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AVL 7 : 3½ Days Nakuru/Maasai Mara

Day 1: Nairobi / Nakuru

Pick up from your hotel or residence at 0800 hrs. Leaving Nairobi, we drive down the escarpment (stopping en-route to view) into the Great Rift Valley, and past Lakes Naivasha & Elementaita to Lake Nakuru, arriving in time for lunch. Thereafter, enjoy an afternoon tour of Lake Nakuru National Park which is a seasonal home for millions of flamingos and many other species of birds.

Nakuru National Park: Located on the floor of the Great Rift Valley, this park has a great concentration of wildlife including waterbuck, gazelle, buffalo, rhino, the rare Rothschild giraffe, and if lucky, you may see lions and Leopard. The lake and National Park, which is also a bird sanctuary is famous also for its great concentration of birds, in particular the colourful flamingo and the Pelican, which seasonally feed off the abundant algae in the shallow waters of this soda lake. The park was gazetted the first Rhino Sanctuary in the country and boasts of both the White and black Rhino. The park is also home to a large / great Euphorbia forest, which compliments the beauty of the acacia forest on the shores of the Lake - a ‘mini-paradise’ as described by many who have toured here!

Dinner and overnight at Lake Nakuru – Lake Nakuru Lodge or Sarova Lion Hill (both inside the park)

Day 2: Nakuru / Maasai Mara

Breakfast. Enjoy a short game drive as you drive out of the park for your journey across the floor of the rift valley to the Maasai Mara. Lunch at your lodge will be followed by an afternoon game drive in this reserve that borders Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Dinner and overnight at a lodge – Mara Serena Lodge or similar (subject to availability)

Day 3: Maasai Mara

A full day of game viewing in the park noted for its black-manned Lion among other animals. Dinner and overnight at a lodge as above

Maasai Mara Game Reserve: The rolling grasslands of the Maasai Mara offer ideal game viewing and photographic opportunities and the grassy plains are broken by rocky outcrops which are favorite midday resting places for Lion. This is where millions of Wildebeest cross the Mara River from the Serengeti National park of Tanzania to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve of Kenya - an annual spectacular event, which brings along thousands of plains game and predators to the Mara, making the park a beehive of ‘wildlife activities’.

Some of the other animals that could be found here include elephant, black rhino, buffalo, leopard, cheetah, wildebeest, zebra and gazelle. Hippo and crocodile abound in the muddy brown waters of the rivers, which traverse this reserve.

Day 4 : Massai Mara / Nairobi

An early morning game drive in the Mara is followed by breakfast at your lodge; and thereafter, return to Nairobi to arrive late in the afternoon.

END OF ARRANGEMENTS

Brief Hotels’ description:

Mara Serena Safari Lodge

set on the saddle of a hill, overlooks the 1800 square km of the rolling plains, woodlands and rivers that make-up the Maasai Mara triangle – one of the worlds’ richest wildlife sanctuaries. No other lodge can boast such a spectacular of the surrounding landscape, game and birdlife. It is on this very much terrain stretching endlessly before the lodge where the annual migrations take place, when millions of Wildebeest, Zebra and gazelle transverse the landscape to feed on the rich new grass and give birth to their young.

Accommodation is in 71 rooms all overlooking the plains below. Additional features include a floodlit swimming pool, poolside barbeque massage and beauty treatment, a water hole (where animals come to salt-lick), hippo pool breakfasts, musical Evenings, Maasai dances, wildlife films, resident naturalist lectures and game drives among others.

Mara Sarova Lodge

is Located on the Eastern side of the famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve, close to the Sekenani Gate. The camp is set on an elevation surrounded by two streams. The grounds are beautifully laid out with trees and plants, and electrical fences surround the lodge. Accommodation is in 75 bed rooms (72 twin rooms and 3 triples), each of which is a luxurious tent. Each room has a permanent shower and WC, and permanent roof and zip-up front. Facilities here include Isokon Restaurant (with two sections, one internal and one external with a canopy) where guests are served with meals, Oloip Bar (with a cosy log fire place), and a swimming pool surrounded by comfortable sun-loungers. Guests are welcomed to this cool and clean camp with a glass of chilled fruit juice, and entertained in the evenings by traditional dancers.

Mara Sopa Lodge:

Located on the South Eastern edge of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, this lodge has 200 beds by way of 77 rooms, 12 suites and 1 Presidential suite, all of which are 'rondavel' style and have en-suite bathroom facilities which provide shaving sockets and hairdryers. Every room and suite has a private, elevated verandah with splendid views across the valley and on which guests can relax, sunbathe and watch resident birds and wildlife. Mini-bars are also available in each room. The lodge has direct-dial telephone facilities as well as satellite television and video options. Lodge generators provide 240volts, 50 cycles 24 hours a day. Our water supply comes from nearby springs but guests are advised not to drink from the taps. Instead, filtered water is provided in flasks in every room and bottled water is available for sale. The lodge has a freeform, fresh-water pool, which offers spectacular views over the valley.

Optional Activities on this itinerary:

• A balloon flight with champagne breakfast
• Sundowner
• Bush dinner
• Bush breakfast
• Night game drives
• Nature walk
• A Maasai Village (Manyatta) cultural visit

All these can be arranged through our offices – kindly enquire at the time of booking.

Tour Highlights: Wildlife, birdlife, culture, landscape, the great wildebeest migration, the Great Rift Valley

COSTS:

• Each of 6 people sharing: US $855
• Each of 4 people sharing: US $925
• Each of 2 people sharing: US $1150
• Single Room Supplement: US $260