Welcome to Enchanting Journeys

Welcome to enchanting Kenya – the land of the Big Five.

Arrive in Nairobi, the capital & largest city of Kenya.

After you exit in the Arrival Hall at Terminal? - Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, subsequent to Immigration & Customs, you will be met by The Journeys representative who will ensure your comfort & transfer you to the hotel. He / she will provide assistance during Check-in and also discuss the program for the next few days.

The largest city in East Africa, with a population of over 1 million, Nairobi  started life as a simple railways depot in 1899, linking Mombasa to Uganda, the town quickly grew to become the capital of British East Africa in 1907 and eventually the capital of a free Kenyan republic in 1963. During Kenya's colonial period, the city became a centre for the colony's coffee, tea & sisal industry.

The city lies on the Nairobi River, in the south of the nation. Today, the city skyline is dominated by modern high rise buildings and is a tourism & trade hub. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" & is surrounded by several expanding villa suburbs. The people of Nairobi are popularly nicknamed 'Nairobians'. A vibrant city with a mix of races & cultures, providing the visitor with several sightseeing options such as museums, a national park, golf courses, resorts & posh night clubs.

Dubbed the “Safari Capital of the World” cool, clear and cosmopolitan Nairobi is the natural departure point for most safari itineraries. A city of contrasts, it is simultaneously the largest, the youngest, the most modern, the highest (1700m) & the fastest growing city in East Africa. High-altitude Nairobi enjoys a pleasant tropical climate all year round.

Check-in at the hotel.

Balance of the day free to relax or optional activities (we would be happy to offer suggestions & make arrangements).

Early morning, leaving Nairobi after breakfast, you will travel towards Kenya's fertile highlands & head down the Rift Escarpment on a road built by Italian prisoners of war during World War II.

Look for the charming chapel they built at the foot of the escarpment. You will pass the impressive Longonot earth satellite station as you head across the Valley to Narok and then travel across acres of wheat & barley, before you reach the Masai Mara in time for lunch.

Check-in at the lodge / camp on arrival

Dream of Africa & chances are that you dream of the Masai Mara. This huge expanse of gently rolling grassland - specked with flat-topped acacia trees & trampled by massive herds of zebras & wildebeest - is the ultimate African cliche. But for once the reality lives up to the image & the Masai Mara, which comprises not just the famous reserve but also around a dozen community conservancies, several group ranches & numerous Maasai villages, is for many people not just the highlight of their Kenyan adventure but the very reason they came in the first place.

Masai Mara National Reserve is Kenya's finest wildlife reserve. Everything about this reserve is outstanding. The wildlife is abundant and the gentle rolling grasslands ensure that animals are never out of sight.

The climate is gentle, rarely too hot and well-spread rainfall year round. Rain, when it falls almost always chooses the late afternoon or night. Between July and October, when the great wildebeest migration is in the Masai Mara Game Reserve, the sensation is unparalleled. Masai Mara is one of the best plains' game reserve where you can actually encounter a live Discovery Channel, a haven for viewing a congregation of all sorts of animals in a five-mile radius: A pride of lions can be spotted ready to make a run for a gazelle, a cheetah and its cub taking a nap on a rock, a pair of ostriches walking the open stretches of the savannah or a gazelle giving birth.

Following lunch and a siesta, embark on an afternoon game drive.

Afternoon, accompanied by the Naturalist, jump on an open 4×4 Land Rover & proceed for a game drive to witness nature’s greatest wildlife spectacles. The knowledgeable Masai Rangers will introduce you to life in the savanna & share their infinite knowledge about African wildlife. Many of our guides are also skilled photographers & can assist you in taking away amazing photographs.

The Masai Mara Ecosystem is renowned for its abundance of wildlife! From large herds of herbivores which include the wildebeest, zebra & Thompson’s gazelle to the famous “Big Five”. During the game drive safari, you most certainly will encounter the big five lion, cheetah, rhino, leopard & elephant as well as numerous other wildlife animals & birds. As you drive into the wilderness, you will be captivated by the vast beauty of the savanna, with its rolling hills & infinite horizon.

The reptile population in Mara River includes hippos that submerge at the approach of a vehicle, only to surface seconds later to snort & grumble their displeasure. It is also home to the Nile crocodile, the continent’s largest reptile. On several occasions you will spot drowsy crocodiles sunbathing on the riverbanks, mouths agape, waiting for prey at which to strike with lightning swiftness.

Birds, too, are prolific. Including migrants, well over 450 species have been recorded, among them, 57 species of birds of prey.The smaller species are also well represented they include dik-diks, bat-eared fox, caracals, aardwolf, a variety of mongoose, baboons, monkeys, warthogs.

Return to the Lodge.

Balance of the day free to relax.

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Enjoy dinner beneath the star studded African sky.

A full day of game viewing & exploration in this part of the Northern Serengeti Ecosystem where the great wildebeest migration takes place.

Months before the actual migration the herds ‘assemble’ in Serengeti in readiness for the crossing into Maasai Mara. The plains are dotted by the hundreds of thousands of these animals. Territorial fights are commonplace. The Migration, now declared the Seventh Wonder of the World is best seen in the Maasai Mara between June & November.

Return to the lodge.

Evening at leisure.

Enjoy dinner beneath the star studded African sky.

Leaving the Masai Mara after breakfast, you will travel across the "breadbasket" of Kenya, where acres of wheat and barley litter the landscape as you head north to Narok, the district headquarters of this part of Maasailand.

Now travel across the vast plains on the floor of the Rift Valley, keeping an eye out for herds of giraffe & gazelle as you head up the Mau Escarpment, through beautiful forested uplands & passing a series of lakes. The waters here are often coloured shimmering flamingo pink, from thousands of the beautiful birds lining its shores.

Lake Nakuru is a small (it varies from 5 to 30 square kilometers) shallow alkaline lake on the edge of the town of Nakuru north of Nairobi.  The lake is world famous as the location of the greatest bird spectacle on earth - myriads of fuschia pink flamingoes whose numbers are legion, often more than a million, maybe two. They feed on the abundant algae, which thrives in the warm waters. Scientists reckon that the flamingo population at Nakuru consumes about 250,000 kilos of algae per hectare of surface area per year.  But flamingo are not the only avian attraction, also unforgettable are two fish eating birds, pelicans & cormorants. Despite the tepid & alkaline waters, a diminutive fish, tilapia grahami has flourished after being introduced in the early 1960's. The lake is rich in other birdlife. There are over 400 resident species on the lake & in the surrounding park. Thousands of both little grebes & white winged black terns are frequently seen as are stilts, avocets, ducks and in the European winter, the migrant waders.

Nakuru means "Dust or Dusty Place" in Maasai language. Lake Nakuru National Park, on the outskirts of the bustling market town of Nakuru was established in 1961. It started off small, only encompassing the famous lake and the surrounding mountainous vicinity. Now it has been extended to include a large part of the savannahs.

Both black & white rhino are being given a new lease of life in this 188 sq km, fully-fenced park - & they are carefully protected. The present rhino population is over 50 & continuing to multiply. The Rothschilds giraffe, translocated for safety from western Kenya beginning in 1977.is another rarity & the park has its fair share of buffalo, zebra, eland. Waterbuck are very common & both the Kenya species are found here. Among the predators are lion & leopard, the latter being seen much more frequently in recent times. The park also has large sized python snakes that inhabit the dense woodlands, and can often be seen crossing the roads or dangling from trees.

After lunch enroute, you will straightaway proceed for an afternoon game drive in Nakuru National park before continuing to the Lodge.

Check-in on arrival.

Balance of the day is at leisure.

Early morning, depart across the plains to Amboseli National Reserve. 

Amboseli National Reserve, one of the most popular of Kenya's national parks, is located very close to the Tanzania border, at the foot of Africa's highest mountain, 5895-meter Mount Kilimanjaro in the Rift Valley. 

The snow- capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro rising above a saucer of clouds dominates every aspect of Amboseli. The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro, white & crystalline, form a majestic backdrop to one of Kenya's most spectacular displays of wildlife - lion, elephant, leopard, rhino, cheetah, buffalo & hosts of plains' game, creating Kenya's most sought after photographer's parades. Amboseli covers only 392 square kilometers but despite its small size & fragile ecosystem, supports a wide range of mammals, well over 50 of the larger specie & bird species of over 400. Park rangers have often noticed birds that have migrated from as far as Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The ecosystem is mainly savannah grassland spread across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to get close to free-ranging elephants among other wildlife species. There are estimated to be around 650 elephants, the largest number in all of Kenyan parks & reserves per square kilometer. The swamps & springs have encouraged the hippos to stay around. Other animals also seen are Wildebeest, Antelopes, Zebras, Giraffes, Gerenuks, Gazelles, Wild Dogs Plains Game, Crocodile, Mongoose, Hyrax, Dik- dik, Lesser Kudu, & Nocturnal Porcupine.

