MENU
shopping_cart 0

SkySafari Kenya – Nairobi-Amboseli-Loisaba-Maasai Mara

Tour Nairobi, Amboseli, Loisaba, Maasai Mara
Not Rated from 0 review
0/10
100% of guests recommend

Description

Amboseli lies immediately north-west of Mount Kilimanjaro, on the border with Tanzania. The Park covers 392 square km, and forms part of the much larger 3,000 square km Amboseli ecosystem. Amboseli lies immediately north-west of Mount Kilimanjaro, on the border with Tanzania. The Park covers 392 square km, and forms part of the much larger 3,000 square km Amboseli ecosystem. Large concentrations of wildlife occur here in the dry season, making Amboseli a popular tourist destination. It is surrounded by six communally owned group ranches. Amboseli is famous for its big game and its great scenic beauty; the landscape is dominated by the towering Mount Kilimanjaro.

The National Park embodies five main wildlife habitats (open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps and marshland) and covers part of a Pleistocene lake basin, now dry. Within this basin is a temporary lake, Lake Amboseli, that floods during years of heavy rainfall.

Major Attractions: Mount Kilimanjaro; Observation Hill which allows an overall view of the whole park especially the swamps and elephants; Swamp below observation hill hosts many elephants, buffaloes, hippos and a variety of water fowl like pelican; Egyptian goose; contemporary Maasai culture and indigenous lifestyle; herds of elephants.

Loisaba is a 57,000 acre wildlife conservancy and working ranch located in Northern Laikipia, Kenya, East Africa. The two permanent rivers and abundant permanent springs make Loisaba attractive to wildlife throughout the year.

The previous owners the Ancilotto family, who bought the land in the early 1970’s, managed it as a low impact cattle ranch and tourist destination with a vision to keeping this wilderness intact for wildlife and future generations.

The Loisaba Community Trust, together with it’s partners, continues to ensure Loisaba remains a catalyst for community development, a hub for wildlife research, and a world-class ecotourism destination offering unique opportunities for guests to become part of the Loisaba story both during their visit and for years to come.

Loisaba is also part of a larger story that extends well beyond its borders. It sits on the western edge of one of Kenya’s most important elephant movement corridors. Keeping this land, and a 15 million acre landscape of nearby community lands intact and functioning for wildlife, livestock, and northern Kenya’s pastoralist people is being achieved largely through creating community conservancies boarding Loisaba.

Maasai Mara National Reserve is an area of preserved savannah wilderness in southwestern Kenya, along the Tanzanian border. Its animals include lions, cheetahs, elephants, zebras and hippos. Wildebeest traverse its plains during their annual migration. The landscape has grassy plains and rolling hills, and is crossed by the Mara and Talek rivers. The area nearby is dotted with villages (enkangs) of Maasai people.

Expand All

Itinerary

Day 1: There’s no other capital quite like Nairobi…

A city where giraffe and zebra roam right in the city limits. The hubbub can seem overwhelming, but we’ll ease your arrival, fast-tracking you from airport to Hemingways, an enclave of sophisticated calm. This five-star all-suite retreat sits at the foot of the Ngong Hills, in extensive bird-flittered gardens; it’s the perfect spot for sinking into holiday mode, enjoying a delicious dinner, toasting the start of your SkySafari with a cocktail or two.

Day 2: Rise and shine: it’s your first morning in Africa

Your butler will know how you like your tea and, after breakfast, we’ll drive you right onto the runway for your SkySafari flight, direct to Amboseli National Park.

In no time you’ll be kicking back at Elewana Tortilis Camp, eating lunch in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro: unlike most Amboseli lodges, which are in the middle of the park, Gold Eco-rated Tortilis is set away from the rest, on the pristine southwest border, with the best mountain views and full access to both Amboseli and an exclusive private conservancy. Tortilis has been key in developing community-owned conservancies, where land outside national parks is secured for wildlife preservation. It’s beneficial for animals and local people, and for you too – encounters with big game here tend to be higher quality, more frequent, more electrifying.

Also, few other travellers explore this area – when you head out on your afternoon game drive, you’re unlikely to see anyone else, just prolific wildlife: from huge herds of habituated elephant (Tortilis’ guides know all the elephant families and their histories) to cape buffalo and hyena, giraffe and zebra, and over 600 species of birds.

