KENYA SAFARI: LAKE NAIVASHA + MASAI MARA in Kenya

Facilities available

Wheelchair access

Adapted transfer

Description

8 Nights

From £3,695 per person sharing. (Flights quoted separately)

This wonderful wheelchair accessible safari holiday to Kenya visits the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage & Giraffe Centre in Nairobi, as well as Lake Nakuru with its rhino & birdlife, Lake Naivasha where you can see hippos & the Masai Mara Game Reserve - home to all the Big Five & famous for its predator sightings. Private guide, accessible vehicle & hotels, park fees & game drives included.

Highlights:

• Wheelchair accessible safari holiday
• Rhinos
• Big five game drives
• Sheldrick elephant orphanage
• Bird watching
• Safari holiday Kenya
• Giraffe centre
• Lake Naivasha
• Lake Nakuru
• Masai mora game reserve

Day 1

You will be met at Nairobi Airport and transferred to your hotel in this bustling city.

Check in and relax in your warm and friendly African surroundings.

Day 2

This morning we visit the Giraffe Centre. Founded by Betty & Jock Leslie-Melville to save the endangered Rothschild Giraffe from extinction, this centre plays an important role in educating Kenyan school children on the country's wildlife and environment. It also allows visitors to come into close contact with the world's tallest species, including the opportunity to feed a gorgeous giraffe.

We then visit the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage (open only from 11 to 12 noon). It took Daphne Sheldrick 28 years of trial and error to perfect the milk formula and complex husbandry required to rear orphaned African elephants, during the period that her husband was warden of Kenya's largest elephant sanctuary in Tsavo East National Park. Since then this sanctuary has gone on to save the lives of many orphaned elephant calves.

Afterwards enjoy a game drive in Nairobi National Park. This was the first national park created in Kenya and, despite its relatively small size and close proximity to the skyscrapers of the city, it boasts a large and varied wildlife population. Animals migrate to this park during the dry season, as it offers them a permanent source of water. You can hope to see lion, buffalo, leopard and rhino - but not elephant as the park is not large enough to sustain them. You can also see giraffe, zebra, eland, impala, Grant's gazelle, Thomson's gazelle, warthog and ostrich in the woodlands and open plains, and hippo in the Mbagathi Athi River which is lined with fever and acacia trees. The park also has a very successful rhino sanctuary. A picnic lunch is included today.

Note: Visits to Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage can only be booked 90 days in advance and are subject to availability (maximum 100 visitors per day).

Day 3

Today you will be collected from your hotel in Nairobi and transferred for 2.5-hours to Lake Naivasha, a fresh water lake in the heart of the spectacular Great Rift Valley.

Enjoy a boat ride on the lake, with the opportunity to see hippo and some of the 400 different bird species, before checking in to your lodge.

Note: You need upper body strength for this boat ride, as you will be lifted into a special high-backed seat placed inside this long shallow-draft canoe. You must wear a sun hat, as the boat is not covered and there are no toilet facilities.

Day 4

Today we drive 1.5-hours for an excursion to explore the wildlife of beautiful Lake Nakuru National Park (with picnic lunch included).

A soda lake on the floor of the Rift Valley, at certain times of the year Lake Nakuru is home to over 400 different bird species. The lake is also a haven for certain endangered species including the Rothschild giraffe and black and white rhino.

In addition to its significant population of rhino and giraffe that are attracted to its salt waters, Lake Nakuru offers sanctuary to a wide variety of other wildlife - including herds of buffalo, lions, zebra, giraffe, monkeys, baboons, Thomson’s gazelle, Grant's gazelle, impala, eland, ostrich and more.

Many resident and migrant birds wade in its shallow salt waters - including Lesser and Greater flamingos, Great white pelicans, Marabou storks, Grey-headed gulls, Garganey and Northern shovelers and a variety of egrets, plovers and terns. In the surrounding trees you can hope to see a Chin-spot batis, Green-backed camaroptera, Yellow-breasted apalis, Northern puffback, Buff-bellied warbler and many others. Occasionally birds of prey can also be seen.

Note: If you are tall and remain in your chair for your game drives, please be aware there will be some restrictions on your viewing due to the height of the windows in the accessible vehicle. There are no restrictions if you transfer into one of the regular seats.

Day 5

Today we travel 5-hours to the Masai Mara, named after the Maasai people and the Mara River which divides the park.

We drive past Maai Mahiu and down to the vast plains on the floor of the Rift Valley, keeping an eye out for herds of giraffe and gazelle. From Narok, the district headquarters of this part of Maasailand, we traverse the "breadbasket" of Kenya, where acres of wheat and barley cover the landscape, as we travel towards the Masai Mara.

Masai Mara National Reserve is famous for its exceptional population of game and the annual migration of zebra and wildebeest from the adjoining Serengeti National Park. This phenomenon occurs every year from July to October (although exact timings cannot be guaranteed), when game migrates along a circular route from the plains of the Serengeti to the Masai Mara and back again in search of fresh pastures, followed by hungry predators - most notably lions and hyena. Check into your lodge and in the afternoon enjoy a game drive in this magnificent wildlife sanctuary.

Days 6 To 7

Today is dedicated to game viewing on the open plains of the world famous Masai Mara region.

We set off early each morning, when game viewing conditions are at their best, to view the abundant wildlife of this region. Return to the lodge to rest in the heat of the day, before setting off again in the late afternoon for another game drive.

Nestled within the enormous Great Rift Valley, the Masai Mara is famous for its many prides of lions, packs of hyena and other predators - as well as huge herds of wildebeest, which number over one million, zebra and giraffe. All the Big Five can be seen here, as well as numerous other species including the Thomson's gazelle, topi, kongoni, impala, roan antelope and hippo. The nocturnal bat-eared fox, rarely found elsewhere in Kenya, also inhabits this park as well as the endangered cheetah and black rhino.

Bird watching is also excellent with over 450 different species. These include the Marabou stork, Secretary bird, Crowned crane, Ostrich, Brown snake eagle, Black-chested snake eagle, Bateleur, Martial eagle, African paradise flycatcher, Red-fronted & White-headed barbet, Black-faced go-away bird, Woodland kingfisher, Violet-backed starling, Black cuckoo-shrike and various species of larks, cisticolas, vultures, hornbills and so much more.

Note: If you are tall and remain in your chair for your game drives, please be aware there may be some restrictions on your viewing due to the height of the windows in the accessible vehicle. There are no restrictions if you transfer into one of the regular seats.

Day 8

This morning leave the Masai Mara and drive 4-hours to Nairobi.

Here you will be dropped off at your hotel conveniently situated near the airport.

Day 9

Transfer to Nairobi Airport terminal today for your flight home.

Note: A late checkout has been arranged, so you will have the use of your hotel room until your departure.

Information last updated: 30/11/2023 10:52:53