Day 1 - Arrive Nairobi

Arrive into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and after clearing immigration and customs formalities, you are met by our representative and transferred to Hemingways Nairobi.

Hemingways Nairobi is a boutique hotel in the serene, green suburb of Karen. The hotel bears South Carolina plantation style dimensions, huge verandahs and enormous windows that let all the light in and deliver views across the knuckles of the Ngong Hills. Inside a graciously winding Gone with the Wind staircase leads from the lobby to the top floor. The hotel sports 45 beautifully furnished rooms with high ceilings and king-sized beds. And, despite an elegant retro feel - punkahs gently paddle the air to keep it cool, potted palms dot the interior - is up to the minute modern with express check in, Wi-Fi, spa and gym. Hemingways prides itself on a uniquely individual service which includes a personal butler who assists with unpacking as necessary, pressing anything that's creased in transit, delivering morning tea and generally anticipating your every whim.

Overnight: Hemingways Nairobi

Day 2 - Nairobi

You have the day in Nairobi to explore the surroundings which include a visit to the Giraffe Centre and the Karen Blixen Museum in a vintage car (replica or like the one used in the “Out Of Africa” movie.) Once you have finished your visit in the museum you are picked up in a 4x4 land cruiser and taken up to the Ngong Hills to Denis Finch Hatton’s grave with the museum’s caretaker. After you have been told all the stories and taken in the beautiful views you have a late lunch at Talisman restaurant followed by a visit to the Kazuri bead factory and the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage.

The Giraffe Centre:
Giraffe Centre is the headquarters for AFEW, the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife. Made famous by Daisy Rothschild - a giraffe calf rescued from Soi on the border of Western Kenya. Giraffe Centre was established in 1983 as a sanctuary for the then endangered Rothschild giraffe. The breeding programme has been a great success and visitors can now watch these gentle giants at eye level from a raised platform. There is also the opportunity to learn more about giraffe at the interpretation centre and hand-feed them whilst watching the semi-tame family of warthogs snuffle around their hooves in search of tidbits.

The Karen Blixen Museum:
Located in Karen, the beautiful Nairobi suburb which was once part of Karen Blixen’s vast coffee estate, ‘Mbogani’ was Karen’s home from 1917 until 1931. The house and grounds were made famous by the film ‘Out of Africa’ and have been restored by the Danish community of Kenya. Visitors have a glimpse of typical colonial life in Kenya at the turn of the twentieth century. As well as many of Karen’s original belongings, replicas replace items which have been lost over the years. From the beautiful gardens there are magnificent views of the Ngong Hills, held dear by Karen and described so tenderly in her writings. At the front of the house the original millstone tables can be seen, from which Karen conducted much of her farm business.

Denys Finch Hatton’s grave:
Located high up in the Ngong Hills is the final resting place of Denys Finch Hatton. Off the traditional tourist track this is a special sight to visit with the curator of the Karen Blixen museum who expands on the whispered stories that may have been told before. The tales of one of Africa’s most renowned hunters far exceeds anything we could possibly imagine today.

Kazuri Beads:
Kazuri Beads was set up as a small business making beads in a shed, by the late Susan Wood. She started with two single women as assistants but before long she noticed that many women in the villages around Nairobi were struggling single mothers who needed jobs. In 1988 Kazuri Beads began its long and successful journey as a help centre for needy women and now employs over 350 local women. In the early 1990's Kazuri decided to diversify into pottery and create a product that could be sold in the home market. With the help of a ceramic expert from England, a pottery business was borne, reminiscent of the pottery industry of England 100 years ago. You have an opportunity to meet and talk to the women as they work shaping, painting or stringing the beads by hand. The beads are polished and kiln fired, painted and fired again before being strung into a necklace which in then sold in the Kazuri shops, Kenya and globally.

David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage:
Dame Daphne Sheldrick started the elephant and sometimes, rhino, orphanage in honour of her late husband David, the Warden of the 15,540 square kilometres (6,000 square miles) Tsavo National Park where they lived and raised orphans of every species at their home. The Orphanage is on the edge of Nairobi National Park where the youngsters feed in their mini herds with a mini Matriarch every day, coming back three times a day for their milk feeding and in hot weather, a mud bath. At 17:00 they come in for their bedtime feed and sleep. Each elephant sleeps with a ranger, who alternate between the 20-30 orphans found there at any time, to prevent the orphans becoming too attached to one person. All this is explained by a head keeper during the visit as are the harrowing stories of how many became orphans, mostly the result of poaching. They also explain what happens when the residents turn 3 or 4 years old and graduate to the next stage: a release site in Tsavo. This is the most famous, the largest and most successful elephant Orphanage in Africa and even during a short visit you can see what wonderful personalities they are, and everyone is different. You can tell the difference between one who came from high altitude and one from low altitude.

