New Year in Kenya

15 days, 29th Dec 2020


Buffaloes and flamingo, Lake Nakuru, May 2010

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Photos, Facts and Intinerary
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
Photos above from New Year 2010–2011
Day 1. Departure from Scandinavia
Evening flight from Stockholm/Arlanda (unless you join the tour in Nairobi) by Ethiopian Airlines via Rome and Addis Abeba.

Day 2. Arrival Nairobi
Arrival about midday. Transfer till Hotel Boulevard near city centre. Afternoon free.
Welcome dinner in the evening.

Dag 3. Nairobi and Nairobi National Park
We spend all morning in Nairobi NP, which is only half an hour drive from the city centre. Here we have our first encounters with African big game: giraffe, buffalo, zebra, antilopes, baboon etc., perhaps even rhino or lion. A walk along a small river might give us views of hippo and crocodile.
      In the afternoon we visit Kenya’s National Museum. Mainly famous for relics of early human ancestors, but there are exhibits featuring many aspects of Kenyan history, natural history and culture. It is also possible to arrange a visit to Karen Blixen’s farm (optional) or you can save this until day 14.

Day 4 (New Year’s Day). Nairobi – Naru Moru
After breakfast departure for Mount Kenya, which is Kenya’s highest mountain and the second highest in Africa. We stay at Naro Moru River Lodge, nicely situated by the small Naro Moru River, almost at the foot of the mountain. In the afternoon you can stroll in the beautiful gardens and/or take a walk along the river. (Special celebration can be expected in the evening.)

Day 5. Mount Kenya
We drive upwards through farmland, which eventually gives way to the mountain rain forest. The lower parts are dominated by bamboo thickets and Podocarpus-trees. There is a good chance of seeing buffalo, forest antilopes and various monkeys, such as Sykes’ monkey and black and white colobus. Weather permitting we drive to the end of the road at 10.000 ft (3.049 metres). We continue on foot up through the upper part of the montane forest, dominated by Hypericum- and Hagenia-trees heavily infested with mosses, ferns and lichens. Here we find the spendid African redhot poker (Knophofia thomsonii). Higher up we pass through a zone of giant heather and are soon up on the alpine moorland.
      Exact programme will depend on the weather. We can make one long walk or several short ones at different levels. In late afternoon we return to Naru Moru Lodge.

Day 6. Naru Moru – Samburu
The tour continues north to the drier areas of the Samburu and Buffalo Springs Game Reserves. We stay at Samburu Game Lodge in bunglows overlooking the Ewasa N’giro River. After a few hours leisure for bathing in the pool and/or studying birds and other wildlife in the lodge area, we make an evening game drive in the reserve. At dinner we have a view of the “Crocodile Bar”, where crocodiles come to feed on meat bones left over from the kitchen.

Day 7. Samburu
We spend all day in the Samburu and Buffalo Springs Reserves. The dominating dry acacia savanna and thorn bush contrasts to the lush greenery and the decorative stands of forked doum palms along the river. Game is abundant and includes elephant, lion, buffalo, water buck, impala etc. Som specialities of the region are reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, Grevy’s zebra, beisa oryx, and vulturine guinea fowl. We have game drives in the morning and evening, and spend the hottest afternoon hours at leisure in the lodge.

Day 8. Samburu – Maralal
From Samburu we drive northwest to Maralal through the land of the Samburu People. In this less visited part of Kenya we get a glimse of pre-colonial Africa. At lunchtime we arrive at Maralal and check in at Maralal Safari Lodge. Led by a Samburu guide we make an evening walk among zebras and impalas in the Maralal Game Sanctuary. The animals are fairly unafraid as the Samburu, like the related Masai, are herders, not hunters.

Dag 9. Maralal – Lake Baringo
In the morning we visit a traditional Samburu village. Maralal is off the beaten track of most foreign visitors and thus the nomads here are less affected by tourism than other peoples near the better known reserves.
      Our safari continues westward through the land of the Pokot to the Great Rift Valley and Lake Baringo. We stay at Lake Baringo Club on the shore of the lake. Lake Baringo is a fresh water lake known for hippos, crocodiles and varied bird life. In the late afternoon or evening we make a boat tripe on the lake. If you look out from your room at night you might see hippos grazing on the hotel lawn.

