11 Days Wilderness Splendour Safari

Upon arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you will be met and assisted to transfer to Emakoko. The Emakoko is a boutique lodge uniquely positioned on the edge of the Nairobi National Park. It is located a short 45 minute drive from either of Nairobi’s airports. The drive through the park itself, with its beautiful scenery and abundance of plains game is a superb way to start any East African safari. What better way to start a holiday by supporting the conservation of this unique area and in particular, by supporting the endangered Black Rhino which are prolific in this park.

The Nairobi National Park, despite its proximity to the capital city of Kenya, boasts a spectacular assortment of birds and wildlife, with over 400 species of bird recorded in one day. With an excellent possibility of spotting four of the Big Five, many Nairobi residents find the lodge a perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of city life. By staying at The Emakoko you are directly contributing to the protection and conservation of Nairobi National Park and its wildlife.

After breakfast, you will be transferred to your local airstrip onto your schedule flight to Meru National Park. On landing you will be met and assisted to transfer and check in at the famous Elsa's Kopje. Barely visible on approach, Elsa’s Kopje blends seamlessly into its surrounds. Perched high on top of Mughwango Hill, this superb lodge stands as tribute to Elsa, the orphaned lioness made famous in the movie Born Free. Charming cottages are crafted around the natural features of the hill, each with a spacious bedroom, open sitting rooms, ensuite bathroom and large veranda with breath-taking views of the savannah below. Elsa’s Private House – with double rooms, a sitting room, veranda and plunge pool – is ideal for families.

Few places in Africa can compare with Meru. Scarcely visited but thriving with life, this national park will immerse you in the true African wilderness. You can travel slowly through thick jungle in search of strange antelope. Reedbuck and hartebeest will be featured as you cross khaki-toned grasslands, and luscious swamps are a haven for birdlife. It is on the grasslands where you will find cheetahs. The spotted hunter tends to camouflage themselves in the grass before accelerating across open space.

Cheetahs have lost over 90% of their range. Meru is one of those special places where their range is expanding because wildlife corridors are reopened and an ancient wilderness is returning to its former brilliance. Today’s game drives should provide you with some personal moments along with an appreciation of how and where the species can thrive. You should note that your game drives in Meru will be private, and this provides you with the flexibility that is necessary when searching for a specific animal. Game drives in shared vehicles tend to be more generic because they must satisfy the curiosity of everyone on the drive, but throughout your Kenyan cheetah safari, you will have private guides and a private vehicle.

After breakfast, you will transfer to a local airstrip, where you will catch a flight to Samburu National Reserve. On arrival you will be received and transferred to Ashnil Samburu Camp for an early lunch. Located in the Buffalo Springs Game Reserve, with the Ewaso Nyiro River separating it from the Samburu National Reserve, this luxury tented camp is home to some very special wildlife and an abundance of bird species, all flocking here because of the springs, which provide permanent drinking water. While the size of the camp gives it and its facilities a slightly institutional feel, service is personable and efficient, tents are comfortable, and the guides on the game drives are passionate and eager to impart their knowledge to guests. Everybody, from honeymooners to families, will feel welcome here.

A place of endless skies, dust-red plains and palm-fringed rivers, Samburu National Reserve lies on the fringes of the vast and arid desert once known as the Northern Frontier District, whose heat-scorched scrublands extend all the way to the jade-green waters of Lake Turkana and beyond. Physically dramatic, the 104 sq kilometre landscape of the Reserve features rocky battlements, craggy scarps, dry river beds and fallen boulders rising out of the thorn scrub against a backdrop of the far-distant hills and the great red table mountain known as Ololokwe. As for wildlife, Samburu provides one of the few sanctuaries in Kenya for the endangered Grevy's zebra, the rare beisa oryx and the blue-shanked Somali ostrich whilst large herds of elephant roam the gaunt hills during the day before returning to bathe on the banks of the river in the evening.

You will fly from Samburu to Ol Pejeta today, which is a very short flight that offers an aerial impression of the changing landscape that you earlier explored. Upon landing you will be assisted to transfer to Ol Pejeta Bush Camp. Found on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River, Asilia's Ol Pejeta Bush Camp presents a true African safari experience with incredible Big 5 game viewing and expert guiding. Owned and managed by Alex and Diana Hunter, they make their home your own, with excellent service and cosy bush camp character pervading throughout the property. The 90,000 acre Ol Pejeta Conservancy in which the camp is set is synonymous with strong conservation work, housing the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa.

Overlooked by the dramatic snow-capped peaks of Mount Kenya, Ol Pejeta Conservancy is in central Kenya’s Laikipia County. It’s home to the two remaining northern white rhinos on the planet and many other endangered animals, all protected around the clock by dedicated rangers.

Ol Pejeta offers a classic Big Five safari experience. The conservancy is private, and visitor access is restricted, so despite being compact, it will not feel crowded. Rhinos are always a highlight here because they are so rare elsewhere. Elephants and buffalos are the norm throughout every Kenyan safari, and lions are usually the easiest of the big cats to spot because they bask and bathe out in the open. Cheetahs and leopards are solitary and spend most of their day hiding away, so they are always more difficult to find. Still, your expert guides have spent years studying these hiding places and can usually get you very close, especially because Ol Pejeta allows off-road driving.

After breakfast, you will transfer to a local airstrip, where you will catch a flight to Maasai mara Game Reserve. You will be met and transferred to &Beyond Bateleur Camp. - Set amongst the forest at the foot of the scenic Oloololo escarpment (the rim of the Great Rift Valley) in Kenya’s iconic Masai Mara National Reserve, is the classic and elegant Bateleur Camp. Comprised of just two intimate camps of nine tented suites each and a family tent; each elegant tent, with its own private butler and housekeeper reflects the ambiance and glamour of Kenyan explorers of old. Slip into a world of hardwood floors, polished silver and copper bathtubs juxtaposed against the romance of the open Mara plains, with their abundant herds of wildlife. Beautifully handcrafted artefacts, fine antiques, leather buttoned Chesterfield sofas, books, and crystal and candlelight adorn the comfortable sitting and dining areas.

The Masai Mara National Reserve is arguably Kenya’s premier wildlife sanctuary, a staggering untouched natural park comprising sprawling emerald pastures, rugged rocky outcrops, and dense viridian forests. Furthermore, Masai Mara is home to the world’s ultimate wildlife spectacle, the Great Migration. Should you travel to Masai Mara during the appropriate time of year, you will have the fortune of witnessing this impressive natural display in which millions of wildebeest, gazelle, zebra, and other creatures sprint across the Serengeti towards the greener plains of Kenya while many predators seek kills during the chaos.

Maasai Mara is the place to explore nature by foot on guided walking safaris, following an expert game ranger with an incredible ability to track creatures within the untouched bush. Guided by animal tracks imprinted on the forest floor, you will stroll to enchanting viewpoints shrouded by trees and lush greenery and learn more about the indigenous creatures, birds, and plant life composing this estuary of unspoiled natural beauty. Experiencing the thriving ecosystems up close is bound to give you a new perspective of the African wilderness, captured by your camera along the way.

5am coffee, early morning game drive. Breakfast. You will thereafter be transferred to the airstrip for your maiden flight to Wilson airport Nairobi. Marking the end of another memorable tour. Lunch will be on own arrangements, therafter transfer to JKIA for your onward flight.