A Classic Safari, Tanzania & Kenya

INCLUDING

✔ On-Tour Air (5 flights)
✔ Multiple-night stays in the legendary Serengeti National Park, Masai Mara game reserve, and Amboseli National Park, with daily game drives
✔ Intimate safari groups limited to just 30 Horizons Elite guests; game drives in 6-passenger, open-top vehicles with window seats for everyone, led by expert guides
✔ Private lecture by an elephant researcher in Amboseli National Park
✔ Visits to Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy and Animal Orphanage
✔ Overnight in a lodge built into the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, called Africa's "Garden of Eden," for its great views of the wildlife-rich wilderness and one of the oldest sites of habitation by our human predecessors
✔ Private barbecue dinner under the stars at the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club
✔ Weaving demonstration in Kenya
✔ Two-night stay at Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club within view of Mount Kenya
✔ Airport transfers upon arrival and departure as noted
✔ 36 meals; gratuities to local guides, boat staff, and drivers, service charges, admissions fees, taxes & porterage

The Maasai call it "Siringitu" which means "the place where the land moves on forever." Here columns of wildebeest plod along centuries-old migration routes; behind them, prides of lions prowl, completing the circle of life... elephants, buffaloes and hippos graze upon the large coarse grasses, while zebras and topi wait their turn...

This is the Serengeti, one of the world's extraordinary safari experiences. In Tanzania, you can find a birdwatcher's paradise in Lake Manyara and Africa's "Garden of Eden" in Ngorongoro Crater. The circle of life continues in the savannas of Kenya, where indescribable vignettes play out before your eyes in Masai Mara National Reserve and Amboseli National Park... Return to a time when the Great Rift Valley held the secrets of the origins of mankind... Observe huge herds roaming the Serengeti, the "lost world" of Ngorongoro Crater, and free-ranging elephants in Amboseli National Park.. soar in a hot air balloon over the Masai Mara at dawn – capped by a champagne breakfast in the bush... view rescued chimpanzees and protected black rhinos at Ol Pejeta Conservancy... attend a special barbecue dinner accompanied by Maasai cultural performance in the Serengeti... visit the William Holden Wildlife Foundation's animal orphanage during a two-night stay at fabled Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club... meet the weavers of a local village... travel in exclusive open-top safari vehicles, and stay in luxurious tented camps and safari lodges...

DAY 1

Arrive in Arusha, Tanzania's safari gateway

Tour begins: Gran Meliá Arusha. A transfer from Kilimanjaro International Airport to Gran Meliá Arusha is included. Welcome to Tanzania and the start of your African safari; your hotel is set out on 18 acres of beautifully landscaped coffee and tea plantations.

✔Gran Meliá Arusha (Acommodation)

DAY 2

Lake Manyara National Park

The vast Serengeti beckons as you begin a four-night safari in Tanzania, and a five-night Kenya safari. Take your first game drive through Lake Manyara National Park, where you might get your first glimpse of giraffes, baboons, hippos, and elephants along with hundreds of species of birds. Arrive in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, populated by an estimated 30,000 large mammals. Your lodge for the next two nights is on the Ngorongoro Crater rim overlooking the caldera below, an excellent spot for our welcome reception and dinner.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge (Acommodation)

DAY 3

Wildlife in the "Garden of Eden" – Ngorongoro

Thought by some to be Africa's original "Garden of Eden," Ngorongoro Crater is one of the largest calderas in the world and contains a variety of ecosystems and an astounding concentration of birds and animals. Your four-wheel-drive vehicle, built exclusively for Tauck, provides an excellent mobile viewing platform when encountering massive herds of zebras, wildebeests, and gazelles. This area affords an opportunity to spot the Big Five – elephant, leopard, lion, buffalo, and rhinoceros. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the crater today.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge (Acommodation)

DAY 4

Flying to Serengeti National Park

Today, you'll hop a morning flight from Lake Manyara to the Seronera airstrip in the heart of Serengeti National Park. As you do, you'll fly over Oldupai Gorge, where, over 50 years ago, archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey discovered the fossilized remains of some of the earliest known human species, an estimated 1.8 million years old. Arrive in time for lunch at your Four Seasons safari lodge in the Serengeti, built for unprecedented pampering, where you'll begin a three-night stay. Following an afternoon game drive in Serengeti National Park, join us this evening for a special barbecue dinner in your lodge's Boma Grill, enhanced by a Maasai traditional dance performance.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti (Acommodation)

DAY 5

The Serengeti's amazing wildlife

Look for wildlife in the heart of the vast savanna of the Serengeti today on both morning and afternoon game drives. Sightings might include lions, zebras, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, buffaloes, jackals, gazelles, and giraffes. When the sunset paints the sky in the evening, enjoy the show from the luxury of your lodge in Serengeti National Park, and enjoy Pan-African cuisine at dinner tonight.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti (Acommodation)

