From the Mara's lion-filled plains to the rhinos of Ol Pejeta, the Maasai-led walking safari to Samburu warriors, this fly-in 13-day safari unravels the beautiful diversity of Kenya. Explore four distinctive safari destinations with a mix of national reserves and private conservancies that culminate with the epic Maasai Mara plains. To follow your incredible experience in the bush, you will then fly to the South Coast for three days of white beaches and glittering ocean. Travel done via light aircraft minimizes travel time and maximizes the allure of the landscape.
You will be greeted at Nairobi International and transferred to Hemingways Nairobi, a boutique lodge in the peaceful suburb of Karen. The beautiful Hemingways Nairobi is situated a mere 40 minutes from Nairobi’s international airport, where it is spread across flourishing grounds in the exclusive suburb of Karen. This elegant boutique hotel is enchanting in its decor and flooded with natural light. Its well-appointed, ensuite rooms each have a private balcony overlooking the iconic silhouette of the Ngong Hills.
Guests are treated to the services of a discreet, highly trained butler whose role is to ensure a hassle-free stay. Tuck into delicious European-inspired fare at the Brasserie and enjoy refreshing beverages at the convivial bar. Guests seeking to unwind can make use of the first-class spa facilities or simply enjoy the sense of blissful seclusion, luxury on the edge of wilderness.
Dependent on your arrival time, there are a handful of unique destinations to visit in Karen, including Karen Blixon's House to meet the rare Rothschild giraffe at Giraffe Manor, and the rehabilitated pachyderms at the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. A driver guide is at your disposal for the day.
After early morning breakfast, you will be transferred to Wilson airport for your maiden flight to Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Upon landing you will be assisted and transfer to Ol Pejeta Bush Camp. Overlooked by the dramatic snow-capped peaks of Mount Kenya, Ol Pejeta Conservancy is in central Kenya’s Laikipia County. It’s home to the two remaining northern white rhinos on the planet and many other endangered animals, all protected around the clock by dedicated rangers.
Ol Pejeta Bush Camp has seven spacious, eco-friendly tents positioned along the Ewaso Ngiro River. The peaceful camp is staffed by a warm and hospitable team and is a great place for families, with activities like the Junior Ranger Programme to keep kids entertained and engaged. Ol Pejeta is a private conservancy with an excellent rhino conservation program making it the best destination in East Africa for seeing these majestic creatures.
But the rhinos are not the only attraction, as only on a relatively small savannah (relative being the choice word as everywhere is big in Africa), Ol Pejeta provides a home for the full Big Five. You can easily explore the conservancy on a long afternoon game drive to enjoy immediate impressions of the famous safari animals as lion, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hippo, leopard and a scattering of antelope will walk into your view. On any safari, there will be a degree of tension as you dream of spotting the most famous animals. Starting off in Ol Pejeta enables you to encounter these mammals within the first day or two, an experience that's magnified by the uniqueness of the rhino population.
After breakfast, fly out to Kalama Conservancy, the panoramas seem to stretch for eternity. Gaze out, and there are countless miles of the rugged African savannah, dappled with roaming herds and spectacular slabs of granite mountain. The sense of space immediately inspires with such an unbroken landscape extending before your eyes. Look closely, and this wilderness is not static. An elephant herd emerges from the trees, buffalo congregate by distant water, zebra and giraffe scatter across the plains beneath the lodge, and the red blankets worn by Samburu warriors contrast the subtle greens of the bush. While Ol Pejeta is compact, Samburu is an open realm of pure adventure, where the safari can take you in a thousand directions and no two moments are ever the same. Check in at the Sarova Shaba Game Lodge.
For these two days, you will be guided by Samburu warriors, the ancient gatekeepers and protectors of this wild landscape. The opulent camp is built on the cliffs of Kalama Wildlife Conservancy, which shares an unfenced border with Samburu National Reserve. Visit the reserve on long game drives and explore this destination with few other visitors, if any. Follow the elephant prints to a waterhole and admire their resplendent journey through the savannah. Find lion pride resting on rocks, a scene from the safari imagination. Stop next to a buffalo herd and reel back at their fierce stare, and then discover a leopard whose spotted fur adorns the branches of a hidden tree.
