5th March: Arrive in Nairobi/ Karen Gables

On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta Airport on AF814 at 2040 & KLM 565 at 22h00, you will be met outside the terminal by Rex and your ‘Airports & Beyond’ driver to take you across to the Karen Gables - your home for the next two nights.

This guest house is located in the Nairobi district of Karen, which is where all of tomorrow’s day trips are located. This will cut down the amount of time spent driving around so you can see more. It will be late when you get there and you may want to head straight to bed. But if you are starving (or thirsty!) we can arrange some refreshments before you retire.

6th March: Karen Gables, Nairobi

Today will provide you with a chance to adjust to the time change and also to see a few things in Nairobi before we head upcountry tomorrow. After bit of a lie in and a leisurely breakfast at Karen Gables, we will head off to see orphaned elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and learn about what the Trust does to rehabilitate them and re-introduce into the wild. We will visit with some endangered Reticulated giraffes up close at the Giraffe Centre. After lunch at the lovely Karen Blixen Coffee Garden, we can visit either the Karen Blixen Museum (colonial home of Karen Blixen, aka Isak Dinesen, author of “Out of Africa”) or Ocean Sole, a conservation organization that makes art from discarded flip flops. We might be able to do both, but we will see how everyone feels after lunch. Dinner will be at Karen Gables.

7th March: Nairobi to Nanyuki / Soames Hotel

After another relaxed start to the day, we will pack up and depart Nairobi for Nanyuki. Nanyuki is a fair-sized town on the Equator and adjacent to Mt. Kenya (Africa’s second highest peak) and serves as a jumping off place for folks going on safari. The drive is about four hours, and we will stop along the way to stretch our legs. There is a great deal to see as the landscape changes from the sprawling “suburbs” of Nairobi, through lush hill country, before coming to the Laikipia plain. We will have a late lunch at Barney’s (great wood fired pizza!), located on the Nanyuki airstrip, before going just a kilometer up the road to Soames Hotel, your home for the next few nights. The rest of the day is yours to do as you wish. Dinner will be at the hotel, and you may wish to retire early as it will be an early start tomorrow.

8th March: Ol Pejeta Conservancy/ Soames Hotel, Nanyuki

This is your first chance to see some African wildlife on the 90,000+ acre Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Breakfast in the Soames dining room isn’t until 8:00 and so we will arrange for a light packed meal to take in the car. An early start will allow us to get to the Ol Pej gates by 7:00-7:30 a.m. This should afford us a chance to see some animals when they are more active before the day gets too warm. This will be a great day for photographs! An Ol Pejeta ranger will join us at the gate, and with some luck he should be able to direct us some interesting wildlife and provide some insight. We’ll stop for a mid-morning coffee at Morani’s Restaurant before continuing on with the game drive. Lunch will be back at Morani’s after which we’ll visit Baraka (“blessings” in Swahili), a blind Black rhino who lives in a large enclosure ad jacent to the restaurant. The guides there are very good talking about rhinos. There is also a great little interpretative museum to visit. After lunch and the Baraka visit, we will drive around some more, just to see what we can see, prior to heading back to Soames for a bit of a rest before dinner. An exciting day!

9th March: Nanyuki

Today is a chance to see something of the “real” Africa. We will visit a couple of primary schools and meet some young people supported by The Small Project. In Nanyuki town proper, we’ll do a walk through the local market and visit Spinners and Weavers, a self help coop run by women that produces hand woven woolen products. We’ll have lunch in town, likely at Cape Chestnut, before heading to Tambuzi flower farm for a tour. Another very busy day!

10th to 13th March: El Karama Lodge

After breakfast you will be driven to El Karama Lodge. Owned and operated by the Grant family, El Karama (20,000+ acres) offers a unique immersive experience. Abundant wildlife, a highly trained and welcoming staff, and some terrific meals will ensure your stay is memorable. While each day has some different things you can do, generally it starts with an early morning game drive followed by a late breakfast. During the middle of the day, you can read, snooze, swim in the pool, or visit their amazing garden (they grow all their own produce, sustainably). After a cup of tea (or coffee or whatever!) in the mid-afternoon, you’ll head out for another game drive as the sun begins to set the animals get more active. You’ll be back to camp in time for sundowners and another fabulous dinner. We will enjoy everything on offer at El Karama over the next three days.

13th March: El Karama to Tumaren

Today you will move along to Tumeran, the base camp for Karisia Walking Safaris. Karisia, which is owned and operated by Kerry Glen and James Christian, offers a unique and exciting African adventure. As the name suggests, Karisia specializes in walking safaris, typically with camels, and led by knowledgeable, friendly, and highly trained guides. You will stay in Tumeran’s beautiful base camp and take hikes during the day. (And mostly in the morning when it is cooler. And the group is supported by a vehicle in case you get tired.)

13th to 16th March: Tumaren Camp, Laikipia

Set on the edge of a wide plain this beautiful camp looks west towards granitic inselbergs that define our local landscape. Each tent is furnished uniquely and all the tents offer sweeping verandas from which most of our plains game can be spotted. The grasslands are rich with wildlife and you can spend hours watching animals wander by or photographing the huge variety of birds coming to the bird bath.

Tumaren is rich in wildlife and our Samburu and Masai guides provide a great perspective on not only the game but also the local cultures of Northern Kenya. Our guides will plan your stay according to your desires, wildlife and the local calendar. Each day can include guided walks, camel rides, visits to the camel creche, game drives, birdwatching, picnics, tracking, visiting a local manyatta/market and visiting a school.

16th March: Tumaren to Borana

This morning you will take a beautiful drive further North, with a Karisia driver, up to the Borana Conservancy at the foot of Mt Kenya.

16th to 19th March: Borana Lodge

Borana Lodge is steeped in history and style. Located at the heart of Borana Conservancy, Kenya’s newest and most successful rhino sanctuary, Borana Lodge is set against a beautiful hillside with an organic design and panoramic views of Mt Kenya. You will be accommodated in one of their two-bedroom family cottages (5 & 6)

You will spend the next three days enjoying this spectacular lodge and the many activities they have to offer. Borana Lodge offers some of the most thrilling, authentic and unique ways to encounter Kenya’s wildlife and wilderness thanks to their conservation efforts.  The Borana Conservancy strives to retain the land as a pristine wilderness that guests are able to enjoy first hand. Walk through the bush, ride across the conservancy on horses or mountain bikes, view the wildlife in open-top safari vehicles, or lounge at the infinity pool and enjoy the view. 

19th March: Laikipia to Nairobi/ Depart

There will be time for an early morning game drive at the lodge, after which we will load up the car for the drive to Nairobi. We will break up the drive with a stop in Nanyuki for lunch, possibly at Cape Chestnut, before continuing south to the big city. Dinner will be at Ole Sereni Hotel, located only a few minutes from the airport. There is a veranda at Ole Sereni that looks out over Nairobi National Park. A lovely way to spend your last evening in Africa. After dinner we will make the short hop to the airport for your flight home.

CONTACT NUMBERS:

Rex: +1 905 717 5776

Kennedy: +254 722738228

Amy +27 61 038 4583