Discuss the late-afternoon’s action over a delicious dinner back at camp, before a night in your luxe tent, sleeping soundly in the bush.

Day 3: Be prepared: your alarm will ring rudely early

But it’s worth the 5am wake-up to get out for that morning game drive when the plains are a-stir, the animals most active, the big cats returning from a night on the hunt. These are also the golden hours for photographers, as dawn light rose-tints the savannah and Kilimanjaro is most likely to be free of cloud. After a wild start, enjoy a lavish bush breakfast, served out amid the acacia trees.

There’s time to relax back at camp – with a swim, a massage, a good book in the sun – before a buffet lunch. Then prepare for your most intimate encounter with the bush: local guides, who know almost every blade grass, will lead you on a walking safari; you’ll follow animal tracks, taste bush herbs, revel in the tiny details, perhaps encounter something larger… It’s a fresh, thrilling perspective.

As the day draws to a close, raise a classic African Sundowner. Nothing says safari like an ice-cool G&T, sipped as the sun disappears, before a private dinner under the stars.

Day 4: Breakfast will never be the same again, now you’ve eaten it with Kilimanjaro looming beyond the coffee cups

Take it all in, before venturing out in the camp’s custom-designed 4WDs for one last game drive – one last chance to see Amboseli’s big cats, big herds, big drama. Then we’ll whisk you to the airstrip for a seamless and spectacular flight to Loisaba Conservancy on the Laikipia Plateau. With the second-highest density of wildlife in the country and a groundbreaking attitude to conservation, this is one of the most exciting destinations in Kenya.

You’ll be met like a VIP and plunged right into the action: the transfer from airstrip to Loisaba Tented Camp doubles as a game drive. Laikipia is one of only a few places in Africa where wildlife numbers are on the increase, and a huge array of animals – from the Big Five to endangered Grevy’s zebra – might be spotted.

Gold Eco-rated Loisaba Tented Camp sits perched on the edge of an escarpment, with unhindered views over rolling river valleys, rich forests and open plains to Mt Kenya. Intimate and elegant in design, the camp is also a hub for cutting-edge conservation. Find out more over drinks and dinner, before retiring to your tent, where floor-to-ceiling windows invite the outside in and the night sky views are unmatched.

Day 5: There’s nothing quite like stepping out into the wilderness at dawn

The cool, the colours, the frisson of being at one with the wilderness… A Samburu guide will lead you on an early walk, so you can watch, smell, feel the bush wake up. Take breakfast back at camp, then enjoy some down time, relaxing on the decking or dipping in one of Africa’s most astonishing infinity pools.

After lunch, the choice is yours. Head out on a game drive for more marvellous wildlife-spotting – rarities like patas monkey, reticulated giraffe or wild dog might be seen. Try casting a line in Loisaba’s great rivers. Or pay a visit to the conservancy headquarters to meet the sniffer dogs and the anti-poaching team to find out how they safeguard the wilderness.

End the day the only way: with Sundowners as the sun sinks and dinner under the stars.

Day 6: You’ll have no trouble getting out of bed this morning, regardless of the early hour

You get to choose how your day begins. Another game drive, perhaps? Or how about a bush walk – or run – with your Samburu guide? Or maybe an outing on horse or camel back – an exhilarating way to get unusually close to wild animals. Whatever activity you pick, follow it up with breakfast in the bush and a rejuvenating pamper in the spa.

Linger over lunch on the deck before your final afternoon game drive: Loisaba is an important migration area for Laikipia’s huge elephant population, so excellent sightings are frequent; unusual species such as greater kudu and beisa oryx are found here too.

Tonight, you could choose something rather special. Poised on a rocky kopje, Elewana Loisaba Star Beds – sister property to the Tented Camp – offers the chance to sleep outside in style. Roll your rustic four-poster out onto the verandah, lay back and look up at the endless, unpolluted, star-spangled African sky.

Day 7: Loisaba Conservancy, Laikipia & Masai Mara National Reserve

If you can bear to leave your bed in the bush, tuck into breakfast and scour this astonishing wilderness one last time on your game-drive ride to Loisaba’s airstrip. Then hop aboard your SkySafari flight and prepare to touch down in an African icon: the matchless Masai Mara.

Your ride from the airstrip to Sand River Masai Mara Camp, a secluded spot in the southern area of reserve, is your first game drive: don’t be surprised if you meet most of the Big Five before lunch. Even if you don’t, your afternoon game drive might oblige: these acacia-dotted plains are dense with game. Keep your eyes peeled for lion, leopard and cheetah, hyena, giraffe and elephant, and 500-plus species of bird.

Raising a classic Sundowner in this classic tranche of wilderness is the perfect way to toast the day. Returning to Sand River Masai Mara is the icing on the cake – there are few more elegant places to stay than this camp, which oozes 1920s glamour. The Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards 2020 named it one of the 50 Best Resorts in the World and seventh best in Africa.

Day 8: Nowhere in Africa is wildlife more abundant than the Masai Mara National Reserve

You’ll know by now the benefits of an early start: after a dawn breakfast, set off with a packed picnic hamper for a full day’s game drive, so you can delve deeper into the reserve. Nowhere in Africa is wildlife more abundant. And while the seasonal migration of two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle crossing from the Serengeti is one of Mother Nature’s greatest spectacles, the profusion of wildlife in the Mara – from 450 species of bird to the Big Five – makes it one of the best safari spots year round.

The area is culturally fascinating too. Much of the Greater Mara-Serengeti Ecosystem falls under the ownership of Masai communities, and a village visit – to see traditional Maasai homes and rituals, or even (for the kids) to try warrior training – makes for an eye-opening afternoon. There’s also the chance to visit a local school supported by Land & Life Foundation so you can see its work in action.

Of course, you might enjoy your best sightings without going anywhere at all. The Sand River Masai Mara, overlooking its namesake river, sits right on the annual migration route, so the drama may play out just beyond your verandah.

Day 9: This morning’s game drive will seek out big cats and small birds, roaming wildebeest and rare black rhino

Another day, another wonderful dawn wake-up. This morning’s game drive will seek out big cats and small birds, roaming wildebeest and rare black rhino – the Mara is a stronghold for these increasingly rare creatures. Watch the sun rise over the peaceful plains; tuck into breakfast in the bush.

By now you’ll be at one with the rhythms of the wilderness. You’ll be used to rising early, and then dozing before lunch, eating while watching the comings and goings by the riverbank, then setting out on an afternoon drive. You’ll have seen so much, though there’s always more – and the camp’s expert guides will ensure you don’t miss a thing.

After a Sundowner in the bush, return to base for the most dazzling of endings: a private table, set up in the wilderness, for dinner under the stars.

Day 10: Enjoy your last few hours, gazing out from camp across the watercourse and riverine forest

Enjoy your last few hours, gazing out from camp across the watercourse and riverine forest, looking out for breakfasting beasts and birds, before driving back to the airstrip for your final SkySafari flight to Nairobi. Rather than hang around the airport, we’ll deliver you to the tranquility of Hemingways, where you can freshen up in a day room and enjoy that last ice-cold Tusker before flying home.

What is the best time to come on a SkySafari?

There is no best time, each season has its own special features. Travel in the rainy season (April-May and Oct-Nov) and the landscape is beautifully green, the dust has settled and there are fewer visitors on safari. The grass is fertile and tall which makes spotting game more challenging but rewarding. The rain will mainly fall during the night.

The remainder of the year is called the dry season, when there is less water available so animals tend to congregate around the water sources, making game spotting easier. This season also attracts more visitors on safari.

Is there Wi-Fi on the SkySafari?

The main areas of all the lodges and camps offer free Wi-Fi. Please bear in mind that the Wi-Fi in East Africa is not lightning fast.

Are park fees included?

Park fees are not included in our rates but they are a mandatory supplement and will reflect on your invoice separately.

Is there a minimum or maximum age for travelers on SkySafari?

No there isn’t, we welcome people of all ages.

Children of all ages are allowed; we do suggest that children of the ages of 5 years and up seem to get the most out of their experience. For families with young children we suggest that you book Exclusive Vehicle Use so that you have the flexibility to enjoy your safari activities at your own pace.

There is no upper age limit. We do ask you to let us know in advance if your guests are physically challenged or less-abled.