Kenya | February 1 -12

Feb 1 & 2 | From home to Nairobi, Kenya

Today begin your trip of a lifetime as your board your overnight flight to Kenya with a connection in Europe. Upon arrival you will be met by your Universal Travel staff member and assisted with a transfer to your 5-star hotel in Nairobi, for a comfortable three night stay.

Feb 4 | Nairobi – A day in Nairobi

After a leisurely breakfast by the pool , you will visit the Giraffe Centre, which started as a rehabilitation project to rescue the Rothschild Giraffe. Learn about this endangered species and get a close look at the giraffe as you had feed this beautiful animal. Next, you’ll visit the David Sheldrick Wild-life Trust Elephant Nursery in Nairobi National Park. The Nursery provides a safe haven to orphaned baby elephants rescued by the DSWT. After the elephants graduate from the Nursery, they are moved to a Reintegration Center, from where they will ultimately return to the wild. Your tour continues to the new Kazuri Beads Factory with an included lunch enroute. Kazuri, which means “small and beautiful” in Swahili, began in 1975 as a tiny workshop experimenting in making ceramic beads made by hand. Return to your hotel and after some free time to freshen up, enjoy a welcome to Kenya dinner.

Overnight: Nairobi           (B,D)

Feb 5 | Nanyuki & Sweetwaters

After breakfast, leave Nairobi behind and pass by pineapple and coffee fields, before you arrive in Nanyuki. Here you visit the Nanyuki Spinners and Weavers, a woman’s self-help group, established in 1977. Starting with only 10 members, the organization now numbers over 200 women and is a highly successful organization. The members collect raw wool from local pastoralists and bring to their place in Nanyuki. Entirely by hand the women card and spin the wool into yarn. It is washed several times before it is dyed with only natural dyes. After it dries, the heavy yarn is woven into rugs of various sizes and patterns well as place mats and wall hangings. Finer yarn is made into fine quality beautiful shawls. Your journey continues to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Mid-day, check into Serena Sweetwaters Luxury Tented Camp, located within the Abounding with wildlife and designed to offer a charming blend of under canvas ambiance and uncompromising luxury, this camp has long been the preferred retreat of wilderness and safari lovers alike. Get ready this afternoon for your first game drive! On your way back to the camp you will cross the equator – a perfect picture opportunity!

Overnight: Sweetwaters Tented Camp or similar              (B,L,D)

Feb 6 | Sweetwaters

After breakfast, enjoy a morning game drive within the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, home to the world’s last remaining north-ern white rhinos, and a sanctuary for over 110 critically endan-gered black rhinos. Visit the Morani enclosure, where you meet Baraka the black rhino carrying the ambassador flag for his predecessor. Baraka was born in the wild in Ol Pejeta, but lost sight in both eyes due to a fight and then a cataract. Return to the camp for lunch and free time to rest. Enjoy an early dinner at the camp before you leave for an Universal Trave exclusive night game drive, an activity not available in most national parks and reserves in Kenya. With the help of a filtered spot light, you might spot some unusual sightings of nocturnal animals, including aardvark, caracal cat, bat eared fox, and perhaps even a leopard.

Overnight: Sweetwaters Tented Camp or similar              (B,L,D)

Feb 7 | Sweetwaters to Buffalo Springs Game Reserve

This morning, after a leisurely breakfast your journey continues to Samburu. You arrive in time for lunch, at the Ashnil Luxury Tented Camp. Located in the Buffalo Springs Game Reserve, this luxury tented camp is home to some rare northern wildlife including the Long Necked Gerenuk, Beisa Oryx, Reticulated Giraffe, Grevy Zebra, Somali Ostrich and an abundance of bird species, all flocking here because of the springs, which provide permanent drinking water. Enjoy an afternoon game drive in the reserve before returning to the camp for dinner and overnight.

Overnight: Ashnil Tented Camp or similar       (B,L,D)

Feb 8 | Buffalo Springs Game Reserve/ Samburu 

Bright and early this morning, depart for a game drive as the wildlife viewing will be at its prime. Upon your return to the camp, enjoy breakfast and some free time, before you visit a Samburu Village. The Samburu Tribe, like the Masai, are nomadic pastoralists, moving from one place to another following patterns of rainfall in search of fresh pasture and water for their livestock. The Samburu are easily identified as they wear bright and colorful attire, beaded necklaces, and jewelry. You will be allowed to enter a Samburu hut and learn how they survive in this desert like land. Be ready with your cameras as Samburu Warriors dance to the rhythmic chanting. Return to the camp in time for lunch. You’ll have some free time to relax on your private deck or by the pool, before heading out again for a late afternoon game drive when animals are most active. Samburu’s skies are stunning at night. So close to the equator, you might be able to spot the Southern Cross, the Scorpion, the Seven Sisters, and other constellations depending on the time of year.

