10 Days Kenya & Tanzania Cradle of Mankind
Kenya & Tanzania Safari
10 Days from $3,680 to $5,490 per person*
Highlights: Kenya (Nairobi, Amboseli, Masai Mara, Naivasha) , Tanzania (Ngorongoro, Serengeti)
Trip Start/End: Nairobi / Nairobi
Day 1: Nairobi
You will receive a private airport transfer to/from the airport.
In the event of serious illness, all travellers are covered by Flying Doctors Insurance. This covers the cost of emergency air evacuation service needed to fly back to Nairobi for treatment. This insurance does not cover the cost of medical treatment.
Accommodation: Country Lodge
Owned and operated by Fairview Hotel, Country Lodge offers modern accommodations at reasonable prices. Located in quite Upperhill, relax in the gardens or take advantage of gym facilities and local restaurants. Rest in comfort and security at this lovely location.
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Day |
Activities |
Hotel |
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Day 1 Nairobi |
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Country Lodge 1 DBL (2 Adults)
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Day 2 |
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Serena Amboseli 1 DBL (2 Adults)
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Day 3 |
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Ngorongoro Farm House 1 DBL (2 Adults)
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Day 4 |
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Ngorongoro Farm House 1 DBL (2 Adults) |
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Day 5 |
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Mbalageti Camp 1 DBL (2 Adults)
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Day 6 |
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Mbalageti Camp 1 DBL (2 Adults) |
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Day 7 |
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Olumara Tented Camp 1 DBL (2 Adults)
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Day 8 |
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Olumara Tented Camp 1 DBL (2 Adults) |
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Day 9 |
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Simba 1 DBL (2 Adults)
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Day 10 |
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B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, 1/2d = Half Day, Al = All Inclusive |
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Day 1: Nairobi
You will receive a private airport transfer to/from the airport.
In the event of serious illness, all travellers are covered by Flying Doctors Insurance. This covers the cost of emergency air evacuation service needed to fly back to Nairobi for treatment. This insurance does not cover the cost of medical treatment.
Accommodation: Country Lodge
Owned and operated by Fairview Hotel, Country Lodge offers modern accommodations at reasonable prices. Located in quite Upperhill, relax in the gardens or take advantage of gym facilities and local restaurants. Rest in comfort and security at this lovely location.
Day 2: Nairobi - Amboseli
Today you will drive from Nairobi to Amboseli National Park.
This afternoon you'll meet up with your guide and head out into Amboseli National Park. The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to get close to free-ranging elephants. On a clear day, you'll also have spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
Accommodation: Serena Amboseli
In the heart of Amboseli National Park, touching the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, the Amboseli Serena Lodge lays its home. The 92 rooms are all equipped with en suite bathrooms and stunning views. Dining offers local cuisine and a choice of continental dishes, while specialty meals allow guests to get in touch with the environment. Take advantage of the game drives, where incredible beasts such as lions, buffalo, cheetah, giraffe, baboons, gazelle hippos and wildebeest spend their day in front of your eyes.
Day 3: Amboseli - Namanga - Ngorongoro
Your guide will drive you from Amboseli to the Kenya/Tanzania boder crossing of Namanga.
At the border, switch between your Kenyan and Tanzanian guide, crossing the border and continuing your safari. You will also be switching vehicles.
Visas can be purchased at the border: Kenya $50pp US cash, Tanzania $100pp for Americans, $50pp for other nationalities. Note: Visas are paid for using US cash (no bills older than 2006 due to local counterfeiting safeguards). Single entry visa is valid for 3 months and can be used for multiple entries between Kenya and Tanzania. Please be sure to have your Yellow Fever certificate handy.
Once you're through customs you will switch vehicles and meet up with your Tanzanian guide who will take you to Ngorongoro.
Enjoy a box lunch while you travel (included in tour price).
Time permitting, there are many optional activities. Depending on which lodge you're staying at, activities include: nature walks, cultural village visits, hike to Endoro waterfalls, bike tours, coffee plantation tours and more. Some of these can be prebooked through your destination specialist while others can be booked directly with the lodge upon arrival. Accommodation: Ngorongoro Farm House
A small and exclusive lodge facing the Oldeani Volcano, only 5 kms. from the Ngorongoro Lolduare gate was built, meant to offer our clients an original experience reminiscent of the atmosphere of the old days.
Day 4: Ngorongoro
Private transportation and guide in the Ngorongoro national park.
You'll drive approximately 20 minutes from your camp or lodge to the main gates of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There are only three roads that connect the crater rim with the crater floor, one for driving down, one for driving up and another that goes both ways. The crater is roughly 20 km/12 mi wide and 600 m/2,000 ft deep, once you've reached the top of the caldera it takes about 45 minutes to descend to the crater floor. The floor is home to a rich and highly concentrated wildlife. Some 20,000 mammals live there, including about 20 black rhinoceros, making the crater the best place in Tanzania to see the rhino. The crater floor also has one of the highest carnivore densities in the world. Lions, cheetahs, hyenas and jackals are commonly seen, while leopards, servals and bat-eared foxes may be seen with some good luck. You'll spend most of the day in the crater.
Accommodation: Ngorongoro Farm House
Day 5: Ngorongoro - Serengeti
Your guide will pick you up from the Ngorongoro Conservation area and drive you to the famous plains of the Serengeti. On this drive you have the option of stopping at Olduvlai gorge, the Serengeti welcome centre and lookout point, or stop for lunch at a picnic spot. After entering Serengeti park you will have the chance to enjoy game viewing as you drive through the park to your next accommodation. This drive takes 5 to 6 hours depending on the number of stops you make and how much game viewing you enjoy along the way. Expect longer trip times during the rainy seasons.
