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Maasailand—and its people—continue to be the place of choice in Africa for travelers seeking an amazing game viewing and genuine cultural experience.

DAYS/NIGHTS: 10/11 PROGRAM

  (Minimum: 4 pax)
  (Maximum:16 pax)

This is a once in a lifetime Safari where your guides are world-renowned Maasai leaders as expressed by the program alumni below:

“ I have never been so honored in my entire life. Meitamei and the other Safari leaders were truly amazing people. I am going back home with lasting memories of this special trip.”
---Maryanne Watkins, Ontario, Canada.

Maasailand—and its people—continue to be the place of choice in Africa for travelers seeking an amazing game viewing and genuine cultural experience. Maasailand hosts thousands of travelers, offering them amazing experiences as one of the most unique places on earth. As one of the very few remaining indigenous cultures, the Maasai offer an insight into their relationship to nature; the intricate relationships between different age groups of people; the relationship with their God (Enkai) who is feminist; their deep understanding of the weather; their unequalled knowledge of herbal medicine and indigenous pastoral culture.

Maasai Mara-Game Reserve, which forms the northern part of the Maasai Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, is listed in UNESCO’s list of special places on earth as the 7th World’s Wonder. The annual migration of millions of wildebeests and plains game grazing across the savannahs of the Maasai people is indeed a rare spectacle.
We will make this a traveling seminar, offering outstanding exposure to wildlife and indigenous cultures in considerable depth and breadth.

Educational Itinerary:

Day 1:  Departure from the US

Day  2:  Arrival in Nairobi, Kenya

Most flights will arrive late in the evening at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. You will be transferred to Sarova Stanley, Hotel, Sarova Panafric Hotel or Nairobi Eka Hotel and begin to adjust to a new, exciting continent rich in history and wildlife. Nairobi is a bustling young city that grew from the colonial activities of the British to become an important African business and conference center, as well as the jumping-off point for wildlife safaris.

Day 3: Nairobi—Excursions / Free day.

You will have a choice of (optional) activities in and around Nairobi as you catch up on rest and focus on the experiences to come.  We offer a wide range of excursions (Read…link to our excursions) which include a tour of Nairobi, the National Museum, the Karen Blixen Museum, Giraffe Manor, the Bomas of Kenya experience, and Nairobi National Park —unusual for its wildlife abundance in immediate proximity to a major cosmopolitan city.  We offer an evening lecture and screen a wildlife film on the brilliant conservation work undertaken in East Africa.

Our program leaders will help orient you to the adventure ahead and begin to provide background to enhance your learning and enjoyment of the trip.

Day 4—5: Departure from Nairobi and Arrival in Lake Nakuru National Park.

After breakfast, we will drive to the Great Rift Valley and the beautiful Lake Nakuru National Park, renowned for its congregations of brilliant pink flamingos, as well as a great diversity of mammals and birds.  Black Rhinos, lovely and rare Rothschild’s Giraffes, Leopards, monkeys, baboons, graceful Impalas, shy Reedbucks, eagles, and hornbills are among the wildlife species we will search for.  We have developed a detailed mammals and birds checklist to help you identify these wildlife species during your game drives. Lake Nakuru is the best and most protected black and white rhino Sanctuary and the only place in Kenya you will see the white rhino.

Lunch and dinner at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge or Lake Nakurun Lodge.

Day 6—8: Departure from Nakuru and Arrival in Maasai Mara Game Reserve

We will drive from the Rift Valley to the renowned Maasai Mara Game Reserve, arriving in time for lunch at Mara Sarova Camp.  The Mara is Kenya’s most famous safari destination.  With any luck at all, our arrival should coincide with the “great migration” of wildebeest, zebras, giraffes, buffaloes, impalas, topis, hartebeests, and Thomson’s gazelles into this northern extent of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem.  Mara is also noted for its variety of wildlife habitats, large numbers of predators (e.g., Lions, Cheetahs, Leopards, Hyenas), diverse birds (an incredible 54 kinds of diurnal birds of prey among its 450 or so species), and the presence of our nomadic, pastoral Maasai people. You will have genuine interactions in contrast to the “canned” contacts most tourists receive thanks to our program leaders.  No wonder many seasoned travelers find the Mara to be most powerful and rewarding experience.  It is only in Maasai Mara where you get to do a record three game drives a day—early morning, after breakfast, and after lunch. It is not uncommon in Mara to wildness a lion, leopard, cheetah or hyenas make a kill in some of your game drives.

