Magical Kenya

The Kenya backdrop is absolutely stunning.  See the big 5 as well as a beautiful diversity of landscapes, animals, bird and plant life and fascinating cultures.  From hand feeding Giraffes, to adopting orphaned elephants to taking breathtaking balloon safaris at dawn. There is a lot to do in Kenya.  Join your trip host and travel to do good Ambassador, Metris as you embark on the journey of a life time.  Travel to do Good Ambassador and Trip Host Metris aka the Jewelry Woman has been working with a women’s co-op in Nairobi for over 3 years.  Your Travel to do Good project will include supporting small businesses who are supporting each other for economic empowerment and business sustainability.Travel to do Good Focus:  Cultural Immersion, Safari, Animal Conservation,  History, Art, Nature, Masai Mara, Women’s Empowerment Program, Social Entrepreneurship

Day 1
Depart the US for Nairobi Kenya via New York JFK

Day 2
Welcome to Magical Kenya
Nairobi
Meals:  Welcome Dinner
Hotel:  Tamarind Tree Hotel

Upon your arrival into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport you will be met by a Travel to do Good representative and transfer to Tamarind Tree Hotel.

The nearby Langata and Karen suburbs are among Nairobi’s liveliest and most popular with world-class shopping malls and excellent restaurants. Each of your rooms and suites have been exquisitely designed using modern fittings in an authentic earthy feel. Immerse yourself into the laid back, welcoming, vibrant culture that is Tamarind Tree Hotel.

Day 3
Nairobi
Meals:  Breakfast and Dinner
Accommodations:  Tamarind Tree Hotel               

After breakfast, we will proceed to a village to meet the women’s co-operative in Nairobi. You will enjoy lunch with the entrepreneurs you have met throughout the day and will be hosted at a local restaurant.

Visit Kenyan Women’s Cooperative

Day 4
Nairobi
Meals:  Breakfast and Dinner
Accommodations:  Tamarind Tree Hotel

After breakfast, enjoy full day excursions in Nairobi.

Giraffe Centre – The giraffe centre is a wonderful and refreshing experience undertaken during African Mecca’s Out Of Africa excursion starting in Nairobi. The tour gives a completely up close and personal interaction where guests have the opportunity to view giraffes as well as feed them.

Daphne Sheldrick – Daphne Sheldrick’s Animal Orphanage, which helps to rehabilitate severely traumatized orphaned animals thus enabling them to live their natural lifestyle once reintroduced into the wild.

Kiambethu Farm – Just a short drive from the heart of Nairobi, Kiambethu Farm at Limuru provides a tranquil insight into life on a settler farm. Situated at 7,200 ft., Kiambethu was bought and farmed by AB McDonell in 1910. He was a pioneer in the tea industry being one of the first to make and sell tea commercially in Kenya – now one of Kenya’s largest exports. Five generations have lived on the farm and it is currently run by his granddaughter Fiona Vernon. The farm house is set within beautiful gardens surrounded by acres of tea and indigenous forest – home to the Colobus monkey (Lunch will be served at the Farm)

Later drive back to Nairobi and visit National Museum –  The Museum was initiated in 1910 by a group of enthusiastic naturalists under the then East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society [currently the East African Natural History Society (EANHS)], who needed a place to keep and preserve their collections of various specimens. The first site for the museum was at the present Nyayo House, which later became too small and a larger building was put up in 1922 where the Nairobi Serena Hotel stands today.

The artworks and materials used in the fabrication of outdoor sculptures, the landscaping and the botanic gardens, link to the four pillars of Kenya’s national heritage i.e. nature, culture, history and contemporary art.

In the evening enjoy dinner at Seven’s Sea Food Restaurant.

Day 5
Nairobi – LakeNakuru 

Meals:  Breakfast and Dinner
Accommodations: Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge 

After breakfast, drive to Lake Nakuru National Park and arrive in time for lunch at Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge. Located on a range of hills that form the western limits of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, the lodge offers spectacular views over the vastness of Africa.

The lodge also overlooks Lake Nakuru and its surrounding National Park, one that is a paradise for bird watchers and wildlife lovers alike. Lake Nakuru National Park is mainly a wooded and bushy grassland with a wide ecological diversity and characteristic habitats that range from the lake waters to the escarpment and ridges.

Attractions
Flamingo (Greater and Lesser) and other water birds including a variety of terrestrial birds numbering about 450 species in total.
Mammals: 56 different species including white rhinos, waterbuck etc.
View-points: Lion hill, Baboon cliff and Out of Africa
Hills: Enasoit, Honeymoon, Lion hill ridge etc
Waterfalls: Makalia.
Unique vegetation: About 550 different plant species including the unique and biggest euphorbia forest in Africa, Picturesque landscape and yellow acacia woodlands.

