Ultimate Backbone of Africa Safari – Kenya Tanzania

Arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and after clearing with Immigration and Customs formalities, proceed to the International arrivals area where you will be warmly met by a representative of Berleen Safaris and you will be transferred to Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel.

Transfer to your town hotel. Spend the rest of the evening at leisure. 

Crowne Plaza Nairobi Airport is conveniently located a few minutes’ drive from the terminals at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi and caters to transiting passengers and to travelers who want to relax and rejuvenate before they depart on a long international flight. The hotel offers 144 contemporarily designed rooms and suites that offer a warm and homely feel.  Facilities at the hotel include restaurants, bars, a Spa, a roof top deck with an infinity pool, gym, café with a round the clock menu and a shop. There is also a conference center with 3 meeting rooms and a state of the art business center and a shop stocked with essential items and Kenyan artefacts.

Dinner will be on own arrangement.

Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel

After breakfast depart north through the rich agricultural and hilly mosaic of small farms, pineapple and coffee plantations to Aberdare National Park. Arrive in time for lunch at the ground serving hotel – at the Country Club. Afternoon transfer to your overnight Tree lodge built deep in the forest. Enjoy game viewing at the floodlit water hole and salt lick from the comfortable lounge areas or from your room at any time of night such as the savannah elephant, rhino, Cape buffalo, bush bucks, giant forest hogs, Sykes monkey, leopard, and the rare bongo. A ground level bunker provides excellent photographic opportunities and takes you closer than you would believe possible to the wildlife. A warm jacket/sweater is highly recommended.

Opened in November 1969 The Ark overlooks the Yasabara waterhole, perhaps the largest salt-lick in the Aberdare Mountains and the haunt of a variety of forest game unequalled in Africa. This tree-lodge is uniquely shaped to resemble the actual Ark, designed with decks from which numerous balconies and lounges provide superb vantage points for viewing the animals visiting the salt-lick and waterhole. A ground-level bunker provides excellent photographic opportunities, and the Yasabara waterhole is floodlit by night to enable all-night viewing of game. A “Resident Hunter” is always on hand to elucidate on the wildlife and landscape.

Access to vehicles is limited to conserve and protect the environment which hosts wildlife such as elephant, rhino, buffalo, bush bucks, giant forest hogs, Sykes monkey, leopard, and bongo.

 Dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Please note: Pack an overnight bag, the rest of the baggage to be left at the Country Club in safe deposit.

The Ark

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

This morning after an early breakfast we depart to Olpejeta Conservancy. Continue with your journey arriving at your camp in time for lunch. Relax after lunch before going on a game viewing drive in the conservancy.

Serena Sweetwater’s Tented Camp is located in the private Ol Pejeta Conservancy, renowned for its rhino conservation success. The camp is built around a waterhole which attracts a wide variety of game during the day and at night. The main area was once a colonial farm and the restaurant is housed in the former manager’s house along with a bar and lounge with cosy log fire and a swimming pool nearby.

Return for dinner and overnight.

Sweetwaters Tented Camp 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

You will spend another full day in Olpejeta Conservancy and visit the chimpanzee and rhino Sanctuary. 

You will also visit the information center where you will learn more about the Chimpanzee and Rhinos. You will have the vehicle on exclusive use so you may decide to do an extended game drive within the conservancy.

 Meals and overnight at your camp.

Sweetwaters Tented Camp 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Drive north to the Samburu National Reserve, set in the rugged semi-arid northern region with spectacular scenic landscape. Arrival in time for lunch, short siesta then head for an afternoon game viewing drive. The waters of the great Ewaso Nyiro River dotted with doum palms meanders through the reserve giving it an oasis setting and draw wildlife in great numbers to its banks. The verdant riverine forest is a stark contrast to the arid thorn studded plains. Samburu is visited by large herds of Elephants, drawn by the promise of water. In the dry season, the elephants use their tusks to dig deep into the dry river beds, unearthing precious water. These waterholes then become a focal point for other game. The Samburu region is the best place to find several endemic Northern species; including the Gerenuk (Twiga gazelle) due to her long neck, the beisa Oryx, the Reticulated Giraffe, the Somali ostrich and Grevy’s Zebra. Samburu is also an ornithological paradise, home to many birds including local species such as the Palm Nut Vulture and the Vinaceous Dove. Leopards are often seen at dusk. The Samburu culture is a truly fascinating one, sharing a great deal of ancestral and linguistic ties to the Maasai.The entire Samburu region is a place of breath taking and magical beauty, a place where the vision of a deep red sunset silhouetting the doum palms along the river as a leopard emerges to hunt brings the perfect end to a day on safari. 