The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as "The Cradle of Mankind." It is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about 30 miles (48 km) long. The gorge is named after the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria ehrenbergii, commonly called Oldupai.
Accommodation: Mbalageti Camp
Mbalageti Serengeti features 24 luxury tented chalets on the slopes of the rising Mwamweni hill and 14 lodge style standard rooms. Each tent is equipped with all the utilities of home, such as an en suite bathroom and a verandah with a stunning view that some people don’t even see in a lifetime. Dining takes place both in the bush, privately or with small groups, or in the dining tent, where local and continental cuisine forge new roots. English tea is served in the gardens with pastries and the like. Activities range from alone time in the loft reading books or a relaxing float in the tranquility pool, with the Serengeti plains as the backdrop.
Day 6: Serengeti
Head out into the park early in the morning as animals are more active in the early morning and afternoon. Tanzania's oldest and most renowned national park, the Serengeti offers the most expansive game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s gazelle.
Spend the day taking in the spectacle of the famous wildebeest migration. This annual migration through the Serengeti and Masai Mara is one of the safari highlights of Africa. The wildebeest migration moves in a basic clockwise direction throughout the year in Serengeti eco-system and move north into Masai Mara, Kenya from June/July through to Sep/October. Sightings cannot be guaranteed as the herds move according to availability of food source and migration movements can be erratic. The herds are accompanied by zebra and Thomson's gazelle and are stealthily hunted by local predators such as leopard, lion and hyena.
Accommodation: Mbalageti Camp
Day 7: Serengeti - Isebania - Masai Mara
Your guide will drive you from Serengeti to the Isebania border. Once there, you'll meet up with your Kenyan guide and continue into Kenya to the Masai Mara. This full day commute includes some game drives through the park. This excursion will include a multi-hour drive across highway and bumpy patches of road to the border. You'll have the option to enjoy a box lunch at Lake Victoria, visit a local fishing village, or simply drive straight to the border.
NOTE: Be aware that for portions of this LONG drive, the road will be rough and unfinished, though most is now newly paved. This total drive to Masai Mara will take approximately 6-9 hours depending on game drives and any breaks taken.
At the border, switch between your Kenyan and Tanzanian guide, crossing the border and continuing your safari. You will also be switching vehicles.
Visas can be purchased at the border: Kenya $50pp US cash - Tanzania $100pp for Americans, $50pp for other nationalities.
Note: Visas are paid for using US cash (no bills older than 2006 due to local counterfeiting safeguards). Single entry visa is valid for 3 months and can be used for multiple entries between Kenya and Tanzania. Please be sure to have your Yellow Fever certificate handy.
After the Kenya/Tanzania border crossing, continue on to Masai Mara with your Kenyan private guide and vehicle. Enjoy game viewing on the way to your lodge.
Accommodation: Olumara Tented Camp
The camp was specifically designed to blend with its natural surroundings, featuring the rugged Masai Mara Koiyaki Lemek Conservation Camp and the Olare Orok river. A rope suspension bridge across the river affords an adventurous entrance to the higher-leveled camp, embraced by a bushy gorge. The camp is also famous for its birdlife and forest species.
Day 8: Masai Mara
Today you will head out for an early morning game drive with your expert guide. The Masai Mara Park will offer you a diverse range of animals. The park is home to the Big Five (Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo and Leopard) and numerous other antelopes including Thomson's and Grant's Gazelles, Impalas, Topics, Hartebeest, Zebra and Masai Giraffe. It's also home to over 450 species of birdlife among these are vultures, marabou storks, secretary birds, hornbills, crowned cranes, ostriches, long-crested eagles and African pygmy-falcons.
This afternoon's game viewing will be exciting as you are searching for game with your private guide and driver. The leopard is difficult to see as it moves fast and is very shy. If you're lucky there is a good chance to spot them around water holes or up in a tree after a long, hot day.
Accommodation: Olumara Tented Camp
Day 9: Masai Mara - Naivasha
Your guide will drive you from Masai Mara to Naivasha, which will include short stop-overs for refreshments and souvenir's. This drive will take approximately 5 hours.
Sign up for optional activities on-site. Activities include Crescent Island boat tour, hiking and day trip excursions to Mt Longonot and Hell's Gate, or simply walk along the lakeshore and relax at your lodge.
*Activity fees vary and are paid on-site to the lodge and/or park authority.
Accommodation: Simba
The Simba Lodge is situated not far from Nairobi, surrounded by gardens on the serene Lake Naivasha. Its 70 rooms are spacious and pleasantly decorated to fit in with the light, earthy and calm surroundings. Dining is an all around pleasant experience, where one may choose their favorites and make new discoveries at the wide buffet. Traditional and international cuisine is offered, as well as curries, which are popular with the locals. Hell’s Gate is not far, and there are plenty of activities such as cycling and rock climbing there. Otherwise, take a boat ride or nature walk
Day 10: Naivasha - Nairobi
A local guide will drive you from Lake Naivasha, along the Rift Valley, to the beautiful city of Nairobi. This drive will take 1.5 hours.
Includes opportunity to visit local handicraft markets to shop for souvenirs.
If you like, we can make reservations for dinner at a local restaurant as well. Please let us know in advance and if you are vegetarian.
Accommodation: Depart from Nairobi international airport - end of itinerary.