Day 6: Amboseli – Lake Naivasha including afternoon boat ride & Elsamere visit

Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in the Kenya section of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, and is located northwest of Nairobi. At 1,890 meters (6,200 ft) aloe sea level, the lae is at the highest point in the Kenya rift and is set in a complex geological combination if volcanic rocks and sedimentary deposits from a much larger Pleistocene era lake. Lake Naivasha is home to a wide variety of wildlife including a sizable population of hippos which usually visit the property during their nightly forays for food. Amazingly agile for their bulk, hippos are good climbers and leave the water each night to graze on grass, then return to the water before dawn. Lake Naivasha, a freshwater lake, also has a healthy fish population such as black bass, tilapia and crayfish which attract a wide variety of fish-eating birds such as the long-tailed and great cormorants, fish eagles, pelicans, and various types of kingfishers. On 60 hectares (148 acres) of grassland surrounded by trees and set among giraffes and waterbucks, Naivasha Sopa Lodge is a collection of brick and wood makuti cottages on the shore.

Elsamere is the original home to Joy and George Adamson. Their story of raising an orphan lion cub in the 1950s and her subsequent release into the African bush is one of the great conservation stories of all time. Joy’s captivating book about Elsa the lioness, entitled Born Free, was published by Harvill Press in 1960 and soon received international acclaim. In the years which followed, Joy published sequels to Born Free and more books about her hand-reared cheetah Pippa and leopard Penny. In 1966 Born Free became a movie starring husband-and-wife actors Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna. Filmed in the Kenya bush over the course of many months, it soon became a worldwide hit. As Joy’s fame as a conservationist grew, so did her fortune. But neither she nor George had any personal interest in money. Royalties from books and films were paid into a new charity which Joy called the Elsa Wild Animal Appeal, and has since become The Elsa Conservation Trust. George and  Joy each left their entire estates including Elsamere, Joy’s house on Lake Naivasha, to the Elsa Conservation Trust. During the last forty years the trust has donated millions of dollars to wildlife education and conservation projects, large and small, helping to create the famous Kenyan parks and reserves at Meru, Samburu, Shaba, Kora, Hell’s Gate and also the Centre for Education in Sustainability at Elsamere. Today, the principal activities and aims are to further worldwide conservation education, particularly in East Africa. Today, the Elsa Conservation Trust continues its lifelong commitment to wildlife conservation. Together the Adamsons revolutionized our attitudes to wild animals and warned the world that unless it protects their habitats, many of the most magnificent species would be extinct there within a few decades.

Day 7:  Lake Naivasha – Maasai Mara National Reserve

After and early morning breakfast, we will drive to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, arriving at lunchtime and then go for an afternoon game drive. Maasai Mara is world-renowned for its exceptional population of cats, including Maasai lions, African leopards and Tanzanian cheetahs, and the annual migration of zebras, Thomson’s gazelles, and wildebeest to and from the Serengeti every year from July to October, known as the Great Migration. Overnight at Ashnil Mara Camp

Day 8: Maasai Mara National Reserve

When it was originally established in 1961 as a wildlife sanctuary, the Maasai Mara covered only 520 square kilometers (200 sq miles) of the current area, including the Mara Triangle. The area was extended to the east in 1961 to cover 1,821 km (703 sq miles) and converted to a game reserve. Hippopotami and crocodiles are found in large groups in the Mara and Talk Rivers. Leopards, hyenas, cheetahs, jackals, and bat-eared foxes can also be found in the reserve. All members of the “Big Five,” (lion, leopard, elephant, cape buffalo and rhinoceros) are found here. Antelopes can be found, including Grant’s gazelles, impalas, duikers and Coke’s hartebeests. The plains are also home to the Maasai giraffe, with its’ distinctive, irregular and jagged patterns that extend to the hooves. More than 470 species of birds have been identified in the park, many of which are migrants, with almost 60 species being raptors. Birds that call this area home for at least part of the year include vultures, marabou storks, secretary birds, hornbills, crowned cranes, ostriches, long-crested eagles, African pygmy falcons and the lilac-breasted roller, which is the national bird of Kenya. Overnight at Ashnil Mara Camp

Day 9: Maasai Mara National Reserve

Morning, afternoon and evening game drives will be taken in specially adapted open safari vehicles. We will visit the Maasai people, a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known of African ethnic groups due to their living near many of the game parks of East Africa. Their language is called Mad and it is estimated that one million Maasai people live in both Kenya and Tanzania. Shuka is the Maasai word for sheets traditionally worn wrapped around the body, one over each shoulder, the a third over the top of the. These are typically red in color and often worn with some other colors or patterns, such as plaid. Red is the preferred color due to its meaning in Maasai culture of warrior, blood and bravery. During our time on the Maasai Mara, we will also take a sunrise hot air balloon ride to view wildlife, followed by a morning breakfast on the plains. Overnight at Ashnil Mara Camp

Day 10: Maasai Mara National Reserve

We will continue with morning, afternoon and evening game drives to view wildlife and get the best photographic opportunities while the light is best. Overnight Ashnil Mara Camp

Day 11: Maasai Mara – Nairobi

This morning we will take a short flight to Nairobi. Arrival for lunch and an afternoon visit to the National Museum of Kenya. Afterwards, we will have day use of the hotel to freshen up and pack. Since this is your final day, we will have an early dinner and later transfer you to the airport to catch your flight home from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. End of Tour.