The Maasai Heartlands

About this trip

Exactly what you do each day, where you sleep, and how it flows — written by us, from the real itinerary.

1. 1
   Day 1 · NairobiNairobi

   Arrive in Nairobi for a 6 pm welcome meeting. If you have time, take the optional 4-hour Nairobi Experience Urban Adventure, which includes lunch at a local restaurant and a city orientation. Join your group for an optional dinner afterwards.

2. 2
   Day 2 · Lake Nakuru National ParkLake Nakuru National Park

   Drive north-west through the Great Rift Valley past Lake Naivasha and Elementaita to Lake Nakuru National Park. Visit a nearby village with your leader, take a cooking class, and prepare dinner together using what you've learned.

3. 3
   Day 3 · Lake Nakuru National ParkLake Naivasha

   

   Early morning game drive through Lake Nakuru National Park hunting for rhinos and other wildlife. Return for lunch, then drive to Lake Naivasha, a freshwater lake dotted with papyrus islands and lined with acacia trees, home to hippos and numerous bird species.

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   Day 4 · Lake NaivashaLake Naivasha

   Take a boat trip across Lake Naivasha with a guide, spotting hippos, kingfishers, fish eagles, herons, giraffes, zebras and waterbucks against the backdrop of the Eburru volcanic mountains. Free afternoon to either visit Hell's Gate National Park or hire a bike and explore independently.

5. 5
   Day 5 · Lake NaivashaLoita Hills Maasai Village

   Leave Lake Naivasha with a food-shopping stop in Narok, then drive to Loita Hills and the Maasai community of Tepesua Village. Be welcomed with traditional warrior song and dance, learn about Maasai warrior training, visit the Tepesua Widows Income Project village, and spend the evening around a campfire.

6. 6
   Day 6 · Maasai Mara National ReserveMaasai Mara National Reserve

   

   Travel from Loita Hills to Maasai Mara National Reserve—mostly tarmacked road with a dusty or muddy final 5 km. After lunch, jump into 4WDs for a game drive across the sparse plains looking for wildebeest, lions, leopards, cheetahs, buffalo, elephants and rhino.

7. 7
   Day 7 · Maasai Mara National ReserveMaasai Mara National Reserve

   Optionally take a pre-booked hot-air balloon ride at sunrise over the Mara with a pilot safety briefing, gliding at tree height for photography before landing to a bush breakfast. Rejoin the group for a full-day 4WD game drive through the reserve with expert local guides.

8. 8
   Day 8 · NairobiNairobi

   Return to Nairobi and check into your hotel. Spend the evening at leisure before attending a second welcome meeting at 6 pm to meet your new group.

9. 9
   Day 9 · Amboseli National ParkAmboseli National Park

   Board your overland vehicle for Amboseli National Park, home to Kenya's largest population of African elephants including 'big tuskers' and rare 'super tuskers'. On clear days, Mt Kilimanjaro is visible. Arrive and head out on a game drive to explore the park.

10. 10
    Day 10Naramatisho

    Cross into Tanzania and visit the Naramatisho Women's Centre, run by the Pastoral Women's Council. Be welcomed with traditional songs and dance, learn about Indigenous pastoralist women's empowerment programmes, try Maasai beadwork in the workshop, then visit a nearby Maasai village to see daily life and traditions.

11. 11
    Day 11 · Ngorongoro Conservation AreaSerengeti National Park (Ngorongoro Crater)

    

    Load into a six-person jeep and head to Ngorongoro Crater for a 3–4 hour safari spotting black rhinos, lions, leopards, elephants, impalas, zebras and hippos across its intact volcanic caldera floor. Then drive to the open plains of Serengeti National Park, home to thousands of hoofed animals and predators.

12. 12
    Day 12 · Serengeti National ParkSerengeti National Park

    Wake at dawn for a game drive while animals are most active, return for brunch around 11 am, rest during midday heat, then head out again for a second game drive before dinner. Optional pre-booked balloon safari at dawn offers aerial views gliding sometimes at tree height.

13. 13
    Day 13 · Serengeti National ParkKaratu

    Enjoy a leisurely morning 4WD safari and picnic lunch while leaving Serengeti National Park. Take in final views of the reserve before the long drive to Karatu, your base for the next two nights.

14. 14
    Day 14 · KaratuKaratu

    Visit a local coffee farm hosted at the farmer's home. Pick ripe berries from the trees, watch the husk removal process, then roast, pound and grind beans the traditional way before enjoying coffee with your host.

15. 15
    Day 15 · ArushaArusha / Nairobi

    Depart around 7.30 am for your final journey. Stop in Arusha where you can end your trip, or continue to Nairobi and be dropped at a centrally located hotel with no accommodation provided. Extend your stay by arranging additional accommodation with your booking agent if needed.

