Once in a lifetime experience a safari. Ride overland in a land cruiser through different terrains of Kenya, hunt for the big five animals plus more and campout in traditional canvas tents 🦁.
Why? Because… you will be watching the greatest wildlife show on Earth.
When it comes to planning a real African safari, the stakes can seem pretty high. It is not the usual kind of tour. It is a “trip of a lifetime”.
You drive through Kenya’s country side, passing through small towns, villages, farms and large plantations. There will breaks, stopping at special landmarks and curio shops.
During the game drives you will see a variety of animals and compare them with the same animals you saw in other parks. You must aim to find the “Big Five” animals, which include the elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, and leopard. You will learn more about them and about other wildlife animals and also the different plants, insects, reptiles, and fishes, too.
You have a full meal plan at every campsite. Meals are a buffet or family style of Western and Kenyan foods. And there is a picnic and a sundowner party with more food, too.
Accomodation is camping. You stay at different campsites in tents or bungalows. There are beds, toilets, hot water showers and room lights. There is an exception of staying in an old colonial house on a hill with many bedrooms. The house looks out to a lake. There are guards every night. They watch out for animals and help walk you to your tent at night. You’ll be comfortable and safe.
You travel to different parks in a land cruiser, passing through small towns and the countryside. You take a break at special landmarks and on the equator. There are stop at some local curios that sell food, beverages, arts, Kenyan souvenirs and more.
Your safari driver/guide is Peter Phillip a native of Kenya. Peter has an academic background in biology and animal behavior. He has conduct safaris for 15 plus years. Peter knows Kenyan sign language, including English and Hebrew.
Next meet Robert Matelong, our Deaf Maasai leader who comes to our camp at the Masai Mara. He is a native Maasai and signs Kenya Sign Language. Robert talks to our groups about the Maasai life and culture.
And there is Peggy Prosser, co-founder of Deaf World Adventures by D-travel Agency. She works closely with Peter in his company as Deaf Safari manager. Peggy designs the safari program with Peter and manages group schedules. During the safaris she communicates plans and information with groups, helps look for the animals with Peter and interprets for the group. She and Peter has been doing this for 10 years now. We celebrate!
You check out Nairobi and drive to the Samburu National Reserves, arriving at your campsite on time for lunch. Following check-in you embark on your first safari game drive. Pay attention to the presence of unique species among the wildlife that shares this semi-arid habitat. You return to your camp at sunset. Your campsite is situated by a river where you may continue to watch animals come to the shore for water.
After breakfast, you embark on a game drive. You explore the Samburu National Wildlife Reserve with animals and birds that live there. By noon you return to your camp for lunch break and rest. Most animals normally rest or nap in the afternoon, to avoid the hot sun. Likewise, you have free time at your campsite for the swimming pool or play games. Then later in the afternoon, you embark on your second game drive. You return by sunset.
You check out and drive to Sweetwaters. You enter the Ol-Pejeta Conservancy with a game drive to your campsite with a large waterhole for the animals in the conservancy. You check in your tents and have lunch. Later in the afternoon, you visit the chimpanzee sanctuary, meet Baraka the black blind rhino, and drive through the conservancy till sunset. This place is special because it has the world’s last two northern white rhinos.
Following breakfast, you check out and proceed to Lake Naivasha, passing through Kenya’s scenic rural side, with arable farms and small towns. On the way, you stop to see the Nyahururu waterfall. At Lake Naivasha you ride a boat to Crescent Island and check in a cottage. The surrounding is also home to wildlife animals on the island. Your cottage is on a hilltop and looks out to the lake. There are no predators on the Island.
Cottage/House: Crescent Island Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After breakfast you go on a guided walk around Crescent Island with wildlife animals in the open. You have photo opts with the animals. Your guide will share some interesting information about the island with the animals. The evolution of the island is very interesting. After lunch you go on a boat ride around the island, exploring the shoreline with other animals and many birds. You may watch an eagle snatch a fish from the lake.
Cottage/House: Crescent Island Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
You leave Lake Naivasha, driving across the Great Rift Valley to Kenya’s famous wildlife park, the Maasai Mara. Did you know that The Great Wildebeest Migration, a Seven Wonder of the World is at the Maasai Mara? There are many wild cats, lions, leopards, and cheetahs that create one of Africa’s best wildlife scene. Following check in you go on a tour of your campsite and join an art and craft workshop by Masai tribe people.
