09/14/2022
JST Journeys has an opening for the Africa/Nairobi trip next January. This is always a sellout, but two folks just canceled. The dates are from Jan 19-31, and the cost is $6370 per person. If you have any interest, give us a shout at 907-522-1299
Details below
You will be met after collecting your luggage at the Nairobi International Airport and transferred to our hotel. The Palacina Residential hotel is a quiet respite from the bustle and grit of downtown Nairobi. If you arrive at a reasonable time and before you want to retire you can grab a drink or meal at the hotel. These are the only charges which will be billed to your personal account as most guests retire directly to their room.
**Overnight Palacina Residential Hotel Nairobi
Day 2: Nairobi, Kenya
We will depart from the hotel lobby at 9:00 a.m. and drive to the suburb of Karen and visit the giraffe
Breeding and conservation center. From the giraffe center we drive to the Shedrick’s Elephant Orphanage
where we will learn about the care and upbringing of orphaned elephants from around Kenya. From the
Elephant Orphanage we will proceed to a wonderful outdoor al-a-carte lunch. After lunch we continue to the
Karen Blixen Home, now a museum. The house was made famous after the filming of the Hollywood movie, “Out of Africa”. This evening we depart the hotel for an evening of cocktails and dinner at Basil Mwakolumba’s apartment complex. You’ll be treated with local cuisine and meet some of Basil’s family and friends.
** Overnight: Palacina Residential Hotel, Nairobi
**Meal symbols: B (Breakfast), L (Lunch), D (Dinner).
Day 3: Nairobi to Amboseli National Park
After breakfast we depart for an overland journey through the Kenya countryside to Amboseli National Park. The park is located 137 miles from Nairobi and sits at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak at 19,340 ft. We hope to see quite a variety of bird and animal life prior to arriving at our lodge for check-in and lunch. There will be time to relax after lunch in your room or around the pool before our first game drive through the park looking for herds of elephants, Grant and Thomson’s gazelle, birds and other wildlife that make Amboseli their home.
** Overnight: Amboseli Serena Lodge. ** Meals: BLD.
Day 4: Amboseli National Park
We start the day with coffee and/or tea before our sunrise game drive. We will return around 9:30 a.m. for a full breakfast at the lodge. On our evening game drive, we will climb up to the observation hill to view the lake and swamp area below.
** Overnight: Amboseli Serena Lodge. ** Meals: BLD.
Day 5: Amboseli National Park / Nairobi / Lake Nakuru
After breakfast we depart the for a short game drive on route to the airstrip to catch our approximately 45-minute flight back to Nairobi landing at the Wilson National Airport. After landing we gather our luggage, board vans, and drive to Lake Naivasha for a boat ride on the lake. From the boat ride we drive a short distance to the Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge for lunch. After lunch, we continue to Lake Nakuru National Park, one of the best places to see white rhinos, Cape Buffalo and other Kenya wildlife.
** Overnight: Sarova Lion Hill Lodge ** Meals: BLD.
Day 6: Lake Nakuru National Park
Today we will spend the entire day in Lake Nakuru National Park with both morning and afternoon game drives. We will concentrate our drives on searching for both Black and White Rhino’s along with the vast variety of birdlife that lives within the park.
** Overnight: Sarova Lion Hill Lodge. ** Meals: BLD.
Day 7: Lake Nakuru National Park to Ol Pejeta Conservancy
After breakfast today we drive to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a 140 sq mile, not-for-profit, wildlife conservancy in central Kenya. Situated on the equator west of Nanyuki, between the foothills of the Aberdare Mountains and Mount Kenya the Conservancy boasts the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa along with the Sweetwater’s Chimpanzee Sanctuary which provides a haven for orphaned, abandoned and rescued chimpanzees in conjunction with the Jane Goodall Institute. It is the only place in Kenya where these great apes can be seen. Ol Pejeta is the one chance to experience sleeping in a tented camp.
** Overnight: Sweetwaters Serena Tented Camp ** Meals: BLD.
Day 8: Ol Pejeta Conservancy to Shaba/Samburu/Buffalo Springs National Reserves
Today we travel through the rural farmlands on the shoulders of Mt. Kenya reaching an elevation of 9,000 ft. Then proceed into the rugged semi-desert region of ‘Samburuland’ in the northern part of Kenya. Samburu, Shaba and Buffalo Springs National Reserves are 3 connected reserves blessed with species rarely found elsewhere in Kenya including reticulated giraffes, Grevy’s zebra, Beisa oryx, gerenuk, Somali ostrich, vulturine guinea fowl and the tiny Dik Dik antelope. The lodge is located on the banks of the Ewaso Ngiro River which has many large crocodiles. The lodge also has a lovely swimming pool for afternoon dips. Our late afternoon game drive will take us into the Shaba National Reserve.
** Overnight: Shaba Sarova. ** Meals: BLD.
Day 9: Shaba/Samburu/Buffalo Springs National Reserves
We start the day with a sunrise game drive into either Samburu or Buffalo Springs depending on where the wildlife has been spotted. We will return to the lodge for a full breakfast. We will have time this afternoon to either enjoy the amenities of the lodge or possibly visit a near-by grade school or visit a Turkana Village prior to our afternoon game drive.
** Overnight: Shaba Sarova. ** Meals: BLD.
Day 10: Shaba/Samburu Reserves to the Masai Mara Game Reserve
After breakfast at the lodge, we will do a game drive enroute to the airstrip for our 1.5-hour flight across Africa’s famous rift valley to the Masai Mara Game Reserve. Upon our arrival in the Masai Mara, we transfer to our Lodge which is perched atop an escarpment overlooking the vast Mara plains. We have lunch at the lodge and then have time to relax at the pool or rest before our afternoon game drive. Along with a tremendous amount of wildlife and birdlife, the landscapes and skyscapes of the Mara are spectacular.
** Overnight: Mara Serena Safari Lodge. ** Meals: BLD.
Day 11: Masai Mara Game Reserve
We have a full day with both a morning and afternoon game drive within in Masai Mara. In the morning we will drive to the Mara River which is the permanent supply of water within the reserve giving us good opportunities for wildlife and birds. Our afternoon game drive will take us farther into the Mara searching for more wildlife.
** Overnight: Mara Serena Safari Lodge ** Meals: BLD.
Day 12: Masai Mara
We start the day before sunrise with a Hot-Air Balloon Safari over the Mara. We will watch the balloons being inflated in the darkness before climbing aboard and rising slowly above the Mara to float effortlessly over the savannah in search of wildlife. We may go as high as 7,000 feet for spectacular views and then slowly descend and glide over grazing wildlife. Our adventure will end with a wonderfully catered champagne bush breakfast followed by a game drive on route back to the lodge. We will have an afternoon game drive to look for lions, Cape buffalo, gazelles, topi, warthogs, cheetah, hyenas, hippos, Nile Crocodiles along with many varieties of beautiful African birds.
** Overnight: Mara Serena Safari Lodge. ** Meals: BLD.
Day 13: Masai Mara to Nairobi
We begin the day with our final day with a morning game drive returning for a late breakfast. At 11:00 a.m. our flight departs the Mara back across the Great Rift Valley to Wilson Airport in Nairobi. Our drivers and vans will greet us at Wilson Airport to transfer us to a hotel, close to the Jomo Kenyatta International airport, where we have dayrooms to shower and repack before being transferred to the airport for the flights back to the states.
**Meals: BLD