Dinner and overnight at your camp.

Ashnil Samburu Camp 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Enjoy two full days of morning and afternoon game viewing in both Samburu and Buffalo Springs game reserves. Leopards are often seen at dusk. The Samburu culture is a truly fascinating one, sharing a great deal of ancestral and linguistic ties to the Maasai. The entire Samburu region is a place of breathtaking and magical beauty, a place where the vision of a deep red sunset silhouetting the doum palms along the river as a leopard emerges to hunt brings the perfect end to a day on safari. 

Ashnil Samburu Camp is a luxury tented set in the spectacular backdrop drop of the Mighty Ol Olokwe Mountain fronting Ewaso Nyiro River. The 30 exclusive luxury Tents are spread out along the shady banks of the river under a thick stand of doum Palms. It features an outdoor swimming pool surrounded by sun lounges, a garden and a Lounge bar offering views of the African savannah. Each tent features a decked Terrance with views of the Ewaso Nyiro River. The restaurant offers views of the river and serves a variety of menus comprising of Oriental, traditional and international cuisines. A range of activities are available on request and comprise of game drives, nature Walks and a cultural visit to the Samburu village, bush meals like bush lunch/dinner and sundowners.

Enjoy meals and overnight at the camp.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Visit to a Samburu Manyatta to see how the tribe lives in this harsh surrounding.

Ashnil Samburu Camp

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

After breakfast depart for Lake Nakuru National Park with a brief stopover at Thompson’s Falls named after Joseph Thompson who was the first European to walk from Mombasa to Lake Victoria in the early 1880’s. Proceed to the Lake Nakuru, famous as home to thousands of lesser and greater flamingo. This park also provides sanctuary for Rothschild giraffe, black and white rhino and the elusive leopard. Arrive in time for lunch at your preferred choice of accommodation and some leisure time, before later in the afternoon head out for game viewing drive in search of both the black and white rhino, the endangered Rothschild Giraffe the elusive leopard as well as a host of other plains game and with a chance to visit the shores of the lake where you may walk with millions of flamingos. 

Flamingo hill camp is situated within the national park and is set in beautifully landscaped grounds with a variety of indigenous plants and flowers.  All tents are en-suite and decorated in calming safari tones, natural woods and wrought iron four poster beds. There is a restaurant, small library and massage facilities at the camp. The camp provides superb, tented accommodation experience. Cozy, warm and inviting with a personal touch, Flamingo hill camp offers the traveler a home away from home! Flamingo hill camp is small and exclusive, comprising of 25 tents.

Return for dinner and overnight.

Flamingo Hill Tented Camp

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Early morning game drive. After breakfast you will drive to Lake Naivasha with its commanding setting at the foot of the Rift Valley Escarpment. The lake is an important horticultural area of Kenya. Arrive for lunch at your lodge. Afternoon at leisure by the lake side with optional boat ride/crescent island visit (payable direct). 

On the southern shores of Lake Naivasha is Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge. The lake is the only freshwater lake within Africa’s Great Rift Valley. The lake teems with freshwater fish and bathing hippo. This is the safari traveler’s place of relaxation and rejuvenation; a perfect blend of luxury and safari spirit. Here the avid bird watcher sees paradise in a vast array of exotic bird life. The lake region is host to distinctive herds of plains game and the elusive black faced colobus monkey.

Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge has panoramic views of the environs and the lake. Luxuriously appointed rooms feature spacious sunken lounges, while upper floor rooms have their own private balcony on which to relax, sunbathe or view game. The main restaurant serves a multi-ethnic combination of European, African and Asian dishes, all made with fresh produce. The lodge is guarded 24 hours a day by Masai warriors who will also escort guests to their rooms, particularly after dark.

Dinner and overnight at your lodge.

Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

After breakfast depart via Nairobi to Amboseli National Park, nestled on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro Africa’s highest snow-capped Mount, arrive in time for lunch and some leisure time, later in the afternoon heading out for an afternoon game viewing drive in searching for the ‘Big Five’ in this beautiful and very photogenic game park. Thereafter return for dinner and overnight.

Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Full day in Amboseli National Park. Starting with an early morning game drive, return for breakfast in the lodge, thereafter the rest of the morning is at leisure. Enjoy lunch and some leisure time, before, later in the afternoon heading out for yet another game viewing drive on this majestic backdrop to one of Kenya’s most spectacular displays of wildlife – lion, elephant, leopard, rhino, cheetah, buffalo and hosts of plains’ game. 

Nestled in the foothills of Kilimanjaro, hidden beneath a copse of giant acacia trees and beside a gently flowing natural spring lies Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge. With Kilimanjaro’s 6,000-meter-high snow-capped peaks rising behind the lodge and presiding over the landscape, which boasts more big game than almost anywhere else in Africa, the setting is nothing short of magnificent. Inspired by local Masai architecture, the design of the lodge is in total harmony with the environment. Each guest room conveys a distinctive Masai Manyatta mood and is furnished with authentic African murals painted by a local artist. The lodge has 96 beautifully appointed rooms and a swimming pool filled with fresh water from a spring flowing from Mount Kilimanjaro. Activities on offer include game drives three times a day, sundowners on Observation Hill, traditional feasts and tribal dancing overlooking a waterhole where big game gather, musical evenings and visits to the traditional manyattas of the Amboseli Masai.

As part of Serena Hotels’ dedication to conserving the fragile environment of the African Bush, guests are invited to plant a tree to help reforestation of the land that was becoming barren from the herds of elephants tearing up the trees for food. Hundreds of trees have been planted to date. The lodge’s naturalist also gives informative talks on the environmental issues relating to the Amboseli National Park.

Thereafter return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Breakfast will be served at the lodge, after breakfast you will be transferred to Amboseli Airstrip to catch your flight to the Mara departing at 0915hrs arriving at 1030hrs at Olkiombo Airstrip. Upon arrival you will be met by the camps safari guide /driver who will transfer you to the Camp with a short game drive enroute. 

Location! Location! Location! Set on the banks of the Talek River and overlooking the Mara plains, Tipilikwani Camp has one of the most spectacular views available. Set in the middle of what is considered the greatest wildlife reserve in Africa, Maasai Mara is home to one of the modern wonders of the world; the wildebeest migration as well as home to the Big Five. Enjoy an alfresco breakfast by the Talek River or a cold refreshing drink over a spectacular sunset or experience fine dining by candlelight all overlooked by carefully trained attentive staff. During the day, search for lions, cheetah, elephant, leopard, black rhino, giraffe, zebra, hippo and over 500 resident bird species including larks, sunbirds and the Lilac- Breasted Roller This is the Tipilikwani Experience

Lunch will be served.

Afternoon game drive in a shared vehicle (with other guests booked on package) as per the camps schedule. Return in the evening for dinner and overnight.

Tipilikwani Luxury Mara Camp 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Spend two more days’ game viewing in this wildlife haven enjoying both morning and afternoon game drive as per the camp’s schedule and in a shared vehicle.

Masai Mara is one of Africa’s greatest wildlife reserves. Acacia dotted plains, tree-lined rivers and woodlands are abundant with wildlife and an array of birdlife. Game viewing is spectacular year-round, you may see a pride of lions stalking their prey, observe a herd of elephant and their fascinating social structure, or see pods of hippo wallowing in the rivers.  

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Balloon Safari over the Mara plains followed by a champagne breakfast or visit a traditional Masai Manyatta (off the beaten track) and experience the culture of this world famous community. The Maasai still live as they did for centuries -interact with these nomadic people and experience their way of life as you learn about their customs and traditions.

Tipilikwani Luxury Mara Camp

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Today is an early start. Breakfast at the camp with transfer to Olkiombo Airstrip for your scheduled flight departing at 0845hrs arriving at 0930hrs at Migori Airstrip. On arrival you will be met and transferred by road to the Kenya/Tanzania border point of Isebania/Sirari to clear Immigration and customs formalities. Then, transfer by road to Tarime airstrip to connect on your scheduled flight (1115 hrs/ 1300 hrs) to Serengeti National Park. These transfers from Migori to Tarime are part of the airfare package and will be directly organized by the airline and the estimated time is approximately 50 minutes excluding time taken at the border.