What's included

• Guide: On this trip you will be accompanied by three crew members - Group Leader, Cook and Driver who will usually be Kenyan. Your Group Leader’s role involves organizing the overall operation and smooth-running of the trip, managing trip logistics, coordinating the tipping kitty (where applicable) and will form work groups to take turns cooking, cleaning and shopping. (From time to time your leader may drive as well) Your Group Leader will work towards making the trip as safe and enjoyable as possible for all travellers. Intrepid trips are built around the co–operation and participation of all the group members under the supervision of the group leader. The group leader will show the group how to set up and use the equipment. While not being guides in the traditional sense you can expect them to have a broad general knowledge of the countries visited on the trip, including historical, cultural, religious and social aspects. We also use local guides where we think more specific knowledge will add to the enjoyment of the places we are visiting, especially when tracking and identifying game - we think it's the best of both worlds. Regardless of the country of origin, our Group Leaders are chosen for their leadership skills and are wonderful ambassadors for our company and our beautiful continent and its people. Your Cook is responsible for the cooking and will help to coordinate the work groups for preparing the meals and washing up! Cooks are also responsible for organizing food shopping (they are always happy to have you on board) and most importantly, they make sure high hygiene standards are kept at all times while camping. Your Driver’s main responsibility is to get you to your destination safely; they are also responsible for the maintenance of the vehicles along the way. Everyone is expected to participate and carry their share of the workload/duties, making camp chores easier. The duties Rota system is adopted where all members share in general camp duties – cooking, shopping, washing up etc. If the whole group participates it will be quicker, easier, and more fun. We endeavour to provide the services of an experienced leader and crew; however, situations may arise where your leader is new to a particular region or training other group leaders.
• Meals: 14 breakfasts, 13 lunches, 12 dinners
• Activities: Lake Nakuru - Village Walk & Cooking Class Lake Nakuru - Overland Vehicle Safari Lake Naivasha - Boat trip Loita Hills - Cultural Talk & Maasai Village Visit Maasai Mara - 4WD Safari Amboseli National Park - Overland Vehicle Game Drive Naramatisho - Maasai Village Visit Naramatisho - Women's Centre Visit Ngorongoro Crater - 4WD Safari Serengeti National Park - Afternoon 4WD Safari Serengeti National Park - Morning 4WD Safari Karatu - Coffee Tour
• Transport: Our trucks are purpose-built, self contained safari vehicles. Our fleet of vehicles varies depending on your group size, trip route and style. Your vehicle type may differ from those listed above. It is also important to note that our overland vehicles are not air-conditioned, but all vehicles have windows that can be opened to allow for fresh air. Each seat will have access to a power socket to charge your devices. This outlet will use a UK/K: enyan 3 pronged outlet. There are many early starts with long hours spent driving on rough roads on all African itineraries. While most people love the chance to watch the changing landscape and daily village life, feedback shows that long periods of inactivity does not appeal to all clients. We provide the approximate distance covered each day and how many hours this normally takes to drive so that you can choose the safari experience that is right for you. African conditions are extremely tough on vehicles. While we fastidiously maintain our vehicles at our workshops, you should not expect Africa to be your traditional touring experience. While it's certainly our aim to avoid them, it's important that you set off on your trip knowing that the occasional breakdown can happen and are best treated as part of the African adventure. Due to wet weather there may be times when we have to take an alternative route which will mean longer travel times. Overland Vehicle, 4WD Safari Vehicle
• Accommodation: Accommodation on this trip is mainly in two-person canvas dome tents with camping mattresses supplied. The type and variety of accommodation are determined by conditions on each of our routes. Each route is different - on some, we use a mixture of campsites and wild camps; on others, we also use hotels. In Africa, it's not usually practical to camp when staying in towns and cities, so we use hotel accommodations and eat out in local restaurants. There may be the occasional night stop when we stay on the grounds of a hotel or at a campsite, which may also have rooms/cabins available. In this case, there may be a choice of camping or upgrading to a room. Rooms cost approximately USD : 40-100 per room per night for a twin room and cannot be pre-booked. Standards of these rooms vary greatly, and we recommend viewing the room before purchasing the night's accommodation. The day-by-day itinerary advises when upgrades may be possible (subject to availability). Keep in mind that if we are staying in dormitory accommodation, you may have to share with other passengers or be split into same-sex rooms. Campsites do have facilities, but they usually aren't to the same standard you would find in Western countries. For example, the bathroom facilities can be very basic. Toilet paper is rarely provided, and shower facilities can be as simple as a hose pipe spurting out cold water. Wild camps have no facilities at all. At times, there may be spare tents in the vehicles. Unfortunately, these cannot be used without the purchase of a single supplement. This is to ensure the tents avoid wear and tear or are clean and ready for the customers arriving on the next section of the trip. Camping (with facilities) (8 nights), Hotel (2 nights), Camping (with basic facilities) (4 nights)

How travellers rate it

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