Full-length Self Drive Safari Itinerary
(Click here for Kenya Migration Safari tour details)
Sunday – Day 1: David Sheldrick Elephant Orphange and Lake Naivasha
Meeting baby elephants at David Sheldrick elephant orphanage in Nairobi
Our journey begins in Nairobi, the buzzing Capital of Kenya. We take some time to be acquainted with our vehicles and the rest of our small group before visiting the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. The baby elephants come out to play every morning, an hour of entertainment where we watch the babies play in mud pools, kick a soccer ball and slurp massive bottles of formula. This is not a zoo, but a place where orphaned elephants are hand-reared, taught life elephant skills and eventually released back into the wild. It is possible to adopt a baby elephant or rhino – the perfect gift for animal lovers back home.
After a hearty lunch we drive to Lake Naivasha at the bottom of the famous Rift Valley arriving in plenty of time to check into our hotel, take a dip in the pool and walk to the Lake’s edge to listen to hippos grunting! Lake Naivasha has been a favourite holiday destination for tourists and locals alike for generations, in early colonisation English royalty owned properties in this wildlife rich area!
In the late afternoon colobus and vervet monkeys visit looking for tasty snacks while Fish Eagles fly overhead seeking out lake fish for dinner.
Driving Distance: 100km
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Hotel
Monday – Day 2: Green Crater Lake and Elsamere
We start the day with a gentle walking safari around Green Crater Lake. This is one of the very few game parks in Africa without predators making it safe to walk offering a rare opportunity to stand close to giraffes, zebra, antelope, flamingos and warthogs to name a few. This area is also rich in medicinal and cosmetic plants as our guide explains and demonstrates the different uses.
WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY…
I wouldn’t change anything about the trip I did, but I will definitely allow more time for any future trips I do in Africa!! I wish we had stayed longer so we could have seen and done so much more.
In the afternoon we drive a short distance to Elsamere and enjoy High Tea at Joy Adamson’s House. Joy and George Adamson became famous for their unique work with lions, the most famous being ‘Elsa’. The movie ‘Born Free’ was about Elsa’s life. We enjoy High Tea overlooking Lake Naivasha while Colobus monkeys try to steal scones from our plates!
Driving Distance: 40kms
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Hotel
Tuesday – Day 3: Hells Gate National Park and Masai Mara Reserve
We depart Lake Naivasha and drive into Hells Gate National Park. Hells Gate National Park is well known for its dramatic scenery – so dramatic in fact it was the location to film the blockbuster movie “Tomb Raider”! We drive through the park past herds of zebra, impala and giraffe as we make our way to the northern end and exit on to a rough dirt track.
Enjoying a warm welcome from local communities as we drive through villages in Kenya
We journey where most tourists never do, driving through remote villages and small subsistence farms, famers and children stop in amazement and then wave enthusiastically as we pass in our 4×4 Land Rovers.
Meeting the tar seal in the small town of Suswa we continue on the main highway toward Narok before turning off toward the Masai Mara Reserve.
We spend the afternoon game driving in search of African wildlife. From the moment we drive through the gates the Mara comes alive with animals in colossal amounts.
Driving Distance: 200kms
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Tented Camp
Wednesday – Day 4: Masai Mara Game Reserve
The Masai Mara is Kenya’s most famous park; bordering Tanzania and the Serengeti; it boasts the famous Migration and the well documented Mara River crossing of wildebeest and zebras seen between July and September each year. We spend the day game viewing at leisure, taking our time to stop and observe wildlife in their natural environment the way Mother Nature intended.
Zebras drinking from the cool waters of the Mara River
During the peak of the Migration we head to key points by the Mara River hoping to witness thousands of wildebeest and zebra attempting the treacherous crossing through crocodile infested waters.
While game driving we stop to photograph wildlife including elephant, buffalo, giraffe, topi, warthogs, mongoose, ostrich, lion, leopard, jackals, hyena, cheetah and rhinoceros.
At night we fall asleep to the sounds of Africa.
Driving Distance: Variable
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Tented Camp
Thursday – Day 5: Njoro
Rising early morning and enjoying a final game drive in the Masai Mara Reserve we depart for Njoro near Nakuru Town. Once again we take the roads less travelled as we climb out of the Rift Valley to the Kenyan highlands into the heart of the Mau Mau region. We negotiate a mountain pass before dropping in altitude and re-joining the tar road just before Njoro.
We arrive at Kenana Farm, a working farm from the colonial period, in the early afternoon. After settling into our quaint English style cottage we are taken on a guided tour of the farm to meet the workers and farm animals.
Kenana farm is also home to a knitting project, an initiative to enable the wives of the farm workers to earn an income. The women knit a variety of goods from blankets to clothing to cute African animal finger puppets. This small project has grown to exceptional heights with goods being exported all over the World. The dye used for the wool is from natural plants grown on the farm.
Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya is a haven for hundreds of thousands of pink flamingos
After dinner we can enjoy a glass of wine while sitting around the open fire telling stories of our experiences with African wildlife or you can sneak off for a hot bath in your cottage!
Driving Distance: 220kms
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Cottage
Friday – Day 6: Lake Nakuru National Park
We drive the short distance to our last but certainly not least impressive game park – Lake Nakuru National Park. The park resembles scenes from Jurassic park – a large lake in the centre surrounded by rough sharp cliffs and dense forest. The setting is as dramatic as the game viewing.
As we enter the park we are presented with tens of thousands of pink flamingoes happily perched in the shallows of Lake Nakuru; around the edges of the Lake it is not unusual to see lion, rhinoceros, buffalo, zebra, gazelles, waterbucks, families of warthogs and lone hyenas all within a short distance of one another.
Lake Nakuru National Park has a high concentration of critically endangered black and white Rhinoceros. These gentle creatures are prized for their horn so poaching is a constant threat to their survival hence they are awarded 24 hour protection from armed rangers.
While game driving in Lake Nakuru National Park we spot this young leopard cub as he patiently waits his mothers return.
We spend a full day exploring the park before the short drive back to Njoro.
Driving Distance: 80kms
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Cottage
Saturday – Day 7: Nairobi
We enjoy a sleep in before departing Njoro for Nakuru Town. Nakuru Town boasts a vibrant local souvenir market, it is worth taking some time to explore and barter for souvenirs. Bartering for goods in the markets is a Kenyan tradition and is often a lot of fun for you and the seller as jokes are made to lighten the event.
On our way back to Nairobi we stop for a local lunch. Nyama Choma literally translates to mean barbecue meat in Swahili. Nyama Choma is a popular weekend treat for Kenyans. Fresh beef, chicken, goat and lamb are barbecued over hot coals, cut into pieces before being piled onto wooden platters to share, served with traditional side plates of Kachumbari (tomato and dhania salad), Sukuma wiki (local collard greens) and Ugali (maize meal cooked with water). You will be pleasantly surprised at just how tasty this meal is!
With our stomach’s full and a taste for traditional Kenyan culture we return to Nairobi. We have a final night in Nairobi reminiscing over our incredible journey, the amazing wildlife, fascinating characters we met and remarkable roads driven.
Driving Distance: 180kms
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Guest House
The best time to experience the Great Wildebeest Migration on safari in the Masai Mara is during the months June to September with enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra staying in the Mara until December/January. The plains are full with hundreds of thousands of zebra and wildebeest with lions, leopard, cheetahs, hyenas and other predators not far behind. Witnessing one of the greatest spectacles in the Animal Kingdom from behind the driving wheel is truly a once in a lifetime experience.
The Masai Mara offers exceptional game viewing other times of the year with its extraordinarily high concentration of resident wildlife present throughout the year.
