Tour Highlights Masai Mara Lake Nakuru and Naivasha safari
Day 1: Transfer to Masai Mara and afternoon game drive
Day 2: Full day game drive Mara and Masai river
Day 3: Masai village tour and Lake Nakuru
Day 4: Game drive Lake Nakuru
Day 5: Lake Naivasha boat ride and transfer to Nairobi
ITINERARY
Day 1: TRANSFER TO MASAI MARA AND AFTERNOON GAME DRIVE
You will start your exploration with a pick up at your hotel after your early morning breakfast, have a 1 hour’s drive to the Great Rift Valley Viewpoint where you will have a breathtaking 15 minute nature view and photo taking of the vast lands forming that perfect V-shape with tarmacked roads at the base, patches of vegetation dotting the space, the sun rays stretching far and wide and the mountains in the vicinity meeting the foreseeable edges of the land.
You will drive to Mount Longonot National Park and have a 30 minute sightseeing session at the spectral and desolate Mount Longonot which is home to various species of wildlife. You will then proceed to Narok Town for a dainty mid-afternoon lunch before progressing to the quite free and open Masai Mara. Your comfortable expeditious journey will deepen into the Masai plains, arrive at lodge for check in there after going for a game drive giving you an importunity to see a lot of wildlife like Lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, wildbeests, kobs, among many others.
Later drive back to lodge for relaxation, dinner and over night.
Accommodation
Luxury: Keekorok Lodge
Midrange: Jambo Mara Safari Lodge
Budget: Mara Springs Safari Camp
Day 2: Masai Mara full day game drive
Your exceedingly eventful day starts with a hearty breakfast at the lodge and then you will leave for an extensive game drive. You will then come more face to face with all the “Big 5” and enjoy the scenic savannah grassland on the rolling hills. The reserve has an extensive road and track network which allows for undistracted sightseeing and photography. You will then proceed with a game drive to the Mara river, the point of gnu migration which also doubles as the point to spot the fearful and ravenous crocodiles and hippopotamuses. You will take a break for a wild madcap picnic at 12:00 pm and rest at the beloved untamed river after which you will head for the Mara Triangle, and then back to the camp, arriving in time for the final and beautiful sunset before dinner.
Accommodation
Luxury: Keekorok Lodge
Midrange: Jambo Mara Safari Lodge
Budget: Mara Springs Safari Camp
Day 3: Masai Village and lake nakuru
After a tasteful breakfast and check out from the camp, you will exit the park and then head for the Maasai village visit. The first thing you will surely notice when you get to the village is the brilliant red, blue and purple patterns of the shukas the Masai wear. This visibly contrasts strongly with the greens and browns of the orange arid landscape. You will notice the men with their spears, and the women bejeweled with bright beaded earrings and scarves. You will typically be given a chance and get to join a demonstration of the Masai dance, taken around a traditional boma and shown how the Masai make fire with sticks. All this will be before you go to their gift shop. You will also get to take photos and ask the Masai questions about their culture and buy imperishable souvenirs to remind you of your extraordinary holiday in Mara. You will then leave for Narok Town where your hearty lunch will await you then proceed to Lake Nakuru National Park and feast your eyes with the sightings of the always shy and watchful flamingos, check in at your booked hotel for relaxation dinner and overnight.
Acomodation options
Budget: Sewala lodge
Midrange: Lake Nakuru lodge
Luxury: Lake Nakuru Sopa lodge
DAY 4: LAKE NAKURU GAME DRIVE
After an early morning breakfast, you will head for a game drive present the best chance to spot the highly elusive leopards, black and white rhinos, bufaloes, baboons, lions, among others as they move out in search of breakfast will be easy to film as they roam free around the park in search of food and water later have lunch,check out and drive to Lake Naivasha for relaxation, dinner and over night.
