“A stones
throw out on either side
From that well
ordered road we tread,
And all the
world is wild and strange.”
Rudyard Kipling
This is a
sensational safari from both a wildlife
and of course particularly an elephant
viewing perspective, this safari is
second to none. The added extra is that
we have also designed the itinerary for
you to spend time on the ground in the
bush with some of the continent’s
foremost experts on elephants.
Fly London-Heathrow to
Nairobi, Kenya.
Day 1 - House of
Waine, Karen, Nairobi
Upon arrival A&K
will be there to meet you as you pass
through customs. We will then drive you
the short distance by safari Landcruiser
to your hotel, for an overnight stay.
House of Waine, sits snugly in a
district known as Karen, named after the
famous Out of Africa author of the same
name. The hotel is boutique in style
with just eleven individually themed
rooms.
Days 2 to 3 - Private
Luxury Mobile Camp, Lewa Downs
Be driven the short
distance to Wilson, Nairobi’s domestic
airport, where you will board a light
aircraft for the hours flight up to Lewa
Downs. If the weather is good, you’ll
enjoy sensational views of Mount Kenya
whose towering peaks rise over 17,000
ft.
The Lewa Downs are in
the heart of the Laikipia region, a
broad swathe of lava plateau that
reaches the foothills of Mount Kenya on
one side and in contrast, the wild
deserts of the Northern Frontier
District on the other. Outside of the
Masai Mara, Laikipia can boast some of
the greatest wildlife experiences in
Kenya.
Lewa Downs is probably
East Africa’s finest conservancy
success story and has been the home of
the Craig family since the 1920’s.
Delia, the grandmother, was awarded it
in a post war colonial land lottery. She
had qualified to enter the land hand out
through her services as a nurse in the
trenches. With a handsome chunk of Kenya
to her name, she was soon married to
David and they ran the area as a cattle
ranch up in to the late 1980’s.
At this time and with
the support of various benefactors,
royal and otherwise, they decided to
concentrate on the conservation of game
and are now one of the country’s great
success stories. Having originally
hunted out the rhino themselves, they
now have over sixty, both black and
white, on their property. They also have
a thriving predator population and a
plethora of plains game and smaller
beasts.
The inspiration behind
this transformation was the eldest son,
Ian Craig. He is a pachyderm expert and
appears regularly on the National
Geographic programme, Safari Diary. He
will join you at some stage during your
safari and explain further in detail
about some of the amazing things that
the conservancy is achieving with
respect to elephants and rhinoceros.
Your accommodation in
the bush will be a private mobile camp.
This is the ultimate and most exclusive
form of safari and you certainly will
not be forfeiting on comfort or luxury.
Best of all, luxury mobile camping is
ecologically ideal as we leave no
permanent fixtures and allow the
environment to remain as pristine as we
first found it.
Each tent is set with
campaign furniture and hand woven rugs
in warm organic colours to blend in with
the environment. Your personal tent
steward will make sure that the Egyptian
cotton sheets on your large, comfortable
bed are freshly ironed and that a hot
water bottle is slipped beneath your
duvet on a chilly night. While you are
at supper, he will have turned down your
bed, slipped in a hot water bottle and
drawn around your mosquito net.
Your tent steward will
be on hand to make sure that your naval
bucket shower is mixed to the perfect
temperature for whatever time of day or
night you choose to bathe. You have a
fully flushing, ceramic toilet and even
running water in your basin. Three main
meals are served each day. The best
safari plan is that played by ear so we
will improvise to suit your schedule and
will even prepare delicious picnics for
you to take with you in to the bush if
you so choose. Otherwise meals are taken
in our large candle lit mess tent. There
is a small reference library for you to
browse and a variety of board games for
the competitive spirit.
Your guide will help
you design your days. Game drives in our
custom made Landcruisers are always
rewarding and there are plenty of
beautiful spots to enjoy a picnic or a
sundowner.
Days 4 to 5 -
Elephant Watch Camp, West Gate Samburu
Today you will drive
northwards to the celebrated Elephant
research camp and luxury tented camp of
the Douglas-Hamilton family.
The Elephant Watch
Safari Camp is perched on a sloping
riverbank beneath great Kigelia and
Acacia trees and is home to some of the
largest elephant bulls in Samburu.
Greater Kudu and impalas stop by to eat
seedpods, as do a multitude of birds and
monkeys, and sometimes a leopard comes
to hunt in the darkness.
The Camp accommodates
10 guests and has desert-style tents
which are wide and breezy with large
colourful cushions with Samburu
beadwork. Local rugs adorn the furniture
made from fallen trees and every detail
of this nomadic camp is designed to
blend with the spirit of Samburu. The
owners of the camp, Iain and Oria
Douglas-Hamilton have been privileged to
work with elephants for more than thirty
years. Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton is the
founder and President of the registered
charity, ‘Save the Elephants’. A
range of activities are offered at the
camp including bird walks along the
river, interaction with the Samburu
people, and game drives to find elephant
or the long necked gerenuk or
reticulated giraffe, endemic to the
north of Kenya, the rare Grevy zebra and
a host of predators including lion,
cheetah, hyena and leopard.
Enjoy a trip to the
‘Save the Elephants’ Research Centre
where the research team monitor
long-distance movements of wild
elephants using high-tech GPS radio
collars. If Iain is in the country you
will have the opportunity to meet him
and discuss the issues facing
elephants’ survival.
Days 6 to 8 - Olonana
Camp, Masai Mara
After a delicious
breakfast, you will catch the schedule
flight south westwards down to the Masai
Mara. Upon arrival you will be met at
the airstrip by Olonana Camp staff and
taken on a game drive en route to
Olonana. You may be rewarded with
sightings of elephant, buffalo, giraffe
and a host of other plains’ game.
Olonana is at the
forefront of eco-tourism in Kenya with
solar power, bio degradable products and
an ingenious wetlands project which
allows for all used water to be totally
recycled. The camp comprises just 14
spacious and airy en suite accommodation
tents (all with 2 queen size beds, floor
to ceiling mosquito net ‘windows’
and veranda) located on the banks of the
Mara River, where the resident hippo
pods spend their days wallowing.
The wildlife is
abundant and the swaying grasslands
ensure that animals are never out of
sight. Elephants browse amongst the
large herds of wildebeest and topi,
eland and buffalo, Thomson’s and
Grant’s gazelle. The plains offer a
rich variety of food for the dominant
predators: lion; leopard; hyena and
cheetah. In the Mara River, hippos
submerge to snort and grumble while
crocodiles sunbathe, mouths agape, on
the riverbanks.
Your stay at Olonana
will be accompanied by Dr Chris
Thouless, one of the most eminent
elephant specialists in East Africa and
pioneer of elephant collaring. He will
join you on game drives and over the
course of your stay you will have plenty
of opportunity to take full advantage of
his exhaustive knowledge.
There will also be the
opportunity to drift over the Mara in a
Hot Air Balloon should you wish to add
this to your itinerary.
Day 9 - Masai
Mara/Nairobi/London
After breakfast, bid a
fond farewell to Olonana and transfer to
the airstrip for the scheduled flight
back to Nairobi. Upon arrival at Wilson
Airport you will be met by an A&K
representative and your afternoon is at
your leisure for last minute shopping
with lunch and dinner under own
arrangements.
We can arrange a
dayroom for you at a hotel if you would
like.
This evening transfer
to Jomo Kenyatta Airport for your
departure flight to London.
