walking safaris in kenya

honeymoon safari

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An Active Walking Safari / Kayak Safari Honeymoon

Marriage is a great adventure and the best way to begin this journey is by embarking on a honeymoon that lives up to the spirit of that adventure. While this Honeymoon safari is active and wild, it is by no means uncomfortable or rugged. You will eat well. sleep well and play well and your experience will be unique and special - a memory to happily take with you through the rest of your life-safari together.

Day 1: Sinyai Lugga

It is a short dramatic drive from our local airstrip to our camp on the Sinyai Lugga (a dry river bed). In camp we will be greeted by our team of cooks, camel guys, and guides. After a refreshing lunch we will enjoy a rest before a short evening walk and sundowners on a tall promontory with a commanding view. Greater Kudu inhabit the hillsides that slope down toward our camp and we will scan for these elusive animals. Back at camp we will find our welcoming campfire on the edge of the sandy lugga. Dinner always includes healthy but delicious fare.

Day 2: Nayasura

We will begin our walk climbing the Sinyai Lugga, looking for game like Kudu, and Klipspringers. We may pass local Masai singing to their livestock as they call them down to water from wells dug in the sand. After a couple kilometres in the lugga we will ascend the western hillside and follow a ridge toward a basin holding an incredible rock outcrop in its midst that resembles a giant sand castle. The local Laikipia Masai call these rocks Nayasura and stone chippings suggest that they have been used as a camp for millennia.

We too will use the rocks starting with a refreshing lunch and short rest in our classic roomy safari tents. After lunch we will head out on a short walk looking for game and getting a feel for the country. As the sun begins to set we will find ourselves at the crest of Nayusere and there a blanket with drinks and bitings. As we enjoy our sundowners we will continue to spot game from our vantage and watch as the baboons come back to roost on the face of the rock. A short descent will find us back in camp for a delicious hardy dinner.

Day 3: Nyarara

From Nayasura we will head out early after breakfast so to see as much game as possible on our walk north towards Narara Camp. Nyarara means Cheetah in Masai and the camp was given this name because of a large male that has been seen in the area. Along our walk we will walk across large plains as well as mixed bush. Herds of Zebra, Oryx and Grant’s gazelle predominate on the large plains with smaller numbers of Jackson’s Hartebeest and Thompson’s Gazelle. In the mixed bush we find Dikdiks, Gerenuk, Impala and Lesser Kudu if we are lucky enough to see them.

At camp we will arrive in time for lunch. The pack camels with our camp will have made a more direct route than us and so they will have arrived before us and set up most of camp before our arrival. After lunch we will follow our routine of resting, reading or badminton for the energetic and later another walk in the evening to a pretty spot for sundowners.

Day 4: Tumaren Ewaso Camp

Today we will be heading down toward the Ewaso Nyiro River, which runs along the eastern edge of the Laikipia Plateau and then turns eastward toward Samburu National Reserve. Along the way we will be looking for Eland, Steinbuck, Giraffe, Waterbuck, Grevy’s Zebra as well as all the tough-to-see predators such as Wild Dog, Hyena, Lion, Leopard or Cheetah. We will also be looking from high open points for Elephants as we as the shy Buffalo that hide by day in thick bush. For safety reasons we carry a gun on every safari and we never walk blindly through thick bush country where we can’t know what is around the next corner.

When we arrive at the Ewaso Nyiro we may want to take a quick swim before lunch. After lunch, our rest and sundowners on a high rocky hillside we will return to our camp on the river for dinner and a toast to our adventure.

Day 5: Nandop

From our camp on the Ewaso Nyiro River we will be heading to our last camp downstream on the same river. An option for the adventurous is to use truck tubes to float down to Nandop passing enormous Sycamore Figs and animals coming down to drink. Our camp on the river is a serene spot and an ideal location to ponder our travels and adventures. In the afternnon we will have the opportunity to walk up to a Masai Manyatta to learn more about Masai Cultureand to 'salamia' (to greet) our friends who have hosted us on their community land. From a hillside above camp at sunset a glass of wine or a Tusker may be the best drink you have ever had.

Day 6: Travel to Kiwayu to meet Brent and the team from Sanddollar Expeditions.

Drive out to our local airstrip or make the drive back to Nanyuki for the scheduled flight back to Nairobi then your connecting flight on to Kiwayu. Along the way to the north Kenyan coast you will be able to appreciate the wildness and beauty of this vast area. At the airstrip you will meet by your Sandollar Expeditions guide who will be leading you for the remainder of your trip. With your guide you will drive through the remote and wild Dodori Reserve. The backup dhow (A dhow is a traditional sail boat and it will carry the camp) will collect you and transport you to your first night's camp on one of the many picturesque and uninhabited islands.

Day 7th - 10th

The next few days you will slowly paddle south through islands, reefs and mangrove channels. On route experience the amazing marine life, multitudes of water birds and underwater reefs. You will pass some local villages and watch the local dhows set sail for the days fishing. Depending on the time of year you may witness turtle hatchlings, flocks of roseate terns, inquisitive dolphins and curious land animals.

kayak fishing

Each day will involve about 10-15kms of paddling. The distance can be easily covered each day but the emphasis is on enjoying the surroundings and not grinding from A to B. There will be time in each day to enjoy other activities such as fishing or snorkeling or simply relaxing under a palm tree.

The islands of the northern archipelago border the remote and virtually inaccessible Dodori and Boni Game Reserves, with the islands themselves forming part of the 250km2 Kiunga Marine National Reserve. Several of the southern islands have ancient forts and ruins that remain from a a 1000-year-old civilization that developed between the 9th and 19th centuries.

The islands are surrounded by coral reefs thriving at the confluence of the East African coastal current and the nutrient rich Somali current. Occasional land animals, such as lesser kudu, bushbuck and various primates can be seen along the shores. On your final day you will be arriving at the Kiwayu Safari Village for a final night to ponder the stars and an adventure honeymoon like no other.

Day 11

Kiwayu Safari Village is a low key resort that offers excellent sport, 50 km of wild, uninhabited coastline, unlimited boat trips, snorkelling and wind-surfing. There is also excellent creek fishing in the wide mangrove channels.
Kiwayu’s beaches are frequented by the green and the hawksbill turtle, which lay their eggs in the dry sand above the tide line throughout the year. Although the most important nesting season is usually September and October.

Day 12

Fly out of Kiwayu for Nairobi and your international flight home.