Morning departure from Nairobi Wilson Airport and a 50 minute flight aboard our luxury Cessna Caravan to Keekorok Airstrip in the Masai Mara National Reserve, where you will stay at the Spirit of the Masai Mara Private Lodge.

Flight time Nairobi Wilson to Keekorok – approximately 50 minutes.

On arrival you will be greeted with refreshments by your private safari guide, before departing on a game drive in a bespoke safari cruiser to the lodge, arriving in time for lunch. In the afternoon, kids can participate in learning how to track animals and make bows and arrows, whilst adults can enjoy an afternoon siesta. Depart on a late afternoon game drive within the private Siana Conservancy, followed by a sundowner overlooking the panoramic landscape. Sit by the bonfire, watch the Masai dancers and gaze at the stars before heading back to the lodge. In the evening, the dedicated wildlife experts will talk to you about their specialist species and will host an informal dinner. (LD) 

Early morning departure to the Masai Mara National Reserve, with your specialist wildlife guides in bespoke safari cruisers to track the most vulnerable of the big cats, lion and cheetah. The very existence of these two big cat species is becoming increasingly vulnerable worldwide and our specialist experts, who are at the forefront of conservation of species, are on hand exclusively, to educate and enlighten you towards the valiant efforts being made to protect these amazing animals. Tracking the big cats can take time as they can travel long distances. Follow the signs and find the prides either hunting or sunbathing. (BLD)

Stop for a hearty lunch by the river or under an Acacia tree overlooking the sprawling Mara plains. In the afternoon, continue tracking and following the big cats and look out for the Southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) now also considered to be a vulnerable species. Time permitting, you will stop by a Masai village to meet ‘the locals’ who call this beautiful wonder of the world their home. This will be an introduction to Masai culture that you will never forget. Arrive back at the lodge in time for a swim in the infinity pool or relax and review your stunning photographs from the day.

This morning at 06h30 enjoy a 1 hour bush walk (optional) with professional silver rated Kenya Professional Safari Guide. Your guide will be from the local Masai community and will proudly show you the traditional uses for medicinal plants, flowers and herbs, a practice that is becoming more obsolete in our modern world today. Track small animals and learn how every living creature plays its part in this delicate ecosystem. Return to the lodge for breakfast, at 09h00 you will be transferred by safari cruiser to the Siana Springs Airstrip. (BLD)

09h30 take off and fly to the very heart of Laikipia in northern Kenya to Sosian Bush Airstrip, flying up through one of the Seven Wonders of the World – The Great Rift Valley. Your pilot guide will talk to you through your own personal headset, pointing out interesting landmarks, geographical and geological sights.

Flight time Siana Springs to Laikipia – approximately 2 hours.

On arrival at Sosian Airstrip you will be met by a specialist guide who will transfer you to Laikipia Wilderness Camp, without a doubt the very best place from which to explore this magical landscape that the African wild dog call their home.

Please note: Option to upgrade accommodation from Laikipia Wilderness Camp to Sosian Lodge (at additional cost).

This morning you will wake extra early to catch the African wild dog hunting packs in action. Your driver and guide will take you on an adventure to track possibly the rarest of Africa’s mammals. Stay sharp and you might see a pack out tracking its breakfast. Together with an expert on this amazing species and the help of telemetry, watch how data is collected from sightings of wild dog, some of whom are fitted with radio collars for this research. This area of Kenya has by far the largest populations of wild dogs in Africa, though sadly their numbers remain in decline. Tracking them by vehicle and occasionally on foot is a truly unique experience and if you are lucky you may end up with one of the best wild dog sightings in the world. As the dogs’ territories are huge, they do roam vast distances. For this reason, sightings can be fleeting. (BLD)

Through the excitement of tracking these magnificent beasts, enjoy a picnic breakfast and a bush lunch, dependent upon where the wild dog are hunting. Toast the day’s end with sundowners overlooking this magnificent landscape. Return to the camp for dinner.

For those keen to get out once again, the Ol Donyo Lemboro Conservancy is fantastic for night game drives, where you are likely to see smaller nocturnal mammals that use the cover of night as their playground, of the more exciting and interesting species there are good leopard sightings, Aardwolf, the near threatened striped hyena, and Aardvark.

Wake early for a game drive to track wild dog with your expert guide. The Ol Donyo Lemboro Conservancy is also home to large numbers of elephant, in smaller herds than in Samburu and other parts of the country, a positive sign of being relaxed. Reticulated giraffe, the endangered Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi) hippo, buffalo, warthog, lion, hyenas, bat-eared foxes and lots of antelope species are all commonly seen. Return to camp for lunch, at 14h00 you will be transferred to the Sosian Airstrip for your flight to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. (BLD)

Flight time Laikipia to Lewa – approximately 25 minutes.

On arrival at the Lewa Conservancy, you will be met by your driver guide who will take you to the Lewa marshlands. Home to roosts of the endangered grey crowned crane (the national bird of Uganda), with an estimated population of less than fifty thousand birds left in the world, twenty thousand of which can be found in Kenya. On the way to Lewa Safari Camp, stop for a sundowner looking west over the unspoilt plains of the Lewa Wilderness.

Please note: Option to upgrade accommodation from Lewa Safari Camp to Sirikoi (at additional cost).

Wake to the sounds of calling yellow bill hornbills as they chatter in the trees. Tea or coffee will be served on your deck and then an early breakfast before departing at 07h30 on a game drive into the Lewa Conservancy. Enroute you will visit the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy Headquarters to meet the rhino and Grevy’s zebra scientists. If early enough, you may catch a leopard tracking back to its lair, leaving only its footprints in the morning dew. (BLD)

Enjoy a visit to the joint operations centre to see in action the valiant efforts by the Northern Rangelands Trust conservation program, satellite tracking of both rhinos and elephants across the East Africa region. Lewa is home to the largest concentrations of both black and white rhino with over 130 individuals and the regal Grevy’s zebra. In addition, Lewa’s varied range of habitats attracts a diverse and colourful collection of birdlife.

Enjoy a bush lunch in the wilderness of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and then you have the option to either continue spending valuable time with our experts throughout the remainder of the afternoon to see firsthand how the habits, identification processes and efforts, or to relax by the pool or for the more adventurous, a guided evening game walk.

Wake to an early breakfast and a tour around the elephant tracking and research camp. See elephant tracking live, with satellite signs depicting the locations of elephants from Congo to Tanzania, meet ‘behind the scenes staff’ who have dedicated their time towards tracking, monitoring and researching the African Elephant as a species. These experts will show you just how special elephants are, through years of scientific research, observation and their conservation efforts, giving you an insight and understanding that few others have the unique opportunity to share. (BLD)

Highly intelligent and emotional animals, who thrive in a close-knit family unit – just like humans. Save The Elephants team of research staff will talk you through the process of collaring elephants and how they are tracked, how the information gathered is processed and how it benefits the ultimate existence of these magnificent animals.

After the tour of the research camp, depart on a game drive with Saba as your guide to explore the Samburu Game Reserve and the thrill of being introduced to Elephants by name. Learn more about their life cycles, their migratory routes, observe their complex emotions and how self-aware they really are and above all just how vulnerable their existence is to loss of habitat and ivory poaching.

Enjoy an early morning game drive with your Samburu guide and a picnic, to see where the elephant have moved to overnight. Spend valuable time with the herds that you now know by name and reconnect where you left yesterday. Find a spot by the river to enjoy a picnic breakfast before returning to camp for lunch. This afternoon you will be transfer to the airstrip to board your private charter flight to Nairobi. (BL)

Depart from Simba Oryx Airstrip, Samburu, enjoy a scenic flight over the Wasu Nyiro River, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Mt. Kenya and the highlands famous for Kenya’s Tea plantations and onward to Nairobi Airport.

Flight time Samburu to Nairobi – approximately 55 minutes.

Please note: Scenic Air Safaris reserves the right to offer, at a surcharge, suitable changes to the itinerary, accommodation or sequence of excursions, as may be required on certain departures due to seasonality and proximity of certain animals to a specific locations.