East Africa Under Canvas

Aug 21, 2014

Explore the very best of East Africa with our Kenya & Tanzania Under Canvas adventure.

Day 1 / Nairobi

On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport you will be met and assisted with immigration and customs formalities before being transferred to Hemingways Nairobi Hotel for overnight. Beautiful in its symmetry and flooded with natural light, this plantation-style property is airy and spacious. Its 80 squared metre bedrooms each have a private balcony
overlooking the iconic silhouette of the Ngong Hills. Hallmark Hemingway's hospitality, borne out of decades of expertise in welcoming guests to Kenya, makes you the focus of their every design. This hotel is only a 40-minute drive away from Nairobi's international airport.
Hemingways Nairobi Hotel (BB)

Day 2 / Nairobi - Chyulu Hills

After breakfast, transfer to Wilson Airport for your scheduled flight to Chyulu Hills. This flight departs at 0815 hrs and arrives Chyulu Airstrip at approximately 0855 hrs. On arrival, you are met and transferred to Ol Donyo Lodge. The Lodge is located in the heart of the 275,000 acre Mbirikani Group Ranch, on the slopes of the Chyulu Hills, between Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks in southeast Kenya. It is a lodge rich in history, passion and conservation.

Ol Donyo Lodge is a 20-bed lodge, rebuilt and redesigned in 2008, and is perched on a hillside set in thick woodland, with no two suites or villas the same. What is consistent is the attention to detail, the comfortable yet utterly luxurious décor and the tradition of greatness. Regarded as one of the most attractive lodges in East Africa, Ol Donyo Lodge is a place to call home for as long as possible.

Ol Donyo Lodge (Full board accommodation)

Day 3 / Chyulu Hills

There are a great variety of activities available to suit every guest's interests. Day and night game drives and for the active, there is bush walking or hill hiking, horseback riding for both advanced and novice riders, mountain biking and even fly camping. For families there is a dedicated children's guide, who can entertain young safari guests all day with
his bush survival course, painting, games and other activities. There is also a chance to enjoy cultural visits or visits to local conservation and community projects, as well as game drives during both day and night.

Finally, for those wishing to unwind and relax at the end of a busy day, Ol Donyo offers massages and other spa treatments in the comfort of each guest's room. Ol Donyo Lodge is a holistic experience not to be missed!

Ol Donyo Lodge (Full board accommodation)

Day 4 / Chyulu Hills - Nairobi - Lewa downs

After breakfast, you are transferred to the airstrip for your scheduled flight to Lewa downs via Nairobi. Lewa Wilderness is one of Kenya's oldest private safari experiences. On arrival at Lewa Downs, you are transferred to Lewa Wilderness Lodge, your home for the next two nights. A private ranch, a private house, a private paradise - Lewa Wilderness is one
of the original family homes and is still home to Will Craig and family. Guests can relax by the fire in the cozy sitting room and share meals around a long banquet table in the open-air dining room. Natural springs, home-raised livestock, and a 5-acre organic garden are transformed by skilled chefs into incredible, healthy and delicious food.

There are just nine exclusive rooms: Five are Hill Rooms looking down the Lewa's Western Marania Valley, the other four are Garden Rooms on the lush lawn adjacent to the main living areas. All have a sitting room area with a well-stocked bar and open log fireplace, for the frequent cool nights, as well as spacious en suite facilities. Every room has en suite
facilities and its own private sitting area, bar and veranda.

Lewa Wilderness Lodge (Full board accommodation)

Day 5 / Lewa downs

Day spent at Lewa Downs. Lewa Wilderness offers a variety of activities including: Horse and camel riding, walking with Masai, day and night game drives, cultural visits to local communities, farm and craft tours, and visits to a local school, prehistoric sites and tennis.

Lewa Wilderness Lodge (Full board accommodation)

Day 6 / Lewa downs - Maasai Mara

After breakfast, you are transferred to the Lewa Downs airstrip. Your schedule flight this morning takes you to Masai Mara. On arrival, you are met and transferred to Mara Plains Camp. The camp set right in the heart of some of the greatest predator country of Africa.

This is Mara Plains Camp, located on the northern border of the Masai Mara Game Reserve in the 30,000 acre Olare Motorogi Conservancy. Rarely a night passes without lion roaring nearby, while leopard are regularly found to wander through the camp and cheetah have established territories on the savannah nearby the main area. The camp is a small,
high quality, seven-roomed camp under canvas and on raised decks with sweeping views across Kenya's notable savannahs. It is among the smallest and most personal camps in the Masai Mara region. It is just one of five camps currently operating within the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, which boasts the region's lowest vehicle density with no
mini-buses, and only one guest room per 700 acres!

The camp caters for only 14 guests in seven uniquely designed octagonal canvas rooms. Each is raised on decks, and opens on three sides to the outside. Floor to ceiling net walls and the marquis ceiling make for very open-air and inviting environs. The rooms have a dressing area as well as private verandahs with seating and exquisite views. The en-suite
facilities consist of a double basin vanity, flush toilet and shower.

Mara Plains Camp (Full board accommodation)

Day 7 / Maasai Mara

Guests of Mara Plains have access to over 100,000 acres of low-density vehicle tourism lands as well as an additional 375,000 acres within the Masai Mara Game Reserve itself. The fresh air, getting on and off vehicles, and walking will incite an appetite and there's no going hungry here. Complementary refreshments and snacks are served on all drives and include tea and coffee on the morning drive and the traditional “sundowner” cocktail in the late afternoon.

