Maasai Mara and the lakes

Day 2: After breakfast, we will drive to Lake Naivasha, arrive with a guided walk at the Crescent Island including a boat. Kindly note there is the option of visiting Hells Gate National park instead of the Crescent Island.  Lake Naivasha is particularly famous for its rich birdlife. The shores host abundant birdlife including pelicans, cormorants and fish-eagles with their haunting cry. There are more animals per acre than any other Kenyan Park, hence many film companies have been to the Island to film the herds of Wildebeeste, Waterbuck, Zebra and Gazelle. We are not fenced to allow the wildlife on the mainland to come in as they lose their habitat to development and the ever increasing population. Hippo graze all over us at night then sleep under the acacia or rest in the water by day. The giraffe who were born on the Island return to give birth; sometimes you see three generations at a time. Hyena come to hunt at night but are not resident on the island, the many python who do live here can be seen occasionally with a kill. Groups of Buffalo come and go but they are always monitored. Dinner and Overnight at Camp or Lodge.

Day3: After breakfast we will drive to Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Arrive Mara in time for hot lunch then have an afternoon game drive. This is the most visited and perhaps the most beautiful of all the country’s game reserves. Lying at an altitude of 1650m 5414ft it covers an area of 1,510 sq km (almost 600 sq miles) and forms the northern extension of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The Mara is a Maasai word meaning spotted or dappled. It is a mosaic of rolling grassland dominated by red oat grass, small bush covered hills and along the Mara River and its tributaries flowing towards Lake Victoria, riverine bush and Forest. Dinner and Overnight at Camp or Lodge.

Day 4: Today we will have a full day game drive in Mara with picnic lunch provided. All members of the “Big Five” (lion, leopard, African elephant, cape buffalo, and black rhinoceros) are found in the Maasai Mara. The population of black rhinos was fairly numerous until 1960, but it was severely depleted by poaching in the 1970s and early 1980s, dropping to a low of 15 individuals. Numbers have been slowly increasing, but the population was still only up to an estimated 23 in 1999.

Hippopotami and crocodiles are found in large groups in the Mara and Talek rivers. Leopards, hyenas, cheetahs, jackals, and bat-eared foxes can also be found in the reserve. The plains between the Mara River and the Esoit Siria Escarpment are probably the best area for game viewing, in particular regarding lion and cheetah.

As in the Serengeti, the wildebeest are the dominant inhabitants of the Maasai Mara, and their numbers are estimated in the millions. Around July of each year, these animals migrate 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 some 1,300,000 wildebeest, 500,000 Thomson’s gazelles, 97,000 Topi, 18,000 elands, and 200,000 zebras. These migrants are followed along their annual, circular route by predators, most notably lions and hyena.

Antelopes can be found, including Grant’s gazelles, impalas, duikers and Coke’s hartebeests. The plains are also home to the distinctive Masai giraffe. The large roan antelope and the nocturnal bat-eared fox, rarely present elsewhere in Kenya, can be seen within the reserve borders. There is an option of visiting a local Maasai village. Dinner and Overnight at Camp or Lodge.

Day 5: We will have a sunrise game drive, drive back to the camp for breakfast then drive back to Nairobi.

Kindly note this package can be organized as a flying package. If you want flights included please make sure to mention in your email.