The Journey Begins!

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Meet your safari guide this morning and set out on a game drive in Nairobi  National Park. Kenya's oldest national park located just outside the city center is home to healthy populations of White and Black Rhino, Giraffe, Cheetah, Lion and Buffalo. During the morning hours, many  animals are just beginning their daily activities and this provides for  outstanding viewing and photography opportunities. 

The David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage is a world renowned rescue and  rehabilitation initiative primarily focused on the well-being of elephants and rhino’s. Since 1977, the Orphan’s Project has assisted in the recovery and reintegration of more than 150 elephants, returning  them to the wild herds of Tsavo. Today, stop in for a visit to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, found at the Nairobi Game Park Headquarters. Arriving in time to participate the morning feeding, which  takes place between 11am and 12pm, you will have the chance to meet the  elephants as well as other endangered animals like the black rhino. This shared visit does not require the fostering of an elephant, however, if you are interested in contributing to the orphanages efforts, please visit https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/fostering.asp to learn more.

Make the trip to the Giraffe Center to learn about the world’s tallest terrestrial animal and to see these wonderful creatures up close and, if  you so choose, to feed them by hand! After the Giraffe Center, visit  the Karen Blixen Museum – a home once lived in by Karen – and made famous in the film “Out of Africa” featuring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford (consider watching the movie before setting out on your trip). After exploring this landmark, head to Kazuri Beads. An all-woman craft  workshop renowned for making handmade ceramic jewelry and pottery,  Kazuri – which means “small and beautiful” in Swahili – is a co-operative enterprise founded decades ago by an English woman who wanted to help single mothers become self-supporting. The clay beads,  jewelry and pottery are as amazing as the story of its people, making  Kazuri Beads the perfect place to round out your day in Nairobi.

A truly unique safari experience awaits you at Nairobi National Park. Set close to the city limits, this wildlife reserve offers you an  opportunity to get close to African wildlife while enjoying the backdrop  of Nairobi’s skyline in the distance. With your private guide by your  side and traverse the wide-open grass plains of the reserve in search of  game sightings. The resident species include giraffe, black rhino, lion, leopard, buffalo, cheetah, and hyena.

Where you’ll be staying

• Fairmont Norfolk Hotel
• Deluxe Room

Enjoy a game drive in world-renowned Ol Pejeta. The conservancy is host to  all members of the African "Big 5" (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo and  leopard), along with a wide range of rare species including the African wild dog, oryx, serval, Jackson’s hartebeest and Grevy’s zebra.  

Famously, Ol Pejeta is one of only eight sanctuaries in Africa will more than 100 black rhinos, so spotting these critically endangered animals is also possible while exploring the region; have your camera ready!

Where you’ll be staying

• Sweetwaters Serena
• Morani Wing Tent

Today you have the option of visiting the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary; the only place in Kenya where these highly endangered and remarkably intelligent  primates can be seen. The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary opened in 1993 in a negotiated agreement between the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the  Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Jane Goodall Institute. Here the animals are carefully nursed back to health and integrated into  families. The chimpanzees live in two large groups separated by the Ewaso Nyiro River. Watch them romp and play, visit the local shop, or even sponsor a chimp! 

Please Note: Visitors to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy has free access to the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee  Sanctuary, which is open daily from 9:00am to 10:30am and 3pm to 4:30pm.

Your guide will pick you up at your lodge in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy and drive you to Nakuru. This excursion will past through the beautiful rift  valley. The transfer will take approximately four hours.

Enjoy a picnic lunch (included in tour price).

Where you’ll be staying

• Mbweha Camp 
• Luxury Cottage

Transfer between Nakuru and Mara park by road. Includes stops at souvenir shops and refreshment stands. During the rainy season this can be a long drive. Usually takes about 5 - 6 hours.

This afternoon, head out on an exciting game drive with your guide, keeping  your eyes peeled for giraffes. Giraffes usually inhabit savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands. They prefer areas with plenty of acacia trees, an important food source, and can browse at heights that most  other herbivores cannot reach. 

While adults are nearly invulnerable to predation, lions, leopards, spotted hyenas and wild dogs prey on baby calves. Giraffes commonly gather together to eat or socialize for a few hours and then roam off to graze separately. Males establish social hierarchies through "neckings," which are combat bouts where the neck is  used as a weapon. Based on these displays, dominant males gain mating  rights to females, who then bear the sole responsibility for raising their young.

Where you’ll be staying

• Mara West
• Chalet