Kenya Odyssey Journey

On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, we meet you and transfer you to your chosen hotel. Enjoy the afternoon at leisure – you may wish to make use of the modern facilities, including two restaurants, a bar and a swimming pool. This contemporary hotel offers comfort and convenience before your Kenyan journey begins. Your superior room is spacious and tastefully decorated, and all rooms feature air conditioning. Overnight in Nairobi.

We leave Nairobi very early after breakfast, travelling through Kenya’s fertile highlands before descending the Rift Escarpment on a road built by Italian prisoners during the Second World War. Keep an eye out for the small chapel at the foot of the escarpment. We pass the Longonot earth satellite station, cross the valley to Narok and continue through fields of wheat and barley to the Maasai Mara, arriving at Keekorok Lodge in time for lunch.After lunch, you can take a siesta. Later, we head out on our first game drive of the tour. Keekorok was the first lodge built in the Mara and sits in the path of the Great Migration – at its peak the surrounding plains teem with wildebeest, zebra and gazelle, shadowed by predators. The lodge features sandstone, cedarwood and other local materials, and a 300 metre elevated walkway leads through riverine forest to a bar overlooking a dam where hippos and other wildlife are regularly seen. Keekorok is unfenced, so it is not uncommon to see elephants and buffalo near the grounds – lodge watchmen are always on hand.Dinner is at the lodge. Overnight in Maasai Mara.

After an early breakfast, we set out on a morning game drive in the Maasai Mara National Reserve – home to millions of wild animals, including the Big Five of lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros, as well as antelope, gazelle and wildebeest. We return to the lodge for lunch – you may wish to take a siesta – before we head out again for an afternoon game drive. We arrive back at the lodge as the sun sets for dinner. Overnight in the Maasai Mara.

After breakfast, we bid farewell to the Maasai Mara and drive north across Kenya’s fertile farmlands to Narok – the capital of this part of Maasailand. Wheat and barley fields line the route as we cross the Great Rift Valley floor, keeping an eye out for herds of giraffes and gazelles, then climb the Mau Escarpment to reach Lake Naivasha around midday. We have lunch on arrival and time to rest, then take an afternoon boat ride on Lake Naivasha. Afterwards, you have the rest of the afternoon at leisure at Lake Naivasha Country Club – relax or choose from the activities available. Overnight in Lake Naivasha.

We rise early for breakfast and drive towards Amboseli National Park, stopping en route for a picnic lunch. We arrive in time for an afternoon game drive as we make our way to Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge. Set in the heart of the park at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro – Africa’s highest mountain – this area is renowned for close elephant encounters. The landscape features a largely dry lake bed of evaporated salts, fragile grasslands and patches of acacia woodland, with prolific birdlife around the swamps. Wildlife here includes rhino, giraffe, gazelle, lion, cheetah and leopard. We return to the lodge at sunset. The central dining area is reached by a timbered bridge over a meltwater stream, and the lounge and bar open onto a broad terrace with a fire pit for evening drinks. You can also take part in lodge activities – from sundowners on Observation Hill and bush breakfasts or dinners to Maasai dance performances, visits to Maasai villages and tree-planting programmes. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included. Overnight in Amboseli.

We begin with a morning game drive, after which you have the rest of the morning at leisure before lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon we depart for Tsavo West, travelling east across the striking Shetani lava flow – a stark volcanic landscape formed by eruptions from the nearby Chyulu Hills. The road winds through scrub thorn and acacia into Tsavo West National Park which, together with Tsavo East, forms the largest of Kenya’s parks. We continue game viewing en route to Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge, set in the lee of Mount Kilimanjaro and sheltered by the Chyulu Hills. This classic stone built lodge overlooks its own waterhole, regularly visited by elephants, buffalo and a variety of plains game. Among the first lodges built inside a national park, it offers a cool, tranquil setting for wildlife watching and is well placed for the park’s prime attractions. A thatched central dining area and a rock built bar with a viewing terrace look directly onto the waterhole. We finish the day with dinner at the lodge. Overnight in Tsavo West.

After breakfast, we head out on a game drive in Tsavo West and visit Mzima Springs, where a viewing chamber just below the waterline offers a fascinating glimpse of the park’s aquatic life. We return to the lodge for lunch, then depart for Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary. Arriving around sunset, we check–in at Sarova Salt Lick Game Lodge, set in the heart of this private sanctuary adjacent to Tsavo West National Park. Rooms are arranged in two–storey blocks linked by elevated walkways, overlooking a salt lick and small waterhole that are floodlit at night. The restaurant, bar and main balconies share these views, which are regularly visited by wildlife, and there is an underground bunker with ground–level windows for exceptionally close yet safe encounters. We end the day with dinner at the lodge. Overnight in Taita Hills.

After a final breakfast, we set out on a morning game drive in Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, then return to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, we travel to Mombasa for the final leg of the journey, aiming to arrive at Moi International Airport or North or South Coast beach hotels at around 5.30pm – please book onward flights from 7.30pm onwards.