Introduction.
This is a lodge and luxury tented camps based safari, covering all aspects of general wildlife including watching both mammals and birds but with more emphasis on wildlife.

We will visit totally different areas from the expansive Tsavo National Park with it’s unique wildlife and bird life as well to the famous Masai Mara Game Reserve with great game viewing area, surrounded by yellow barked acacia’s and the red clad Masai’s people dotted across the plains, vast herds of antelopes to Lake Nakuru Park with its zebra and prides of lions share their home with hundreds of birds species including the famous pink wash of flamingos.

Itinerary.

Day 1: Nairobi
Upon arrival in Nairobi you will be meet by our airport representative Ms. Lucy Wanjiku and be transferred to Fairview hotel at the outskirts of the city. Overnight at Fairview Hotel, bed and breakfast.

Day 2 & 3 Tsavo West National Park.
This morning we will make the long drive to Tsavo West National Park, arriving around lunchtime. We will then check into the luxurious Finch Hattons Camp, our base for the next 2-nights of the tour.

Tsavo West, when combined with Tsavo East, covers over 20,000 square kilometers creating one of Africa's largest conservation areas. This is a classic East African park watched over by the distant snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. Tsavo is a place of wide horizons and undulating acacia covered red earth plains dotted with graceful parties of Giraffes and herds of Elephant and Zebra. It is cut by only two permanent rivers and so has a more arid feel to it than the other reserves we will be visiting on the holiday, but is nevertheless a wonderful area for mammals, birds and other wildlife.

Tsavo is also home to the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary. The decline of the Eastern Black Rhinoceros has been both rapid and shocking and, not too long ago, there was a real fear that this amazing animal may become extinct. For example, in the 1970s the Tsavo ecosystem alone supported an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 Rhino, but by 1989 poaching had reduced this to a mere 20 individuals! Today, an estimated 540 Eastern Black Rhinoceros remain in the world and 85% of these are to be found in Kenya.

The Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary has played an important role in the advancement of this work and helped develop many of the monitoring and conservation methods now employed in other parts of the country. The sanctuary itself was established in 1985 and protected 3 Rhino in an area of less than 1 square mile. Today Ngulia Sanctuary covers 38 square miles (62 square kilometres) and is home to 57 Rhino, more than half of which were born there. This has been a fantastic success story and Rhino numbers continue to grow. During our stay in Tsavo we will visit the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary to try and find, one or two of the Rhino that live here, as well as a host of colourful birds such as Lilac-breasted Roller, Superb Starling and Beautiful Sunbird.

We will also head out on game drives into Tsavo West National Park itself to enjoy the wealth of mammals, birds and other wildlife that abounds here. Tsavo is home to Kenya's 'red' Elephants and herds of these red-earth dusted giants are a familiar sight, along with Impala, Thompson's Gazelle, Masai Giraffe, Buffalo and perhaps even our first Lion or Cheetah. Indeed, the Lions of Tsavo are descendants of the legendary man-eaters (the Ghost and the Darkness) who brought the building of the Nairobi to Mombassa railroad to a standstill at the beginning of the last century. Friendlier inhabitants, however, include a wealth of birdlife - an amazing 600 species have been recorded here - including Ostrich, Kori Bustard, Saddle-billed Stork, Black-breasted Snake-eagle, Magpie Shrike, Carmine Bee-eater, Woodland Kingfisher, Scarlet-chested Sunbird and many many more. Other, less frequently seen mammals include Gerenuk, Fringe-eared Oryx, Hunters Hartebeest and Leopard.

An undoubted highlight of our stay at Tsavo will be the opportunity to visit the crystal clear waters of the Mzima Springs. Here underground spring water, filtered by the volcanic rock of the Chyulu Hills, has formed a series of forest-fringed freshwater pools into which an underwater glass observation tank has been built. From this uniquely aquatic viewpoint we can watch Hippos swimming underwater along with crocodiles and various fish.