Overnight: Hemingways Nairobi
Meal Plan: B,L

Day 3 - Fly Nairobi - Tsavo West National Park

Transfer to Wilson Airport for the scheduled 07:30 flight to Tsavo West National Park. Arrive at 08:30 at the airstrip where you are met by your host and transferred to the camp with a game-drive en route. Once you have arrived at the camp, check in and be shown to your room where you can freshen up in time for lunch. After lunch there are a few hours to relax and enjoy the view from your veranda before setting off into the bush for an afternoon game drive.

Alternatively described as 'Kenya's finest camp' and 'the most luxurious tented camp in Africa', Finch Hatton’s is richly deserving of the superlatives. Situated along three spring-fed pools on the southwestern edge of Tsavo West, this luxurious camp offers a wildlife-rich oasis in an otherwise dry and barren land. But what Finch Hatton’s really does best is the luxury business. Its namesake, the hunter and Karen Blixen's lover, Denys Finch Hatton, was renowned for going on safari with a bathtub, a gramophone player and the finest French wines. Finch Hatton’s certainly lives up to his name, with its glinting chandeliers, crystal glasses and discreet kanzu-clad waiters. The 17 tents are a picture of sophistication, with broad beds, antique furniture, minibars and luxurious bathrooms. The camp has a large fleet of safari vehicles and, for those who miss its thrice-weekly flight from Nairobi, its own plane.

Overnight: Finch Hattons Luxury Tented Camp
Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 4 - Tsavo West National Park

Today you get to experience a little of the views and wildlife that Denys looked upon when he first came to Africa. It is in fact in this very park that Denys met his early end. In May 1931 Denys flew to his cottage near Mombasa in his Gypsy Moth for a few days of rest and relaxation. On his way back to Nairobi he stopped off in Voi – the town closest to Tsavo National Park - to do an aerial search for the Tsavo elephant herds that had eluded him for some time. However as his plane lifted off the next day – May 14th 1931 – it unexpectedly stalled and came crashing to the ground killing both Denys and Hamisi his employee. He died at the young age of 44 leaving behind a bereaved Karen Blixen – as per his wishes he was buried on the side of the Ngong Hills on the outskirts of Nairobi – a sight that you have already seen.

The section of Tsavo National Park south of the Mombasa Road, 9,000 square kilometers Tsavo West provides a unique step back in time - to the days when tens of thousands of giant beasts roamed this forested land. Today, the forests are gone - the result of too many elephants and too little rain - but, thanks to the abundant snowmelt from Kilimanjaro, the land continues to water a huge variety of wildlife, from elephant and buffalo to lion, leopard, oryx, lesser kudu and klipspringer. Even the dangerously depleted black rhino are making a minor comeback in a small, fiercely-guarded 70 square kilometers sanctuary. Tsavo West's boundaries encompass a huge variety of habitats, from the lush forests on the Chyulu Hills to arid desert plains, rich riverine groves to the haunting lava-flows of Shaitani. The park's undisputed showpiece is the crystal clear bounty of Mzima Springs, where in an oasis of raffia palms and fig trees the melting snows of Kilimanjaro pump over 50 million gallons of water out of the ground each day. An underwater observation post here offers a novel close encounter with the large crocodile and pods of hippo that flourish in the cold waters.

Overnight: Finch Hattons Luxury Tented Camp
Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 5 - Fly Tsavo West - Lewa Conservancy

Transfer to the airstrip for the scheduled 08:30 flight to Nairobi, Wilson Airport. At approximately 09:50, arrive at Wilson Airport where you are assisted to board the scheduled flight at 10:20 to Lewa Conservancy. Arrive at 11:25 where you are met at Lewa airstrip by your Lewa Wilderness Lodge representative and transferred to the camp with a game-drive en route.

Lewa Wilderness on Lewa Downs at the foot of Mt Kenya is the home of Will and Emma Craig - it has been the family home since the 1920s and was the first ranch in Kenya to host guests. As such, it offers an especially intimate experience; guests have been entertained here for more than 30 years. This is old Kenya hospitality at its elegant, confident best.

Six thatched cottages are tucked into the hillside overlooking Lewa’s Eastern Marania Valley, and three are set in beautiful, established old gardens. Each is decorated with gleaming hardwoods and a number of the family's own antiques Built to max out on stunning views across the valley, you can hear see the river below you where game - elephants, giraffe, rhino, zebra - come to drink. Each cottage has a fireplace to enjoy snug evenings at high, cool, nighttime altitude and private verandahs where you can watch Africa stretch to distant horizons and spill right over them. The sense of space is awe inspiring.

In the evening, you can enjoy private dinners in your cottage or you can join your hosts around a large table in the open-air dining room to share supper and stories. Meals are conjured from ranch raised livestock and produce from a 5 acre organic garden.

Overnight: Lewa Wilderness
Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 6 - Lewa Conservancy

Today the day is yours to do with it as you wish – you may want to start the morning off with a horse ride through the plains of Lewa Downs. This is a magical way to see the scenery as there is no sound of an engine in the background and you get a real feel for how vast the distances are. You can start to imagine how daunting it must have been for Karen Blixen when she first came to the country or for Denys Finch Hatton as he conducted his hunting trips across the plains.

You have lunch at the lodge with Will & Emma Craig (subject to availability) who regale you with stories of the bush that either they have experienced themselves or that have been passed down from their grandparents who moved to Kenya in the time that Karen Blixen moved to the country. Once you have eaten your fill head out to the airstrip where the replica of the Gypsy Moth Bi-plane that Denys Finch Hatton flew is parked. Although not the original this wondrous machine definitely looks like it – with its open air cock pit and space for only two passengers and the pilot it is a beautiful sight to behold.

Optional activity: take a ride in the bi-plane (subject to availability). This is a once in a lifetime experience and one that gives you a real feeling for the vastness of the Kenyan landscape and how utterly stunning the country is. There are myriad of other activities available at Lewa Wilderness including game drives, walking safaris, camel rides, visits to the local schools and cultural interactions – the beauty of Lewa Wilderness is that you can make the day be as busy or as relaxed as you would like it to be.

Overnight: Lewa Wilderness
Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 7 - Fly Lewa Conservancy - Masai Mara National Reserve

Have breakfast at the lodge and then transfer to the airstrip for your scheduled flight at 09:35 which arrives at 11:00 to the Masai Mara. You are met on arrival by an Angama Mara vehicle and transferred to Angama Camp. Perched high up on the Olololoo escarpment, Angama - the name derives from the Swahili for 'suspended in mid air' - lends an extraordinary view across the world renowned Maasai Mara; you can see for hundreds of miles from your tent - whether lying in bed, eating breakfast on the deck or brushing your teeth - . Africa is even reflected in the mirrors above the handwash basins in the bathroom. It floods in, none of it's wasted.

Angama - two intimate camps of just fifteen tented suites each - is seriously funky, the design and furnishing fabulously interesting. There's masses to do in camp as well as out - there's a pool, a spa, a gym, even a beading studio where Maasai women work their incredible, intricate craft. There are delicious meals to be eaten - picnics, bush barbeques, sumptuous afternoon teas. There's walks, game drive, balloon drives. And the view; always that view. After a delicious lunch, head out on a late afternoon game-drive and return to the camp at dusk for dinner.

Overnight: Angama Camp
Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 8 - Masai Mara National Reserve

This morning head down into the reserve on an early morning game drive and take in the breath-taking scenery that captured Denys & Karen’s hearts all those years ago. As the light slowly strengthens you can watch all the wildlife either slowly waking up or retreating for the day. Once the sun has climbed high into the sky and the heat has driven all the animals to shelter, head back to Angama Mara for a very special, one of a kind, lunch. You are lead away from the camp up onto the hillside where you may recognize the view – it is the very same one that provides the backdrop for the picnic scene in the film. And indeed you are provided with a blanket, a wicker hamper and a delicious spread accompanied by a delightful wine – an utterly wonderful way to spend the afternoon and the perfect setting to make your own Out of Africa memories.

Overnight: Angama Camp
Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 9 - Masai Mara National Reserve

Optional activity: today you have the opportunity to view the stunning, wildlife filled plains from above. There is nothing quite like a balloon safari at dawn. You arise early (before dawn) and collected by the balloon safari vehicle and taken down to the launch site. Once you have all got into the basket the pilot begins to inflate the huge balloon and as the fiery red ball breaks over the rim of the earth you glide gently up into the sky. Below you the herds will just have started to move about and, bathed in the beautiful golden early morning light, this provides the ultimate photographic opportunity. After about an hour the balloon slowly descends and laid out before you is a beautiful breakfast in the bush – complete with sparkling wine if you so wish! Once you have eaten your fill you have a little game drive on the way back to camp.

This afternoon you can walk over to the site where Denys Finch Hatton’s grave was shot in the movie with the famous scene of the two lions resting upon it. Finally, to wrap up the exquisite vacation, you are able to watch the movie in the beautiful Angama Mara library where the sounds of the bush filter in through the windows and reflect on your very own Out of Africa memories.

Overnight: Angama Camp
Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 10 - Fly to Nairobi and depart

Today you must say goodbye to the bush. At 11:00 depart on your scheduled flight to Nairobi where you arrive at Wilson Airport at 12:15. Here you are met by our representative and transferred to your hotel where you have a day room booked for the afternoon to give you the opportunity to freshen up before your flight home.

In the early evening, transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your international flight back home.

Meal Plan: B