Overnight: Ashnil Tented Camp or similar               (B,L,D)

Feb 9 | Samburu to Maasai Mara

This morning after breakfast, transfer to the local airstrip with a short game drive en-route. You’ll fly over the Great Rift Valley and onto the unspoiled Savannah of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Upon arrival at the Fairmont Mara Safari Club’s airstrip, you will be greeted by your driver/guides and transferred to the nearby famous Fairmont Mara Safari Club for a two night stay. With an attractive setting surrounded on three sides by the Mara River and on the edge of one of the “New Wonders of the World” – the Masai Mara is an Eden of stunning vistas and fruitful game viewing. Game drives set out in the cool of the mornings before the dew is dry on the grass, and again late in the afternoons when the sun drops low on the horizon. The plains seem to quiver with the expectation of exciting encounters. You might hunt alongside big cats on the prowl, admire a stately parade of magnificent elephant families led by old matriarchs with young calves trailing behind, or gaze upon ladylike giraffes, long-legged and long-lashed, as they nibble the crown of acacia trees. Grin as cheetah cubs frolic joyfully around your vehicle, and laugh aloud at lumbering hippos as they chortle and snort in the winding rivers. Yes, the Maasai Mara is Africa’s wildlife wonderland! After you are settled into your deluxe river front tents, enjoy lunch and some free time before you are off to a late afternoon game drive. The Maasai Mara has been called the Kingdom of Lions and these magnificent, black-maned, powerful hunters dominate these grasslands. This evening you return to your luxury tented camp for dinner and overnight.

Overnight: Mara Safari Club or similar          (B,L,D)

Feb 10 | Maasai Mara

This morning you wake up to a lifetime sunrise game drive in with a great chance of spotting predators on a hunt. The Maasai Mara has been called the Kingdom of Lions and these magnificent, black-maned, powerful hunters dominate these grasslands. You return back to your camp for a late breakfast. There is time to relax in your luxuriously furnished tent, featuring four-poster beds, en-suite facilities, and a private deck overlooking the hippo filled Mara River! These fascinating creatures chortle and splash in the water, interacting with each other while keeping a respectable distance between them and the families of crocodiles lining the banks. Later this morning you will visit the Mara Safari Arboretum for a tree planting exercise. Elephants in their constant search for food knock down trees, it’s just something they do. Often, they will strip and eat a few branches of vegetation and then leave the rest of the tree to die. Over the years, the riverine forest has declined and shrunk drastically. In an attempt to reverse this trend, a tree planting project in the Masai Mara has been deemed necessary. Late this afternoon, your 4×4 vehicle awaits to take you out on safari one more time! Often called the Jewel of Africa, the Maasai Mara takes its name from the Maasai tribe who have inhabited these lands since the 17th century. Mara translates to spotted, referencing the scattered acacia trees that mark the landscapes, and that have become the symbol of the Maasai Mara. Its wide open plains provide an oasis-like sanctuary for an abundance of wildlife.

Overnight: Mara Safari Club or similar       (B,L,D)

Feb 11 | Maasai Mara – Nairobi / Dayrooms

After a leisurely breakfast you will be transferred to the Mara Safari Club airstrip. Take a last look at the Mara as you fly back to Nairobi and check into your day room. Here you have time to repack and freshen up before you are transferred to the airport for your overnight flight home. A late lunch is included at the hotels restaurant prior to your airport transfer.

Dayroom: Nairobi         (B,L)

Feb 12 | Europe & Home

Fly through the night to Europe and connect with your on-ward flights back home. The memories of your luxury tented camp safari will truly last a lifetime!

INCLUSIONS:

•  Roundtrip airfare to Nairobi, Kenya
• 4×4 vehicle while on safari
• 3-nights in 5-star accommodations in Nairobi
• 6-nights in luxury tented camps 2-nights Sweetwaters
• 2-nights Samburu
• 2-nights Maasai Mara
• 1-day room in Nairobi
• Daily breakfast, 8-lunches, 7-dinners
• All resort, service, government fees
• Admissions, Park Fees, Conservancy Fees and inclusions as per itinerary
• Samburu Village visit (incl. admission and donation)
• Airline tickets for two flights within Kenya
• Luggage handling for one bag per person
• Universal Travel duffel bag
• Maisha-Air Ambulance Coverage within Kenya
• Kenya ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization)
• Daily complimentary water bottle in your room/ tent
• Universal Travel Safari Director
• All gratuities for Driver Guide | Safari Director

$1,000.00 deposit due at reservation

Final payment due Oct. 1, 2024 (No penalties until Oct. 5, 2024)

50% non-refundable Oct. 6, 2024

100% non-refundable Nov. 20, 2024