5 Nights | 6 Days: Rift Valley Trails Safari

Short on time, yet looking to experience a magical safari in Kenya? This tour, is just a sneak preview into Kenya, travelling to the most exciting and famous game parks, experiencing the rich culture and excitement of the wild savannah.

Day 1: Arrival in Nairobi

JAMBO – KARIBU!! It is ‘touch down’ at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Representatives of Twiga Tours, your hosts in Kenya eagerly await your arrival in traditional African style – wet towels and bubbly. It is a tradition in Africa to present a gift as an expression of our joy and happiness – what better gift than an authentic (branded) safari hat and other safari essentials! Thereafter transfer to your hotel in Nairobi, Kenya’s colorful capital city to check in to your city hotel. Rest of the day or evening is spent at leisure.

Day 2: Aberdare National Park

After a hearty breakfast, check out of your hotel and your guide driver will help you load your luggage, including an overnight bag into the safari land cruiser. You then “cruise” off to the Aberdares National Park, where you will be received with a warm welcome at the Aberdares Country Club. Enjoy a delicious lunch at the Country Club, store any excess luggage you may have, then board lodge vehicles with your overnight bag to The Ark, your lodge for the night.

The Ark enjoys a great, serene location – inside the thick rain forest of Aberdares. Spend the afternoon and the night, viewing game from the lodge balconies. The flood lit water-hole is quite a magnet for a wide variety of wildlife species who come to drink, bath or salt lick. These include; Cape buffalo, the Savannah Elephant, leopard and water bucks, giant forest hogs, lions among many others. The Lodge is designed with ‘decks’ from which numerous balconies and lounges provide superb vantage points for game viewing. A lot of silence is required so that the animals are not scared away, so remember to speak in low tones. A ground level bunker provides excellent photographic opportunities and takes you closer than you would believe possible to the wildlife.

Enjoy dinner and overnight at your tree lodge.

Please note: A warm jacket/sweater and a good pair of hiking boots is highly recommended.

Day 3: Lake Nakuru National Park

After a hearty breakfast, check out of your hotel and depart for Lake Nakuru National Park. Enroute enjoy a brief stop at the Rift Valley View Point to enjoy the breath-taking beauty of the valley below. The Great Rift Valley is part of an intra-continental ridge system that runs through Kenya from north to south. The rift escarpment road is of historical significance as it was built by Italian Prisoners of War during World War II. As you cross the valley, you pass Mount Longonut, a stratovolcano located southeast of Lake Naivasha proceed onwards towards Lake Nakuru. You arrive at the lodge to a very warm welcome, check-in then lunch.

This afternoon you depart on a game viewing. Some of the interesting places to visit include the baboon cliff, the lion hill and the Mau escarpment. The park is home to various animal species including prides of lion, Cape buffalo, waterbucks, warthogs, the endangered Rothschild giraffes, the black & white Rhino, the Burchell’s zebra, impalas, and the elusive leopard among many others. Over 300 bird species have been recorded here too. Lake Nakuru National Park is one of the best places to see the endangered black and white Rhino. Enjoy dinner and overnight at the Lodge.

Day 4: Masai Mara National Reserve

After breakfast depart for Kenya’s famous Masai Mara Game Reserve. You start the day venturing through the Great Rift Valley travelling to the northern most extension of the Serengeti Plains and one of the richest wildlife Game Reserves, the Masai Mara.

It is perhaps the only region left in Kenya where the visitor may see animals in the same super-abundance as existed a century ago. Arrive to a very warm welcome and for a late lunch at your lodge/camp, the intimate, 20-tent Tipilikwani Camp. After lunch, you depart for an afternoon game viewing drive in this vast and expansive Reserve teaming with game. Be on the look-out for the ‘big five’ Mara is famous for and the most sought after in the early 20th century when Kenya was a hunters’ paradise. The “big five’ include the lion, Cape buffalo, the Savannah elephant, black rhino and the elusive leopard. The vast savannah grasslands are as far as the eye can see and is home to the famous black-manned lion, the elusive leopard, cheetah, the Maasai giraffes, vast herds of elephants, rhino, thundering herds of zebra, migrating wildebeest, impalas, wart hogs, Thomspon and Grand gazelles, topis, waterbucks and numerous other plains game. You return late in the evening to freshen up prior to dinner and overnight at the lodge/camp.

Day 5: Full day in the Masai Mara National Reserve

After a sumptuous breakfast at your lodge, depart for a full day’s adventure. Be on the look-out for the big five that Masai Mara is famous for; these include the lion, savannah (African) elephant, the Cape buffalo, the leopard and the black rhino. Be on the look out for any of the game that may have eluded you on your previous game drives. You may even be so lucky to witness a leopard or a cheetah sprint and make a kill! Return back to the camp for dinner and overnight.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Balloon Safari
Today’s adventure begins just before dawn. Flames from the hot air balloon burners light the darkness as the crew inflate their craft. The first, pink tongues of sunlight flicker across the skies and the hot air balloon fills then rises. Suspended in a basket beneath the rainbow-coloured canopy, you’re off for a game-viewing adventure with an entirely different perspective. Apart from the occasional hiss of the burners, a lion’s roar, elephants crashing through the bush, baboons perched in the tips of the trees startled and screeching to see something above them, the flight above the Masai Mara plains is magically silent. At the end of the flight, the passengers are treated to a champagne breakfast in the bush, complete with flowers. China and crystal are set out on the table that is placed under a convenient acacia tree. The finishing touch to the flight is a game drive back to the camp, and the possibility of seeing the same pride of lions, or herd of elephants that had been viewed while ballooning. A flight certificate is issued on completion of the balloon safari. Back at Camp/lodge enjoy a sumptuous lunch and a well deserved rest.

Visit to an ‘off the beaten’ track Masai Manyatta
This afternoon, you may opt to visit a traditional Maasai Manyatta (off the beaten track) and experience the culture of this world famous community. The Masai still live as they did for centuries -interact with these nomadic people and experience their way of life as you learn about their customs and traditions.

Day 6: Nairobi

This morning enjoy your breakfast then check-out. Unbelievable but true, your good bush moments have come to an end. You bid farewell to your wonderful lodge manager and his team then depart to Nairobi. Not empty handed though, with you are photographs – a capture of the special moments you have had on this tour to immortalize the experience. Your guide driver will transfer you to the Carnivore restaurant for lunch (if time allows) then drop you at the Jomo Kenyatta International airport for your onward flight.