Lunch, dinner and overnight for the two days at Finch Hattons Camp, full board.

Days 4 & 5: Amboseli National Park.
After breakfast we will move west to Amboseli National Park. Amboseli sits beneath the towering snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, and is one of the country's most scenic reserves. Its acacia-dotted plains and dry rolling grasslands support a wealth of game including plenty of Elephant, Masai

Giraffe, Burchell's Zebra, Cape buffalo and Waterbuck. Indeed it is here (weather and dust permitting) that we hope to see that classic East African scene of Elephants and Giraffes striding across the plains backed by the snowy peak of Kilimanjaro; this is one of Kenya's most sought after photographic destinations so bring plenty of film (or memory cards!). Other mammals to look out for include White-bearded Wildebeest, Thompson's Gazelle, Warthog, Black Rhino and Spotted Hyena. Predators such as Cheetah and Lion do occur in Amboseli but are somewhat wary as they are still persecuted by the surrounding farmers. Birdlife is once again abundant and we will no doubt find a wide selection of the 400 species that have been recorded here. Some to look out for include Bateleur, Red-billed Hornbill, Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling, Tacazze Sunbird, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Diederic and Black Cuckoos and White-fronted Bee-eater.

We will explore Amboseli on morning and afternoon game drives from the Tortilis Luxury Camp, our base for the next two nights of the tour.

Days 6 & 7: Lake Nakuru National Park.
Today we move to East Africa's geological wonder, the Rift Valley, for two nights at the flamingo fringed Lake Nakuru National Park. It is a long drive that will take us back to Nairobi for lunch before heading north west into the Rift and past Lake Naivasha (one of only two freshwater lakes in the rift, the other being Baringo) and the soda lake of Elmentaita. On arrival at Nakuru we will check in Sarova Lion Hill Lodge for two nights, beautifully situated on a hill above the lake. The park is a wonderfully atmospheric place, where you can really enjoy the sights and sounds of the Rift Valley in a classic bush setting. Indeed, Lake Nakuru National Park was the setting for the award winning classic film ‘Out of Africa’.

Lake Nakuru is a soda lake and host to one of the great ornithological spectacles of the world. Hundreds of thousands of Greater and Lesser Flamingoes (occasionally up to 2 million) traditionally form a carpet of shimmering pink that stretches as far as the eye can see around the lake-shore. Pink-backed and White Pelicans swim in the shallows and feeding amongst them are Yellow-billed and Marabou Storks, Sacred Ibis, African Spoonbills, and an almost complete range of east African ducks, waders, terns and gulls. The piercing call of the African Fish Eagles is a familiar sound at Nakuru and just one of numerous birds of prey that patrol the park. Mammals too are plentiful, particularly Bohor Reedbuck, Waterbuck, Buffalo, Warthog and the rare Rothchild's Giraffe, whilst anyone tiring of the lakeside spectacle will find more than enough birds and other wildlife in the surrounding scrub and woodland. Nakuru is one of the better places in Africa to find Leopard and the park is also a very important Rhino sanctuary.

It has a population of over 60 Black Rhino, although these are very hard to see, and a healthy breeding population of White Rhino which includes a large number of young animals.

Dinner and overnight for the two days at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge, full board.

Days 8 & 9: Masai Mara Game Reserve.
We leave Nakuru for the Masai Mara Game Reserve, driving through some lovely bushland scenery en route. Our journey takes us across the floor of the Rift Valley and then up and over the Mau Escarpment. Continuing through Masai land, past open plains and steep hills, we will pass through the busy Masai market town of Narok, a riot of colour as the red cloaks of the men and the bright colours of the women's clothes mingle with the many shop fronts, goats and piles of fruit and vegetables for sale. From here we will complete the drive to our comfortable, tented camp in the Mara, Mara Sarova Camp. Here we will be based for three nights and this evening head out on a game drive to enjoy the wildlife of Kenya's top game reserve.
The Masai Mara Game Reserve is probably the most famous in all of Africa.  