You embark on a full-day game drive with picnic. You drive deep into the Maasai Mara, stopping at the Tanzania border and the famous Mara River with crocodiles. There is a chance to see a river crossing with the wildebeest and zebras. Many other animals shall be spotted near the river and across the savannah, too. Your safari guide will find a safe spot for a picnic. You return to your camp by sunset.
You rise early for a game drive through the bushes. You hunt for the cats. You may witness a great chase. Then you return to your campsite for brunch and some rest. Later in the afternoon a Maasai tribe person will greet you at your campsite and invite you to his tribal village. There you meet other members of the tribe and enter the village with boma style houses. The evening is sundowner with dinner. Campsite: Mtito Safari Camp Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After breakfast, you proceed back to Nairobi for your outbound flight. On the way, you stop at an outlook with an overview of the Great Rift Valley. And you have a homestyle lunch at a Kenyan restaurant. Lunch meal is included. Upon arrival in Nairobi, your guide will take you to the airport and drop you off at your terminal for departure or drop you off at your hotel for the night.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
What do we do on a Safari?
National Reserves and Parks
You will visit 4 different reserves and parks with amazing biodiversity. Each park has a different geological and ecological terrain, plants and animal species including reptiles, insects, birds and fishery. A brief description of our parks include:
Samburu National Reserve is a special safari destination in East Africa. The reserve is located in the northern part of Kenya and is situated on the banks of Ewaso River, adjoining the Buffalo Springs and Shaba National parks. It has an arid dry shrubland with rocky kopjes. This landscape supports animals uniquely adapted to the drier, rockier conditions. And the reserve is the park famous for rare species of animals such as the Grevy Zebra, Somali Ostrich, Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk, and Beisa Oryx. The reserve is also home to a 900 or more elephants. Large cats such as lions, leopards and cheetah are there.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a private 360 km² not-for-profit wildlife conservancy in Central Kenya. It is situated on the equator between the foothills of the Aberdares and Mount Kenya. The conservancy works to conserve wildlife by involving community, member supporters and investors. And it is special. It provides a sanctuary for orphaned, abandoned, and rescued chimpanzees. It also houses the two last remaining northern white rhinos in the world. The conservancy boasts the largest black rhinoceros sanctuary in East Africa. Also we can meet and feed Baraka the famous blind black rhino.
Crescent Islandis a private property with 3 houses. One of the house is an old colonial home. It is only accessible by boat. Crescent Island rose to fame after the movie “Out of Africa” that showcased the lake and natural surrounding. Today is a game sanctuary run privately with supporters and businesses. Many local business give back to Crescent Island. On the island you can walk among animals. The terrain flat with low hills making it easy to hike around. The island is a bird haven. There are 400 bird species.
Masai Marais an area of preserved savannah wilderness in southwestern Kenya. The landscape has grassy plains and rolling hills, and is crossed by the Mara and Talek rivers. The Annual Wildebeest Migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania to Masai Mara in Kenya is one of the greatest natural spectacles in the world, it’s known as the world’s 8th world wonder. The Masai Mara offers the best view of the migration. While mara is marked with high wildlife concentration, you’ll find many big cats; the lions, leopards and cheetahs. And you’re are very likely to encounter a hunting epic in action.
Game Drives
A game drive is the main activity of a Safari trip. It’s that guided journey through a wildlife reserve or national park in a specialized vehicle, usually a land cruiser. It is thought of as a kind of adventure with exploring a natural habitat and discovering wildlife animals that call it home.
We ride in a 8-seater land cruiser (6 seats in the rear and two in front). Each seat has a window view. While driving in the park, the rooftop of the land cruiser is popped open for greater viewing. The drive is usually 3 ~ 4 hours at the most. The ride can be bouncy as we drive on dirt road and trails, and go over rough terrains.
On this safari you have a game drive everyday except with one day that is walking and boating safari. There are two best time slots of the day for game drives, usually early morning or in the late afternoon. These are the times when animals are active. On some days in this Safari you have two game drives. And you have one full day with a picnic luncheon in the open.
Walking and Boating Safari
A walking safari is when your guide takes you into a park on foot through a wildlife area. You will walk on the Crescent Island that has an abundance of animal and plant species. It’s one of the few places in the Rift Valley where you can walk among giraffes, zebras, waterbucks, impalas and countless bird species. The walk includes exploring and learning from your guide about the ecology and animals in the area.
A boating safari way to explore the wildlife and scenery from water. You glide on a 8-seater motor boat along Lake Naivasha that the highest lake in the Great Rift Valley of Africa. Your guide helps you identify some of the region’s 400 bird species and the animal residents such as the hippos, waterbucks, cape buffalos, zebras and antelopes. Just lie back in the boat and admire the view.
Lodging
A tented Safari is also known as tented lodges. It features permanent tents in an exclusive wilderness setting with a view for wildlife near a waterhole, river, lake or grassland where animals congregate during the day.
The tents are built with four straight vertical walls that provide more headroom than the traditional pyramid-shaped tents. And they’re made of heavy canvas as outer cover and with support frames of steel or wood. They’re raised on concrete or wooden platforms that creates a front porch.
It features proper beds, some furniture, a private toilet, sink, hot water shower, lights and electric sockets. Your front porch will have chairs for sitting outside. Depending on the lodge, some amenities like soap, shampoo, kettle, tea and coffee bags are provided.
Lodge facilities include tented dining room and lounge with bar, chairs and table. Some lodges have swimming pool, campfire and other services such as massage services, walking tour near the campsite, and special performances from local village people. Each lodge is different. Some are luxurious and fancy while others are basic and maintaining the Safari tradition.
Homestay in an colonial house on Crescent Island. The house was built in the early 1900s by an European farmer, Ernest Edward Hammer. He was potato farmer and used crescent island cultivate potatoes. The area was a peninsula before it became an island. Several facilities were built in the area.
In the 1960s, Hammer put the property up for sale and it caught the eye of ornithologist Jean Hayes. She envisioned days of watching birds camped out in the peninsula’s canopied trees. She and her husband, a journalist, Charles Hayes purchased the property and set to work turning it into a wildlife sanctuary.
If the house is available, we stay in the Giraffe House, the largest house on a hill on the island. It has a deck and patio that look out to Lake Naivasha. And animals stop by to visit the house.
Picnic and Sundowner
A Safari Picnic is a meal usually luncheon taken outdoors as part of the Safari in an open space Wildlife area with scenic surroundings. Your driver/guide will set up some chairs under a tree or bush and get a lunch box with food. The lunch box typically includes a small sandwich, pice of chicken, chips, fruit, cookie or cupcake and tea or coffee. If you have a specific diet or are vegetarian, you can make your request.
A sundowner is an event that begins with the sunset and drinks, usually alcoholic drinks. Other non-alcoholic drinks are provided on request. You gather with your group and celebrate the end of the day, in this case the last leg of your safari. Your camp will provide some drinks and appetizers somewhere around the campsite. Friends get together for a drink and share stories and laughters before next day departure.
Travel
On this safari you move from park to park in a land cruiser. You embark from Kenya capital, Nairobi and return back to the city. Your will travel on different highways, passing small towns, farms, tea plantations, villages, forests and a desert. You do not drive everyday, only on days you move to a new park. You check out your campsite and leave after breakfast. The drives are between 4 to 5 hours. Your goal is to get to the next campsite on time for lunch and late afternoon safari.
While on the road you’ll stop for breaks at interesting places. You will stop at a couple of curio shop that sell artisan goods, handicrafts and antiques. You will also stop at the equator, the Rift Valley outlook and Kenya’s largest waterfall, the Nyahururu Fall.
at the equator, 2024 a curio shop, 2024 Rift Valley, 2024 Nyahururu, 2023
Maasai Village Visit
Deaf Maasai, Robert Matelong
Village Visit
Beading
Maasai Dance and Culture
Includes/Excludes
Included
All airport transfers, arrivals, and departures
Land Cruiser with pop-up roof for viewing
Guaranteed window seat in each vehicle
Two-way long-range radio communication
Safari accessories: First-aid, cooler, and fire extinguisher
Emergency number, 24 hours a day
2 lodges, 3 tented campsites
Full Meals (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Free wide-brim safari hats from Safari operator
Complimentary 500ml mineral water per game drive
Lake boat ride fee
Park entry fees
All Government taxes and levies
An electronic copy of the Safari itinerary
Not Included
Entry Visa
International flight
Travel insurance
Required vaccines
Tips & gratuities
Alcohol drinks and snacks
Other Activities not included in the tour
Laundry services and souvenirs
Trip Information
Nairobi - NBO
Private 4x4 land cruiser with pop-up roof & motor boat on a lake
