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14 Days of Exquisite Pleasure, Excitement and Pure Delight..
DAY ONE.
Arrive at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where you will be met by theMoriah African Tours concierge. You will be transferred you to your small, exclusive Giraffe Manor or Ngong House. After you arrive and get settled you can enjoy a light supper. You go to bed earlier that evening in preparation of your big safari which begins the following day.
Giraffe Manor, Ngong House
DAY TWO
You will awaken to the sound of someone knocking softly on your door saying "hodi" - an Africa greeting announcing the arrival of your morning tea and coffee. You lie in bed reveling in the sensation of being in Africa as you sip piping hot Kenya Coffee gazing out at the Ngong Hills...your journey has begun! After a hot breakfast, you will be met and transferred to Wilson Airport where you will board a private charter flight to the Chyulu Hills. As you fly into the area to your right you will get your first glimpse of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's largest freestanding mountain which sits amidst the vast plains of south eastern Kenya. Your pilot will smile as you clamor for your cameras and then point out the airstrip, but you will have some trouble making out the airstrip at first as it is usually a grass airstrip, the pilot circles and then realizes that he has to "buzz" the runway as there are giraffe and zebra on the runway - he flies low and the animals lope off to the sides, indignant at the interruption of their lunch, your pilot comes in low again and lands smoothly and you look out at your audience - Zebra, Giraffe, Thompson Gazelle, Oryx, Eland.....you have arrived!
As you step out of the plane and breath in the crisp fresh air of Africa, the driver/guide is there to meet you with the biggest grin you have ever seen! He helps load the car with your luggage and points out a a young Thompson Gazelle with a wicked scar running along the side of his chest and coyly remarks...he may not be so lucky tonight!! You immediately start to question, from here on out everything is new and there is so much to learn and your guides delight in sharing their experiences and knowledge with you!
You arrive at the camp and are warmly welcomed by your hosts, a cool drink and then you are taken to your cottage or tent and left to settle in after a briefing. Lunch is usually served around 1:00 PM so you may decide to wander around camp, visit the horse, stroke the African Wild Cat "Woody" or visit Jo the Pishi (cook) in his kitchen and marvel at him whipping a cheese soufflé for lunch over a pile of charcoal! After a delicious lunch of Cheese Soufflé, cold cuts and fresh Spinach salad, and a scrummy Papaya and Honey Ice Cream, you may decide to wander off to your cottage for a little siesta or lounge around on the comfy overstuffed sofas in the mess areas, reading magazines or books, or just watching the Superb Starlings coming in for water. This is one of the most breathtaking areas in Africa! After a siesta your hosts will suggest the afternoon activities and it is always wonderful to go for a game drive on your first evening as that way you get acquainted with the area. At around 5:30 you may stop on a grassy hill, the driver/guide will break out a cool box and a blanket and some hors d'oeuvres and you can sit and watch the sunset behind Mount Kilimanjaro. After the sunsets it is time to clamber back in he car and with a spotlight you wind your way slowly back tot he lodge whilst looking at the nocturnal animals coming out!
Dinner is usually served around 8:00 PM and is a festive affair. After dinner and coffee you will discuss the next days activities and then enjoy a good nights sleep in - your first night in the African Bush!
Ol Donyo Wuas, Campi ya Kanzi
DAY FIVE.
Today will be woken with a pot of steaming hot coffee or tea and some freshly baked pastries. After a hot breakfast, you will be met and transferred by your guide, to the airstrip where you will board a private charter flight to the airstrip in Laikipia. This flight takes about two hours. Upon arrival, you will be met and driven to the lodge. The transfers are always short (no more than 45 minutes) and they include a first class, personable guide who will entertain you with their incredible knowledge and sharing some excellent stories along the way. Once you arrive at your property, you will unpack and enjoy a lunch with your hosts so that you can get acquainted. After lunch enjoy a siesta or lay out by the pool reading. At around three you will all gather for afternoon tea and then go out on a game drive, or go for a long walk with one of the properties fine guides. Following your afternoon activities at around 6:00 PM you will find yourself once again indulging in the great old African tradition of the "sundowner". A sundowner consists of having a cocktail of your choice usually perched on a raised area (e.g., an escarpment, hill, rocky outcropping of rocks) as you marvel at the amazing African sunset. This is definitely an unforgettable experience!
