SkySafari East Africa

Day 1 : Nairobi

Set between Nairobi National Park and the foot of the Ngong Hills, Hemingways Nairobi is an exclusive plantation-style boutique hotel far from the bustle of central Nairobi. An all-suite property providing full butler service, gourmet restaurant, a brasserie and a bar, it is perfectly placed for trips to Nairobi National Park and the capital.

Day 2 : Nairobi > Amboseli National Park

Enjoy breakfast and a briefing at Hemingways before you transfer to Wilson Airport, Nairobi. The SkySafari takes to the air. Arrive in Amboseli National Park, the second most popular wildlife area in Kenya, famous for its large population of over 1000 resident elephants and for its scenic beauty with the backdrop of the world’s highest free-standing mountain, snow-capped Kilimanjaro.

Amboseli National Park covers 96,865 acres (392km2), which constitutes less than 5% of the entire 2 million acre ecosystem of the Amboseli basin crossing from Kenya into Tanzania. The lush green wetlands in this otherwise dry area make Amboseli National Park one of the best wildlife-viewing areas on the planet, attracting over 600 species of birds including pelicans, kingfishers, crakes, hammerkops, 47 types of raptors as well as the African elephant, cape buffalo, impala, hyena, giraffe, zebra, gazelle and wildebeest with lion and cheetah among the big cats that roam the area.

Day 3 : Amboseli National Park

Today you will prepare for an early morning game drive. At around 5am is when animals are most active and you will observe big cats returning from a night on the hunt. These are also the golden hours for photographers, as dawn light rose-tints the savannah and Kilimanjaro is most likely to be free of cloud. After a wild start, enjoy a lavish bush breakfast, served out amid the acacia trees.
There’s time to relax back at camp – with a swim, a massage, a good book in the sun – before a buffet lunch. Then prepare for your most intimate encounter with the bush: local guides, who know almost every blade grass, will lead you on a walking safari; you’ll follow animal tracks, taste bush herbs, revel in the tiny details, perhaps encounter something larger… It’s a fresh, thrilling perspective. Later, you will enjoy a private dinner under the stars!

Day 4 : Amboseli National Park > Loisaba Conservancy, Laikipia

Today you will venture out in the camp’s custom-designed 4WDs for one last game drive – one last chance to see Amboseli’s big cats, big herds, big drama. Then, you will be transferred to Amboseli airstrip to board your SkySafari flight to Loisaba Conservancy. Laikipia is one of only a few places in Africa where wildlife numbers are on the increase, and a huge array of animals – from the Big Five to endangered Grevy’s zebra – might be spotted.

Day 5 : Loisaba Conservancy, Laikipia

Today you can go on a bush walk with your Samburu guide or join a horse or camel back. Activities will be followed by breakfast in the bush and a rejuvenating pamper in the spa. After lunch, go on an afternoon game drive: Loisaba is an important migration area for Laikipia’s huge elephant population, so excellent sightings are frequent; unusual species such as greater kudu and beisa oryx are found here too.

Tonight, you could choose something rather special. Poised on a rocky kopje, Elewana Loisaba Star Beds – sister property to the Tented Camp – offers the chance to sleep outside in style. Roll your rustic four-poster out onto the verandah, lay back and look up at the endless, unpolluted, star-spangled African sky.

Day 6 : Loisaba Conservancy, Laikipia > Masai Mara National Reserve

Enjoy breakfast and a game drive on your way to Loisaba’s airstrip for your SkySafari flight to the world famous Masai Mara National Reserve. Your ride from the airstrip to Sand River Masai Mara Camp, a secluded spot in the southern area of the reserve, is your first game drive: don’t be surprised if you meet most of the Big Five before lunch. Even if you don’t, your afternoon game drive might oblige: these acacia-dotted plains are dense with game. Keep your eyes peeled for lion, leopard and cheetah, hyena, giraffe and elephant, and 500-plus species of bird. Raising a Sundowner in this classic tranche of wilderness is the perfect way to toast the day.

Day 7 : Masai Mara National Reserve

After a delicious breakfast, set off with a packed picnic hamper for a full day’s game drive, so you can delve deeper into the reserve. Nowhere in Africa is wildlife more abundant. And while the seasonal migration of two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle crossing from the Serengeti is one of Mother Nature’s greatest spectacles, the profusion of wildlife in the Mara – from 450 species of bird to the Big Five – makes it one of the best safari spots year round. This evening enjoy a farewell dinner under the stars at camp.

Days 8 – 10 : Masai Mara National Reserve > Serengeti National Park

Enjoy breakfast before driving back to the airstrip for your onward SkySafari flights – we’ll ease you through customs, so you touch down in Tanzania’s sweeping Serengeti in time for lunch. You’ll be welcomed at the camp of your choice and enjoy a variety of game drives. The variety of wildlife safaris in Kenya and Tanzania is remarkable, the drama intense – especially when the Great Migration passes through: the camp is perfectly placed for watching the herds run the gauntlet of the Grumeti River. Your first afternoon’s game drive will be a wildlife revelation.

Spend three nights in luxurious tented accommodation enjoying the drama and beauty of the Serengeti’s abundant wildlife – and for most of the year the amazing sight of the annual migration.

Day 11 : Serengeti National Park

Your drive to the airstrip gives you a final chance to soak up the sights, smells, sounds and sensations of the Serengeti. Then it’s a scenic flight to reach Lake Manyara – according to Ernest Hemingway, the ‘loveliest in Africa’. This small park is certainly varied: your game drive here could encounter an astounding mix of life, from bushbuck and blue monkeys in the forests to tree-climbing lions in the acacia woods; from cheetah stalking antelopes on the grasslands to hippos wallowing in the mud. After a picnic by the water’s edge, we’ll continue through the highlands to arrive at The Manor.

Day 12 : Ngorongoro Crater

After an early breakfast you will head into the “8th wonder old the world”: Ngorongoro Crater. Measuring over 20km wide and 600m deep, Ngorongoro Crater is a natural volcanic amphitheatre, a geological marvel, a festival of wildlife. Its acacia thickets, riverine forest and glittering lakes throng with around 30,000 animals: one of the highest densities of wildlife in Africa.

Spend a full day in Ngorongoro – our expert guides will introduce you to its vast cast of characters: lions, elephants and buffalo, cheetah and serval cats, hyena, jackal and black rhino. Plus The Manor has special permission to host beautiful bush lunches in a private part of the crater, away from the crowds. You can picnic in exclusive style without missing a wildlife-packed minute. Following this exciting day, you will take the one-hour transfer back to The Manor for dinner.

Day 13 : Ngorongoro > Arusha

Breakfast at The Manor is followed by a transfer to the airstrip for your SkySafari flight to Arusha Airport. On arrival you will be transferred to Arusha Coffee Lodge for the afternoon (depending on your departure flight a day room is available for your use) before transferring to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your outbound flight.