Accomodations
Luxury: Lake Naivasha Country Club
Midrange: Chambai Safari Hotel
Budget: Lake Naivasha Resort
DAY 5: BOAT RIDE LAKE NAIVASHA AND TRANSFER TO NAIROBI
After your breakfast on this 5 dyas Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru and Naivasha safari, you will have a 2 hours boat ride at Lake Naivasha for a 2 hours which will give you a chance to view lots of hippos and bird species. You will saunter about on Crescent Island and then have a boat ride at Lake Naivasha. The fertile and peaceful Crescent Island is surrounded by permanent salty water; it is actually a peninsula and it is accessible by boat from the East or West as well as by road. The island is famous for wildebeest, waterbucks, zebras, gazelles and its abundant birdlife. After this activity you will drive back to Nairobi have lunch at canivore and then proceed to the airport to catch your flight back home or back to your hotel in Nairobi.
ACTIVITIES OF THIS MASAI MARA LAKE NAKURU AND NAIVASHA SAFARI
The Great Rift Valley Viewpoint
The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches across the Middle East and Africa from Jordan to Mozambique. The astounding view, as you approach from Nairobi, is quite unbelievable. The ground unexpectedly disappears from under you, extending to thousands of kilometers in either direction. An excellent starter to the Kenyan Rift Valley, it may appear, is the most amazing part of this experience- as it sinks deeper to explore the Lake System of the Rift.
The Great Rift Valley Viewpoint is always a perfect place to stop by, stretch and take vivid pictures. Here, you can watch the enthralling Rift Valley with its vast vegetation and the sun rays kissing the far and wide. The stretching mountains in the vicinity meet the foreseeable edges of the land, giving the feeling of an abstract painting. There are a number of lakes around the viewpoint and these are Baringo, Bagoria, Nakuru, the soda Elimentaita and Naivasha. They are all unique and support a staggeringly large proportion of Kenya’s wildlife. The saline Bagoria is sometimes home to huge flocks of the lesser flamingo and contains more true geysers than any other area of equal size in the world.
This place is known for hiking, trekking, game viewing, photography, guided walks around the crater lakes, picnic lunches, bird watching, golfing and community visits.
The Great Rift Valley is indeed a wonder of the world. It stretches from the Middle East and passes through Africa. It has a great and vast chunk in East Africa, and it ends in Mozambique in the South.
Mount Longonot
Located southeast of Lake Naivasha on the floor of the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, Mount Longonot is a stratovolcano. Its name is derived from the Maasai word oloonong'ot, meaning "mountains of many spurs" or “steep ridges.” Its unique feature is the thick forest that is encompassed within its crater. The crater rim also provides great scenic views across the beautiful Rift Valley, all the way to Lake Naivasha. It is thought to have last erupted in the 1860s.
A visit to Longonot gives you the chance to take part in hiking, which is the major activity that take place there. The 3.1 km trail on this mountain runs from the park entrance up to the crater rim and continues in a 7.2 km loop that encircles the crater. The whole tour from the gate, around the rim and back is 13.5 km. It and takes about 4 to 5 hours, thus allowing for necessary rests. Other activities include nature walks and bike riding around the park, both of which bring you eye to eye with the wildlife that has made the great mountain home.
The other feature worth noting is the alkaline Lake Oloiden, majorly known for its concentration of flamingoes. These provide a considerable dose of optical nutrition to those viewing them, owing to their mesmerizing looks. A boat ride in the lake is also a worthwhile venture to undertake.
Lake Naivasha
The beautiful freshwater lake, surrounded by thick papyrus, is located some 80 kilometers northwest of Nairobi, just outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County. The lake derives its name from the local Maasai Nai'posha, meaning "rough water," an appropriate name as storms and strong winds transform the gentle ripple to rough waves in an instant. The lake is situated is a park with broad ecological diversity and picturesque vegetation.
The lake is approximately 13 kilometers across, with an average depth of five meters. Its area varies according with rainfall, range between less than 150 to almost 1,000 square kilometers. In fact during the early years of the 20th century, the lake dried out completely but fortunately heavy rains rescued the dried out lake bed and gave it a second lease on life.
