East Africa Explorer (2024)

Arrive in Nairobi, where you are met and transferred to your hotel, conveniently located close by to the airport.

Crowne Plaza Nairobi Airport

Journey by road to Amboseli National Park, Renowned for its thriving big-game population, especially elephants, more than 1,000 of which live in the park. From a distance, take in views of the highest mountain in Africa, the snowcapped Mount Kilimanjaro, with its impressive Uhuru Peak soaring to 5,895 metres.

Arrive at your lodge set among an acacia woodland with endless views stretching to the majestic snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. This afternoon, explore the acacia woodland, freshwater swamps, scrub brush and open plains in search of wildlife. Part of the park is composed of a dried up lake bed, where mirages rise from the shimmering heat.

Elewana Tortilis Camp Amboseli | Meals: BLD

Set out on early morning and afternoon game drives, crisscrossing the landscape in search of the park’s large herds of elephants, as well as zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and buffalo along the salt pan trails. Prepare for predator sightings as opportunistic animals begin roaming the plains in search of prey. You may also see interesting smaller mammals such as black-backed jackals and the delightful bat-eared fox. Over 47 different kinds of birds of prey have been recorded here, including two rarities – the Taita falcon and the Southern Banded harrier eagle. Return to your lodge for dinner, followed by a relaxing evening under African skies.

Elewana Tortilis Camp Amboseli | Meals: BLD

Time permitting, enjoy an early morning game drive before transferring by road to cross the border into Tanzania and on to Arusha for lunch. Arusha is located in the northern highlands of Tanzania, beneath the twin peaks of Mt. Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro. Settle into your accommodation, perched high on the rim of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment with 16 private, tastefully decorated chalets featuring breathtaking views of the picturesque biosphere around Lake Manyara National Park. The remainder of the day is at leisure.

Escarpment Luxury Lodge | Meals: BL

Enjoy an early morning game drive in Lake Manyara National Park before a walk on the Manyara Treetop Walkway above the beautiful forest of Lake Manyara accompanied by butterflies, monkeys and birds. Explore a vibrant local market and community on a tuk-tuk ride followed by lunch at Gibb’s Farm, a working coffee plantation in the highlands where there is time to stretch your legs before the short drive to your charming country lodge.

Boasting spectacular views from high up on the escarpment, Acacia Farm Lodge is situated on a working farm in the picturesque agricultural district of Karatu. After settling in, you may choose to explore the fertile farmland on a farm tour, or enjoy a nature walk exploring the surrounding forest, coffee plantations and vegetable gardens.

Acacia Farm Lodge | Meals: BLD

Today enjoy a visit to the world famous Ngorongoro Crater, deep, volcanic crater and the largest unbroken caldera in the world. Within the crater rim resides a dazzling abundance of wildlife. See wildebeest, zebra, buffalo and gazelle on the plains, waterbuck, bushbuck and eland in the forest, a healthy elephant population, black rhino, lion, leopard, hippo and flamingo. Just outside the crater's ridge, tall Maasai herd their cattle and goats over green pastures living alongside the wildlife as they have for centuries.

Acacia Farm Lodge | Meals: BLD

Drive to vast, wildlife-rich Serengeti National Park and through its spectacular mix of savanna grassland and volcanic hills, stopping en route for a privately guided tour of Olduvai Gorge, one of the key sources of prehuman hominid fossils. Renowned palaeontologists Mary and Louis Leakey made many notable finds here, including “Nutcracker Man”, who lived approximately 1.75 million years ago. Visit the on-site museum, take in views from the lookout point and examine the excavations, which revealed 3.7-million-year-old footprints and the 1.8-million-year-old skull of a human.

Continue to your camp, located in the Central Serengeti with panoramic views of , one of the planet's biggest and most enduring wildlife havens. The park also serves as a setting for the Great Migration when it passes through each year.

Nyikani Camp Central Serengeti | Meals: BLD

Spend the next two days revelling in true safari country, searching for iconic species, such as lion, leopard, Cape buffalo and elephant, as well as giraffe, cheetah, gazelle and zebra. Along the rivers and rocky outcroppings, you may also spot some of the Serengeti’s more diminutive denizens, such as leopard tortoise and rhinoceros beetle.

Nyikani Camp Central Serengeti | Meals: BLD

A flight returns you to Kilimanjaro Airport where your safari ends.

Meals: BL