YYE6N: Samburu + Aberdares + Nakuru + Mara

Day 1

You will be met at Nairobi Airport and transferred to your hotel in this bustling city.

Check in after midday and relax by the hotel swimming pool in your warm and friendly African surroundings, before enjoying a welcome dinner with your group.

Day 2

Depart Nairobi early for the scenic 5-hours drive northwards to Samburu National Reserve, travelling in a safari minibus with pop-up roof for game viewing and window seat guaranteed.

We cross the equator at Nanyuki and check in to your lodge. Relax amongst the dramatic arid landscapes of the Great Rift Valley, before setting out for a game drive in the late afternoon.

Day 3

We leave Samburu today and travel southwards for 4-hours to Aberdares National Park.

Aberdares National Park is a wonderful wildlife wilderness area that offers unique flora and fauna not found elsewhere in Kenya. This beautiful park forms part of the Aberdare Mountain Range and stretches over a wide variety of terrains with its mountains and valleys varying in altitude from 7,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level with streams, rivers, waterfalls, bamboo and rain forests.

After checking in to your lodge, enjoy superb game viewing from the deck - including elephant, buffalo, lion and rhino which drink at the waterhole. Night viewing is also excellent.

Day 4

After returning to your base hotel for breakfast, rejoin your driver/guide and depart for Lake Nakuru National Park in the Great Rift Valley.

Lake Nakuru is bounded by Menengai Crater to the north, the Bahati Hills and Lion Hill ranges to the east, the Eburu crater to the south and the Mau escarpment to the west, with three major rivers flowing into the lake.

In the late afternoon enjoy a Game Drive into this magnificent bird and wildlife sanctuary, which is home to hundreds of thousands of flamingos.

Day 5

Today we drive westwards past Mount Longonot and Narok to the Maasai Mara National Park, named after the Maasai people and the Mara River, which divides the park.

Maasai Mara National Park is famous for its exceptional population of game and the annual migration of zebra and wildebeest from the adjoining Serengeti National Park, which occurs every year from September  to October, when these ungainly animals migrate along a circular route from the plains of the Serengeti to the pastures of the Maasai Mara and back again in search of fresh pasture followed by hungry predators - most notably lions and hyena.

After checking in to your lodge, enjoy a late afternoon game drive in this magnificent wildlife sanctuary.

Day 6

Today is dedicated to game viewing in the world famous Maasai Mara National Park.

Nestled within the enormous Great Rift Valley, Maasai Mara National Park is famous for its lions and abundant wildebeest, which number over one million. All the Big Five can be seen as well as numerous other species including gazelle, impala, topi, hartebeest, roan antelope, hippo and huge herds of zebra and giraffe. The nocturnal bat-eared fox, rarely found elsewhere in Kenya, and the spotted hyena also inhabit this park, as well as the endangered cheetah and black rhino. Bird watching is also outstanding with over 450 different species including the vulture, marabou stork, secretary bird, hornbill, crowned crane, ostrich, long-crested eagle and african pygmy-falcon. The terrain is primarily open grassland and seasonal riverlets, with most game concentrated around the swampy ground on its western border.

Set off early each morning, when game viewing conditions are at their best, to view the abundant wildlife of the Maasai Mara. Return to the lodge to rest in the heat of the day, before setting off again in the late afternoon for another game drive.

Day 7

This morning we commence the return journey to Nairobi.

You will be dropped off at a local hotel in the late afternoon (use of room not included) until it is time to transfer to Nairobi Airport for your flight home.