On arrival at Seronera airstrip, you will be met by our guide-driver and transferred to your lodge. Enjoy a short game viewing drive enroute to the lodge arriving in time for lunch. 

Looking out over the seemingly endless Serengeti plains, this hillside lodge is a tranquil oasis set in over 14,000 sq kms (5,000 sq miles) of National Park is Serengeti Sopa Lodge. The Serengeti plains are host to a dramatic annual migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and numerous other species of animals indigenous to the area

Opened in 1992, the lodge can accommodate 170 guests in 79 suites, each enjoying wall-to-wall carpeting, a private lounge with a mini bar, a bedroom with two queen size beds and ample room for a third, an en-suite bathroom with shaver sockets and a hair dryer, and a private verandah which offers stunning views over the plains.

The lodge has direct-dial satelite telephone facilities as well as satellite television and wildlife-video-film options. A number of lodge electrical generating systems provide 240volts, 50 cycles 24 hours a day. Our water supply comes from nearby springs but guests are advised not to drink from the taps. Instead, complimentary bottled mineral water is provided in the mini bars while further stocks are available for sale in the main bar. We welcome kids of all ages and can provide both special meals at convenient times and baby sitters on request. Our guest shop stocks a wide selection of curios, gift items, clothing, film, sweets, postcards, personal requisites and toiletries, while the other offers gemstones, jewelry and other more unusual items. The double size pool offers a refreshing interlude between game drives as well as wonderful views over the rolling plains of the Serengeti. Also, we can supply diesel and can carry out most minor repairs.

Game drive in the afternoon in Serengeti National Park.

Return for dinner and overnight.

Serengeti Sopa Lodge 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Spend 02 more days in Serengeti. Breakfast at your lodge and proceed on a full day game viewing drive with a picnic lunch. Return to your lodge late afternoon. Relax, refresh, write your day’s journal or simply until it is time for dinner. 

The name ‘Serengeti’ comes from the Maasai language and means ‘endless place’ The vast open savannahs and wooded grasslands are home to large predators like lion, leopard, cheetah, herds of buffalo, elephant, giraffe and also to a host of plains game and a wide variety of birdlife. The Serengeti / Ngorongoro Conservation area plays host to the Great Wildebeest Migration which is one of the natural wonders of the animal world – millions of wildebeest and zebra migrate in a year round pattern through Tanzania and Kenya and in the early months of each year the short grass plains in this area provide the perfect setting for the calving season where hundreds of calves are born.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Dawn Balloon Safari over the Serengeti Plains ending with a champagne breakfast

Serengeti Sopa Lodge 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

After breakfast, we depart to Ngorongoro. We stop at the Oldupai Gorge, one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world to learn on human evolution. We will enjoy an on-site talk on the interpretation of the gorge by the resident guide. We arrive at our lodge to a warm welcome, check-in then lunch. This afternoon we relax and from our lodge enjoy the breath-taking spectacular views of the crater below. Ngorongoro Crater has the largest unbroken caldera in the world. It has been described as one of the great natural wonders of the world. Eight million years ago, the Ngorongoro Crater was an active volcano but its cone collapsed, forming the crater that is 610 meters deep, 20 kilometres in diameter, and covers an area of 311 sq. km. Spectacular as it is, the crater accounts for just a tenth of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The crater is home to many species of wild game and birds. With the exception of impala and topi (due to fierce competition with the wildebeest) and the giraffe (because there is not much to eat at tree level), almost every species of African plains mammal lives in the crater, including the endangered black rhino, and the densest population of predators in Africa. The birdlife, which includes the flamingo, is mainly seasonal, and is also affected by the ratio of soda to fresh water in Lake Magadi on the crater floor. Dinner and overnight at crater lodge. 

NOTE: Warm jacket/cardigan is highly recommended.

