RECS002: 7 Days Lake Nakuru / Loita Hills/Maasai Mara

 

This itinerary is an interesting itinerary combining two of Kenya’s most thrilling animal reserves, and hiking in the famous loita hills. It involves short driving hours and shorter walking distances. It is good for families with small children from the age of 6years. Note that a child of 6 years can not walk these distances. He/she will need a donkey so as to keep in touch with the group. Children of minimum age 10 years will comfortably walk these distances.

 

DAY 1: NAIROBI - LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK

Leave Nairobi and drive to LAKE NAKURU National park. At only 4kms from Nakuru town and covering an area of 180sqkms, this park is a world famous bird and rhino sanctuary. The park encompasses LAKE NAKURU, a rift valley soda lake, and two forests – acacia and euphorbia forests. Millions of flamingoes paint this park with its shimmering pink color. Other birds include pelicans, ostrich, marabou, ibis, eagles, vultures, woodpeckers, touracos, barbets, among others. Apart from the bird life, LAKE NAKURU is abundant with wild game including lions, leopard, rhinos, impalas, gazelles, eland, zebra, buffalo, and giraffe. 

Night in tents

DAY 2: LAKE NAKURU – LOITA HILLS
Leave early, game drive enroute, then drive to Enkarre Nanyuki village in Loita hills, arriving in the evening. Night in tents

Loita Hills, home to the Maasai tribe in Kenya, is a beautiful countryside dotted with undulating hills, montane forests plains among others. Walking through this landscape crossing villages on the way  and arriving in camps to warm camp fire and sumptuous dinner, is the greatest experience of the loita hills trek.

DAY 3: LOITA HILLS TREK (5 hours walk)
Leave early and walk through montane forest crossing the Loita hills to arrive at Alasur village in the evening.

DAY 4: LOITA HILLS TREK (4.5 hours walk)
Leave early and walk through montane forest crossing the Loita hills to arrive at Morijo village in the evening.

DAY 5: LOITA HILLS – MASAI MARA
Leave early and drive to Maasai Mara National reserve arriving for an evening game drive.

Masai Mara, now the seventh wonder of the modern world, is a country of breathtaking vistas, vast rolling plains and rounded hills, acacia woodlands, dense thickets of scrub. The whole bisected by the Mara River and its tributaries margined with luxuriant riverine forests. Its vast plains teem with endless herds of game together with the associated predators. It is perhaps the only region left in Africa where the visitor may see animals in the same super-abundance as existed a century ago.  Here, you find the largest population of lions in Kenya, seen in their natural setting and the impressive herds of elephants. Other animals include buffaloes, hartebeest, wildebeest, topi, eland, impala, gazelles, black rhino (very rare), giraffe, zebra, waterbuck, hippopotamus, crocodile, leopard, cheetah, hyena, jackals, among others. Bird species include eagles, vultures, marabou, ostrich, touracos, guinea fowls, bastards, cranes, and many more.

Perhaps the most intriguing phenomenon in Maasai Mara is the Wildebeest migration that occurs between the months of July and September. Every July, millions of wildebeests and zebra move from Serengeti to Maasai Mara on their annual migration, attracting an entourage of cheetahs, lions and other predators. The reserve was established in 1961 and covers a surface area of 1,812sq km. Night in tents

DAY 6: MASAI MARA
Whole day game drives in the Maasai Mara. Night in tents

DAY 7: MASAI MARA - NAIROBI
Leave camp for an early morning game drive, come back for breakfast then leave for Nairobi arriving in the evening.