Rift Valley Sopa Exploration

After landing at Nairobi Airport, we’ll meet you and transfer you to the Safari Park Hotel or similar. The hotel – an African themed resort set amid landscaped gardens and indigenous forest – is a comfortable base after your journey. Rooms are distinctively designed and include a television, private bathroom and balcony. The afternoon is at leisure – you can relax and make the most of the hotel’s facilities, or head into Nairobi city centre, about 10 km away. Overnight in Nairobi.

After breakfast, we begin with a safari briefing before travelling out of Nairobi towards Kenya’s fertile highlands, descending the Rift Escarpment on a road built by Italian prisoners of war during World War II – keep an eye out for the chapel they built at its foot. We pass the Longonot earth satellite station and continue across the valley to Narok, then drive through fields of wheat and barley to the Maasai Mara, arriving at Mara Sopa Lodge in time for lunch.After lunch, we set out on our first game drive, returning to the lodge at sunset. Mara Sopa Lodge sits in the Oloolaimutia Valley and blends into the surrounding hills – spacious rooms, modern comforts and a large pool with far-reaching views make for a comfortable base, and you can watch evening wildlife films if you wish. Dinner is served at the lodge. Overnight in the Maasai Mara.

Wake early for breakfast before we set out on a morning game drive in the Maasai Mara National Reserve – home to the Big Five, including lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes and black rhinos, as well as antelopes, gazelles and wildebeest. We return to the lodge for lunch, and you may wish to take a siesta, before we depart for an afternoon game drive and a visit to a Maasai village, arriving back at the lodge at sunset. Dinner is served at the lodge. Overnight in Maasai Mara.

After breakfast, we depart the Maasai Mara, driving across Kenya’s agricultural heartland of wheat and barley to Narok – the capital of this part of Maasailand. We continue across the plains on the floor of the Rift Valley, watching for giraffes and gazelles as we climb towards Maai Mahiu, arriving at Lake Nakuru around midday. Entering the national park, we view game en route to the lodge. After lunch, you can rest before we head out on an afternoon game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, returning as the sun sets. The lake is often tinted pink by thousands of flamingos, and this fully fenced park of 188 square kilometres also protects healthy populations of both black and white rhino. Rothschild’s giraffe are another highlight, alongside buffalo, leopard, zebra, eland, waterbuck and lion. We stay at Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, set on the hills that mark the western edge of the Great Rift Valley, with expansive views over the lake and surrounding park. Dinner is served at the lodge. Overnight in Lake Nakuru.

After an early breakfast, we continue to Lake Naivasha for a leisurely boat ride on its calm waters, with the chance to spot more local wildlife. We then leave the Rift Valley and travel back to Nairobi, where we drop you at Jomo Kenyatta Airport for your onward flight.