- Itinerary Type - Bush Homes Safari
- Destination - Kenya
Itinerary Summary
This safari takes you to three of Cheli & Peacock Luxury safari camps - each different to the next and each offering a variety of diverse habitats. Constant will be an exceptionally high standard of safari experience, you will be accompanied by knowledgeable and charming guides, you will dine on delicious meals and enjoy exquisite bush breakfasts or sundowners.
Thankfully Kenya is also blessed with safari operators who are passionate about providing the discerning traveller with a more exclusive Kenyan experience. Kenyan born & bred, Stefano Cheli & Liz Peacock are just two such people.
Liz & Stef have been providing superior services for visitors to Kenya for the last fifteen years. Their company is known and respected for commitment to the environment, the wildlife and the indigenous people of Kenya.
Day 01 to 02: Meru National Park, Elsa's Kopje
You will be picked up and transferred to Wilson Airport – Nairobi for an early morning departure on Air Kenya's scheduled flight to Meru National Park. On arrival, you will be picked up and transferred to Elsa's Kopje.
Here you will spend two nights at Elsa's Kopje. Located on the Mughwango Hill in Meru National park Elsa's Kopje enjoys breathtaking views over swamps and plains to the foothills of Mount Kenya.
Meru National Park is best known as the place where Elsa, the lioness of Joy & George Adamson's "Born Free" was re-habituated to the wild. Meru National Park is Africa at its most alluring - the area is wild and wonderful, numerous streams and rivers dissect the landscape resulting in a unique environment spotted with doum palms and baobab trees and filled with wildlife.
Your game viewing is likely to include herds of buffalo, oryx, gerenuk, elephant, Grevy zebra, reticulated giraffe, the elusive Lesser Kudu, leopard, cheetah and hyena. Bushbabies and hyrax live on Mughwango Hill and close by Elsa's descendents hunt the shy but plentiful plains game.
This area is renowned for its elephant herds and fantastic flora and scenery, Elsa’s Kopje is a luxurious oasis where eight thatched stone cottages blend into the hillside. Each cottage has an en suite bathroom and from your private verandah you will enjoy a stunning 270-degree view.
The central bar and dining area as well as the swimming pool also afford spectacular views over the plains. On game drives and guided nature walks, guests of Elsa's Kopje virtually have the Park to themselves. You may also like to try your hand at fishing or take the plunge and raft the nearby Tana River.
All meals and overnight at Elsa`s Kopje.
Day 03 to 04: Masai Mara, Traditional tented camp
After breakfast, you will be transferred to the airstrip for the early morning Air Kenya flight to the Masai Mara where you will spend three nights at Cottar`s 1920`s seasonal, traditional tented camp.
This Mara Camp is idyllic! It is located on Koyiaki Group Ranch adjoining the world famous Masai Mara, ensuring fabulous game viewing in an area where walking and night safaris are permitted. In order to preserve this special area the camp is seasonal and is completely dismantled for three months of the year. Shaded by indigenous trees the camp looks out on an endless vista of plains game and panoramic views.
The six traditional safari tents are very spacious with en-suite bucket showers (filled on request with steaming hot water), washroom, safari toilet, dressing area and a verandah - the ideal place for reading, diary writing or just watching the passing parade. The tents are comfortably furnished, evoking the atmosphere of the traditional safari camps of last century.
Meals are served in the mess or in the shade of the trees. After dinner nothing rivals sitting around the campfire enjoying the sounds of the African night.
This is truly a safari camp "Out of Africa" and you are looked after by attentive staff who provide you with sumptuous meals and your favourite "sundowner" cocktail. Every comfort is assured in a safari style that is reminiscent of a by-gone era.
The Mara, as the Kenyans call it, is undoubtedly Kenya's best known and contains great concentrations of wildlife. Covering an area in excess of 1,800 sq km (almost 700 sq miles) it was established in 1961 and adjoins the Serengeti in Tanzania forming the northern end of the great migration ecosystem. This is the traditional land of the Masai people, nomadic herders who choose a traditional lifestyle and who are permitted to graze their cattle in the area.
The park's habitats include the forests along the banks of the Mara and Talek Rivers, acacia forests and open savannah. These various habitats are home to a great variety of game including lion, leopard, cheetah, zebra, wildebeest (gnu), giraffe, buffalo, jackal, topi, gazelles, impala and elephant. Hippopotamuses and crocodiles are plentiful in the rivers and the bird life is also abundant.
No less than 53 different species of birds of prey alone have been recorded.
