The Big Five Safari in Kenya

On arrival at the airport and clearance through customs and immigration, you’ll be warmly greeted and escorted to the Fairmont Norfolk Hotel. In the heart of the city, our luxury landmark has been the starting point for some of history’s greatest safari expeditions.

Setting out from Nairobi by jeep offers your first game-viewing drive as we take you south to Amboseli National Park. This magnificent little gem presents the quintessential African landscape of open plains, rolling savannah and woodlands. In the background, the dramatic silhouette of Kilimanjaro rises to nearly 20,000 feet.

You’ll arrive in time for lunch at Ol Tukai, a classic safari lodge under the watchful gaze of Africa’s highest peak. Heralded as one of the best places in Africa to observe elephants, this afternoon’s game drive is an opportunity to encounter uniquely large herds of these magnificent and intelligent creatures, up to 200-strong! Meals B+L+D

Join our expert safari guide this morning and set out across the dew-touched landscapes of Amboseli. The animals are up with the first light of day, and the early light is one of the best times to experience the full majesty of Kilimanjaro. With clear weather and a bit of good luck, you might even have a chance to capture that classic shot of an elephant or giraffe silhouetted against the dramatic backdrop of Africa’s highest peak.

Even if Kilimanjaro is hidden by clouds, your wildlife-viewing promises to be spectacular. Although best known for its vast herds of elephants, the greater Amboseli eco-system is also home to hippos, wildebeests, zebras, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles, giraffes, impalas, and baboons. The great predators are well represented with healthy populations of lions, spotted hyenas and pointy-eared caracals. Cheetah and leopards can also be observed along with more than 400 species of birds. Free time to enjoy the amenities and setting of your safari lodge plus a late afternoon game drive complete this unforgettable day.  Meals B+L+D

We’ll take you to the airstrip this morning for a quick flight to Nairobi. Continue overland, heading north into the highlands and the shadow of Mt. Kenya; on a clear day, you’ll have breathtaking views of this magnificent peak in its full majesty. On arrival, check in to the luxurious Sweetwaters Tented Camp, where you’ll enjoy lunch and time to relax before a private afternoon game drive. Surrounded by the pristine calm of the private Ol Pejeta Conservancy, this region boasts a greater density of wildlife than any other park in the country and is the largest black rhino sanctuary in all of East Africa.

Ol Pejeta is also a role model for conservancy - highly respected for its innovative, tangible and sustainable approach to the conservation of both the wildlife and local communities – and your stay offers a chance to support their important and impactful work. In addition, situated here on the Conservancy, the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary is the only place in Kenya where you’ll see this highly endangered and remarkably intelligent species. Meals B+L+D

Dedicated to preserving Kenya’s rich wildlife heritage, the vast central plains of Ol Pejeta shelter rare and endangered species like northern white rhino, Grevy’s zebra, Jackson’s hartebeest and lion. And with one of the highest predator densities in Kenya, both of today’s game drives promise exciting wildlife encounters that will be talked about long after you return home.

Along with these privately-guided safari expeditions and an unforgettable lion-tracking adventure, you’ll enjoy an informative and fascinating talk about the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary and its intelligent primate residents. The Chimpanzee’s natural home range spans from Senegal on the West African coast through the central forested belt of Africa and into Uganda; they are not native to Kenya, but when a rescue center in nearby Burundi was forced to close due to civil war in the early 1990’s, Ol Pejeta was established. Through a partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Jane Goodall Institute, Ol Pejeta aims to provide lifelong refuge to orphaned and abused Chimps that are rescued form West and Central Africa. Today, there are two large groups of Chimpanzees that have been nursed back to health and reintroduced to living in a natural environment within vast protected areas separated by the Ewaso Nyiro River. Ending this remarkable day, you'll enjoy Sundowner cocktails before returning to camp for dinner. Meals B+L+D

Take off from the airstrip this morning for cinematic aerial views of the Great Rift Valley. As you sweep over the vast expanse of the Maasai Mara, you’ll have a chance to look down upon vast herds of grazing animals and packs of predators that roam in the same super-abundance that thrilled Teddy Roosevelt a century ago! Upon arrival, we’ll take you to the elegant Fairmont Mara Safari Club, where beautifully furnished tents offer private verandahs overlooking the Mara River. After lunch at the Club and time to relax, you’ll join other Fairmont guests for an afternoon game drive.  Meals B+L+D

With its undisturbed panoramas of rolling savannah punctuated by the iconic silhouette of acacia trees, the Maasai Mara is ravishing in its wild beauty. Bisected by the twisting Mara River, this acclaimed national reserve is also one of the richest wildlife habitats on Earth. Today, you’ll join our expertly trained safari guides on morning and afternoon game drives that bring you eye-to-eye with the remarkable variety of big game animals that roam the Reserve.

In between these wildlife adventures, you’ll have ample time to relax and take in the magical setting of your luxury safari camp – surrounded on three sides by the Mara River. Join other guests in the Club lodge where an inviting lounge, bar and dining area are cantilevered over the River. Or retreat to your private verandah where you might glimpse hippos and crocodiles wallowing in the water!  Meals B+L+D

Another day unfolds with thrilling game drives led by our engaging sharp-eyed safari guides. The Mara is home to healthy populations of the Big Five, and this day offers yet another opportunity to track and observe these storied beasts; coined more than a century ago, the term “Big Five” refers to five animals that were especially prized by 19th-century big game hunters. Although both the elephant and rhino are included, the Big Five designation had nothing to do with size or weight. Rather, these were the animals that were the most difficult and the most dangerous to track and hunt. Rounding out this list are lions, highly social, apex predators; Cape buffalo, bovine in appearance but powerful, quick and fierce when provoked; and leopards - master stalkers who are most active at night, and usually spotted at rest under and among the tree branches they use as home base. Along with the Big Five, the vast plains of the Mara are roamed by large numbers of giraffe, zebra, rhino, cheetah and numerous species of horned ungulates like impala, oryx, eland and kudu. In addition, the reserve is a birdwatcher’s paradise with more than 450 species recorded – including spectacular birds of prey from the African Fish Eagle and Secretary Bird to the graceful Bateleur Eagle. Toast your final afternoon game drive with Sundowner cocktails in the bush.

Back at the elegant Safari Club in between the day's safari activities, you can take a dip in the pool, join fellow guests in the main lodge, or retreat to your private verandah with its views overlooking the hippo and crocodile-filled Mara River.  Meals B+L+D

Set out on another morning game drive* and have breakfast back at camp before flying to Nairobi. We’ll take you to lunch in the capital before escorting you to the international airport for your onward journey.

*Guests extending their stay to another country in East Africa will miss the morning game drive to board an early flight in Nairobi.

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