Day 1: ARRIVE IN ARUSHA, TANZANIA
Arrive in Arusha by overnight flight, and meet your A&K
representative, who escorts you to your hotel.
Day 2: NGORONGORO CRATER / School Visit
Pause at idyllic
Gibb’s Farm for lunch prepared using farm-fresh ingredients, on
our delicious Culinary Connection. Following lunch, take a walk
to the nearby coffee farm and vegetable garden. Continue your journey to Ngorongoro Crater, a collapsed volcano and bucolic
sanctuary supporting a wide array of wildlife, including the
elusive black rhino. Stay the next two nights at the Ngorongoro
Sopa Lodge, perched on the rim of the 2,000-foot-deep natural
amphitheater, overlooking a landscape, where people and
animals coexist in harmony.
Day 3: NGORONGORO CRATER / Inspiring Animals
Descend to the crater floor, beginning
your search for the storied “Big Five” — lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and
Cape buffalo — as well as hyenas, zebras,
gazelles and flamingos. Pause for a picnic
lunch near a pool where hippos wallow. The crater lies within the
territory of the nomadic, colorfully garbed Maasai herdsmen.
Experience their way of life during an afternoon visit with a
Maasai village elder, who introduces you to the local community,
culture and traditions.
Day 4: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK / Land of the Migration
Depart the crater for Serengeti National Park, stopping en
route for a privately guided visit to Olduvai Gorge, where many
significant archaeological finds have been made. Examine the
fascinating excavations, where Mary and Louis Leakey found 3.7
million-year-old human footprints and the skull of a 1.8 million-
year-old man. Once settled in to your accommodations, embark
on an afternoon game drive if time allows. Here, the annual
Great Migration draws a rush of wildebeests and zebras in search
of fresh grass.
Day 5: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK / Wonderful Wilds
Spend the next day on safari, in search of cheetahs, lions and
leopards in pursuit of prey. Take an optional hot air balloon
ride over the Serengeti plains (at an additional cost), viewing
wildlife — hippos, wildebeests and Thompson’s gazelle — from
above. The Serengeti houses abundant life beyond its mammal
population, including over 500 species of birds. Watch, too,
for eagles, known to glide effortlessly over the Lobo Hills and
sun-scorched landscape; lightning-fast cheetahs, who prowl the
southeastern plains; and untold plains-grazers, who become
unwitting prey. During down time, relax at the pool, pore over
a good book in your room or absorb the warm, golden glow of
African sunset.
Days 6-7: AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK / Mountain Vistas
Fly to Arusha and travel overland to Kenya’s Amboseli National
Park at the foot of snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro. Africa’s
highest mountain dominates sightlines at the reserve, home of the nomadic, vibrantly dressed Maasai tribe. View game
en route to your acacia-shaded lodge, tucked deep within the
breathtaking park. Enjoy an evening of on-site entertainment,
including, perhaps, a traditional Maasai dance performance.
During morning and afternoon game drives, keep your camera
close at hand, as lions, elephants, leopards, cheetahs and
buffalos are in residence. A prolific bird population resides here,
as well. A shimmering, dried lakebed comprises part of the
reserve, a common site for mirages. Swamps and springs, fed
by underground rivers from Kilimanjaro’s melting snows, form
permanent watering places for countless species during times
of drought.
Day 8: MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE / Spectacular Game
Depart Amboseli for Nairobi, stopping
for lunch at open-air Carnivore
restaurant, known for its game meat.
Afterward, board a flight for the Masai
Mara Game Reserve. A jewel in Africa’s
crown, the fabled park is rich in plains game and houses a prolific
population of predators. Here, too, the spectacular Great
Migration plays out, when over two million wildebeests, zebras
and gazelles migrate in search of food and water. Embark on an
afternoon game drive amid the lion-dense landscape, and
return to the Fairmont Mara Safari Club and your tented
accommodations for the next three nights. Perched along the
steep banks of the Mara River, this luxurious retreat is a gateway
to the African wilds.
Days 9-10: MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE / Jewel of Africa
Spend the next two days embarking
on morning and afternoon game drives
in the Masai Mara, 583 square miles
of rambling, acacia-dotted savanna,
woodlands and tree-fringed rivers. Its
diverse ecosystems support a vast mammal population, of which
95 species have been recorded. Lions are found in abundance
throughout the park, as are elephants, giraffes, a variety of
gazelle species and zebras. Cheetahs, rhinos and leopards also
make regular appearances. The Mara is presided over the
nomadic Maasai people, the region’s primary cattle-keepers,
who act as guardians of this fascinating natural estate. For an
unforgettable view of the reserve, take an optional early morning
balloon flight (at an additional cost). As you soar over the endless
landscape, see animals as they return from their noctural
activities or begin their morning routines.
Day 11: DEPART NAIROBI
Enjoy a final game drive and fly back to Nairobi. There, you may
relax in a dayroom until your flight home.