The lake draws a wide range of wildlife to her shores, including hippos, different species of birds, giraffes, buffalo, wildebeest, waterbuck, zebra, gazelle, and other herbivores, making the guided boat cruise out onto the lake the most popular activity.
Other activities around the lake include a visit to the Crescent Island sanctuary. The island sanctuary isn’t home to any predators, so visitors can safely tour around on foot with the tour guide.
Adjacent to the lake is Hell's Gate National Park – its name is inspired by the red earth, towering stone pillars and cliffs and a sparse animal population. In fact, its name notwithstanding the park is one of the most gorgeous sites in all of Kenya. Visitors can cycle the dusty roads, hike the scenic canyons and visit Ol Karia geothermal spa to take a dip in the man-made pools.
Mara River
The Mara River is located in Narok County (Kenya) and in the Mara Region (Tanzania). It lies across the migration path of ungulates in the Maasai Mara and Serengeti game reserves. The river basin covers a surface of 13,504 square kilometers, of which approximately 65% is located in Kenya and 35% in Tanzania. From its sources in the Kenyan highlands, the river flows for about 395 km. It originates from the Mau Escarpment and drains into Lake Victoria.
This river is a vital source of water to the grazing animals within the reserve. During the dry season it may often appear shallow, but it may also swell to up to twice its normal size after a heavy downpour. This can create rapids in the river, which may lead to a shortage of food for the predators that cannot cross it to hunt.
A visit to the river in the late July to October gives you a chance to witness the world known wildebeest migration. One particular scenario can go as follows: The wildebeests stand above the river with their eyes wide open, nervously watching the water for any crocodiles. Their breath is labored and each animal vies for a position that gives it the safest and surest path through the wild waters to the opposite bank. Finally, assured that there is no apparent hint of danger, a few animals rush toward the water, with thousands following close behind along with zebras, elands and gazelles. Your excitement at beholding this may however quickly fade away and you will be taken on by a sudden grip of fear as you watch crocodiles approach the slower and smaller wildebeests. Snapping jaws are not the only threat, though, as the current of the Mara River acts with greater unrelenting ferocity, often ending more lives than the predators would.
Maasai (Masai) Mara National Reserve
This is a vast game reserve in the semi-arid Narok County in Kenya. It is contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in the Mara region of Tanzania. It is named in honour of the Masai people who are the ancestral inhabitants of the area. Mara means “spotted” in Maa, a Masai language. Maasai Mara is globally famous for its exceptional population in wildlife and wildebeest immigration to and from the Serengeti every year during the dry season from July to October. This is commonly known as the Great Migration.
A visit to the reserve is a great venture to undertake for a cultural tour of one of the oldest inhabitants of East Africa, the Maasai. This noble tribe is one of the very few tribes who have retained most of their traditions. It has a team of traditional dancers who dance to their call-and-response singing and perhaps their most widely known dance is the adumu or rather “jumping dance.” You can get to join in the dancing as these flexible male dancers jump higher and higher to the rhythms of the enchanting music accompanying their dance strokea.
Masai Mara has several intriguing as well as engaging tourism activities. Among others, these are the hot air balloons over the reserve, safari drives, nature walks, bird watching, site seeing, guided bush walks and hiking.
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SAFARI INCLUSIONS
Safari includes for this Masai Mara Lake Nakuru and Naivasha safari
Transportation in a Tour Van/Landcruiser.
Service of an English-Speaking tour guide/Driver.
All activities mentioned in the itinerary
Park admissions
Accommodation on Full Board.
Entrance fees to all destinations as per the program.
Transfers to and from Airport/Nairobi
Safari Exclusions of this Masai Mara Lake Nakuru and Naivasha safari
All activities not mentioned in the program
International flights
Visas
Hotel fees before and after the safari