Sample Itinerary for School & College Tours to Kenya
Masai Mara, and Mombasa Beach
Day 1
Late afternoon check-in for your overnight flight to Kenya, arriving Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Airport early on day 2.
Day 2
On arrival in Nairobi and on clearing Immigration and Customs, meet your Let’s Go Driver/Guides in the Arrivals Hall. For those who have not been able to secure Kenyan currency in the UK, this is the best place to exchange your cash or travellers cheques.
A stop will be made at a supermarket on the edge of town to buy some water and snacks for the journey.
The journey to the Masai Mara National Reserve takes you out north of Nairobi to the escarpment of the Great Rift and then across the floor of the Rift to the western escarpment and uplands. You will arrive at your tented camp in the early afternoon. Our safari is based at a Tented Camp located just outside the Masai Mara National Reserve along a bumpy and secluded track. The camp comprises two and three-man tents equipped with camp beds and a small table. You need to provide your own sleeping bag but pillows and extra blankets are provided. The camp has no mains electricity and lighting is provided by hurricane lamps. Simple but wholesome food is served in the al-fresco dining area. There is a toilet block with flush toilets and a shower block, hot water by prior request.
Time permitting; you will enjoy your first game drive this afternoon in the awesome Masai Mara.
Days 3-5
With an area of 1510 km² the Masai Mara is perhaps most notable for its lions but the other members of the "Big Five" are also found here although the population of black rhinoceros is severely threatened. Hippopotami are found in large groups in the Masai Mara and Talek Rivers. Cheetah are also to be found, although their numbers are also threatened, chiefly due to tourist disruption of their day-time hunting. As mentioned above, the plains between the Mara River and the Esoit Oloololo Escarpment are probably the best area for game viewing, in particular for lion and cheetah.
As in the Serengeti, the wildebeest are the dominant inhabitant of the Masai Mara, and their numbers are estimated in the millions. Around July of each year these ungainly animals migrate in a vast ensemble north from the Serengeti plains in search of fresh pasture, and return to the south around October. The Great Migration is one of the most impressive natural events worldwide, involving an immensity of herbivores some 1,300,000 Wildebeest, 360,000 Thomson's Gazelle, and 191,000 Zebra. These numerous migrants are followed along their annual, circular route by a block of hungry predators, most notably lions and hyena.
Numerous other antelope can be found, including Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, impala, topi and Coke's hartebeest. Large herds of zebra are found through the reserve. The plains are also home to the distinctive Masai Giraffe as well as the common giraffe. The large Roan antelope and the nocturnal bat-eared fox, rarely present elsewhere in Kenya, can be seen within the reserve borders. The Masai Mara is a major research centre for the spotted hyena. Additionally, over 450 species of birdlife have been identified in the park, including vultures, marabou stork, secretary bird, hornbill, crowned crane, ostrich, long-crested Eagle, and african pygmy-falcon
Each day on safari takes the same format with an early morning alarm call before first light; a cup of tea or coffee; and then the first game drive as the animals stir and prepare for the day. Returning to the camp mid-morning for a cooked breakfast, you then follow the example of the animals and rest through the heat of the day, taking a late lunch, before your afternoon game drive in mid-afternoon, returning at dusk for dinner.
Evenings are spent around the camp fire listening to stories and sharing the experiences of the day.
Day 6
An optional final morning Game Drive before you leave Camp for the drive eastwards back to Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Airport to connect with your afternoon flight to Mombasa Airport. You will be met at Mombasa and transferred to your hotel, the 4 Star Mombasa Beach Hotel.
Days 7-9 Mombasa Beach Hotel
Time at Leisure to relax by the Indian Ocean, there are several excursions available to you at a supplementary cost.
Day 10
Leave your hotel this afternoon for the short internal flight back to Nairobi to connect with your overnight international flight back to the UK leaving Kenya just before midnight.
Day 11
You arrive back in the UK, London Heathrow early this morning. You have made your own arrangements to return to school.
