Private Kenya Classic Serena Experience

After landing at Nairobi International Airport, we will meet you in the arrivals hall and transfer you to your hotel. Check-in is from 2.00pm – if you arrive in the middle of the night, you must book a pre-night as waiting in the lobby is not permitted. Spend the afternoon at leisure – you can relax and make use of the hotel’s facilities. Part of the Serena collection, Nairobi Serena is set among jacaranda, bougainvillaea and acacia trees, with landscaped gardens providing a peaceful base. The central location overlooks Central Park and is a short walk from All Saints Cathedral, the Supreme Court, City Hall and parliament. You could also head into Nairobi’s city centre and later dine at the hotel’s restaurant – at your own expense. Overnight in Nairobi.

After breakfast we depart Nairobi early, driving through Kenya’s fertile highlands and descending the Rift Escarpment on a road built by Italian prisoners during the Second World War – look out for the small chapel they constructed at its base. We pass the Longonot earth satellite station, continue across the valley to Narok and travel through wheat and barley fields before reaching the Maasai Mara and Mara Serena Safari Lodge in time for lunch. Later we head out on our first afternoon game drive, returning to the lodge at sunset. Inspired by a traditional Maasai village, the lodge overlooks wide savannah plains from its pool, and the Maasai‑influenced rooms are comfortable. The main dining room features domes evoking Maasai manyattas (villages), and an occasional al fresco barbecue is served by the pool overlooking the Mara plains. This is the very terrain where the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle passes on its way to and from feeding grounds in Tanzania. Dinner is served at the lodge. Overnight in the Maasai Mara.

After an early breakfast, we set off on a morning game drive in the Maasai Mara National Reserve – home to the Big Five, including lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and black rhino, as well as plentiful antelope, gazelles and wildebeest. We return to the lodge for lunch.During the heat of the day you can rest or make the most of the lodge facilities, before we head out again for an afternoon game drive and a visit to a Maasai village. We arrive back at the lodge at sunset, and dinner is served this evening. Overnight in Maasai Mara.

After breakfast, we bid farewell to the Maasai Mara and travel north through Kenya’s breadbasket to Narok, crossing the vast Rift Valley floor – keep an eye out for giraffes and gazelles – before climbing the Mau Escarpment. We stop en route for a picnic lunch. This afternoon we enjoy a game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, where the lake often shimmers pink with thousands of flamingos and both black and white rhinos are protected within a fully fenced reserve of 188 square kilometres. Look out for the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe alongside buffalo, zebra, eland, waterbuck, leopard and lion. We then continue to our camp on the northern shore of Lake Elementaita in the Soysambu Wildlife Conservancy – featuring luxury tents, a dining and lounge area, spa and swimming pool, with sweeping views over the lake. The area is East Africa’s only breeding ground for the great white pelican and home to plentiful birdlife. We arrive by sunset and end the day with dinner. Overnight at Lake Elementaita.

After an early breakfast, we leave the Rift Valley and travel to Nairobi for an early lunch – or a picnic lunch en route if road conditions require – before continuing south to Amboseli, arriving at the lodge by late afternoon. Set beneath Mount Kilimanjaro, Amboseli Serena Lodge sits among acacia trees and gardens, with brightly decorated rooms that reflect the style of a Maasai manyatta. In the late afternoon and evening, you can relax on the terrace by the pool and pathways, watching as wildebeest, antelope, elephants and other wildlife come to graze. We end the day with dinner at the lodge. Overnight in Amboseli.

After breakfast, we head out on morning and afternoon game drives in Amboseli, returning to the lodge around midday for lunch. The park is largely a dry lake bed of evaporated salts and fragile grassland with pockets of acacia woodland, and we look for a wide range of wildlife – rhinos, giraffes, gazelles, lions, cheetahs and leopards – with prolific birdlife around the swamps. All of this unfolds beneath Mount Kilimanjaro, which rises some 5,000 metres above the plains. Dinner is served at the lodge in the evening. Overnight in Amboseli.

After an early breakfast, we take in final views of Mount Kilimanjaro before driving north to Nairobi across the Athi Plains. We arrive in the city or at the airport by 1.30 pm for drop-off and onward travel arrangements – we recommend booking departure flights from 4.00 pm.