18-day Kenya and Tanzania Wildlife Adventure

***UPDATE:  This safari is FULL - we are now taking bookings for 2011***

This 18-day safari combines the best of Tanzania and Kenya, and spends time exploring Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Serengeti, Lake Victoria, the Masaai Mara, and the Great Rift Valley lakes of Kenya. In Tanzania's parks we stay in pristine and exclusive private campsites, with our safari crew looking after your every need in our "Authentic Style" mobile safari.

The "Authentic Mobile Safari" offers a style of travel which is extremely comfortable, whilst still mobile camping, allowing you to get off the beaten track and away from the main safari throughfares. On this style of safari, private wilderness campsites are booked to keep you away from the crowds and as close as possible to the wildlife action. It is a relaxed alternative to a lodge safari - for those who prefer to sleep under canvas and get away from the crowds.

2010 Price: USD$6195 per person sharing*

Date: August 18 to September 4, 2010

Highlights: Arusha, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Serengeti, Lake Victoria, Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha
Group Size: minimum 4 - maximum 10 people
Type of Safari: Tanzania: non-participation authentic full-service mobile campingsafari, Kenya: lodges and permanent tented camps.
Accommodation: In Tanzania we use spacious 2-person canvas dome tents (3mx3m). Shower tent and toilet tents are set up as en-suite to each tent. The showers are bucket showers and the toilets are portable toilets. Tents contain camp cot, mattress, fitted sheet, duvet, blanket, pillow and pillowcase.  In Kenya we use lodges and permanent tented camps.

*Subject to African Safaris Ltd's Terms and Conditions.

When we head to Kenya, you will enjoy good quality lodges and tented camps in prime locations.

The support vehicle and camp crew travel ahead of your group and set up camp. Camping equipment consists of 3.5m x 6.5m en-suite dome tents, which are extremely spacious, and camp beds, foam mattresses and warm bedding consisting of sleeping bag, cotton inner sheet and a small pillow. The shower and eco-friendly toilet are en-suite, so you don't have to leave the safety of the your tent at night. Sumptuous meals are prepared by the friendly chef and are either served in the mess tent or, if you prefer, directly under the stars. Outside your tent and at the meal table you will have the use of large, comfortable foldaway chairs and you are provided with a washstand and large towel.

In the safari vehicle you will find a selection of reference books on the parks, history, their flora and fauna, and a cool box for drinks. The Land Cruisers have game viewing hatches that allow 360-degree views.

Your guide and their assistants are experienced professionals who prioritise your comfort and safety as well as ensuring optimal game-viewing opportunities throughout your safari.

Includes:

• Accommodation as specified
• All cooking and eating utensils
• Camping Equipment
• Meals as specified
• Park entrance fees as per itinerary
• Road transportation on safari in 4 x4 vehicle with open game viewing hatches
• Services of a driver/guide and cook/assistant
• Transfers as per itinerary

Excludes:

• All items of a personal nature
• Any service not specified
• Drinks - unless otherwise specified
• Gratuities
• Health requirements
• Medical Insurance
• Travel Insurance and visas

Day 1 - Nairobi
Overnight in Arusha on a bed and breakfast basis.

Day 2 - Arusha
We transfer from Nairobi to Arusha. Accommodation in Arusha on a Bed and Breakfast basis for one night.

Day 3 - Lake Manyara
Our driver/guide will meet you and conduct a pre-departure briefing at your hotel at 08h30 for a 09h00 departure. On the way, your crew will stop to assist you in purchasing water, other beverages or items of a personal nature and help you, if necessary, exchange money at a bureau de change. Depart Arusha around 10h00 and make your way directly to Lake Manyara National Park for an afternoon game drive and picnic lunch in the park. Overnight at your private camp on the park borders.

Day 4 - Ngorongoro
Departing Lake Manyara after breakfast, weave your way upwards into the densely forested slopes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, pausing to admire the splendid view of the crater floor 600 metres below at Heroes Point, before driving on to your campsite on the rim of the Ngorongoro caldera. If you arrive and set up camp in good time, you may like to consider an optional extra of an early evening / sunset visit to a Maasai village boma where you can spend some time learning about the culture, traditions and beliefs of this ancient, noble warrior tribe. This is at an additional cost, and should be discussed with the guide, and paid directly to the guide. Overnight at your private camp on the crater rim.

Day 5 - Ngorongoro
Today, descend the steep walls of the crater to admire the microcosm of life within it. You will have a picnic lunch on the floor of the crater at a pleasant lakeside location where you can stretch your legs and soak up the magnificent scenery. Overnight at your private camp on the crater rim.

