Bush
Home Safaris — 'Feel at home in the bush'
Dream
of Africa Bush Home Safari in Kenya
(14
Days / 13 Nights)
Wilderness
Trails – Laikipia
Kenya
|
Longonot
Ranch House
Lake
Naivasha, Kenya
|
Rekero
Tented Camp, Masai Mara Kenya
|
Destination
Highlights:
Lewa Downs –
Aberdares / Solio Ranch –
Northern Laikipia –
Naivasha –
Maasai Mara Game Reserve
Itinerary
Summary
Day
1: Nairobi – Lewa Downs, Laikipia
Northern Kenya. Overnight at Lewa Wilderness Trails
Day 2: Lewa Downs Laikipia Northern
Kenya. Overnight
at Lewa Wilderness Trails
Day
3: Lewa Downs Laikipia
Northern Kenya.
Overnight at Lewa Wilderness Trails
Day
4: Aberdares / Solio Ranch. Overnight at
Solio Camp
Day
5: Aberdares / Solio Ranch. Overnight at
Solio Camp
Day
6: Aberdares / Solio Ranch. Overnight
at Solio Camp
Day
7: Laikipia plateau. Overnight at Ol Malo
House
Day
8: Laikipia plateau. Overnight at Ol Malo
House
Day
9: Lake Naivasha. Overnight at Longonot
Ranch House
Day
10: Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Overnight
at Rekero Tented Camp
Day
11: Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Overnight
at Rekero Tented Camp
Day
12: Maasai Mara Game Reserve.
Overnight at Rekero Tented Camp
Day
13: Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Overnight
at Rekero Tented Camp
Day
14: Maasai Mara – Nairobi –
Departure
Cost
for 2010: Per Person
Land Arrangements (per person)
| |
May
& June |
Rest
of the Year |
Double
Occupancy |
|
|
Single
Supplement |
|
|
Child
rate 2-11 years is 75% of the adult rate
Bush
Home Safari in Kenya (14 Days / 13 Nights)
Bush
Home Safari in Kenya 14 Days is
a unique safari experience - staying at luxury private
homes in the heart of the African bush. Rather than
stay at a lodge or tented camp, you can now bring
your family or friends to Kenya and stay a spacious
designer house fully staffed with house manager,
private chef and waiters.
Our
Safari bush homes / houses/ Camps offer exclusive
luxury. Each property is distinctive, built using
the finest natural materials and set in extensive
grounds.
You
can tailor-make your own holiday experience, whether
you want to track leopard at dawn, drink cocktails
at sunset or simply laze beside their private pool.
Each bush lodge/camp has its own wildlife guides,
private vehicles for game drives and armed scouts
for walking safaris. All
the houses offer luxury, service, space and privacy
- ideal for families or groups of friends.
Detailed
Itinerary
Day
1
Nairobi – Lewa
Downs, Wilderness Trails
It’s
off to the bush by road , setting a course to Lewa
Downs, the home of our hosts Will and Emma Craig.
The ranch has been the Craig family home since 1922,
when Will’s grandparents came from England
to raise cattle. Located in the foothills of Mount
Kenya, it has been described as “a private
home, a private ranch, and a private paradise.”
We agree.
And
it’s certainly no exaggeration that game viewing
here is also some of the best in Africa. With every
manner and mode of viewing possible! Via an open-top
vehicle day or night, on foot with a professional
tracker, jogging with a Maasai warrior, sitting
in a blind with a thermos of hot coffee and a good
book, or even on horses so compliant that a five-year-old
child could ride effortlessly for hours. After which
you can tour Lewa’s community weaving and
furniture workshops, tour the organic garden producing
the lodge’s fruits and vegetables, play tennis,
explore the nearby ancient archaeological site,
swim in the pool or simply relax on the terrace
with a pair of binoculars spotting the “Big
Five” from your lounge chair. The accommodations
here are also divine—British cozy meets safari
chic. Simply stated, Lewa Downs is an utterly perfect
safari experience.
Overnight
at Lewa Wilderness Trails
Meal
Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Days
2 & 3
Lewa
Downs, Wilderness
Trails
Two full days to explore the wonders
of Lewa Downs, where elephants roam alongside graceful
reticulated giraffe, giant eland, all the big cats,
and one of the world’s last great population
of black rhino.
Overnight at Lewa Wilderness Trails
Meal Plan {Breakfast,
Lunch & Dinner}
Day
4
Lewa Downs —
Aberdares
/ Solio Ranch
If the black rhino has not been seen
at Lewa Downs, a short drive west, to Solio Reserve,
where the Parfet family have achieved the world’s
highest reproduction rate of this magnificent beast.
The camp site is on a spectacular riverside location,
between snow-capped Mount Kenya and the green slopes
of the Aberdares.