Other attractions of the park include opportunities to meet the Masai and observe the contemporary Masai culture & indigenous lifestyle. Amboseli National Reserve's best game runs are around the swamps & there is a fine lookout on Observation Hill, which offers views over the whole of the Amboseli National Reserve & beyond

Enjoy a picnic lunch enroute & embark on an afternoon game drive in the park, before proceeding to the Lodge by evening.

Check-in on arrival and enjoy the sight of a spectacular African sunset. 

Evening at leisure.

After a sumptuous breakfast, depart for a full day game drive in the area of Lake Amboseli, a wide salt pan, consisting of permanent swamps.

Enjoy a hot picnic lunch at a picnic site returning to the lodge by 4:00 pm.

After coming back, you may wish to cool off at the swimming pool from the mid-dayheat before lunch.

After dinner, continue the viewing. Take a seat overlooking the waterhole & saltlick to watch the procession of animals come to drink.

Morning, depart for Lake Manyara National Park.

Cross the Tanzania border post & then on to Arusha for lunch.

After lunch, drive across the Masai Steppe to the Great Rift Valley to Lake Manyara National Park, tucked below the majesty of the Rift Valley wall & the white-hot shores of an ancient soda lake on the other side. More than 400 species of birds can be found here. Highlights include thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their perpetual migration, as well as other large waterbirds such as pelicans, cormorants & storks.

From the entrance gate, the road winds through an expanse of lush jungle-like groundwater forest where hundred-strong baboon troops lounge nonchalantly along the roadside, blue monkeys scamper nimbly between the ancient mahogany trees, dainty bushbuck tread warily through the shadows & outsized forest hornbills honk cacophonously in the high canopy.

Contrasting with the intimacy of the forest is the grassy floodplain & its expansive views eastward, across the alkaline lake, to the jagged blue volcanic peaks that rise from the endless Maasai Steppes. Large buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds congregate on these grassy plains, as do giraffes - some so dark in coloration that they appear to be black from a distance.

Inland of the floodplain, a narrow belt of acacia woodland is the favoured haunt of Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing lions lying languidly among the branches in the heat of the day, and impressively tusked elephants. Squadrons of banded mongoose dart between the acacias, while the diminutive Kirk’s dik-dik forages in their shade. Pairs of klipspringer are often seen silhouetted on the rocks above a field of searing hot springs that steams and bubbles adjacent to the lakeshore in the far south of the park.

You will continue up the escarpment to your lodge located on the edge of the escarpment overlooking the lake below.

Check-in & relax and shortly after, proceed for a game drive to explore this beautiful park.

Return to the Lodge.

Balance of the day free to relax or optional activities (we would be happy to offer suggestions & make arrangements).

After breakfast, spend the morning exploring & driving through Lake Manyara National Park.

About midday, return to the lodge for lunch & then depart for Serengeti National Park with some game viewing enroute, arriving at your lodge / camp as the sun begins to set.

You will pass through the forested slopes of Ngorongoro, before the predator rich plains of the Serengeti unfurl before you. The Serengeti ecosystem has a vast array of amazing habitats, ranging from open grassland plants to acacia strewn savannas and rocky outcrops. It sustains more than thirty species of large herbivores and over five hundred varieties of birds.

As enduring as the game-viewing, is the liberating sense of space that characterises the Serengeti Plains, stretching across sunburnt savannah to a shimmering golden horizon at the end of the earth. Yet, after the rains, this golden expanse of grass is transformed into an endless green carpet flecked with wildflowers. And there are also wooded hills & towering termite mounds, rivers lined with fig trees & acacia woodland stained orange by dust.

The spectacle of predator versus prey dominates Tanzania’s greatest park. Golden-maned lion prides feast on the abundance of plain grazers. Solitary leopards haunt the acacia trees lining the Seronera River, while a high density of cheetahs prowls the southeastern plains. Almost uniquely, all three African jackal species occur here, alongside the spotted hyena & a host of more elusive small predators, ranging from the insectivorous aardwolf to the beautiful serval cat. 

But there is more to Serengeti than large mammals. Gaudy agama lizards & rock hyraxes scuffle around the surfaces of the park’s isolated granite koppies. A full 100 varieties of dung beetle have been recorded, as have 500-plus bird species, ranging from the outsized ostrich & bizarre secretary bird of the open grassland, to the black eagles that soar effortlessly above the Lobo Hills. Popular the Serengeti might be, but it remains so vast that you may be the only human audience when a pride of lions masterminds a siege, focussed unswervingly on its next meal.