You will enjoy unlimited day game drives, nigh drives, bush walks, cultural and village visits. For photographers and non-photographers alike - Mara Plains have specially designed thier Toyota Land Cruisers. They are completely open game drive vehicles. The thoughtful engineering provides all-round visibility with a (removable) canvas roof, and comfortable bucket seats. These rugged, 4X4 vehicles provide access to all of the region's diverse ecosystems, and do so with ease.

Mara Plains Camp (Full board accommodation)

Day 8 / Maasai Mara - Ndutu

After breakfast and with picnic lunch boxes, transfer to Ol Kiombo airstrip for a schedule flight to Ndutu in Serengeti. This flight flies via Tarime border where you clear with customs and immigrations and proceed onto an onward flight into Ndutu area of the Serengeti. Your journey takes you through to the &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas. This is a
luxurious semi-permanent tented camp that moves around the Serengeti bringing guests within range of the massive herds of the Great Migration.

This is the ultimate in luxury camping, complete with a private butler service, chandeliers, silverware, crystal, ensuite flush toilets and comfortable beds with fluffy duvets.

Serengeti Under Canvas (Full board accommodation)

Day 9 & 10 / Ndutu

Experience a classic Tanzanian safari in spectacular solitude and soothing comfort - with only the canvas walls of your tent separating you from the wonder of the Serengeti. Carefully positioned for close proximity to the wildlife herds of the Great Migration, our two &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas camps provide the ultimate viewpoint for this amazing animal spectacle. With only nine tents nestled at each private campsite, enjoy the indulgence of complete comfort combined with the authenticity of nights spent in the African bush.

As dawn breaks over the Serengeti, the deep voice of your butler delivers a wake-up call at your tent. A tray of tea, coffee and homemade biscuits will be waiting outside your tent. Climb into an open 4×4 safari vehicle with your guide and set off in search of the massed herds of the Great Migration. If the herds have already moved on into Kenya, your guide will
introduce you to the rich resident wildlife.

Your day is full of activities and the camp guides are some of the most highly trained, professional, passionate and knowledgeable guides and trackers on the continent. They have a passion for people and wildlife, ensuring unbeatable interpretive safari experiences. Our guides at &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas impart an incomparable wealth of knowledge, personally researched and experienced, about local habitats, ecology, birds, trees, plants, small animals and insects. Many of our guides and trackers belong to the surrounding communities and can share cultural information with our guests.

Day 11 / Ndutu - Ngorongoro - Karatu

After breakfast, you are transferred to Ndutu airstrip for your scheduled flight to Manyara airstrip. On arrival, you are you are met by The Manor at Ngorongoro's driver guide and transferred to Ngorongoro Crater for game viewing. Ngorongoro Conservation Area includes its eponymous famous crater and huge expanses of highland plains, scrub bush, and forests that cover approximately 8300 square kilometres. A protected area, only indigenous tribes such as the Maasai are allowed to live within its borders. Lake Ndutu and Masek, both alkaline soda lakes are home to rich game populations, as well as a series of peaks and volcanoes and make the Conservation Area a unique and beautiful landscape. The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest intact caldera in an exceptional geographical position, forming a spectacular bowl of about 265 square kilometres with sides up to 600m deep, the stalking ground of around 20,000 to 30,000 wild animals at any one time.

The crater floor consists of a number of ecological environments that include grassland, swamps, forests and Lake Makat, a central soda lake filled by the Munge River. All these various habitats attract various wildlife to drink, wallow, graze, hide or climb. Although animals are free to move in and out of this contained environment, the rich volcanic soil, lush
forests and spring source lakes on the crater floor tend to incline both grazers and predators to remain here throughout the year.

The Ngorongoro Crater and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are without a doubt some of the most beautiful parts of Tanzania, steeped in history and teeming with wildlife. Drive to the Manor at Ngorongoro for dinner and overnight.

Day 12 / Karatu

The day is spent at leisure at The Manor at Ngorongoro, located adjacent to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area within the 1500 acre, Shangri-La Estate, The Manor at Ngorongoro is reminiscent of an elegant, up country farm home in the Cape Dutch style of architecture. The Manor at Ngorongoro, with its 20 luxurious guest cottage suites, is a luxury safari experience fusing East African safari hospitality with old world Afro-European architecture, and decor.

Every detail of The Manor has been designed with its guests' comfort in mind. Each of the cottages has been carefully positioned to maximise the views of the adjacent verdant hills but at the same time to maintain the intimacy and privacy of this old-world Manor home. Enjoy the wonders of a guided romantic horse ride plus the added luxury of a picnic lunch served in the grounds of The Manor. The Executive Chef will prepare a sumptuous picnic basket, tailored to your requirements, and you will be attended by one of the Manor's personal attendants.

Day 13 / Karatu - Manyara - Kilimanjaro - Nairobi

After breakfast, you are transferred to Manyara airstrip for your scheduled flight to Kilimanjaro. Connect on a flight to Nairobi's Wilson airport and on arrival, you are met and transferred to Hemingways Nairobi hotel for overnight.

Day 14 / Depart

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for check in on your departure flight.

END OF SERVICE

Source: KenyaTanzaniaMaasai Mara