Overnight at Solio
Camp
Meal Plan
{Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day
5 & 6
Aberdares / Solio Ranch
Two full days to enjoy the wonders
of Solio, which hosts large numbers of plains game
as well as its famous population of black and white
rhino. From here, it’s a short drive to the
Aberdare Salient, where Kenya’s last great
indigenous forest harbors great herds of elephant,
buffalo, lion, rare bongo antelope, and spectacular
bird life.
Overnight at Solio Camp
Meal Plan
{Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day 7
Aberdares / Solio Ranch
—
Ol Malo
From the Aberdares, heading east
across the Laikipia Plateau to the spectacular wilderness
of Ol Malo, a 5,000 acre game sanctuary perched
above the Uaso Nyiro River. Overnight in one of
four charming cottages overlooking a large waterhole
where elephant and resident leopard regularly come
to drink.
In truth, every bush home seems utterly perfect.
Loisaba, for example, takes luxury, privacy and
adventure to dazzling new heights. Located at the
edge of a towering escarpment in a secluded glade,
Loisaba was built originally as the Kenyan home
of the late Italian Count Ancilotto, who transformed
its 60,000 acres from a failing cattle ranch to
a successful enterprise in alternative land use—and
in the process, created a wilderness paradise for
a very privileged few to share. His home, occasionally
available for private groups, is divine (Italian
nobles have exquisite taste!), and his delightful
lodge offers diversions beyond our wildest imagination.
Micro-light flying
anyone? Or perhaps quad biking across the escarpment,
rafting the Ewaso Nyiro River, four-wheel driving
through the wild canyons of two great rivers or
trekking with camels. All this, in addition to excellent
game viewing, of course. And star beds! Spend an
evening, if you so desire, in a four-poster bed
with only the boundless equatorial night sky for
a ceiling. It’s truly extraordinary.
Overnight at Ol
Malo
Meal Plan
{Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day
8
Ol
Malo, Laikipia
A day at Ol Malo gives us
chances to drive or walk in the surrounding bush
or to visit the Francombe family’s traditional
Samburu neighbors. Our Hosts also have a stable
of horses and camels, which offer a unique perspective
of this wild land – and good chances of seeing
shyer antelope species such as klipspringer and
the majestic Greater Kudu.
Overnight at Ol
Malo
Meal Plan
{Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day
9
Ol
Malo, Laikipia —
Lake Naivasha
Depart for the Great Rift Valley
to Lake Naivasha, famed as the heartland of Kenya’s
original settler community. Our destination is Longonot
Ranch House, with stunning
views of Hell's Gate gorge and the Aberdare Mountain
range, is situated at 7,000 ft above sea level and
looks out over rolling plains to Lake Naivasha,
where approximately 475 different species of birds
make their home. Amongst the many species of game
which roam freely over the open plains and rocky
lava flows are eland, giraffe, Cape buffalo, zebra,
impala, Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, kongoni,
warthog, hyena, jackal, bat eared fox and spring
hare.
Even amidst all
of these possibilities, Mom and Dad may wish to
lounge by the pool admiring the view of zebras and
waterbuck just outside the fence while the kids
explore with their Safari Director. In the evenings,
guided stargazing helps youngsters locate the Southern
Cross while toasting marshmallows and telling tales
around the fire. Later we retire to our delightful
rooms with their four-poster beds of local woods
and the ever-stoked fireplace. It is indulgent luxury
that is thoroughly African.
Overnight at Longonot
Ranch House
Meal Plan
{Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day
10
Lake
Naivasha — Maasai Mara Game Reserve
Continue south to
the world-famous Maasai Mara Reserve. On the sweeping
river-fed plains, the whole of wild Africa congregates,
from elephant and buffalo to prowling cats and huge
herds of plains game. Home for the next four days
will be Rekero, the charming house of Pauline and
Ron Beaton, whose four thatched bungalows overlook
a much frequented waterhole on the edge of the reserve.
Overnight at Rekero
Meal Plan
{Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day
11, 12 & 13
Explore
Maasai Mara Game Reserve
We spend three nights here, giving us the luxury
of time to appreciate the region’s rich wildlife
by game drive or even Hot-Air Balloon. Zebra, wildebeest,
topi and hippos are common, as are leopards, lions
and cheetahs. We’ll also immerse ourselves
in the Maasai culture by visiting villages and schools,
witnessing rituals and activities that have survived
innumerable generations. Our game drives are colored
with bush lore courtesy of our expert guides, who
also explain the dynamics of the wild and the importance
of conservation. We will appreciate Bush Sundowners—a
civilized cocktail party staged in the untamed wilds
of Africa—and a gourmet dinner.
Overnight at Rekero
Meal Plan
{Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day
14
Maasai
Mara —Nairobi
— Departure
Sadly, you bid “kwaheri”
to this special piece of Africa as you board the
flight to Nairobi. Day rooms reserved at the historic
Norfolk Hotel for freshening up before transferring
to the airport for your flight out of Kenya.