Tanzania's oldest & most popular national park, also a world heritage site & recently proclaimed a 7^th  world wide wonder, the Serengeti is famed for its annual Migration, when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra & 300,000 Thomson's gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing. Yet even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant & giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala & Grant’s gazelle.

Check-in & relax.

Balance of the day free to relax.

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Today you will set off on a full day of game viewing.  

You will have more time to explore a larger area of the Serengeti, with its various landscapes, from savannahs, forests, dry river beds & rocky kopjes, all of which offering a better environment for a whole range of animals.

Enjoy a picnic lunch in a secluded spot in the Park among the wildlife.

Return to the Lodge by late afternoon,

Enjoy a relaxing sun downer on your veranda.

Early morning, Check-out and embark on a final game drive in Serengeti.

Then, depart for Ngorongoro Crater, enroute stopping at Olduvai Gorge to visit the site where Mary & Louis Leakey first discovered the remains of Zinjanthropus Bosei, a distant ancestor of man believed to be 1.8 million years old, Australopithecus Bosei, the ‘Nutcracker Man’, a species that became extinct about 1 million years ago and fossilised footprints that date back 3.6 million years. Through this discovery, Tanzania has become known as the ‘cradle of mankind’.

Ngorongoro is one of the true wonders of Africa, a lost world of wildlife & singular beauty in the near-perfect crater of a long-extinct volcano

You will have time to walk through the simple small museum at the gorge, where you can view copy displays of some of the finds as well as pictures of what life was like for the gorge's earliest inhabitants.

After a picnic lunch, continue towards the crater.

Enroute stop at a Masai Village, which may not be the most interesting tribal encounter, but it will be educational - in one way or another.

There number of Masai people in Ngorongoro is almost 60,000 but that is causing a strain on the delicate ecosystem. The Masai tribe are nomadic & they still follow quite strict traditions. Only the men do the herding & women are responsible for cooking & taking care of the children. Just as in the ancient times, they still move along with the water.

On payment for a small contribution (direct payment - not include), you will get to see the traditional welcome dance, performed by the Masai men in their colorful, iconic cloaks as they  jump & chant, under the scorching sun. The Masai jumping dancing is an integral part of the original Masai culture. In the traditional jumping of the Masai, every man tries to jump higher than the others. After all, it won’t be every day that you are in one of the most iconic National Parks of the world & meeting with its famous, indigenous tribe.

Even though the Masai are polyamorous, it might seem a bit odd to hear that some Masai have 39 brothers & even more sisters. However, according to the tradition, only the rich men can afford to keep more than one wife. This tradition makes polygamy possible for only a selected few.  Also, every woman is entitled to have only one man, while every man is allowed to have several wives.

You may avail the opportunity to visit to a traditional dimly lit low slung Masai hut,  made out of the Acacia branches with cows’ manure & grass as insulation.

Did you know that it takes a whole month to build a Masai hut & it is actually the women who build them? Men will only bring the supplies. And as the Masai tribe moves many times during the year, following the water, they take the hut’s materials with them. The hut is built from new materials only once a year. The shed itself contains just a small spot for cooking & separate sleeping areas, one for the husband & the other for his wife & the children.

You will also get to see a school where the shy children will show show their skills in counting in English, as well as saying some familiar phrases (visitors are expected to put something in the Donation Box)..

Continue to the Ngorongoro Highlands,

On arrival, Check-in at the Lodge.

Balance of the day free to relax.

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Today you will depart for the Ngorongoro Crater, descending into the crater floor itself, for a full day game drive.

A unique safari destination, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is home to more than 30 000 protected animals. The Ngorongoro Crater, once a gigantic volcano, is the largest unflooded and unbroken caldera in existence.

A breathtaking natural wonder, about 20 km across, with a surface of 264 sq km in area, the Ngorongoro Crater, one of the largest unbroken calderas in the world that isn’t a lake.  Its steep walls soar 400m to 610m & provide the setting for an incredible natural drama, as prey & predators graze & stalk their way around the open grasslands, swamps & acacia woodland on the crater floor. It is such an impressive sight that, other vehicles aside, you will wonder whether you have descended into a wildlife paradise.

Nearly three million years old, it shelters one of the world's most beautiful wildlife havens. Black rhino are protected within its rim, giant tusked elephants wander the forests, black-maned lion stalk the grasslands and flamingo crowd the soda lakes.