Within the Kalama Wildlife Conservancy, you will go on walking safaris with Samburu guides helping to bring an intimacy with rare and unusual species. Watch gerenuk stand on their hind legs and extend their phenomenal necks to a tree's lower branches. Stop beside the dik-dik as they graze with the impala. Find reticulated giraffe and approach to within ten meters of this rare subspecies, and then admire the equally inimitable stripes of Grevy's zebra. Somali ostrich and beisa oryx are the other rare characters that bring surprise on these plains. As always, you can personalize the safari program to your liking, both in the choice and duration of activities.
After breakfast, transfer to the local airstrip and your plane swoops off into the Maasai Mara, and the grassland is speckled with zebra and wildebeest herds that are brilliantly observed from above. Touch down, and you will picked up by Maasai warrior guides in their flowing red blankets. They will lead you onto the plains, and you will pass the endless number of ungulates. Wildebeest are galloping in the morning light and make short sprints that are used as a showcase of virility. Zebra move slowly huddled together in herds of over a hundred or more than a thousand. At first, it is one black mass, but get closer, and all of the stripes distinguish themselves. Pairs rest their heads on each other's backs, and you will notice the young calves that are yet to develop the dark black stripes, and adorable eyes look back at you. Just on this quick transfer to Sand River Mara, you will probably see many thousands of animals.
Located on the banks of the river from which it takes its name, Sand River Masai Mara lies within Kenya's flagship reserve, close to the Tanzanian border. This is where the wildebeest cross the river in search of better grazing later in the year, so you couldn't be closer to the heart of the action. There's profuse resident game too, so there's lots to see year round. The camp itself is charming. Decorated in authentic 1920s colonial safari style, with plush leather seating, travel chests and a well-stocked library, the camp makes you feel like an extra in Out of Africa.
Communal lounges, dining and entertainment areas serve just 16 elegant canvas suites, which are divided into two camps of six and 10 tents, each set in glorious seclusion with private views over the river. Your private butler is on hand to ensure your stay is tailored to your preferences. Morning and afternoon game drives provide thrilling Big 5 encounters year-round and access to one of the greatest spectacles in Africa during the Wildebeest Migration, in which hundreds of thousands gnu pass through from July to November.
After your rugged safari adventure comes the pure serenity of a white beach that runs for miles and the Indian Ocean looking just like a postcard. Tucked away on Kenya's southwestern coast, the white sand is hidden by an indigenous forest filled with vervet and colobus monkeys. You will stay in a spacious villa with glorious ocean views, where one barefooted step will take you onto the gaping white sand. Kenya's white-sand coastline stretches for almost a thousand miles, so there is no competition for oceanfront space here. Beaches don't need to be private as they naturally become exclusive enclaves. Check in at the Swahili Beach Resort.
Diani Beach is a major beach resort on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya . It is located 30 kilometers south of Mombasa, in the nearby Kwale County and also known to be a popular kite surfing location. The sea remains shallow near shore, with some underwater sandbars near the surface which allow wading with a clear view of the sandy bottom. The general area is known for its coral reefs, black-and-white colobus monkeys, and for the closely located Shimba Hills National Reserve a wildlife reserve which looks out over the Indian Ocean. Diani Beach has high-class restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, and several shopping centers.
Swahili Beach Resort is where raw culture meets contemporary style; it’s a Swahili experience in an architectural wonder that boasts a seven-layer cascading pool, spacious & comfortable rooms all overlooking the vast Indian Ocean, service that, like the Swahili culture, is from the heart and dining experiences that bring out the true essence of culture and modern fusion. Swahili Beach offers guests a one-of-a-kind experience and Swahili Beach resort is the destination for the new generation of travelers who thrive on culture but do it in style. Offering an air of sophistication unseen in Mombasa, Kenya.
From Diani Beach's Ukunda airstrip there are both late-morning and late-afternoon flights back to Nairobi, making for a flexible arrival in Nairobi and a connection to your international departure. Relax at the beach through the morning, enjoy full use of the lodge and spa, and then soar above the Indian Ocean waves and cross the plains to Nairobi.
Experiences include:
Experiences Excludes:
If you like what you've seen but are looking for something a little bit different, we have plenty more to share. Alternatively, get chatting to one of our travel experts and we'll help you plan the perfect trip.