Day 10. Lake Baringo – Lake Borogia – Lake Nakuru
Lake Bogoria, not far south of Baringo, is one of the rift valley soda lakes. It is a beautiful lake framed by wooded mountains and known for it’s many hot springs which bear witness to a dramatic volcanic past. There are usually large numbers of flamingo and other water birds. In the surrounding woodland there is a good chance of encountering the magnificent greater kudu, one of the largest of African antilopes. We make a short walk or two in the area and have a picknick lunch before continuing to Lake Nakuru.
      We have time for a short game drive before checking in at Lake Nakuru Lodge with a suberb view of the southern part of the famous lake.

Day 11. Lake Nakuru – Masai Mara
Lake Nakuru is mainly known for flamingoes (of two species), which at times can gather in hundreds of thousands, possibly millions. There are also many other birds and the surrounding open plains and acacia woodland host a rich mammal fauna including common zebra, Rotschild’s giraffe, several species of antilopes and gazelles, buffalo, white and black rhinoceros, and various carnivores. After a morning game drive we return to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon we drive to the Masai Mara Game Reserve in the heart of Masai Country. We stay two nights at Fig Tree Camp by the Talek River.

Day 12. Masai Mara Game Reserve
A full day in Masai Mara, which is part of the Serengeti eco system and one of the richest game areas in the world. The Mara is dominated by open undulating grasslands broken up along waterways by strips of shrub and riverine woodland. Although out of season for the great herds of wildebeest, there are still large numbers of game: elephant, zebra, topi, impala, Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, buffalo, giraffe etc. Lions are common and there are also good chances to see cheeta, spotted hyena and jackals. Of course there are a number of smaller animals and a rich bird fauna.

Dag 13. Masai Mara – Nairobi
After an early morning game drive we leave Masai Mara, stopping for a picknick lunch en route, and return to Nairobi and Hotel Boulevard.

Dag 14. Nairobi and departure for Scandinavia
Morning free in Nairobi. In the afternoon transfer to airport for return flight.

Dag 15. End of tour
Via Addis Abeba and Rome we arrive at Stockholm/Arlanda in the morning (with plenty of time to catch any connecting flights).

Note: The programme can vary slightly due to weather conditions, movements of the animals or other unforeseeable whims of nature. The possibility of giving information in the vehicles is limited. Instead we have a daily meeting (usually after lunch or before/after dinner) to discuss the programme and what we have seen, and for the tour guide to talk about nature and culture in the area.

Preliminary timetable:
Outward bound
Arlanda – Addis Abeba 29 Dec 20.00–07.50*
Addis Abeba – Nairobi 30 Dec10.00–12.00
Homeward bound
Nairobi – Addis Abeba 11Jan 18.15–20.15
Addis Abeba – Arlanda 12 Jan 00.20–09.00
* = following day


PRICE and FACTS

Price: SEK 35 000:–
Single room supplement: SEK 4 000:–
Price reduction if you join at destination
Price includes: Tourist class air travel Stockholm–Nairobi and return, accomodation in shared dubbel room including breakfast in Nairobi, full board on safari, all entrance fees and transportation as specified in the itinerary, service of Swedish + English speaking naturalist guide.
Not included: Visa ($ 25:–, arranged on arrival) and vaccination charges, insurance, lunch & dinners in Nairobi, drinks, tips, and anything of purely personal nature.

Price based on minimum 10 participants. Maximum: 15 participants.

Technical arrangements: Voyage Specialresor
Västmannagatan 74, S–113 26 STOCKHOLM, Sweden
Tel: +46(0)8-24 75 97
E-mail: voyage@telia.com

Further information and booking: Contact Voyage
or Etienne Edberg info@ee-naturinfo.se
Tel: +46(0)70-217 54 06

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This page was last updated Dect 5th, 2014