Day 6 - Serengeti National Park
Today you enter the magnificent Serengeti plains. Before crossing from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area into the Serengeti National Park, you should take the opportunity to visit the Olduvai Gorge Museum where you may attend a short talk on the archaeological importance of Olduvai and the work of Mary and Louis Leakey in excavating the area and discovering some of Africa's most important hominid fossils. Overnight at your private camp in the Serengeti.

Day 7 - Serengeti National Park
Morning and afternoon game-drives in Serengeti National Park. Overnight at your private camp in the Serengeti.

Day 8 - Serengeti National Park
Continue your exploration of the Serengeti Plains. Overnight at your private camp in the Serengeti.

Day 9 - Lake Victoria
Enjoy a final early morning game drive in the Serengeti before setting off westwards through the western corridor of Serengeti National Park on your way to Lake Victoria. You need to get up very early and start breaking camp before breakfast in order to make good time for the long drive to the scenic Speke's Bay area along the lakeshore. Overnight at the Speke Bay Lodge (or similar), Lake Victoria.

Day 10 - Lake Victoria
Today is spent at your leisure exploring and enjoying the Lake Victoria area. From Speke Bay Lodge, you can choose from a number of activities, including an excursion by local canoe where the local fisherman will collect you from the beach and take you to their village, Mwaburugu, where you can learn about the village, the different methods of fishing, and birds you'll see on the way. If you are more adventurous, you can take a mountain bike trip into the heart of Sukumaland and explore Tanzania "off the beaten track". For a more relaxing experience, you can hire equipment from the lodge and fish from the beach or from a rowing boat for tilapia, catfish, barbel or small fish like the cichlids. For the avid birdwatcher, there are over 250 species of bush, swamp and water birds living on the Lodge's 85 hectares of savannah. Please note that all excursions today will be for your own expense, and will need to be paid direct. Overnight at the Speke Bay Lodge.

Day 11 - Masai Mara
After an early breakfast watching and listening to the haunting cries of the magnificent fish eagles passing over the lake, your long journey into the western Kenyan highlights will get underway. Head north towards the Kenya border, approximately 2 hours, crossing at Isebania and continue on gravel roads to Oloololo, eventually arriving at the Karen Blixen Camp approximately 4.5 hours later, depending on game viewing stops. A picnic lunch will be taken for the journey, as we may encounter some game during the drive near the Masaai Mara.

Days 12 and 13 - Masai Mara Game Reserve
Embark on an early morning game drive for game viewing. Return to your lodge for a light lunch and then, in the early afternoon, set off for your final Mara excursion into the park to bid farewell to East Africa's magnificent wildlife as the golden evening sunshine sets over the greatest show on earth.

Day 14 - Lake Nakuru National Park
Today we head off to the Great Rift Valley. The cliffs of the valley can reach one kilometre high, while extinct volcanoes and a sparkling network of lakes punctuate the dusty valley floor. One of these sparkling soda gems is Lake Nakuru and it forms the centrepiece of the Lake Nakuru National Park. The water level of the lake fluctuates considerably, but at times it is able to support flocks of up to two million greater and lesser flamingoes, creating a visually spectacular shimmering pink mirage across the surface of the lake - a truly mesmerising and enduring image of East African birdlife.

Day 15 - Lake Naivasha
An early morning game drive offers you the best chance of catching sight of a leopard lazing high in the branches of the picturesque yellow barked acacia trees. Even if you're not lucky with this endeavour, you can be fairly hopeful to meet up with white rhino browsing nonchalantly around the lakeshore along with a variety of other game and truly delightful bird watching, for any enthusiastic birders. With a picnic lunch, venture on towards the shoreline of one of the rare freshwater lakes in this part of the Rift Valley - Lake Naivasha. Hope to be in time for sundowners in a bird watching hide at the lakeshore, listening to the lazy, laughing hippos as they prepare themselves for their night time foraging around the shores.

Day 16 - Lake Naivasha
This morning, a variety of day trips and excursions are available, including a visit to the animal sanctuaries of Crescent Island or Green Crater Lake, a walk or cycle ride through Hell's Gate National Park amongst the gazelle, hartebeest, cheetah and elephant. Perhaps a boat ride on the lake may take your fancy before heading back to your lodge for a light lunch and a siesta. In the afternoon, depart to the former home of Joy Adamson at Elsamere for afternoon tea amongst a troupe of gregarious black and white colobus monkeys, where you may find out more about the life and work of the Adamsons and their famous lion, Elsa - hand-reared and devoted to Joy, but successfully reintroduced back into the wild against all odds.

Day 17 - Nairobi
After breakfast, get back on the road to the bright lights and fast living of one of Africa's most vibrant capital cities - Nairobi - with picnic lunch en-route.

Day 18
Transfer from Nairobi City Centre to Nairobi Airport, one way