East Africa bush camping safari
| country: | Kenya, Tanzania |
| trip type: | A small group adventure |
| departures: | 2010: 23 Jan, 6 Feb, 26 Jun, 10 Jul, 24 Jul, 7 Aug, 21 Aug, 4 Sep, 18 Sep, 18 Dec 2011: 8 Jan, 22 Jan, 25 Jun, 9 Jul, 23 Jul, 6 Aug, 20 Aug |
| price: | From £1830 - £2250 (15 days) including flights from the UK. Price includes accommodation, 14 breakfasts, 13 lunches, and 12 dinners. This trip can be booked without flights |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
This rugged adventure traverses the Great Rift Valley through the lakes of Kenya, to the shores of Lake Victoria, to the gamelands of the Serengeti and into the Ngorongoro Crater. We’ll also spend time walking with Maasai tribesmen and learning about the unique lifestyle of the Hadzabi bushmen. As well as the striking scenery, you are likely to see the best of Africa’s wildlife myriad, such as monkeys, elephants, buffalo, hippo, lion, cheetah, giraffe, leopard, rhino, crocodile and a variety of birds. Like many adventures of this type, much of the team spirit, fun and camaraderie is developed through mucking in and helping set up camp like erecting and taking down own tents and to prepare meals and other camp chores.
First we drive to Lake Naivasha and Crescent Island, where some 350 bird species have been recorded. After a walk in Hell's Gate gorge we drive into the rolling grasslands of the little-known Loita Hills. This is Maasai country and we spend a day walking with these famed African warrior tribesmen to learn about their pastoral life and ancient ways.Next we enter Kenya's finest wildlife park, the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. All the big game is here - elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, buffalo and rhino. The forested banks of the Mara and Talek rivers are an excellent place to view hippos, crocs and waterfowl. Skirting the eastern shores of Lake Victoria we enter the remote Western Corridor of the Serengeti. Here we're soon among the vast herds of zebra, wildebeest and Grant's gazelle. You may wish to make a balloon trip over the plains at dawn before we drive onto the Ngorongoro Crater; believed by some to have been the Garden of Eden.
After extensive game viewing in the Crater we drive into Tanzania's Rift Valley to the shores of Lake Eyasi. Here, we set out on foot to locate Hadzabi bushmen hunter/gatherers and the Datoka tribe. Driving back into Kenya we reach Amboseli National Park; famous for its classic backdrop of snow-capped Kilimanjaro rising out of the game-filled plains.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly London/ Nairobi |
| Day 2: | Drive Lake Naivasha; optional Crescent Island |
| Day 3: | Visit Hell's Gate N. Park; drive Loita Hills |
| Day 4: | Walking with Maasai in Loita Hills (4-5hrs) |
| Day 5: | Drive Maasai Mara; game drive |
| Day 6: | In Maasai Mara; game drives |
| Day 7: | Game drive; drive Speke Bay on Lake Victoria |
| Day 8: | Drive Seronera in Serengeti NP |
| Day 9: | In Serengeti NP; game drives; optional balloon safari |
| Day 10: | Drive Ngorongoro via Olduvai Gorge |
| Day 11: | Game viewing in Ngorongoro Crater; drive Karatu |
| Day 12: | Drive Lake Eyasi; visit tribes |
| Day 13: | Drive Amboseli NP; game drive enroute |
| Day 14: | Game drive; drive Nairobi |
| Day 15: | Fly London |
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places. award winner
This tourism business won an Award in our 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market, Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society and BBC World News.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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This tour is camping based for all nightstops outside Nairobi and our environmental impact is further minimised with the use of a truck which is able to carry all of our supplies from equipment to fresh water. In addition to hiring local guides in various locations we also employ the services of a local driver and cook who buys all our camp food for this full board tour directly from local markets as we travel.
Entrance and camping fees for all the parks, reserves and conservation areas we visit are used by the Kenyan and Tanzanian authorities to fund the protected areas we visit and we additionally support locally owned campsites during our stays outside of the park systems. On this tour there is also the chance to meet, and interact with, local Masaai communities and there is also a full day optional excursion to the Hadzabi bushmen and Datoka tribe near Lake Eyasi. The fees for this visit are given directly to the tribal elders to distribute and benefit their community. We limit the group size on this tour to 16 to assist in reducing both the potential negative cultural and environmental impact of our visit. As well as the above, we support a variety of charities and projects worldwide, which support vulnerable communities and habitats including Friends of Conservation and Send a Cow. We are also actively engaged with UK travel industry bodies, which promote best practice in responsible tourism such as the Travel Foundation and AITO. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation and we have measures to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. We offset the emissions of all our customer and staff flights through Climate Care. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |