sailors from the days of Sinbad with local women. The language remained Bantu Africa, the culture Muslim and the lifestyle maritime and languid. Most of the hotel architecture in the area mimics the white washed coral houses of the Swahili.
DAY ELEVEN - SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
KOBE SUITES BED & BREAKFAST; BEACH DAY IN WATAMU
We will enjoy another full and lovely day here in Watamu on the beach.
You can hire a motored or local boat, lounge by the beach or snorkel on the coral reef. It is a place where time moves slowly and the perfect time to absorb your Safari and recharge your batteries. The pace of life is languid here.
DAY TWELVE - SEPTEMBER 3, 2024
KOBE SUITES, BED & BREAKFAST; FINAL BEACH DAY IN WATAMU
At the end of our adventure-filled expedition, we will enjoy one final day relaxing and contemplating our memorable African journey on the beach in Watamu.
DAY THIRTEEN - SEPTEMBER 4, 2024
RETURN TO NAIROBI, FAIRVIEW HOTEL, BED & BREAKFAST
We will transfer back to Malindi airport to take our afternoon return flight to Nairobi, and spend our last night in Kenya at the Fairview Hotel.
DAY FOURTEEN - SEPTEMBER 5, 2024
HEAD FOR HOME
On our final day we will transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for our return flights home.
PRICING
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Double, per person: $9,880 USD
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Single, per person: $10,880 USD
WHAT IS INCLUDED
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Pick up from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on arrival
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2 nights accomodation on Bed and Breakfast at the Fairview Hotel
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Transfer to Wilson airport for the flight to Mara
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Return transfers from airport in Malindi to Kobe Suites.
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Accommodation on full board basis (3 meals/day) at the lodges and camps, except where noted as “Bed & Breakfast,” such as in Kobe Suites in Watamu.
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Game drives in Maasai Mara, Sweetwaters Camp and conservancy in Elementaita
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Excursion to Naivasha to visit Crescent Island and boat ride on the lake
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Return flights to and from the Maasai Mara
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Return flights to and from Malindi
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One-way flight from Samburu to Nairobi, then to Malindi/Watamu.
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Exclusive 4 wheel drive vehicles with driver and tour guide for game drives in the Mara, Elementaita, lakes area, Sweetwaters and Samburu
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Park fees for Mara and Sweetwaters and Samburu
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Boat ride fees and Crescent Island fees Naivasha
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED
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Alcoholic drinks (except in Elementaita Serena camp)
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Laundry
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Excursion activities not mentioned above
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Tips
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Lunch and dinner in Watamu
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Lunch on return from Malindi to Nairobi
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Lunch on day coming from Samburu on way to Malindi/Watamu.
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Any excursions or activities not mentioned above are not included.
VISA AND HEALTH AND TRAVEL INFO
IMPORTANT: You are limited to a maximum luggage load of 1 bag of 15 kg per passenger PLUS 1 carry-on item not to exceed 5kg. This limitation is to accommodate the small planes we will be using as we travel the country.
Why the eVisa?
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Most governments the world over are moving towards digitization of their operations. Online application now makes it possible for visitors to get their visa in advance hence removing the anxiety of whether one will be able will get it or not at the point of entry
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The visa application procedure has now been modified and simplified in a user-friendly mode that takes three simple steps. The E-Visa portal now has a dedicated website: www.evisa.go.ke. Visa approval is done in real-time.
Yellow Fever Certificate
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You will need to visit your doctor to obtain a Yellow Fever vaccination and certificate.
Plastic Bags Are Banned
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The ban on plastic bags in Kenya took effect on Monday 28 August 2017. Please do not bring or carry any plastic bags during your visit to Kenya. Opt for bags made of biodegradable materials that include canvas, polypropylene and cloth.
