10 Days Nakuru/ Masai Mara/ Serengeti/ Ngorongoro Wildebeest Migration Tour Package

This is a safari that promises the best of Kenya and Tanzania’s premier parks. Visit the small but rewarding Lake Nakuru National park thereafter proceeding towards Masai Mara (Kenya’s most celebrated game park). This is where the great wildebeest migration is a spectacle to behold for any would be visitor to Kenya mainly in July and August of each year.

In Tanzania, Ngorongoro Crater is said to have the world’s densest population of lion. In Lake Manyara lions have developed a liking for residing in the branches of trees, where they can both sleep and watch for prey whilst the Serengeti is notable for its large migratory herds of wildebeest and zebras with strings of predators in trail. The Ngorongoro crater also offers amazing wildlife viewing and scenery.

Day 1 – Lake Nakuru National Park

We depart our office in the morning and drive down the Escarpment to the floor of the Great Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru National Park for an afternoon game drive. The park covers 180 sq km and is home to warthogs, waterbuck, buffaloes, reedbucks, and the occasional leopard. White and black rhinos were introduced to the park some years ago and you will find white rhino at the southern end. The park has also retained its reputation as an ornithologists’ delight with more than 400 species of bird found here. We spend the night at a campsite just outside of town.

Day 2 & 3 - Masai Mara

We head south to Narok, camping in our permanent Talek riverside campsite situated at the edge of the park. Here we have stand-up tents with beds for use as well as small wood cabins for those after a touch more comfort. Hot showers are available in the camp and meals are served in the dinning mess or in the open.

The Mara reserve is 1510 sq km of incredible wide-open landscapes and fertile riverine woodland following the looping meanders of the Mara and Talek rivers. Wherever you go in the Mara you will see a frequent amount of wildlife such as Masai giraffe, baboons, warthogs, bat eared foxes, grey jackals, spotted hyena, topis, impala, hartebeests, wildebeest. Elephants, buffaloes, zebras and hippos also exist in great numbers. It is also common to see lions either basking after a heavy meal, or surveying the plains for their next meal. Cheetahs and leopards are harder to spot but are still reasonably common.

The ultimate action here is without doubt the annual wildebeest exodus in July and August when millions of these grass eaters move north from the Serengeti in search of lusher grass before turning south again in October.

Balloon trips are an entirely outstanding way of seeing the savannah plains and the wildlife after which you come back down for a beautiful champagne breakfast. These trips can be arranged at our office upon booking.

Day 4 - Musoma

We leave the campsite and drive through the southern part of the reserve viewing game as we proceed to the Tanzanian border at Isebania / Sirari. We stop for the night in a quiet town on the shores of the immense Lake Victoria known as Musoma. The surrounding countryside is home to many different tribes including the Kuria, Jita, Luo, and Taturu. Musoma’s colourful port and variety of tribes make it a vibrant town.

Day 5 - Serengeti National Park

Leaving in the morning, we drive south and west to the western corridor of the great Serengeti via Ndabaka Gate with a picnic lunch enroute. The afternoon is spent viewing game and we overnight at Ndabaka Gate. We will spend three days appreciating the vastness of the Serengeti.

Serengeti is Africa’s most famous and Tanzania’s largest park covering 14,736 sq km and is adjoining with the Masai Mara National reserve in Kenya. With a wildebeest population of about 2 million and several other hoofed species (which include zebra, Thomson’s gazelle, impala, topi, Grants gazelle, Kongoni, Eland, Kirk’s dik dik, klipspringer, roan, Oryx, oribi, waterbuck, buffalo, giraffe and warthog), it is sure to attract a string of prey such as lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, golden jackals and bat eared foxes. Elephants are relatively scarce and the few remaining black rhinoceros are restricted to the Moru Koppies area.

Day 6 – Serengeti National Park

Departing in the morning, you drive west game viewing through the western corridor of the Serengeti to the Central region of Seronera. Overnight at one of the campsites at Seronera.

You can visit the park all year round but there is less game in the park during the dry season – July /October, where they migrate to the Masai Mara in Kenya. During March to May the herds move in search of grazing to the southern section and in May to June, they move towards the western corridor of the park. Serengeti in the low season will still offer game viewing to match that of any park in Africa, and for some, the fact that there will be fewer tourists may be an added bonus.

Day 7 – Serengeti National Park

A full day’s game viewing in the central Serengeti. Overnight at one of the campsites in Seronera.

Serengeti offers rewarding bird viewing with ostrich and kori bustard being common, a variety of larks, finches, and raptors can be seen but the most distinctive small bird is the lilac breasted roller.

Day 8 - Ngorongoro Crater

We view game as we drive southeast up into the magnificent Ngorongoro Conservation Area where we spend the night at the Simba (Lion) campsite on the crater rim. The Ngorongoro crater is the world’s biggest whole volcanic caldera at 8300 sq km and is arguably the most stunning arena.

It is frequently described as one of the wonders of the world, not only because of its geological magnificence, but also because it serves as an extraordinary natural sanctuary for some of Africa’s largest populations of large mammals. Ngorongoro and other freestanding mountains are volcanic in origin, formed during the fracturing process that created the Rift valley 15 to 20 million years ago. When it peaked in size 3 million years ago it was a similar height to Mt. Kilimanjaro today!

Day 9 - Arusha

We start refreshingly early to enjoy a full morning’s crater tour as we have a greater chance of seeing wildlife at this early hour. After lunch, we relocate you to Arusha town where we camp at a campsite or you have a choice of checking in to your own hotel at an extra cost.

