Safari I - The 'Great Border Crossing' - 17 Days

With this safari you experience both the Masai Mara and the adjoining Serengeti, crossing from Kenya over the border into Tanzania. Especially at the time of the Great Migration, you should bear witness to unforgettable scenes. Click here for prices.

DAY 1: NAIROBI. We welcome you at Nairobi airport and take you to your hotel. Rest of the day at your disposal depending on arrival time.

DAY 2: NAIROBI - ABERDARES. Departure at 8.00pm and drive via the rim of the Great Rift Valley to Naivasha from where a tarmac road zigzags up to the park entry. Experience splendid views into the Great Rift Valley. A steep footpath descends to Karuru Waterfall where platforms have been erected to enable views from different angles. After a picnic lunch you go for a game drive in rich mountain forest, to be dropped off at Treetops, a tree-house style stilted lodge set in thick woodland in the heart of the Aberdares National Park. It overlooks a floodlit (for night-time observations) waterhole and a saltlick which attracts a host of wildlife. Elephants, black rhinos, leopards and bushbucks are frequently seen.

DAY 3: ABERDARES - LAKE NAKURU. After breakfast you proceed to Lake Nakuru via Nyahururu where you visit the Thomson Falls. You will  game drive on the way to the lodge. After lunch and a rest, another game drive at Lake Nakuru, one of the Rift Valley soda lakes and best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingos. The high density of the animal population provides excellent observation opportunities.

DAY 4: LAKE NAKURU - LAKE NAIVASHA - MASAI MARA. After breakfast you proceed to Lake Naivasha, a true bird paradise, where you can enjoy a beautiful boat trip. On your way along the lakeshore you will see hippos socializing lazily in the shallow waters or hiding in dense papyrus forest. The road takes you through Maasai land to Narok where you have lunch. On a rough road you reach the entrance to Masai Mara game reserve, viewing various animals on the way.

DAY 5 - 7: MASAI MARA NATIONAL RESERVE. You will spend these three days exploring the Masai Mara on either full day excursions with a picnic lunch or morning and afternoon game drives, spending the hot midday in the camp. Here (or on the Serengeti leg shown below, depending on the timing) you have the chance to experience the ‘Great Migration’ and some 1.8 million wildebeest and zebras on the move.

DAY 8: MASAI MARA - ISIBANIA - LAKE VICTORIA. Have an early breakfast and say goodbye to the camp crew. Drive out of the Masai Mara and proceed to Isibanya for the border crossing into Tanzania. After a picnic lunch, and visa and border procedures, you drive along the lakeshore to Musoma, one of the major towns by Lake Victoria. There you take a speedboat to a private island retreat in the lake, the Lukuba Island Lodge. Rest of the day at leisure and the possibility of a swim.

DAY 9: LAKE VICTORIA - SERENGETI. In the morning local fisherman take you for a boat trip on Lake Victoria. Afterwards you proceed towards Ndabaka Gate and enter Serengeti through the western corridor. You pass through green savannah country, visiting a hanging bridge over Kirawira River where you may see some huge crocodiles. Then proceed to central Serengeti where you will be welcomed by  the Tanzanian crew at their special campsite.

DAY 10 - 12: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK. The Serengeti has a huge variety of animals. We are very flexible with our game drives and adjust them to according to your wishes and also depending on where the animals are situated. We know where to find the best locations!

DAY 13: SERENGETI - OLDUPAI - NGORONGORO. Say goodbye to the crew after breakfast and depart for the Ngorongoro Crater with a picnic on the way. You go via Oldupai Gorge where anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey made many significant discoveries, contributing to the theory that this region of Africa was the 'cradle of humanity'.

DAY 14: NGORONGORO CRATER. You will descend on a steep single track into the Ngorongoro Crater for a wonderful game drive with picnic lunch inside a unique World Heritage Site, containing a permanent population of more than 30,000 animals. As only few of these animals migrate in and out of the crater with its 2000 ft. high walls, one can expect to see lions, elephants, zebras, hippos, flamingos, jackals, hyenas, rhinos, antelopes, many birds and other species. The crater is also home to the rare black rhino that is sadly close to extinction in Tanzania

DAY 15: NGORONGORO - EMPAKAI CRATER. Very few people have experienced this extraordinary excursion that is on today's itinerary. Passing the slopes of the Olmoti Crater you will be fascinated by the scenery of Embulbul Depression, Loolmalassin and Empakai Crater. On a really difficult track we will take you to the rim of Empakai Crater. The caldera is edged by 600m high, steep jungle walls and its basin is covered with a green glimmering lake - the seasonal home of millions of flamingos.

This excursion offers the possibility to meet Maasais in their untouched environment, not often invaded by tourists. An armed ranger will accompany you, which provides the opportunity to descend to the crater floor (tough path!).In the evening you reach the edge of the Great Rift Valley.

DAY 16: LAKE MANYARA - TARANGIRE. In the morning you drive to Lake Manyara National Park. Nestling at the base of the Great Rift Valley escarpment, the park is known for its incredible beauty with lush vegetation and tropical forests of giant fig and mahogany trees. Lots of elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras and a variety of antelopes inhabit the park as well as a variety of monkeys and a large population of hippos. If you are lucky you may see the Manyara lions, well known for their tree climbing habits, lazily resting on the branches of an Acacia. Bird life is also abundant, with flamingos, pelicans, hornbills and plenty of forest species.

From Lake Manyara National Park the drive takes you to Tarangire National Park. On the way stopping at Mto Wa Mbu where you can try the taste of some special fruits. A large variety is grown in this fertile valley at the foot of The great Rift Valley.

DAY 17: TARANGIRE - ARUSHA. In the morning you enjoy your last game drive of the trip in East Africa's beautiful wilderness before you return to the lodge for lunch. Afterwards you will drive to Arusha where you will have a day room to freshen up and eventually be transferred to Kilimanjaro Airport to say farewell to Africa, or to fly to Zanzibar to relax.

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