South Rift Valley and South Kenya safari

Description of South Rift Valley and South Kenya safari

Travel through some of Kenya's least visited areas and see a side of this Safari haven that few people visit on safaris here. From thousands of flamingos to habituated baboons and of course all of Africa's best mammals this is the Kenyan Safari for you.

Introduction:

We are specialists in tailoring wildlife watching all over the world and we have a great range of wildlife tours in Eastern Africa which combine various different wildlife watching activities. In order to develop our unrivalled range of combined wildlife watching holidays, our guides and colleagues around the world have spent years searching out the world’s best wildlife watching locations as well as visiting some seldom visited areas. This dedication has led us to create this wildlife and cultural tour that explores some areas that are seldom visited by most safari goers to Kenya.

This tour starts at the wonderful Amboseli national park in the shadow of the stunning Mt. Kilimanjaro before exploring the southern Rift Valley and seeing how the local people live in harmony with the wildlife before spending time in the world famous and renowned Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Anyone who has wanted to experience an Africa safari, meet a Maasai or enjoy a sundowner underneath the silhouetted shape of Kilimanjaro then this is the perfect tour for you. Enjoy activities from traditional safaris around some of the world’s best national parks and night drives in search of rarer and nocturnal species to baboon tracking with a local Maasai guide and an habituated troop and hiking the Nguruman Escarpment.

All of our tours are guided by our own professional zoologist so you are sure to be in the best hands possible for the best sightings. We also have a great network of local guides in East Africa who have developed a great range of wildlife watching locations where the rarest species are commonly seen. Also to try and make sure that we will see as many of the rarer and elusive animals when in Amboseli National Park and the Masai Mara Game Reserve we will spend many hours during the early morning and late afternoon on jeep safaris and also after dark each night we will head out with high powered spotlights and start the search for nocturnal species.

One of the reasons why our wildlife watching holidays are unique is that our background (as a company) is from a scientific and zoological standpoint and so have a great network of colleagues and contacts all over the world who are the people on the front line in search of the best new locations for wildlife watching. All of these reasons and many more make us experts in arranging safaris and are able to tailor a safari to any location to try to find your targeted species. All you have to do is to get in touch with your budget and your group size and where you would like to go to try and find rare and elusive species.

Price Includes:

Everything mentioned in the itinerary is included. Including three meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). There will be bottled water (approx 1ltr) available for each guest each day. We have our own private air conditioned 4x4 vehicles with an excellent driver for all transfers and open top 4x4 vehicles for all safaris. Where possible we use two brilliant guides; first a professional zoologist will escort you on all your excursions and also very knowledgeable English speaking local guides who have decades of experience working and guiding throughout Eastern Africa. Your zoologist escort is an expert in mammal biology and behaviour and will be able to help you identify the different species as well as interpret you what behaviours you are seeing. The local guides have spent years searching out the best wildlife watching locations and have an unrivalled knowledge of where some of the most elusive African animals are; as well as having years of experience in bringing people out to see Africa’s big five and its hundreds of other species safely. We also include all vehicle safaris, guided walks, spotlighting drives, cultural performances, cultural activities, park entrance fees and sightseeing entrance fees. We include more time spent in the field searching for wildlife per day than any other tour operator around; only if you request to have a rest day will we not arrange a safari into the African bush or some other wildlife watching activity. A comprehensive species list (which states the relative chances of seeing animals based on past tours) is included in the pre-departure pack. There is also a reference book library available for your use throughout the trip as well as some documentaries on the wildlife that you are likely to see which are available to watch throughout the tour.

Seasons:

We recommend April and May and the low season for East Africa. We recommend travelling to Kenya for this tour in the low tourist season, this is very good for wildlife as there are less people and it is the birthing season for many species, so there are lots of young animals and the chances of seeing hunts and kills is good at this time of year. The price quoted here is based on the low season, we can and do run this tour at other times of year, the wildebeest migration can also be included, please ask for specific quotes for different times of the year.

Why Choose this Tour:

• All of our wildlife watching holidays are guided by a zoologist as well as local naturalist guides, drivers and also scientists or researchers where possible, this not only gives you numerous sets of trained eyes to find the animals but also gives you the chance to understand the behaviours and habits of the wildlife you’re watching.
• Our zoologist that escorts all our safaris has great experience working with and studying wild animals all over the world and has experience working as a guide in Eastern and Southern Africa as well as Brazil, Australia, the Indian Subcontinent and USA.
• We can offer you spotlighting trips around some of the many conservancies in the southern Rift Valley so that you can search for the rarer species and other nocturnal wildlife when they are more active. These conservancies are community projects which increase income to the local community whilst preserving the natural ecosystem.
• We can also bring thermal imaging and night vision equipment as well as spotting scopes (on request) to also aid in finding the nocturnal mammals after dark and scan the horizon for harder to see species.
• We use camera traps (where available) which will increase the chances of getting close up pictures and movies of rare animals and other rare nocturnal wildlife.
• Hike the stunning and Nguruman Escarpment and see the vegetation change dramatically as you rise to the top of this western wall at the southern tip of the Great Rift Valley.
• Enjoy a morning walking with a troop of wild (but habituated) baboons with the help of a local Maasai guide who is helping establish baboon friendly policies with local farmers who traditionally do not get on with crop-raiding baboons.
• Immerse yourself into the wonderful life of the Maasai and see how their famous coloured beads are made and also see how they and their cattle interact and live alongside the wildlife of the African plains and valleys.
• All the above reasons give this Kenyan safari holiday a great success rate of seeing the best wildlife around here.
• We have an unrivalled network of experts and guides throughout Eastern Africa so that we can try and find and observe animals such as the Big Five, gorillas, chimpanzees and hundreds of other species throughout Eastern Africa. Whether it is the Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda or Rwanda or any of the other many wildlife watching locations you want to visit we can arrange it. Please inform us if you wish to receive more information about any of these locations and booking a safari.
• Unlike many tour operators we are willing to run this tour for a single person (on request).

Locations:

This tour travels to Amboseli National Park and the Maasai Mara Game Reserve as well as visiting Nairobi, Lake Magadi, Lake Nakuru and conservancies in the southern Rift Valley.

Fitness Level:

The majority of wildlife watching is all done from the 4x4 safari vehicle so any fitness level can participate. Activities that do require walking are tracking the habituated troop of baboons and the optional hike through the Nguruman Escarpment, these activities are taken easy but you may be walking for a few hours so we recommend that people are used to hiking.

Equipment:

When you book onto the tour we will send you a comprehensive pre-departure pack which will include a full packing list of recommended equipment; the equipment list will vary from tour to tour and from location to location so it is best to contact us or wait until you receive the pre-departure pack after booking.

Minimum Age: 18 Years Old.