There are plenty of hippos around the lovely Ngoitoktok Springs picnic site, & Lake Magadi attracts flocks of flamingos to its shallows in the rainy season. Lereal Forest (which has a less appealing picnic site, and is the starting point for the Lereal or Lerai ascent road) is good for elephants, of which there are 200 to 300 in the crater.

Predators include around 600 spotted hyenas, 55 lions (at last count), and both golden and black-backed jackals. These predators are sustained by large numbers of resident herbivores, with wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes and Grant's gazelles the most common. Less commonly seen are elands, warthogs, hartebeests, bushbucks, waterbucks and bohor reedbucks. Around 20% of the wildebeest & zebras migrate annually between the crater and the Serengeti.

Another huge drawcard is the chance to see the critically endangered black rhino - around 30 inhabit the crater floor, and they're most often seen between the Lereal Forest and the Lemala ascent-descent road.

The reason for all this abundance is the presence of water, both from the permanent springs that sustain the swamps, and the permanent streams & rivers fed by run-off from the crater-rim forests.

Game drives begin early in the morning in closed safari vehicles with pop - up roofs. Accompanied by an expert ranger, a magnificent experience is sure to be had! The descent into the crater is one of scenic beauty, as you make your way through lush forests, home to numerous elephants & buffalo.

Spend the morning exploring this fascinating wildlife amphitheater. As you reach the inside of the Ngorongoro Crater, marvelling at the incredible landscape around you, the Ranger will take you through the grassy crater floor, the unbelievable fever tree forest, the banks of Lake Magadi and the surrounding marshes. This caldera, formed by a volcano sinking, hosts a unique cross-section of eco-systems, from Soda Lake to savannah and is home to almost every major species of African mammal, which remain in the crater due to the constant supply of water from the springs. There is a very good chance of spotting the big five: lion, elephant, endangered black rhino, buffalo and leopard plus countless other African mammal species.

Lunch is served picnic style, surrounded by the natural wonders around you as well as the exceptional wildlife, roaming freely, with which you share this extraordinary paradise.

Return to the Lodge by evening.

Balance of the day free to relax.

Depart Ngorongoro Crater after breakfast & head south east enroute to Lake Manyara, Mto wa Mbu village and Tarangire beyond.

Through the highlands & the Karatu district, you will view the scenic wheat plains & coffee plantations here before journeying down the spectacular escarpment where you turn south on to the main Arusha - Dodoma road and into the park.

Tarangire National Park.is recognised as one of the best parks on the northern circuit for elephant viewing during the dry season. It is located just to the south of Lake Manyara in northern Tanzania and is a classic Africa of lore with shimmering acacia stands, old baobab trees, Masai tribes & herds of elephant. The main highlight here is elephant, which mass here in enormous numbers during the dry season July to October.  General game is also good, although predators tend to be quite difficult to find.

In the dry-season of July-October, Tarangire National Park surpasses the Serengeti in terms of animal concentration as big herds begin to congregate around the permanent water of Tarangire River. Herds of up to 300 elephants scratch the dry river bed for underground streams, while migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest & eland crowd the shrinking lagoons. It is the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem - a smorgasbord for predators - & the one place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the stately fringe-eared oryx & peculiar long-necked gerenuk are regularly observed.

During the rainy season, these seasonal visitors scatter over a 20,000 sq km range until they exhaust the green plains & the river calls once more. But Tarangire's mobs of elephant are easily encountered, wet or dry.

The swamps, tinged green year round, are the focus for 550 bird varieties, the most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in the world. On drier ground you find the Kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird; the stocking-thighed ostrich, the world's largest bird; and small parties of ground hornbills blustering like turkeys. More ardent bird-lovers might keep an eye open for screeching flocks of the dazzlingly colourful yellow-collared lovebird, and the somewhat drabber rufous-tailed weaver and ashy starling - all endemic to the dry savannah of north-central Tanzania.

Disused termite mounds are often frequented by colonies of the endearing dwarf mongoose & pairs of red & yellow barbet, which draw attention to themselves by their loud, clockwork-like duetting. Tarangire's pythons climb trees, as do its lions & leopards, lounging in the branches where the fruit of the sausage tree disguises the twitch of a tail.

Arrive at the Lodge & Check-in & relax for a while.

After lunch & perhaps a swim, the remainder of the afternoon will be spent on a game drive to explore this beautiful park.

Return to the Lodge.

Evening at leisure.

Early morning, depart for Nairobi, enroute stopping in Arusha for lunch.

After lunch, continue to Nairobi, arriving in late afternoon (no accommodation).

You would be dropped at the hotel if you are staying longer or to Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to board the flight for your onward journey.   B L

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