Kenya

Nairobi/Amboseli National Park Fly to Amboseli airstrip today and then drive to Tortilis Camp, your home for the next three nights. Located on the edge of Amboseli National Park, Tortilis has splendid views of Mount Kilimanjaro. The camp is managed as a conservation project, and a portion of its profits is used for environmental restoration. Years ago, this was the locale around which famous writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark spun their stories of big game hunting in the African wild. It is also the home of the Maasai people, the tall, proud, nomadic warriors whose legendary prowess in battle and bravery in encounters with wild animals is world-renowned. After a short rest, enjoy your first game viewing activity in the African bush. Tortilis Camp B L D

Amboseli National Park Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives each day. The park's best game runs are around the Enkongo Narok and the Olkenya lake-swamp. Meet with Cynthia Moss, president and founder of the famous Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP), the longest study of wild elephant in the world. For more than 36 years, she and her research associates have identified and recorded more than 1,400 elephant belonging to 50 families over an area of more than 400 square miles. Tortilis Camp B L D

Amboseli National Park/ Nairobi/Samburu Game Reserve This morning, fly to Nairobi where you connect with a flight to Samburu. On arrival, you and your fellow travellers split into two small groups. One group spends the first two nights with Oria and Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Elephant Watch, while the other stays at Sasaab, and then vice versa. Elephant Watch Camp is an exotic eco camp perched on the sand banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River that provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to approach the enigmatic and intelligent elephant with complete safety. From Sasaab Camp's high, rocky ridge there are panoramic views over the breathtaking beauty of the desert. Elephant Watch or Sasaab Camp B L D

SamburuAwaken each morning to a gentle chorus of birds overhead, announcing a new day in the wild. Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives each day. Samburu contains a number of wildlife species rarely found elsewhere in such great numbers, including Grevy's zebra and the long necked gerenuk. Elephant roam the hills seeking solace and contentment in the shallow waters of the river. Elephant Watch or Sasaab Camp B L D

Samburu/Northern Rangelands Trust Drive to the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), site of your luxurious A&K Mobile Camp, where you are met by Ian Craig, the executive director of the NRT. He has spent most of his life in northern Kenya and is an authority on conservation and community development in the region. He maintains a personal relationship with many communities based on a foundation of trust, continuity, shared experience and a common vision. In order to provide you with a unique insight into Africa that few visitors have the privilege to experience, Ian uses his low-flying aircraft to show you the resurgent elephant population in the tribal communities. The oldest and still the most exclusive way to take a safari, A&K's Mobile Tented Camp hearkens back to the vintage days when every safari was self-sufficient in the unblemished bush, the authentic Africa. A&K Mobile Tented Camp B L D

Northern Rangelands Trust Delight in two full days on this private ranch in the north, hosted by Ian Craig. Ian tracks the elephant from his private plane, lands and joins you to watch the various elephant families. He surveys the region's elephant population, its numbers still healthy despite a recent increase in poaching. Depending on the herd's recent activities, you may have the opportunity to assist Ian in collaring one or more of the animals. A&K Mobile Tented Camp B L D

Northern Rangelands Trust / Nairobi/USA or CanadaTransfer to the Samburu Airstrip for a flight to Nairobi. Sit down to lunch at Bahati, the Kent family home in Kenya. Your afternoon is at leisure to relax or pack for this evening's international departure flight. Norfolk Hotel (dayroom) B L