It is raising grassland, watered by the Mara River and covering an area of 1,680 square kilometres. The Mara region has been inhabited by humans for at least 2,000 years, the last 200 years by the Masai. The area is part of what is now referred to as the Serengeti - Mara Ecosystem, being joined to the huge Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. In the local (Maa) language Mara means 'spotted', a reference to the patches of bush and trees that dot the plains.

The Masai Mara holds some of the largest concentrations of animals in the world, especially in August when huge herds of White-bearded Wildebeest and Burchell's Zebra, pursued by their attendant predators, migrate into the reserve from the adjacent Serengeti. This is another of Africa's great wildlife spectacles and, whilst nothing is certain in the world of wildlife watching, we hope to have timed it just right and witness the breathtaking sight of the Mara grasslands filled as far as the eye can see with huge herds of Wildebeest and Zebra. Topi, Coke's Hartebeest, Impala, Eland, Thompson's and Grant's Gazelles, Bohor Reedbuck, Bushbuck, Kirk's Dik-dik, Masai Giraffe, Elephant and Buffalo feed amongst them stalked by all 3 big cats, Lion, Cheetah and Leopard, along with a variety of other predators and scavengers such as Bat-eared Fox, Serval, Spotted Hyena and Black-backed Jackals.

The birdlife is equally diverse, although often takes second place to the spectacle of the mammals. Huge Ground Hornbills and elegant secretary Birds stride across the grasslands along with Kori Bustards, Grey Crowned Crane and smaller species such as Temminck's Coursers, Wattled Lapwing, Rosy-breasted Longclaw, Yellow-shouldered Widowbird and Capped Wheatear. Lone bushes or dead trees provide lookout perches for a variety of bee-eaters and rollers, including the beautiful Carmine Bee-eater, whilst above them soar Martial Eagles, Lappet-faced, African White-backed, Hooded and Ruppell's Vultures, the latter four always on the look out for a recent kill. In the camp grounds and acacia woodlands we should find a plethora of barbets, finches, weavers, turacos, go-away-birds, glossy starlings and kingfishers.

Our days in the Mara will start with an early morning wake up call, and a cup of tea or coffee, before we head out onto the plains shortly after dawn. After enjoying the animals and birds we will return to camp late morning for brunch and a siesta before heading out again for an afternoon game drive. There are additional activities on offer for those who wish, the most popular being a hot air balloon ride or a Masai Village visit, a truly magical experience.

The costs are not included in the tour cost, however, and must be booked in advance so please contact the Mbango Safaris office on 00 254 20 211 24 33 / 4 for a price and more information.

Day 10: Nairobi.
After a final morning's game drive we must leave the Masai Mara and start the long return drive to Nairobi. We will then take our last evening meal in Kenya, before sadly making our way to the airport to catch the late evening flight back home.

Grading.
This is a luxury tented camps and lodge safari, and therefore suitable for anyone of any age, without any great necessity for extreme fitness. In all the parks we visit exploration is by vehicle only, though you will be allowed to walk in the grounds of each lodge and at various picnic spots.

Weather.
For much of this August tour dry and sunny weather may be expected, with daytime temperatures between 20-30°C, depending on the altitude. Cloud is likely in the afternoons, but does not usually bring rain at this season, although do not rule it out!

Food and accomondation included in the tour price.
All accommodation and meals are included except for dinner on arrival in Nairobi and lunch on the last day back to Nairobi.  

Entry requirements.
A visa is required for Kenya and we will send you application forms and details. Various vaccinations and malaria prophylactics are recommended. Full details will be sent to you on booking, but we recommend that you visit your foreign office to discuss your travel plans as soon as possible.

How to book your place.
In order to book a place on this holiday, you will need to contact us. Please call us now on 00 254 20 211 24 33 / 4 or email us: safaris@mbangosafaris.com with your contacts and we shall get back to you.