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

After breakfast we descend some 610 metres into the crater, which is home to an abundance of wildlife and a photogenic paradise, for a full day of game-viewing drive with picnic lunch. Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact caldera in the world teams with an abundance of wildlife permanently resident on the crater floor. Prides of lions, herds of Cape buffalo, rhino, giraffes, golden & black-backed jackal, zebra, cheetah, leopard and the spotted hyena freely roam on the crater floor plains. Unmatched for its natural variety & breath-taking beauty, there are few places on earth where such a tremendous diversity of landscapes exist inside a region this size. Apart from its wildlife riches, the crater is also of great archaeological importance, with the remains of some of mankind’s earliest ancestors discovered in the area, also a home to hundreds of bird species, refreshing in the small lakes in the crater floor. Return late afternoon to your lodge. Enjoy dinner and overnight.

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Spread out along the uppermost, eastern rim of the Ngorongoro World Heritage Site, the lodge offers breathtaking views of the crater floor far below is Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. A day’s safari through this unique conservation area provides you with spectacular and memorable game viewing experiences.

The lodge is located on Lemala Hill on the uppermost, eastern rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, a World Heritage Site, in the volcanic highlands of northern Tanzania. The crater forms part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area which covers 8,300sq kms (3,200 sq. miles).

Breakfast then we set off to Tarangire national park; which of all Tanzania parks boasts of the largest number of savannah elephants. We will be warmly ushered in for check-in, then lunch at our game lodge. This afternoon we depart on a game viewing drive in the vast, wildlife-rich game park. Tarangire is home to wildebeests, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, and hartebeest among many other wildlife species. This park has the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem – a smorgasbord for predators – and the one place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the stately fringe-eared Oryx and peculiar long-necked gerenuk are regularly observed. The swamps, tinged green year round, are the focus for 550 bird varieties, the most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in the world. On drier ground you may find the Kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird; the stocking-thighed ostrich, the world’s largest bird; and small parties of ground hornbills blustering like turkeys. Enjoy meals and overnight at the lodge

Tarangire Sopa Lodge 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

A full day at Tarangire national park. Get ready to explore the undiscovered Africa. After breakfast, set out for a morning game viewing drive and look out for the wonderful game including Elephants (the largest population in Tanzania), lions,550 species of birds, tree climbing pythons among other animal .our driver guide will take you to some cool picnic site to  have your lunch and later carry on with the game drive.

Completing the Northern Tanzania safari circuit the lodge, built as a ‘low profile’ structure, nestles into a wooded hillside valley overlooking Tarangire Hill. Situated 120km (75 miles) from Arusha, Tarangire National Park is easily accessible and boasts magnificent herds of elephant and other species of wildlife. The baobab studded landscape also plays host to a vast variety of resident and migratory bird life. Looking out over the rolling countryside the lodge is a tranquil oasis set in over 2,600 sq kms (900 sq miles) of National Park. The Tarangire flows north to south year-round and sustains an abundance of fauna and flora rarely seen elsewhere

 Return to the lodge in the evening for dinner and overnight. 

Tarangire Sopa Lodge 

(Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Breakfast will be served at your lodge. After breakfast you will depart by road to Arusha arriving at your town Hotel in time for lunch. Lunch will be served (payable direct).

Spend the rest of the afternoon at leisure in the Hotel. 

Lake Duluti Serena Hotel in Arusha nestles at the foot of the wooded slopes of a coffee plantation. Lake Duluti Serena Hotel is a unique hotel standing on the shores of tranquil Lake Duluti. Designed to echo the traditional style of the colonial coffee farm, which originally stood on this site, Mountain Village offers a range of tastefully presented cottage-styled rooms set amid extensive landscaped grounds.

Lake Duluti Serena Hotel in Arusha stands at the gateway to the famous Tanzanian ‘Northern Safari Circuit’ and hotel offers a broad range of attractions, which include: walking, mountain biking, canoeing on the lake, and trips to the nearby Arusha and Mount Meru National Parks.

Lake Duluti Serena Hotel in Arusha features a stone-built reception with adjoining lounge, library, restaurant, boutique and business Centrex. Imposing in stature and spacious in concept, the design of the new building echoes the hotel’s original incarnation as a working coffee farm dating back to colonial times.

Dinner will be payable directly too on this day. Overnight at your town hotel.

Lake Duluti Serena Hotel 

(Meals: Breakfast)

Breakfast will be served at the Hotel. After breakfast you will be transferred to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your outbound flight.

Lake Duluti Serena Hotel 

(Meals: Breakfast)

Berleen Safaris look forward to hosting you!!!