From June through October you may see the annual migration as hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra move through the area in search of fresh grass. Driven on, by those behind, the first animals ford the Mara River.
This perilous crossing undertaken by hordes of beasts is truly dramatic - many of them drown, others are bogged down in the mud.
All meals and overnight at Cottar`s 1920`s.
Day 05: Nairobi
After breakfast you will be transferred to the Musiara Airstrip for your scheduled Air Kenya flight to Nairobi. On arrival, you will be transferred to Karen Blixen Coffee Garden Restaurant & Cottages where you will arrive in time for lunch.
Previously known as The Karen Blixen Coffee Garden, The Karen Blixen Coffee Garden Restaurant & Cottages nestles in the suburbs of Nairobi's Karen area. The cotages are about 35 minutes from the Airport (Wilson) and 32 km south from downtown Nairobi.
This luxurious accommodation is an old historic house that is near the original farmhouse of the famous Baroness Blixen (of “Out of Africa”), which is now The Karen Blixen Museum.
Its buildings are located on one among the most romantic pieces of property in the history of the Africa during the 20th century, an in the midst of one of the largest and oldest formal gardens in Kenya
Dinner and Overnight at The Karen Blixen Coffee Garden Restaurant & Cottages
Day 06 : Amboseli National Park, Tortilis Camp
After breakfast, you will check out and the driver will transfer you to Wilson Airport where you will board the flight to Amboseli National Park. On arrival you will be met by your Tortilis guide who will transfer you to the camp for your two night stay.
Tortilis Camp is a luxury-tented camp on the edge of Amboseli National Park and offers unparalleled views of Mount Kilimanjaro - Africa's highest peak which is located just across the border in Tanzania. Tortilis is named after the local Acacia tortilis (Umbrella tree) and the camp is managed as a conservation project with a simple goal: to take a sensitive approach to tourism.
The tented accommodation is well appointed, spacious and comfortable. Each tent has an en suite bathroom and a private verandah that is an ideal place to enjoy “time out" in the middle of the day. Alternatively, relax around the small swimming pool, which is set in a pretty, natural garden.
The open-plan thatched bar, dining room and lounge is located on a hill and affords magnificent views across the plains to snow-capped Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Tortilis is renowned for delicious home-style cuisine. Fresh herbs and vegetables are grown in camp and homemade pasta, a house specialty, is carefully prepared by the chef who was trained by the owner's Italian mother. The camp also has a small gift shop.
Activities include game viewing in open safari vehicles, sundowners atop a high hill, visits to the local Masai Manyatta and guided walking safaris.
Amboseli is justly famous for its big game including buffalo, elephant, lion, giraffe, hyena, cheetah and a variety of smaller carnivores and antelope species; and for its picturesque scenery, which benefits from the beautiful backdrop of snow covered Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain at 5,894m (19,340 ft).
The park is largely arid lands of acacia and tall savannah grasses and in such an exposed landscape the animals are easy to observe. In places, subterranean springs have transformed the plain into marshland. Constantly changing, the springs have a determining influence on life in the park.
In recent times infiltrated by salt water, they are modifying the ecosystem, causing the loss of certain plant species. The continual changes can, however, have a beneficial effect as the general rise of the water table now attracts increasing numbers of pink flamingos and pelicans.
This region is home to the nomadic Masai people and you will see their circular manyattas villages), surrounded by thorny scrub fences, scattered across the plains
Day 07: Safari Ends, Nairobi
After breakfast, you will check out and be transferred to the airstrip back to Nairobi – Wilson Airport. On arrival, you will be transferred to your residence in Nairobi or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your flight back home.
Additional Information
- Prices in US Dollars, per person sharing in a double room.
- Single Room Supplement per person using room alone
High season:01st June to 30th June and 01st November to 15th December
Mid season: 01st July to 31st October and 23rd December to 02nd January
Optional balloon safari at extra cost
0630 hrs- Take the opportunity to fly over the Mara in a Hot air Balloon provided at extra cost. The balloon package includes a champagne breakfast in the wild! If you can spare the money, viewing abundant game afloat a balloon is an unforgettable
Prices include:
- Return airfare as per the itinerary
- Airstrip transfers in Game Reserve as per the itinerary.
- Game drives as per the itinerary.
- Fullboard accommodation
- Park entry fees.
Not included:
- International air transportation to and from Nairobi.
- Expenses of personal nature such as visas, travel/baggage insurance, beverages, tips etc.
- Christmas, New Year and Easter Supplements
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