Day 10 - Nairobi

After a leisurely breakfast and a walk around Arusha town, which is situated at the base of Mt. Meru, we travel back to Nairobi where you are dropped off at our office. Arusha is a vibrant and bustling town as it is the gateway to Tanzania’s national parks and game reserves.

For more information visit http://www.afripotsafaris.com

HOLIDAYS

Day 1: Nairobi/ Masai Mara
We will pick you from your hotel after breakfast; thereafter depart for Masai Mara game reserve stopping at the view point of the Great Rift Valley and at Narok town for lunch. Arrive in time for a late afternoon or early evening game drive in this park that is essentially the northern extension of Tanzania’s Serengeti national park as an artificial border separates the two. Dinner and overnight at the campsite.

Day 2: Masai Mara
This will be a day of tracking game with your guide, after an early breakfast. The Mara’s landscape is scenic savannah grassland on rolling hills which enables the reserve to attract sufficient rainfall to maintain and support a large population of herbivores, together with the predators that follow. You will be served your picnic lunch at the hippo pool where with luck you can spot hippos and crocodiles at a close distance. Return to the campsite for dinner and overnight.

Day 3: Masai Mara
After breakfast proceed on another game viewing session returning back to the campsite for lunch. After lunch you will have the option to go for a game drive or at extra cost, visit a nearby Masai village to see their nomadic lifestyle and a nature walk with our armed Masai guide. All activities will end at the campsite in the evening where you will retire for the night after dinner.

Day 4: Masai Mara/ Lake Nakuru
Depart the Mara region for Nakuru after your final game drive. The drive offers panoramic views of Lake Naivasha from the main highway. Arrive in Nakuru in time for dinner and overnight.

Day 5: Lake Nakuru/ Samburu
Wake up to an early morning game drive in Lake Nakuru national park. Flamingos and other water birds that thrive in a salt-water environment can be seen. With luck you may track the white rhino and the Rothschild’s giraffe which both have endangered species status. The park is 188km and is a home to various antelopes, grazers like warthog, waterbuck and the Cape buffalo. After game drive, depart Nakuru for samburu via the Thompson falls which are named after Joseph Thompson, one of the first European explorers who walked from Mombasa to Lake Victoria in the 1880’s. Lunch will be at Nanyuki town which is at the foot hills of Mt. Kenya. Arrive in Samburu in the evening with a game drive en route to the campsite where you will retire for the night after dinner.

Day 6: Samburu
Morning and afternoon game drives in Samburu with a lunch and leisure break in the mid afternoon. The reserve is a home to rare drought resistant animals that are peculiar to the semi arid region north of the equator. These include the reticulated giraffe, Grevy's’s zebra, the Beisa's Oryx, gerenuk and the blue shanked Somali ostrich. Samburu Is dry most of the year but is watered by the Ewaso Nyiro River which rises in the Aberdares and drains in the Lorian swamp north of Shaba National park reserve. All meals and overnight at the campsite

Day 7: Samburu/ Amboseli
After breakfast depart for Amboseli via Nairobi. In clear weather, you may see the peaks of Mt. Kenya, the highest Mountain. You will also by-pass very pleasant countryside with coffee plantations. Lunch will be taken in Nairobi. Arrive in Amboseli in the late afternoon with a game drive en route to the campsite for dinner.

Day 8: Amboseli
After breakfast, proceed on a game drive in this park which lies in a dried-up lake bed. There are swamps and springs fed by underground rivers from the melting snows or Mt. Kilimanjaro, which give permanent water to the wildlife. The animals seen here include lion, elephant, wildebeest, cheetah, buffalo, plain game and the rare Taita weaver and the gerenuk. The animals are mainly found around the Ol Kenya swamp. If the weather is clear and there is no low cloud cover, you may see the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro which forms a beautiful backdrop to the park. The observation hill offers a view of the entire park and beyond. Afternoon game drive will follow after lunch. Rest of the meals and overnight at the campsite.

Day 9: Amboseli/ Tsavo West
In the morning, depart Amboseli for Tsavo west National park with a lunch en route You will visit the shaitani lava flows as the area where the park lies is of volcanic origin. The Mzima springs which contain 20 million tones of crystal- clear water from the underground streams of the nearby Chyulu hills are an additional attraction; various aspects of marine life including hippos,crocodiles,elephants and plains game can be seen in this park. Dinner and overnight at the campsite.

Day 10: Tsavo West/ Tsavo East
A morning game drive will follow after breakfast and probably view the rock hyrax, squirrels and mongooses as the park contains a large population of these. Depart for Tsavo East National park, with lunch en route Here, only the section south of the galena river is open to the public for game drives, the rest of the park serves as a wilderness for the animals to retreat into. Here the dried up Aruba dam can be seen plus crocodiles at the crocodile point below the Luggard falls. Dinner and overnight at the campsite.

Day 11: Tsavo East/ Nairobi
After breakfast, have your final game drive tracking plain game such as zebra, antelopes, lesser kudu, ostrich and large herds of elephants and kudu. This park is where the superintendent John Lyall was taken from a steam locomotive by the man eater’s lion (Man eaters of Tsavo) during the construction of Kenya railways in 1901. Return to Nairobi with lunch en route to arrive in the evening.

For more information on Kenya Safari Packages visit http://www.afripotsafaris.com