DAY 6

More game drives in the Serengeti

Spend another glorious day in the spectacular Serengeti as you head out into the grasslands aboard safari vehicles for game drives in the early morning as well as the afternoon. In between, you'll have free time to relax and enjoy the amenities of your Four Seasons safari lodge, where you'll dine at your choice of restaurants tonight.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti (Acommodation)

DAY 7

On to Kenya's Amboseli National Park

Leave the Serengeti behind as you fly to Arusha, Tanzania en route to Kenya. Dominating the skyline, majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro peaks over surrounding landscapes from more than 15,000 feet up. After landing in Arusha, enjoy an early lunch at the Cultural Heritage Center before continuing overland into Kenya to begin a two-night at your safari lodge in Amboseli National Park, where herds of free-ranging elephants and other wildlife like to roam. Enjoy a private lecture on the elephants of Amboseli and anti-poaching efforts in Kenya prior to dinner at your leisure at the lodge this evening.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge (Acommodation)

DAY 8

Private game drives and more in Amboseli

Tauck's private safari game drives in Amboseli National Park offer ample opportunity to view the elephants, hippos and buffaloes that seek out the park's natural watering holes and the graceful antelopes that graze in the flat grasslands. An early morning visit to a Maasai village precedes a morning game drive. Spend some down time at your lodge prior to lunch, then another game drive, and time to spend as you please at the lodge in the afternoon.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge (Acommodation)

DAY 9

Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club & Ol Pejeta Conservancy

A morning flight brings you to the next destination on your African adventure! Upon arrival, you're off on a game drive through Ol Pejeta Conservancy, boasting East Africa's largest resident black rhino population and others of the Big Five. After lunch, it's off to your home for the next two nights, the world-famous Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club. Straddling the Equator, this luxurious hotel is the former retreat of actor William Holden and was once the playground of illustrious elites such as Winston Churchill and Bing Crosby. Following an afternoon equatorial demonstration, dinner tonight is at the hotel.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club (Acommodation)

DAY 10

Local Life & Mount Kenya Wildlife Center

This morning, visit the town of Nanyuki, known for its colorful rugs, hangings and shawls, for a private visit with local weavers. See them shear, spin, dye and weave sheep's wool by hand right before your eyes! Following lunch, you'll have the opportunity to pay a private visit to the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy and Animal Orphanage; this unique facility gives orphaned, injured, neglected, abused or frightened wild animals a second chance. The orphanage provides shelter and professional care with the goal to release these creatures back into the wild where they belong. Return to Fairmont Mt. Kenya Safari Club for dinner and the evening. Dine under the stars tonight at a private barbecue at the hotel.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club (Acommodation)

DAY 11

The Masai Mara & an evening game drive

Pack your Tauck duffle bag and fly to the Masai Mara Game Reserve in southern Kenya, where you'll be welcomed by Maasai warriors. Have lunch upon your arrival at the luxurious Fairmont Mara Safari Club, where an elegant tented camp is your home for the next two nights. Spend the afternoon relaxing, swimming, taking in the views and otherwise becoming acquainted with the Safari Club and your luxury tented camp accommodations, evoking the classic safaris of yesteryear. Embark on a late afternoon game drive across the plains of "the Mara" in search of animals that make their homes here; perhaps you'll see lions, antelopes, elephants and zebras in their daily rituals. Return to camp for a briefing on tomorrow's hot air balloon flight, followed by dinner.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Fairmont Mara Safari Club (Acommodation)

DAY 12

Ballooning over the plains of the Masai Mara

Today – the last full day of your safari adventure – will be one that you'll always remember, as you arise before dawn to board a hot air balloon* and float over the Masai Mara's awakening plains below as the sun rises. When you land, a special champagne breakfast will be awaiting you right there in the bush! Spectacular isn't quite strong enough a word to describe such an experience, a Tauck Exclusive on your Kenya safari! Back on the ground, look for lions, impalas, cheetahs, giraffes, and the other animals you've come to love as you return overland to the camp for lunch and an afternoon at leisure – and later on an evening game drive in the bush. After returning to your tented camp, join us for a perfect ending to your unforgettable safari, in true Tauck fashion... a farewell dinner in the boma of the Fairmont Mara Safari Club.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
✔Fairmont Mara Safari Club (Acommodation)

DAY 13

Fly to Nairobi and journey home

Tour ends: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Fly from the Masai Mara to Nairobi this morning for your journey home. We have reserved a day room for you at the Nairobi Serena Hotel; depart the hotel for the airport after dinner. Allow 3 hours for flight check-in.

✔ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner