Private Kenya Classic Sopa Experience

On arrival at Nairobi International Airport, make your own way to the arrivals hall where our representative will meet you and transfer you to the hotel. Check-in is from 2.00 pm – if you arrive in the middle of the night, you must book an extra night in advance as waiting in the lobby is not permitted. Once settled, the afternoon is at leisure – you can relax and enjoy the hotel’s African‑themed setting with landscaped gardens and indigenous forest. Rooms are individually designed and include a television, private bathroom and balcony. If you wish, you can head into Nairobi’s city centre and return for dinner at the hotel restaurant, which is not included. Overnight in Nairobi.

After breakfast, depart Nairobi early – travelling through Kenya’s fertile highlands and descending the Rift Escarpment on a road built by Italian prisoners during World War II. Keep an eye out for the small chapel they built at the foot of the escarpment. Pass the futuristic Longonot earth satellite station, cross the valley to Narok and continue through wheat and barley fields before reaching the Maasai Mara. Arrive at Mara Sopa Lodge in time for lunch. In the afternoon we head out on our first game drive, returning to the lodge at sunset. Set in the Oloolaimutia Valley and built into the hillside, the lodge nods to Maasai heritage while offering modern comforts – spacious bedrooms, a large pool with sweeping views and evening wildlife films you can enjoy after dinner. Dinner is served at the lodge. Overnight in the Maasai Mara.

After an early breakfast, we head out on a morning game drive in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, home to the Big Five – lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes and black rhinos – along with antelopes, gazelles and wildebeest. We return to the lodge for lunch, and you can take a siesta before we set off again for an afternoon game drive that includes a visit to a Maasai village. We arrive back at the lodge at sunset, with dinner served this evening.Overnight in Maasai Mara.

After breakfast we leave the Maasai Mara and drive across Kenya’s breadbasket, passing fields of wheat and barley as we head north to Narok. We cross the Great Rift Valley floor – watching for giraffes and gazelles – then climb the Mau Escarpment to reach our lodge around midday. After lunch we set out on a game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, whose shores are often tinged pink by thousands of flamingos. This fully fenced 188 square kilometre park protects both black and white rhinos – now numbering more than 50 – and is also home to the rare Rothschild’s giraffe, along with buffalo, leopard, zebra, eland, waterbuck and lion. Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge sits on the hills forming the western edge of the Rift Valley, overlooking the lake and its surrounding park. We return to the lodge in the afternoon and end the day with dinner. Overnight in Lake Nakuru.

After breakfast, we drive to Lake Naivasha for a one hour boat ride to explore a habitat rich with birdlife and hippos. The lake sits at one of the Rift Valley’s highest elevations. We then leave the valley and continue towards Nairobi for an early lunch – or a picnic lunch en route, depending on road conditions. In the afternoon we travel south to Amboseli National Park, arriving at Amboseli Sopa Lodge by late afternoon. Set near the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, Amboseli is considered one of the best places to see elephants at close range. The lodge offers a comfortable base with en suite rooms and private verandas, varied meals featuring European, African and Asian dishes, several bars, a pool with views of Kilimanjaro, and a TV lounge. It is also close to where Ernest Hemingway lived while writing ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’. We end the day with dinner at the lodge. Overnight in the Amboseli area.

After breakfast, we head out for morning and afternoon game drives in Amboseli National Park, exploring its partially dry lake bed of evaporated salts, fragile grasslands and patches of acacia woodland. Wildlife is diverse – we look for rhinos, giraffes, gazelles, lions, cheetahs and leopards – and birdlife is prolific, especially around the swamps. All of this unfolds under the imposing presence of Mount Kilimanjaro, which rises some 5,000 metres above the park. We pause for a warm picnic lunch in the park, then return to the lodge in the afternoon, with dinner served in the late afternoon. Overnight in a hotel in Amboseli.

After an early breakfast, we take in the last views of Mount Kilimanjaro before travelling north across the Athi Plains to Nairobi. We arrive in the city or at the airport by around 1:30 pm for drop-off and onward travel arrangements – please book departure flights from 4:00 pm onwards.