Signature Kenya Safari

After breakfast we visit the Sheldrick Trust Elephant Orphanage. During this time the orphans can be witnessed enjoying a milk feed and mud bath (or soil dusting on cooler days). The visit is intended to provide an opportunity for visitors to learn about the work of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in the rescue and rehabilitation of orphaned elephants, with one of our Keepers giving a talk throughout the visiting hour, during which time they will tell the stories of the different orphans in our care and explain about the process of raising milk dependent baby elephants.

With information provided about the wider threats facing elephants and the reasons there are orphans, as well as the work being done by the Sheldrick Trust and other organizations to protect elephants and wildlife in Kenya, the visit is both educational and informative. Throughout the talk, the elephants will be enjoying themselves eating greens, drinking their milk, playing with one another and on hotter days splashing about in the mud.
Then we go to Giraffe Manor for the evening. Giraffe Manor is an exclusive boutique hotel, owned by The Safari Collection. Often referred to as one of the most instagrammed properties in the world, Giraffe Manor is set in 12 acres of private land within 140 acres of indigenous forest in the Langata suburb of Nairobi. Giraffe Manor is one of Nairobi’s most iconic buildings. The historic manor house has extraordinary appeal, that harks back to the 1930s when visitors first flocked to East Africa to enjoy safaris. With its stately façade, elegant interior, verdant green gardens, sunny terraces and delightful courtyards, guests often remark that it’s like walking into the film Out of Africa: indeed, one of its twelve rooms is named after the author Karen Blixen.
One of the most fascinating things about Giraffe Manor is its resident herd of Rothschild’s giraffes who may visit morning and evening, poking their long necks into the windows in the hope of a treat, before retreating to their forest sanctuary. Giraffe Manor can be booked for the night or as part of a complete tailor-made safari with The Safari Collection.

Due to very limited availability at Giraffe Manor some members of our group will stay at Giraffe Manor on the night of Day 1 and will stay the the Boma Nairobi on the night of Day 2.  Everyone will stay one night at Giraffe Manor
Accommodations: Giraffe Manor

After breakfast, drive to Masai Mara Game Reserve. Arrive and have lunch before embarking for an afternoon game drive. The jewel in Africa’s crown, Maasai Mara, is host to the most spectacular array of wildlife such as Lions, elephant, Cheetah, leopard, Rhinos, giraffe, gazelle, zebras among others.

Game viewing is never dull in the Mara and patience is often rewarded with unique sightings: a pride of lion stalking their prey; a solitary leopard retrieving its kill from the high branches of an acacia tree; a male wildebeest sparring to attract females into their harem; a herd of elephant protecting their young from opportunistic predators. This afternoon we will join the Maasai dancers donning their African regalia and the jingling on their feet, flow by the rhythm of African beats and dance to their tunes that will leave you refreshed.
Accommodations: Elewana Sand River Masai Mara

This morning you will be going for the early morning balloon safari. You will be picked at the hotel by the Balloon Company at 5.30am and drive to the balloon launch site where you will gather for takeoff. Enjoy early morning ballooning over the plains, getting a bird’s eye view of the game below as the sun creeps slowly over the horizon. After approximately one hour aloft, the balloon lands while a breakfast is being prepared for us nearby. The smell of bacon, sausages and eggs drift on the breeze as we sample exotic Kenyan fruits and homemade pastries and, if you wish, glasses of bubbly to toast our flight, a tradition initiated by the Montgolfier brothers.

A full day is spent game viewing and exploring this natural wonder with a visit to the Mara River where the wildebeest migration takes place. Here you can see both the hippos and the crocodiles that co exist in the same waters. The Masai Mara is Kenya’s most popular safari destination and for good reason. It is a vast reserve of endless flat grassland crossed by rivers which play host to wildlife’s most spectacular moments. Its biggest drawcard is the Wildebeest Migration when vast hordes of Wildebeest roar through the park bringing in its trail a wake of mighty predators. If you’re lucky enough to be in Masai Mara during the migration pick a spot by the river and watch enraptured as crocs and lions compete to pick-off stragglers from the clattering herds of wildebeest.
Accommodations: Elewana Sand River Masai Mara

Will have a morning game drive after your breakfast and checkout as we drive to Nairobi. Back in Nairobi we visit the Karen Blixen Museum. Located in Karen, the beautiful Nairobi suburb that was once part of Karen Blixen’s vast coffee estate, “Mbogani” was Karen’s home from 1917 until 1931. The house and grounds were made famous by the film “Out of Africa”. Visitors have a glimpse of typical colonial life in Kenya at the turn of the twentieth century.

As well as many of Karen’s original belongings, replicas replace items that have been lost over the years. At the front of the house the original millstone tables can be seen from which Karen conducted much of her farm business. This morning we will also visit the Giraffe Centre, headquarters for AFEW, the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife. Made famous by Daisy Rothschild, a giraffe calf rescued from Soi on the border of Western Kenya, Giraffe Manor was established in 1983 as a sanctuary for the then endangered Rothschild giraffe. There is also the opportunity to learn more about giraffe at the interpretation center and hand-feed them while watching the semi-tame family of warthogs snuffle around their hooves in search of tidbits. Then enjoy lunch at the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden.
Accommodations: The Boma Nairobi