A visual feast of the best game parks in Kenya and Tanzania, this trip offers unparalleled game viewing, with evening relaxation at excellent quality authentic tented camps. Follow the path of the annual migration in a private game viewing vehicle with experienced guides who will take you on several drives each day, searching out lion, elephant, giraffe, wildebeest, zebras and all the herds that are part of the spectacle ‘great migration’. Depart Nairobi and drive to Masai Mara, the world's top game park. Enjoy two days of game viewing, and a cultural visit to the local Masai village whose school is partially funded by Kensington Tours. Then drive past Lake Victoria's shore into Tanzania to Serengeti where more world class game viewing awaits you. Visit the Olduvlai Gorge on your way through the Serengeti game park and drive up and into Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest caldera, an extinct volcano packed with wildlife. Relax in the cool heights of Ngorongoro and do a guided hike with Masai guides. Visit Arusha's famous souvenir markets, and fly back to Nairobi for some more souvenir shopping and a nice dinner.

Offer good for travel through July 31st, 2010. Note: Children (17 years or younger) are free* when they share a tent with two adult family members.
(*free offer includes all services except park fees and internal flights)

Day 1
NAIROBI
Airport transfer with private vehicle and guide. Includes Flying Doctors air ambulance emergency evacuation to Nairobi in the event of serious illness. Kensington Tours donates a portion of our proceeds to our charitable initiative www.kensingtoncares.com which supports education-based initiatives in disadvantaged communities. Nairobi is the least expensive arrival city for flights with a full range of hotels and local attractions. Dubbed the “Safari Capital of the World” cool, clear and cosmopolitan Nairobi is the natural departure point for most safari itineraries. A city of contrasts, it is simultaneously the largest, the youngest, the most modern, the highest (1700m) and the fastest growing city in East Africa. High-altitude Nairobi enjoys a pleasant tropical climate all year round. There are ATMs and banks to stock up on cash, great restaurants, and malls where you can purchase any forgotten items. Owned and operated by Fairview Hotel, Country Lodge offers modern accomodations at reasonable prices. Located in quite Upperhill, relax in the gardens or take advantage of gym facilities and local restaurants. Rest in comfort and security at this lovely location.

Day 2
NAIROBI-MASAI MARA
Transfer between Mara park and Nairobi by road. Includes stops at souvenir shops and refreshment stands. One hour of road is badly potholed. Game viewing in Masai Mara National Park with your skilled guide. Drives are typically done in the morning at 6:30am for a few hours and/or 4pm for a few hours. Enjoy lunch (included in tour price). Masai Mara is the northernmost portion of the larger Serengeti ecosystem and features the best game viewing in the region . The small size funnels animals into a tight space, and park rules allowing off-road driving which means that guests can venture into plains covered with hundreds or even thousands of animals. Take an optional hot air balloon ride over the plains, with the opportunity for amazing pictures of the animal herds below. Our new Kensington Mara West Camp has been revamped and relocated to what is surely one of the best views in East Africa. Perched elegantly on the Ololoolo escarpment forming the western boundary of the Masai Mara Reserve itself, this is the authentic ‘Out of Africa’ experience where much of the original film itself was filmed & produced. The camp borders the remote and beautiful western edge of Masai Mara National Reserve. Kensington Mara West provides nature lovers with deluxe accommodations while experiencing the sights and sounds of an unforgettable African safari. Chalets are perched in secluded spots on an escarpment edge overlooking the vast plains of the Masai Mara Game Reserve, giving tremendous views and a sense of private exclusion. Mara West is providing high quality service with beautifully designed, comfortable accommodations. Enjoy dinner (included in tour price).

Day 3
MASAI MARA
Game viewing in Masai Mara National Park with your skilled guide. Drives are typically done in the morning at 6:30am for a few hours and/or 4pm for a few hours. Enjoy lunch (included in tour price). This afternoons game viewing will be exciting as you are searching for game with your private guide and driver. The leopard is difficult to see as it moves fast and is very shy. If you're lucky there is a good chance to spot them around waterholes or up in a tree after a hot long day. Enjoy dinner (included in tour price).

Day 4
MASAI MARA-SERENGETI
This full day drive includes some game drive through the park, and several hours drive on rough road to the border (TZ visa can be purchased for $50 US cash, or $100pp for US citizens). Picnic lunch near Lake Victoria with time permitting, an option to visit a local fishing village. NOTE: The road is unimproved in places and this is a LONG drive. Kenya/Tanzania border crossing. Visas can be purchased for US cash (no bills older than 2006 due to local counterfiting safeguards). Game viewing with your expert guide in Serengeti National Park. Tanzania's oldest and most popular national park, the Serengeti is massive in size, 14,763 sq km (5,700 sq miles). Famed for its annual migration, when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing. Yet even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers the most expansive game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s gazelle. A tented wilderness camp in the western Serengeti, this is an intimate connection to nature in the world’s finest game park. Look forward to attentive service with five course bush cuisine of the pan-African and traditional sort. Three main meals are served each day in the large canvas dining tent overlooking the plains, culminating with five course dinners ending with coffee or tea under the stars. The tents, appropriately furnished with Masai inspired style, feature campaign furniture and canvas wardrobe. The Masai theme is showcased with evocative headboards, lamps and fixtures. This is a rare opportunity to experience close contact with the world’s greatest migration, which has been known to feature twenty or so lion prides and countless throngs of zebras and wildebeest. Enjoy dinner (included in tour price).

Day 5
SERENGETI
Game viewing with your expert guide in Serengeti National Park. Enjoy lunch (included in tour price). Spend the day taking in the spectacle of the famous wildebeest migration. This annual migration through the Serengeti and Masai Mara is one of the safari highlights of Africa. The wildebeest migration moves in a basic clockwise direction throughout the year in Serengeti eco-system and up into Masai Mara from July to October. The herds are accompanied by zebra and Thomson's gazelle and are stealthily hunted by leopard, lion and hyena.
Enjoy dinner (included in tour price).

Day 6
SERENGETI-NGORONGORO
The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as "The Cradle of Mankind." It is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about 30 miles (48 km) long. The gorge is named after the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria ehrenbergii, commonly called Oldupai. Game viewing with your expert guide in Serengeti National Park. Enjoy a picnic lunch (included in tour price). "The Ngorongoro Crater is often called ‘Africa’s Eden’ and the ‘8th Natural Wonder of the World’. A massive extinct volcano, the sheet walls drop thousands of feet to a "Noah's Ark" of animals on the verdent floor below. Large herds of zebra, buffalo, antelope and wildebeest graze nearby while sleeping lions laze in the sun. At dawn, the endangered black rhino returns to the thick cover of the crater forests after grazing on dew-laden grass in the morning mist. Kensington Ngorongoro Camp is a tented wilderness camp located on a coffee plantation just outside of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The distant views give way south to the hills surrounding Lake Eyasi.The spacious tents feature two queen beds and oversized windows which allow cool breezes and warm light to wash through. Immediately behind the bedroom is a dressing room which is flanked on one side by a private water closet with flush toilet and on the other side by a large shower room. Hot and cold running water allow you to freshen up after a day on safari. Electric lights shine in every tent and the camps are equipped with 220V plugs for charging batteries and other devices. Outside, the open veranda is shaded, with canvas director's chairs and reading table angled to catch the best views. Enjoy dinner (included in tour price).

Day 7
NGORONGORO
Game viewing with your expert guide in Serengeti National Park. Descend into the Ngorongoro caldera to view the wildlife on the crater floor. The crater is roughly 20 km/12 mi wide and 600 m/2,000 ft deep, once you've reached the top of the caldera it takes about 45 minutes to decend to the crater floor. The floor is home to a rich and highly concentrated wildlife. Some 20,000 mammals of size live there, including about 20 black rhinoceros, making the crater the best place in Tanzania to see the rhino. The crater floor also has one of the highest carnivore densities in the world. Lions, cheetahs, hyaenas and jackals are commonly seen, while leopards, servals and bat-eared foxes may be seen with some good luck.
Enjoy lunch (included in tour price). Enjoy dinner (included in tour price).

Day 8
NGORONGORO-NAIROBI
Private guide and driver with drop off at the international airport. ARK-WIL Includes opportunity to visit local handicrafts market to stock up on souvenirs. Includes opportunity to visit local handicrafts market to stock up on souvenirs. Nairobi is the least expensive arrival city for flights with a full range of hotels and local attractions. Dubbed the “Safari Capital of the World” cool, clear and cosmopolitan Nairobi is the natural departure point for most safari itineraries. A city of contrasts, it is simultaneously the largest, the youngest, the most modern, the highest (1700m) and the fastest growing city in East Africa. High-altitude Nairobi enjoys a pleasant tropical climate all year round. There are ATMs and banks to stock up on cash, great restaurants, and malls where you can purchase any forgotten items. Depart from Nairobi international airport - end of itinerary. Before leaving that night, stop by the kensington office for free use of internet, lounge, showers and drinks. (We can arrange dinner at Carnivore game meat restaurant, though there is limited wild meat on the menu these days - please let us know in advance and if you are veg.)