7 Days Masai Mara , Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara and Amboseli

Day 1: NAIROBI TO MAASAI MARA

You will be collected at the airport by the company representative. The tour begins at 7:30am in the morning of Day 1 at your Nairobi hotel. Please be on time to meet your driver/guide at the front entrance of the hotel. A brief denparture meeting will be held in the hotel reception area about general and specific aspects of the trip before setting off to the Masai Mara. Travel from Nairobi, through the Great Rift Valley on to Kenya’s premier wildlife reserve. In the afternoon we will arrive in the area, and get settled at our safari lodge, our base for our time here. Then we head out for a late afternoon game viewing drive, with excellent chances of seeing the “Big 5” – lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino. The varied wildlife and natural environment come together to provide a spectacular safari experience.

The Masai Mara (also spelled Maasai Mara) is a game reserve in south-western Kenya, which is effectively the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Named for the Masai tribes people, who are the traditional inhabitants of the area, and the Mara River, which divides it, the reserve is famous for its exceptional population of game and the annual Great Migration of the wildebeest every September and October. The Great Migration is one of the most impressive natural spectacles in the world, involving an immensity of herbivores: some 1,300,000 wildebeest, 360,000 Thomson’s gazelle, and 191,000 zebra. With an area of 1510 sq km, the Masai Mara is not the largest game park or reserve in Kenya, but it is probably the most famous.

The entire area of the park is nestled within the enormous Great Rift Valley that extends from the Mediterranean Sea to Mozambique. The terrain of the reserve is primarily open grassland, with clusters of the distinctive acacia tree in the south-east region. The western border is the Esoit Oloololo Escarpment of the Rift Valley, and wildlife tends to be most concentrated here, as the swampy ground means that access to water is always good and tourist disruption is minimal. The easternmost border is 224 km from Nairobi. The Masai Mara is perhaps most famous for its lions, though the other members of the “Big 5” are as well found. Hippo are found in large groups in the Masai Mara and Talek Rivers, and many cheetah, zebra, impala, gazelles, hartebeest, warthog, ostrich, topi and the Masai giraffe, among other mammals, all consider the “Mara” their home territory.

As well, the large Roan antelope and the nocturnal bat-eared fox, rarely present elsewhere in Kenya, can be seen within the reserve borders. Like in the Serengeti in Tanzania, the wildebeest are the dominant inhabitant of the Masai Mara, and their numbers are estimated in the millions. Around July of each year these ungainly animals migrate in a vast ensemble north from the Serengeti plains in search of fresh pasture, and return to the south around October. These numerous migrants are followed along their annual, circular route by an entourage of hungry predators, most notably lions and hyena.

Day 2: Masai Mara  Full Day

Optional:

Today there will be a possibility to take a hot air balloon ride. “Take to the skies for the ultimate Maasai Mara wildlife adventure, soaring in a hot air balloon over herds of game to the inner reaches of the Mara. You’ll ascend in the early morning, when winds are calmest. Watch as the professional crew fills the balloon with hot air. Slowly the big, colorful bag begins to bulge and take shape. Now board the traditional wicker gondola basket while the expert pilot makes final adjustments. As the pink and red fireball of the sun rises in splendor over the plains, you’re up, up and away – for the flight of a lifetime! Your balloon can soar over the most inaccessible and undisturbed parts of the Mara, with only the intermittent whisper of the balloon’s gas burners punctuating the silence of your majestic flight. Because wind and weather conditions vary, every flight is a new and different experience!

From your vantage point about 50-500 feet above the reserve, you have a fantastic 360-degree bird’s-eye view as one of the most dramatic scenes in nature unfolds beneath you. Depending on the season, you might witness herds of antelope flowing like schools of fish across the plain, groups of elephants grazing undisturbed in a remote ravine, lionesses stealthily stalking a herd of grunting wildebeest, or zebras conferring in a confusion of black and white stripes and bark-like calls. After your incredible flight, it’s time to come back down to earth for breakfast. As you sip champagne and dig into a splendid breakfast of sizzling bacon, eggs, sausage, home-made breads, fresh tropical fruit and steaming cups of Kenyan coffee or tea under the clear blue sky, you might wonder what all the ordinary people are doing on this perfect African morning! Before leaving, the pilot will present you with your balloon flight certificate, and then you’ll enjoy a game drive en route back to the camp. No flight of the imagination can match this airborne experience! Note: Comfortable clothes, a hat or visor, sunglasses, sunscreen and a light jacket or sweater are recommended. This tour will be offered at a very special price if booked together with the safari.

Otherwise:

6.00am Wake up call. Tea, coffee and cookies will be served in the campsite. 6.30am Set out for an early morning game drive in the reserve. This is usually the most popular game viewing time. During the early hours temperatures are low, thus providing a favorable atmosphere both for the game and the viewer. Lion, Cheetah and Leopard roam the vast grasslands in search for their next meal, it may be an unsuspecting impala or even a small one like the warthog. Whatever the players, the spectacle of nature unfolding is always awe inspiring!

Day 3: Maasai Mara –Amboseli

We depart to Amboseli via Nairobi in the morning  after breakfast and drive south through Masai country to the plains below Mt. Kilimanjaro where Amboseli is situated. After a picnic lunch enroute we enjoy an afternoon game drive in the park before setting up camp in preparation for the evening. With the majestic backdrop of Mt. Kilimanjaro, spectacular displays of wildlife – lion, elephant, leopard, rhino, cheetah, buffalo and various plains’ game, postcard perfect pictures are almost always guaranteed.
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Day 4: Amboseli -Arusha- Lake Manyara National Park 

After breakfast you will drive out of the park with view of mt. Kilimanjaro,Then drive to the boarder of Tanzania and Kenya  at Namangaboader,After the immigration clearance ,you will be transferred to lake Manyara  for its famous Tree climbing lions,You will arrive in for early game drive at 11am you will set your  early lunch then by 1400hrs you will leave for afternoon game drive.

Day 5: Lake Manyara Serengeti National park

Full day spent exploring the park. Morning and afternoon game drives ate offered. Dinner and overnight stay at a Ikoma safari camp

The Serengeti National Park is arguably the most impressive wildlife sanctuary in the world. During the months December through March the seemingly unending plains of the southern Serengeti and the Conservation Area are inhabited by enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra. The great herds graze on rain ripened grass. In the calving season (late January through mid March) the herds concentrate at the Ndutu and Salei plains (Southern Serengeti / Ngorongoro Conservation Area) attracting the attention of predators like lion, cheetah and hyena.

Day 6: Lake Manyara park – Ngorongoro Crater 

We will transfer to the Ngorongoro crater, via Olduvai Gorge. Ngorongoro is an impressive 20 km wide volcanic crater with 600 m walls. The views from the crater rim are breathtaking, and there is an ever-present abundance of wildlife, due to the permanent water supply on the crater floor. Olduvai Gorge is famed for the discovery of 3.5 million year-old fossil fragments of an early human civilization. We will enjoy lunch overlooking the crater, and the afternoon will be spent at leisure. , we will embark on a half-day crater tour.

Day 7: Ngorongoro crater – Nairobi (B)    4-5hrs Drive  450kms

After breakfast we will transfer driven back home with lunch enroute. The tour ends in Nairobi in the evening and you will be transferred to airport.

INCLUDES

• All meals as per itinerary
• Park entries if any
• Bottle of water
• Accommodation as camping
• Game drives
• Transport  to and back to airport
• Driver guide

EXCLUDES:

• Tips
• Rain jackets, hand cloves
• Visa
• International air ticket
• Personal needs
• Balloon safari in Maasai Mara
• Personal needs
• Samburu village visit
• Maasai village visit.