Cost: 12 day Safari

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With Howard Saunders - Ker & Downey Safaris Ltd

And Craig Sholley – African Wildlife Foundation

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Day 01: Mon 03^{rd _} December – Arr Nairobi, Ngong House

Day 02: Tue 04^th – Drive to Amboseli, Ker & Downey Private Camp

Day 03: Wed 05^th – Amboseli, private camp

Day 04: Thu 06^th – Amboseli, private camp

Day 05: Fri 07^th – Charterfly to Laikipia Conservancy, Loisaba Lodge

Day 06: Sat 08^th – Loisaba

Day 07: Sun 09^th – Loisaba

Day 08: Mon 10^th – Charterfly to Masai Mara, Ker & Downey Private Camp

Day 09: Tue 11^th – Masai Mara NR, private camp

Day 10: Wed 12^th – Masai Mara NR, private camp

Day 11: Thu 13^th – Masai Mara NR, private camp

Day 12: Fri 14^th – Charterfly Mara to Nairobi, dpt NBI for USA

Cost: 12 day Safari

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On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, your guide will meet you and transfer you to the Ngong House, a private home situated on the outskirts of Langata, approximately 1/2 hour from Nairobi city centre. This is a very peaceful place to relax after your flight.

After a good night’s sleep, we drive south to the private K&D Kitirua Woodlands concession on the western edge of Amboseli National Park.  We spend 3 nights in our own private camp, where great views of 19,340' Mt Kilimanjaro, intimate interactions with the local Maasai tribespeople, and unrivalled elephant viewing made famous by several well known books characterise this superb area.

Hemingway's immortalisation of the Amboseli region in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" establishes the mood of this poetic landscape. The air is usually as clear as a bell in the morning and Kilimanjaro capped with snow and soaring 19,340 feet into blue skies is the most magnificent sight you can imagine.  No more than ten miles from where we camp, the mountain’s immense presence adds a special dimension to everything you see in Amboseli. Camped in the Kitirua Woodlands to the west of where other people go, our private concession assures us the peace and quiet one needs to commune with the great mountain.  K&D’s Kitirua concession is also Maasailand, but Maasailand with a difference. 
These are the Kisongo Maasai that, until Joseph Thompson became the first white explorer to traverse their territory in 1884, were the scourge of all who came in contact with them.  Before Thompson, all travel into the heart of Africa passed through central Tanzania well to the south.  Thompson marched right across present-day Amboseli, and when one leads a walk across the ancient, now dry lakebed of Amboseli, one can imagine that they are walking along a trail blazed by the intrepid young Scot.  The Kisongo Maasai are more friendly today, but they are little changed since Thompson's day and are regarded as by far the most traditionally conservative of all the Maasai.  Fellow nomads living near our temporary encampment, we come into regular contact with Maasai in Kitirua, but as we are neighbours, so to speak, our presence is not an invasion of privacy.  On these intimate terms, many people regard time here amongst the Maasai and the insights into their way of life, as one the highlights of their safari.

The African Wildlife Foundation has for many years been integrally involved in preserving the Amboseli ecosystem. Working closely with the local Masai community, both AWF and Ker & Downey have forged exceptionally close ties with the people, and AWF’s is working to ensure that the beauty of this area will survive.

Luxury tented camp

Perhaps the greatest highlight of Amboseli is the opportunity to get off the beaten track, whether it is trekking across the ancient lake-bed, or hiking up one of the hills behind camp. In the good hands of Masai warriors, this is an excellent place to do as much or as little as one likes. For those not as active, sitting in camp with a good book, you can watch as the herds of zebra, wildebeest and elephant stroll nearby.

Today we fly to the Laikipia Plateau, and check into Loisaba Lodge. Loisaba is located on the edge of the Laikipia Plateau, just 70 km north of Mount Kenya in a 150 sq km (58 sq m) private wildlife conservancy in the heart of the Ewaso eco-system.

The Star Beds, Loisaba's solution to finding comfort in the wild, are constructed on wooden platforms built craftily into boulders on a hillside overlooking a lake. Each platform is reached by a ladder and has a large double bed, loo and camp shower that runs with warm water. The thatched roofs only partly cover the platforms and the beds, on sturdy wheels, can be maneuvered so you slumber sweetly under the African night.

Ker & Downey Tented Camp

The Mara is especially noted for its predators with large prides of lions, and smaller carnivores like servals and genets. Cheetah and hyena are all found here and of course so is the elusive leopard.  Elephant, Maasai giraffe, buffalo, zebra, topi, hartebeest and large herds of gazelle are found in the Mara year round.