Amboseli, Lake Naivasha and the Maasai Mara, followed by a week of beach time on Zanzibar.
Two weeks of contrasts: elephants under Kilimanjaro in Amboseli, a boat ride at Lake Naivasha, three nights in the Maasai Mara, then a week on Zanzibar's white sands. A flight connects the Mara to the island, leaving plenty of time for beach days, a Stone Town tour and a spice farm visit.
You are met at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by your Dawn Safaris representative and transferred to your hotel. Your guide gives a short briefing on the days ahead and answers any last-minute questions.
After breakfast, travel from Nairobi to Amboseli (about 4 to 5 hours), with a picnic lunch or lunch stop on the way. You arrive at your lodge in time for lunch. An afternoon game drive across the open plains brings you close to Amboseli's famous elephant herds, with Mount Kilimanjaro rising behind them when the clouds lift.
Spend the day with some of Africa's best-studied elephant herds. Early light is the best time to see Kilimanjaro, and the swamps around Enkongo Narok draw hippo, buffalo and abundant birdlife.
After breakfast, travel from Amboseli to Lake Naivasha (about 6 to 7 hours via Nairobi), with a picnic lunch or lunch stop on the way. Check in to your lakeside lodge for lunch, then take an afternoon boat ride on the freshwater lake among hippos, fish eagles and pelicans, with time to walk on Crescent Island among grazing giraffe and zebra.
After breakfast, travel from Lake Naivasha to Maasai Mara (about 4 to 5 hours), with a picnic lunch or lunch stop on the way. You arrive at your camp in time for lunch, then head out on your first game drive across the open plains of the Maasai Mara, home to lion, cheetah, elephant, buffalo and vast herds of zebra and wildebeest. Dinner and a night of lion calls follow.
Leave at first light with a packed breakfast to find big cats on the open plains. Enjoy a bush picnic lunch near the hippo pools, then spend the afternoon tracking lion, cheetah, elephant and buffalo before returning at dusk.
Drive toward the Mara River, where between July and October wildebeest herds gather to cross. Outside the migration season the banks are excellent for hippo, crocodile and elephant, and the surrounding plains for lion and cheetah.
Fly to the coast via Nairobi or Arusha (about 3 hours in total, connections arranged by us) and transfer to your beach resort. You arrive on Zanzibar and transfer to your beach resort for lunch. The afternoon is free to swim in the turquoise water, walk along the shoreline and settle into island time.
Wander the alleys of UNESCO-listed Stone Town with a guide, visiting its carved doors, markets and Old Fort, then tour a spice farm to taste cloves, cinnamon and vanilla.
Sail by traditional dhow to a sandbank or reef for snorkelling and a seafood lunch, returning at sunset.
Meet red colobus monkeys in Jozani Forest, then visit Prison Island (Changuu) to see its giant tortoises.
A free day to relax on the beach, snorkel, or try a spa treatment, with an optional sunset dhow cruise in the evening.
Wander the alleys of UNESCO-listed Stone Town with a guide, visiting its carved doors, markets and Old Fort, then tour a spice farm to taste cloves, cinnamon and vanilla.
Wander the alleys of UNESCO-listed Stone Town with a guide, visiting its carved doors, markets and Old Fort, then tour a spice farm to taste cloves, cinnamon and vanilla.
Enjoy a final swim and a relaxed breakfast. You are then transferred to the airport for your onward flight, with an easy hand-over to your international connection.
