• Places of interest: Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru National Park, Maasai Mara, Tour of Nairobi City
• What you are likely to see: The big five, flamingo, birds, giraffe, warthog, hyena, gazelle, cheetah, and many others
  Activities: Game viewing drives, photography, cultural visit to a Maasai village, enjoy boat rides, cycling, horseback riding, etc.
• Transport: Private safari minibus
• Accommodation: 7 nights in lodges / hotel with meals

Day to Day Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival in Nairobi (12.45pm) – Lake Naivasha

Meet and greet at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by “Marascarface Travelers Representatives” upon your arrival at 12.45pm and receive a briefing about your safari. After the briefing, you will depart to Lake Naivasha, which is only 1 1/2hrs drive from Nairobi City. You will drive through the scenic Great Rift Valley, stopping for a photo session at the escarpment. Upon arrival at your lodge, you will check in and have late lunch then spend the rest of the day at leisure. You may take part in any activity that may please you, as you relax and breathe in the cool breeze from the lake. You may enjoy touring the lake by taking boat rides, walking safari, horse riding, cycling or swimming in the pool. In the evening, you will return to your rooms for rest, dinner and overnight.

Day 2: Hell’s Gate National Park

After breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and depart for a tour of the nearby Hell’s Gate Park. You will carry packed picnic lunch on this day, to eat during your adventure. This is the only park where walking / trekking / hiking and cycling is allowed inside the park. Spend the day exploring the park on foot, on bike, or on horseback (all optional), taking photographs and visiting various places of interest within the park. You will be given a tour of the gorges as you visit the Ol Karia Geo Thermal Station for an explanation of how the plant works to produce energy. Evening departure back to the lodge for rest, dinner and overnight
Picnic lunch in Hell’s Gate National Park

Day 3: Lake Naivasha – Lake Nakuru National Park

After breakfast you will check out of the lodge and depart to Lake Nakuru, located within the Great Rift Valley. Upon arrival you will check in to the lodge and have lunch before spending the afternoon with game drives. You will spend the afternoon viewing wildlife within the park, which is home to flamingo, pelicans, rhino, buffalo, lion, the elusive leopard, gazelle, hyena and many others. In the evening you will have an opportunity to enjoy a brisk evening walk at the shores of the lake for a chance to take in the cool evening breeze which blows from the lake. You will also visit the scenic lion hill view point and the baboon cliff point for a photograph of the aerial view of the park. Evening departure back to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 4: Lake Nakuru National Park – Maasai Mara

Enjoy and early morning pre breakfast game drive for an opportunity to spot the animals when they are most active, before the hot sun comes out. After breakfast you will check out of the lodge and be driven to the Mara Reserve, home to the big five and numerous plains game. Arrive in time for check in and lunch at the lodge before departing for afternoon game drives. If lucky, you may spot all of the big five in one game drive! If not, you will have plenty of time to explore the park during the coming days, giving you a chance to see as much as possible. Evening departure back to the lodge for rest, dinner and overnight.

Day 5 and Day 6: Maasai Mara

Spend two full days within the exciting park which is home to the big five, birds, migration of wildebeest and the colorful Maasai tribesmen. You will also enjoy viewing wildlife as well as tracking wildebeest and their predators, which reside in the Mara Reserve. Optional activities during these 2 days include a hot balloon flight, night game drives, nature trails, bird walks or bush meals. If doing the hot air balloon safari on one of these days, you need to be up early since the balloon takes off before dawn everyday as follows:

Optional Hot Air Balloon Safari
In the Maasai Mara it is possible to enjoy a hot air balloon ride. These balloons take off at dawn to avoid the heat which develops as the day progresses. They drift high over grazing herds which cannot be accessed by vehicles. After approximately an hour’s flight, a gentle landing is followed by a champagne-style bush breakfast on the landing site, where pilots and passengers toast yet another memorable experience.
After the balloon safari, you will proceed with game drives till evening, with a break for lunch.