Day 6
Nairobi – Lake Nakuru National Park – Masai Mara
Meals:  Breakfast and Dinner
Accommodations: Mara Sarova Game Camp

Early breakfast at lodge. Check out and drive to Masai Mara Game Reserve where you will arrive in time for lunch at Mara Sarova Game Camp. The rolling plains around the camp are teeming with wildebeest, gazelles and zebras during the migration months, and the camp is situated right in the centre of their migration path. A wildlife safari puts you right in the middle of all this action. Get a first-hand account of this epic phenomenon and live to tell the tale. A safari also helps you acquaint yourself with the landscapes of this beautiful African setting. By virtue of its location and layout, the camp offers an unparalleled plethora of activities and experiences from luxury tented living to bird-watching, mini golf, sport fishing and a unique insight into the Maasai culture at the adjoining Maasai village.

This afternoon, enjoy another game drive in ‘’ The World Famous Masai Mara Game Reserve’’

The Masai Mara Game Reserve is often called simply “The Mara” – a Masai word meaning “mottled” – a reference to its patchy landscape. The Reserve covers 1,510 sq km (580 sq miles) and raises 1,500-2,170 meters above sea level. The terrain of the reserve is primarily grassland and riverine forest with clumps of distinctive acacia trees.

Beautiful african landscape in Masai Mara, Kenya at sunset time. Big tree and wildebeest antelopes

The Masai Mara ecosystem holds one of the highest lion densities in the world and this is where over two million wildebeest, zebra and Thompson gazelle migrate annually.

Elephant cooling down in the water in Masai Mara resort, Kenya

The Masai Mara Game Reserve is often called simply “The Mara” – a Masai word meaning “  It hosts over 95 species of mammals and 570 recorded species of birds.  The wildlife of the Masai Mara is world-renowned, with the so-called “Big Five”- buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhinoceros – evident throughout the year. The “Big Nine” – including cheetah, zebra, giraffe and hippo – extends this experience.  The Masai Mara also plays host to the ‘Annual Migration’ but whatever the time of year the resident wildlife will surely enthrall and entertain all who visit this wondrous Park.

Day 7
Masai Mara Game Reserve
Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodations:  Sarova Mara Game Camp 

Enjoy a morning game drive or just relax at the Game Reserve.  Optional activity includes a hot air balloon ride.

Hot air balloon over the Masai Mara – Kenya

Optional Hot Air Balloon activity ($420) – Start the day at 0500 hrs with an early morning Hot Air Balloon Flight over the Masai Mara. Balloon trips typically begin with a dawn wake-up call, a cup of tea, and a short drive to the take-off site. Here guests can watch as the balloon is inflated then, as it rights itself, they are invited to climb into the 8-10 person baskets (which is equipped with safety belts). Piloted by a qualified balloon pilot, the balloon will drift in the direction of the prevailing wind and can rise up and down according to the pilot’s wishes. An ideal way of viewing game, it is an unforgettable experience that usually lasts around 45 minutes to an hour before coming down to a controlled landing. Traditionally a champagne breakfast is then served (usually a full English breakfast) as flying certificates are handed out.

In the afternoon have lunch at the camp and then proceed for another exciting game drive in Masai Mara Game Reserve.  You may hear of the Big Five before going on Safari, from an old book, or from a nature documentary but your real safari happens here. Today, they are five of the animals which people most want to see while on Safari. One hundred years ago, amid pith helmets, mosquito boots, and ‘darkest Africa’, the Big Five were the most sought after animals to hunt. They were the fiercest, the most dangerous animals; the animals that would hunt the hunter.

Male and female lion

After game drive, proceed for sun downers. A selection of drinks, cocktails and delicious bites are usually served against the unforgettable backdrop of the African sunset. If you are at our camps you may be taken away to “our” special African sun downer spot to experience this beautiful moment. During a sun downer, we advise guests to just sit back, relax and take in the atmosphere while they listen and watch the wildlife of the savanna. Most sun downer spots also offer amazing opportunities for photos.

Day 8
Masai Mara Game Reserve
Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodations:  Sarova Mara Game Camp

Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives.

Two consorting lions (Panthera leo) nuzzle in the shade. Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya.

After a day of game viewing and driving through the famed Masai Mara Game Reserve, there is no better way to enjoy the end of another day in the African bush than to enjoy a delicious meal under a canopy of twinkling stars.  Guests will be guided to their bush dinner by lantern-lit pathways leading from their lodge to a clearing in the bush, where intimate tables cluster around a fire. A lavish dinner will be served at the table as guests enjoy the open skies and sounds of the wild in the background. The chef will bring carefully prepared courses that draw inspiration from seasonal fare available locally.

A group of scarlet-clad Maasai morans (warriors) will perform a mock attack. In a mock attack, as guests enjoy a variety of sumptuous dishes, they will suddenly hear a warrior‘s introductory songs in the air. The Maasai rush out of the bushes carrying their traditional weapons as they head towards where the guests are seated. The guests are often engulfed by a mix of shock and excitement! Singing and dancing follows and the guests are encouraged to join in the jumping dance.

Enjoy your farewell dinner under the African sky, with hyenas, lions and wildebeest creating a dramatic background symphony, next to an open fire, is like nothing else on this planet.

Day 9
Masai Mara – Nairobi
Meals:  Breakfast

Breakfast at leisure. Later drive back to Nairobi and arrive in time for lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch, you will be transferred to JKIA for your departure flight back home.

$2950 per person
Based on Double Occupancy                                          $600 single supplement

Optional Hot Air Balloon Activity:  $420