Optional activities (not included in safari fee) include a chance to float over the Mara in a hot air balloon and experience a champagne breakfast upon landing in the wild country of the reserve.

Day 9: Flight Departure from Maasai Mara and Arrival in Nairobi.

After three delightful days of experiencing nature and culture in the Mara, we will fly to Nairobi and check in at Sarova Stanley Hotel, Sarova Panafric Hotel or Nairobi Eka Hotel.  The 40 minutes flights provides an aerial view of the great rift valley and Maasailand dotted with Kraal –circular homesteads built of thorn tree branches and cow-dung huts.The afternoon is free for catching up, leisure, or exploring the city, though optional activities can be arranged at extra cost.

Lunch and dinner on own arrangements.

Day 10-12: Departure from Nairobi and Arrival in Amboseli National Park

Post-breakfast, we will drive southeast to Amboseli National Park, where we will have lunch at our accommodations, Ol Tukai Lodge.  Amboseli is one of the great beauty spots of Africa, with Mt. Kilimanjaro, the continent’s highest peak, looming to the south. Open plains, woodlands of “fever trees” (Yellow-barked Acacias), thorn bush-studded hills of lava, and rich marshlands are among the habitats that support Kenya’s largest elephant population, herbivores, predators, and birds for which the park is justly famous.

We will draw upon extensive wildlife research and our Maasai colleagues for in-depth learning opportunities, and we expect surprises and rewards on our frequent game drives. Our three nights stay in Amboseli will allow us to develop a strong sense of what this spectacular ecosystem is all about.


Day 13:  Departure from Amboseli and Arrival in Nairobi and overnight at the Nairobi Eka Hotel in Nairobi      

END OF PROGRAM…

NOTE:  Though the guided safari ends this morning, you may certainly make arrangements to extend your adventure with activities like climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro , visiting the beautiful coasts of Tanzania or Kenya , or flying to another popular destination like the Seychelles Islands.                                                                                                                                     
For those extending their trip to Tanzania, proceed to the border town of Namanga.

Day 14:     Free day and evening departure from Nairobi for US

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OPTIONAL: TANZANIA EXTENSION: 5 Days

Day 13: Departure from Amboseli and Arrival in Arusha Tanzania.

We will depart Amboseli after breakfast, cross the border into Tanzania at Namanga, and then proceed to the sprawling and colorful “town” of Arusha (overnight at Impala Hotel). Optional afternoon game drives in Arusha National Park, which includes a lush forest ecosystem on the flanks of Mt. Meru and a series of crater lakes.

Day 14--16:  Departure from Arusha and Arrival in Ngorongoro Crater

After breakfast in Arusha, we drive past Lake Manyara to climb into the highland forests on the rim of spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the “largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera in the world.” This is officially a multiple-use area in Maasai country, and we will learn some of the conservation challenges and successes found here.

After lunch at our unique hotel on the rim, Ngorongoro Serena Lodge, we will take an afternoon game drive as an introduction to this world-famous site. We will carry picnic lunches to allow us to spend the full day within the crater, where we will explore the grasslands, marshes, alkaline lakeshore, and fever tree woodlands to observe and photograph the diverse and abundant wildlife in one of the most picturesque landscapes on the planet.  Old elephant bulls with massive tusks and rare Black Rhinos find one of the few safe sanctuaries from the poaching pressures that have wiped them out in much of Africa .

Day 17: Departure from Ngorongoro and arrival in Arusha.

Day 18: Free day and departure from Kilimanjaro International Airport to your next destination.