Kenya Trails

Why travel to East Africa on a scheduled departure safari?

Designed to get the most value out of your safari for the best possible price, this scheduled safari tour visits good wildlife areas using value orientated accommodation.

Scheduled safaris are fully guided on a small group basis, and are conducted on set departure days (as these are not tailor-made itineraries, the routing is inflexible) Depending on the area of your safari and the locations you will be travelling to, these scheduled tours will be conducted in minivans or four wheel drive safari vehicles, generally with a maximum of 7 people per departure.

This is a lovely way to see Africa and her wilderness with like minded travelers, offering enriching life long memories and friendships!

Day 1	Transfer from Jomo Kenyatta Airport to Nairobi Hotel. Overnight Karen Residence (Bed and Breakfast)
Day 2	Morning Karen Excursions. PM drive to Rift Valley Lake Elementaita. Overnight Sunbird Lodge (Full Board)
Day 3	Drive to Lake Nakuru National Park for Game Drive. Overnight Sunbird Lodge (Full Board)
Day 4	Drive to Masai Mara Game Reserve. Overnight Mara Leisure Camp (Full Board)
Day 5 & 6	Masai Mara Game drives. Overnight Mara Leisure Camp (Full Board)
Day 7	Drive to Nairobi and transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International airport

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Nairobi

On arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, you will be met by our representative and given a short safari briefing before being transferred to Karen residence, ideally located in the leafy suburbs of Karen, Nairobi. Dinner will be served in the Club restaurant (at an additional cost) and you will have plenty of time to go through the material in your welcome pack and look forward to the journey ahead.

Day 2: Nairobi / Lake Elementaita

After breakfast, you will check out and meet your driver guide who will transfer you for excursions in the surrounding Karen Suburbs. Your first stop during the tour is Giraffe Centre where you will spend about an hour. The centre offers guests the unique experience of hand-feeding these gentle giants at eye level from a raised platform, while watching the warthogs below snuffle around looking for titbits. Thereafter drive a short distance to Daphne Sheldricks’ Elephant Orphanage – where you have an opportunity to visit the many baby elephants that have been rescued from threatening situations in Kenya’s various national parks and even get a chance to see the calves being fed and playing with the staff.

You will then visit the Karen Blixen Museum: a chance to go back in time and discover the famous Karen Blixen’s house exactly as it was when she lived in Kenya. Located in an area which was once part of Karen Blixen’s vast coffee estate, ‘bogani’, the museum was Karen’s home from 1917 until 1931.The house and grounds were made famous by the film ‘Out of Africa ’and have been restored by the Danish community of Kenya. Visitors have a glimpse of typical colonial life in Kenya at the turn of the twentieth century.

After lunch at the lovely Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens, you will depart on the next part of your adventure that takes you from the hustle and bustle of Nairobi city to the small but beautiful soda ash lake located in the famous Great Rift Valley, named Lake Elementaita.

Lake Elementaita is one of the famous soda ash lakes of the Great Rift Valley, and home to numerous flamingos and over 400 species of birds. This small but beautiful lake offers you the chance to relax or choose from a number of optional activities such as horse riding, bird viewing or a visit to the natural warm spa that flows into the lake.

Day 3: Lake Nakuru National park

After a hearty breakfast you will set out on a full day’s game drive to Lake Nakuru National park which is about thirty minutes’ drive from Elementaita. The lake is situated in the middle of the national park to which it gives its name. Teeming with wildlife the park has so much to offer. Lions, buffalos as well as the many rhinos that call this corner of Kenya home, If you are lucky you may even spot a leopard relaxing in a tree beside the lake.

After a game-packed day you will drive back to Sunbird Lodge in time to enjoy the sun set over the lake, before sitting down for dinner and toasting to the day’s adventures.

Day 4: Lake Nakuru / Masai Mara

Today you make your way by road to the Masai Mara National Reserve. You will arrive for lunch at your camp and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool and waiting for the late afternoon when the temperature cools to head out on your first Mara game drive.

The Masai Mara is one of Africa’s greatest wildlife reserves. Acacia dotted plains, tree-lined rivers and woodlands are abundant with wildlife and an array of birdlife. Game viewing is spectacular year-round; you may see a pride of lions stalking their prey, observe a herd of elephant and their fascinating social structure, or see pods of hippo wallowing in the rivers. The great wildebeest migration is one of nature’s wonders; an estimated two million animals migrate in a year-round pattern through Tanzania and Kenya, following the rain. Around July each year the huge herds begin dramatic river crossings and the grasslands of the Mara are covered by a mass of moving wildebeest, offering easy opportunity for crocodile and predators that are never far away. When in the Mara visit a traditional Maasai village or take a balloon safari at an extra cost.

Back at the camp, dinner is served and this gives you the perfect opportunity to look back at your day and relive all those highlights.

Day 5 & 6: Masai Mara

This morning, there is the opportunity to rise early and experience a game viewing adventure from an entirely different perspective! A hot air balloon safari across the Masai Mara (at additional cost) which takes off in the crisp morning air, and lasts for approximately an hour, allows for a beautifully peaceful experience floating silently high above plains, forests and rivers. if you have not booked a balloon ride, after breakfast you will drive across the mara plains in search of the big five and other plains game. Keep your eyes peeled as you hunt for the last members on your “must see” list.

Day 7: Departure

After breakfast and check out, you will be driven back to Nairobi, stopping beside the Rift Valley for one last photo and to enjoy your packed lunch (included).

After arriving in Nairobi, you will be transferred to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for your outbound travel.

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Download Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Karen Residence, Nairobi
Day 2 - 3: Sunbird Lodge, Lake Elementaita
Day 4 - 6: Mara Leisure Camp, Masai Mara