Day 7: Maasai Mara – Nairobi

On this morning, we can organize for you a cultural visit to the nearby Maasai village for a tour of the Manyatta. The cultural tour takes place as follows:
Cultural tour of Maasai Village
Early in the morning before breakfast, depart from the lodge and visit a nearby Maasai Manyatta / Maasai village / Maasai Homestead, popularly known as “Enkang” in the Maasai Language, for a cultural tour. You will have an opportunity to intermingle with the colorful Maasai tribesmen amidst traditional songs and dances or folklore. These homesteads are made from cow dung and wooden sticks, fenced by a thick round thorn bush fence. The fence protects the people and their cattle from attacks by wild animals and rival tribes. Women are the ones responsible for putting up these homes. Each homestead consists of several houses arranged in order of ranking from the eldest members of the community to the youngest ones. Women also try to earn a living by making and selling traditional ornaments and curios such as necklaces, sandals, clothing, bracelets, chokers, and others. The tour ends after an hour when you return to the lodge for breakfast.

After breakfast, you will prepare for check out and be driven back to Nairobi, with lunch at a local restaurant en route. You will reach Nairobi in the late afternoon and if you wish, you will also be taken for shopping to buy some souvenirs as you drive through the streets of Nairobi and finally being transferred to your hotel for check in and rest. At 6pm, you will be met at the hotel and be taken for a farewell dinner with our General Manager (if available) – at the famous Carnivore Restaurant. After dinner, you will be transferred back to the hotel for overnight.

Lunch en route from Maasai Mara to Nairobi
Dinner at the Carnivore Restaurant

Day 8: Nairobi Sight Seeing – Departure

After breakfast, you will be met at your hotel at 9.00am for a tour of Nairobi City. The schedule for this day is as follows:
9.00am – 10.30am: Pick up from preferred location within Nairobi – Giraffe Centre
After a short briefing about your day tour, you will visit the Giraffe Centre. Spend an hour at the Giraffe Centre where you will take time feeding the rare Rothschild Giraffe on a raised platform. Living with the giraffes is also a family of warthogs which you will see scurrying into their holes or feeding on the lush green grass that is found within the vicinity. After the tour, you will be driven to the Elephant Orphanage.

11.00am – 12.00pm: David Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage
Afterwards be driven to visit the Elephant Orphanage for 1 hour giving you an opportunity to spend time with and play with the orphaned baby elephants which are taken care of by their special handlers. A local guide will take you through the history of the orphanage and later on bid you farewell and take the baby elephants away for rest. After the tour, you will be driven to the entrance of the Nairobi National Park, where you will visit the Nairobi Animal Orphanage.

12.00pm – 1.00pm: Nairobi Animal Orphanage
Spend some time visiting the Animal Orphanage, which is home to abandoned animals which are being nurtured and waiting to be released into the wilderness. Here, you will have a chance to see animals in close range, such as the lion, cheetah, leopard, hyena, porcupine, baboon, monkey, and many others. After the tour, you will have lunch at the Pampa Grill Restaurant.
1.30pm: Lunch at the Pampa Grill Restaurant

2.30pm: Airport Transfer
After lunch, you will be transferred to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to check in for your international flight to your next destination which departs at 6.00pm.

End of Service ……………..

Inclusions:

• All park entrance fees and game drives
• Full board accommodation as specified
• Services of a professional English-speaking tour driver/guide
• All airport transfers
• Nairobi City Sight Seeing
• Flying doctors emergency evacuation insurance
• Transport in a private safari minibus with pop up roof for game viewing and photography
• Applicable government taxes

Exclusions:

• Optional activities like boat rides, cultural visits, balloon safaris, walking safaris, e.t.c
• Extras at the lodge i.e. beverages and drinks, telephone, laundry etc.
• International and local flight fees and departure taxes
• Tipping
• Personal travel insurance including loss or damage of luggage
• Any other item not included in the itinerary

Cost of optional activities:

• Boat rides/rafting – US$ 20 per person
• Cultural visit to Maasai village – US$ 20 per person
• Hot air balloon safari – US$ 450 per person
• Horse riding – US$ 15 per hour