Maasailand Safari

Welcome to Nairobi, East Africa’s most cosmopolitan city! You’ll be met on arrival and transferred to your hotel.

Commence the day with a visit to the Giraffe Center, a refuge for the endangered Rothschild Giraffe, where you can hand feed these gentle giants while learning all about their biology and conservation. Next, head to the Daphne Sheldrick Trust and Elephant Orphanage, where you’ll meet the resident elephants and their keepers during their feeding and playtime. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is the most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world and one of the pioneering conservation organizations for wildlife and habitat protection in East Africa. Pay a visit to the Karen Blixen Museum, home of the author of Out of Africa. Enjoy lunch in the gorgeous gardens and afterward, visit the Kazuri bead center – a women-owned cooperative that supports single mothers.

This morning, fly to the Amboseli region, where you’ll be met on arrival and transferred to Merreushi Maasai village. The Maasai villagers established this camp as a means to directly support wildlife conservation and community development in their village. Stays at the camp support the community clinic and school, help provide clean drinking water to the community, and assist those affected by periodic droughts. Join your warrior guides on an evening bush walk through the landscape that they grew up in.

The schedule each day in the village is flexible, which allows you the opportunity to participate in various village activities. The typical morning starts with a cup of tea or coffee, followed by a bushwalk led by local Maasai warriors. You’ll learn how to track wildlife as the Maasai do, as well as about wildlife conservation, poaching issues, natural medicine, and how humans and wildlife have co-existed here for generations. There are possible storytelling sessions by elders around the bonfire, a visit to a local school, Maasai songs and dance, and a visit to the Maasai Association’s development projects.

On one or two of the days you’ll visit Amboseli National Park with your Maasai guides. Sitting at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro, elephants roam, lions and leopards prowl the grasses, and tiny dik diks shelter in low growing palms. Photography opportunities here can be spectacular, with wildlife set against the backdrop of Kilimanjaro, the very roof of Africa.

Depart Amboseli this morning and fly to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. On arrival, you’ll be met by your driver and immediately head out on a game drive en route to camp. Emboo River is the leading eco-camp in Kenya, and you’ll enjoy game drives in the first electric safari vehicle in the Mara, led by exceptional guides. The camp’s commitment to sustainability and keeping a low ecological footprint is setting the standard for other safari camps in Kenya.

The highlight of the Maasai Mara National Reserve is undoubtedly the annual wildebeest migration traversing the vast plains of the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara ecosystem. It is known as the largest mass movement of land mammals on the planet – with more than a million animals following the rains. Large prides of lions, elephants, giraffes, gazelles, and eland are frequently spotted in the reserve. Head out every morning and afternoon looking for resident wildlife like leopards and cheetahs from your silent electric safari vehicle. Spend time in one of the neighboring villages and learn about Maasai culture and traditions.

Fly to Nairobi in time to meet your departing international flight. We highly recommend considering an extension to Rwanda for gorilla trekking or relaxing on the beautiful beaches of Zanzibar or Pemba Islands. For more ideas on how to customize this trip, please don’t hesitate to ask us.