Dinner is the big social event of the day. This is the time when you can really get to know your hosts and the other guests over a cold Tusker (local beer) or a delicious glass of South African wine. You will be enthralled as your hosts entertain you with stories of their adventures and life in the African Bush. The setting is incredibly intimate. The meals are always four-star and the wine is bountiful. Accommodations are encouraged for an average of three days at your first location as you get to know your hosts, fellow guests and your new environment.
The Laikipia Escarpment is a remote paradise which has been devoted to the conservation of wildlife and its natural habitat. The Escarpment appears to be cut off from the outside world, hidden in the shadows of Mt. Kenya, and boasts a wildlife population that includes all the big game animals, and more than 400 species of birds..
Wilderness Trails, Borana Lodge
DAY EIGHT.
On the morning of the 8th day you will hug your new friends good-bye and board a private charter flight to the Northern Frontier District. Upon arrival, you'll be met by your hosts or one of their guides who will take you on a scenic route back to the property. Once you arrive you'll enjoy lunch before your afternoon activities. As with the preceding property you can either rest or enjoy one of the property's several activities. You will enjoy three wonderful days exploring this incredible wilderness area with guides who will teach you about the plants, the interaction between man and wildlife! Each property is so uniquely different not only in landscape and wildlife but also in the personalities of the people that you will meet, these are all vital to making this the most incredible trip of your life! For the incurable romantics out there, you may decide that on one night you may like to have just have dinner on your own or perhaps you will be surprised by a bush dinner party under the stars with Samburu warriors chanting in the background.
The Northern Frontier District is a peaceful wilderness with incredible vistas and beautiful sunsets. It is host to more than fifty species of wildlife from elephant and kudu to klipspringer and the incredibly rare melanistic "black" leopard. The Northern Frontier District is rapidly gaining a fine reputation for big cat sightings with some exceptional viewing of lion, leopard and cheetah and even Wild Dog. People are an integral part of this wild tapestry. Staying here, in the very heartland of the nomadic Samburu, Borana, Maasai and Pokot people, whose, cultures and traditions still move to the beat of an ancient drum, is an experience that affords you a rare and captivating opportunity to interact with a way of life that has stood the test of time. Ol Malo, Loisaba
DAY ELEVEN.
On the 11th day you will pack up and depart into your final destination - the Masai Mara! Upon arrival you will be met with a smiling face and enjoy an incredible game drive with your guide through the Mara, stopping only to watch cheetah cubs frolic and huge black maned lions snoozing under the shade of a mellifera tree. The Masai Mara holds the greatest and most diverse concentration of wildlife remaining in Africa today. It is home to the Masai people and to small clans of Ndorobo, the traditional hunter-gatherers of East Africa. This place is guaranteed to take your breath away.
We have several very different styled properties in the Mara from rustic Bush Camps and intimate Bush Lodges to incredible world class Tented Camps. All Bush Homes properties are hidden in intimate parts of the Mara where you can escape the crowds and enjoy this amazing part of Africa on your own! Each of theses properties is as unique as the different regions where they are located. Rekero, Bushtops
DAY FOURTEEN.
After breakfast, you ever so slowly gather your things as you know you have to go home. A private transfer takes you to the closest airport where you catch a morning flight with Air Kenya/Safarilink back to Nairobi's Wilson Airport.
Upon arrival you'll once again be met by that familiar smiling face of Moriah concierge which comforted you so much with your timid entrance into this strange world. Only this time you're well experienced with Kenya's landscape, language, wildlife and people. Now you feel like a true Kenyan as you share your experiences in the bush. At this point you will be driven around so that you can do some last minute shopping. Later that evening you will enjoy diner at Carnivore Restaurant where they serve all you can eat game meat. After dinner you'll finally be transferred to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in time to check in for you overnight flight back home. A tear comes to your eye as you bid Africa farewell you embrace your concierge as if you were embracing the entire nation - its people, its wildlife, its diverse topography...
As you board the plane the culmination of events over the past eleven days begins to settle in. You begin to reflect on the whirlwind of experiences as you settle into your seat. And suddenly you realize how overwhelming and magical your whole experience has been, but you also realize that you didn't have near enough time to discover the secrets of the Dark Continent. As so many of our clients in the past have done, you begin to go over the plans in your head for your next trip to Africa and what you will do differently next time. And then you're eager to get back home to share your stories with your family and friends. You come home not quite the same person as you have experienced thirteen days that have changed your life forever.
That is what we call Africa.
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