Great Migration Safari 2024: Kenya

Whenever you arrive at Nairobi’s international airport, you’ll be personally met and privately transferred to Hemingway’s Resort in the posh suburb of Karen.
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For those who arrived Wednesday, you'll join Jim on some special sightseeing throughout the day: Mid-morning visit the nearby Giraffe Centre where you’ll see some rare subspecies up-close! Close enough, in fact, to feed them or elicit a big kiss! From there Jim takes you in the center city for a visit to the National Museum famous for its displays and warehousing of early man artifacts and bones! No paleontologist today can further her career without time spent here, for there are more early man items carefully curated and preserved in Nairobi than in any other museum on earth. Time permitting you’ll walk down the city center’s history lane as Jim describes everything from the early explorers to modern coups.

For those of you arriving today, you will be personally met and privately transferred to Hemingway’s Resort in the posh suburb of Karen.

Overnight at Hemingway’s Resort.
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[no meals] For those that arrive today.

Morning flight from the closer, smaller local Wilson airport into remote, breath-taking safari country known as the Great Northern Frontier. The flight plan skirts Africa’s highest mountain, Mt. Kenya, where weather-permitting you should get some astounding views of Mt. Kenya and its glaciers.

The flight glides into a land that resembles America’s southwest at its finest. Rovers from camp take everyone into the adjacent Kalama Conservancy and to Samburu Saruni Lodge for lunch. Afterwards local guides lead the safari around this enchanting reserve with its rare game and spectacular scenery. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
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The lodge is just a few miles from Samburu National Park where you’ll enjoy this morning’s game viewing. Samburu is a strikingly beautiful wilderness in a Mohajve desert made beautiful by the great Ewaso Nyiro River.

Huge palms rise from the banks and palmetto forests stretch out from the water’s edge. Elephant, impala, waterbuck and all the cats are here. More importantly there are extremely rare animals that can’t be seen in Tanzania: the reticulated giraffe and the Grevy’s zebra – there are less than 3,000 left in the world. Other animals rarely found in Tanzania include the beautiful gerenuk and oryx. After a hot breakfast set up along the river’s edge the safari returns to the lodge for a late lunch.

Since the lodge is just outside the reserve a number of other activities are possible this afternoon, including camel rides and later, nighttime game drives. Activities, meals and overnight at Samburu Saruni Lodge.
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After some final game viewing on the way to the airstrip the safari takes a beautiful small aircraft flight to the top of the great Serengeti ecosystem, Kenya's finest game reserve: the Maasai Mara. The 90-minute flight is over Kenya’s Great Rift lakes and lands in the most productive game area of the Mara, the Salient. Enjoy lunch in camp before the first afternoon game drive.

The Mara satisfies the most demanding imagination of what wild Africa is: seemingly endless rolling grassland hills occasionally interrupted by a river lined with thick forests.

This is the wettest place in the Serengeti ecosystem. It rains here at least every other day except mid-October to mid-November. Having the greatest altitude of the whole ecosystem (about a mile high) and soil subject to more erosion, the grasses that grow successfully here aren't powerful enough for the special milk needed by mother wildebeest. So the great herds must leave this otherwise ideal area when the seasonal rains of the south can bring forth the more nutritious grasses. So no great herds here, now. Those, later!

But there are huge numbers of all sorts of other animals which don't migrate that reside in the Mara because of its otherwise near perfect conditions. Everything from elephant to hartebeest and every type of gazelle is found here. So be patient about the great herds and enjoy the absolutely staggering amount of wildlife that you will see! Meals and overnight at our Private Camp set perfectly right along the Mara River.
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Dawn game drive, when the light is perfect for photography and the veld most active. Return to camp for a big breakfast and then immediately go out for a second morning game drive or relax in camp. After lunch the final afternoon game drive departs returning to camp at sunset. Meals and overnight at our Private Camp along the Mara River.
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Fly back to Wilson airport this morning and proceed through customs and immigration before boarding the 45-minute international flight to Tanzania to join those coming just for the Tanzanian portion. This flight goes right by Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro! After customs and immigration everyone flies to our first Tanzanian camp in Tarangire National Park. (For the rest of the itinerary, please visit the main safari page at www.ewtravel.com/trip/ewt750-tz )
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Please now refer back to the main safari description.