THE WORLD AWAY BUSH & BEACH RETREAT

Samburu | Masai Mara | Indian Ocean, Kenya’s stunning south coast

A 2 week journey combining Kenya’s vast wildernesses and secluded coastal class and calm. Retreat to the natural hideaways of Saruni Samburu, Saruni Mara, Saruni Wild and Alfajiri Villas.

Tour Itinerary:

Arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, where a vehicle will transfer you to Wilson Airport for your flight to Samburu.
Depart Nairobi in the morning*, arriving at Samburu an hour later, where your guide will meet you and transfer you to the lodge, or take you on a game drive.
Afternoon game drive on Kalama Conservancy exploring over 200,000 acres of pristine wilderness in total privacy and sundowners with a breathtaking view.

Early morning game drive into Samburu National Reserve to seek out the ‘Samburu Special Five’: the reticulated giraffe, the Grevy zebra, the beisa oryx, the Somali ostrich and the gerenuk, all rare species that occur only in this part of the country, and look for its well-known larger wildlife including elephants, lion and leopard.Enjoy a picnic lunch before heading back to the lodge to relax for the afternoon.
Enjoy a complimentary half hour Back & Neck massage upon arriving back at the lodge.

Continue to explore the wonders of Samburu with a morning game drive and after lunch possibly head out on a nature walk discovering animals, plants and the caves in the local area with rock paintings, accompanied by an experienced Samburu tracker.
Evening game drive in Kalama Conservancy, the 200,000-acre private wildlife conservancy in which Saruni Samburu is located, ending with a bush dinner under the stars in the middle of the wilderness, and a night drive back to the lodge.
The Samburu warriors dancing, candles and fire under the vast African skies, make this a truly magical experience, and one of the highlights of your stay.

Depart Samburu on your flight in the morning* and arrive in the Masai Mara an hour and a half later.
Game drive with a picnic lunch to enjoy under an acacia tree or by the river next to a pod of hippos. Or, head to Saruni Mara or Saruni Wild for some rest and an exclusive game drive later in the afternoon in Mara North Conservancy – over 30,000 acres of plentiful, protected land bordering the Masai Mara National Reserve. Enjoy a completely different and less-explored corner of the Mara ecosystem in total privacy, brimming with wildlife.

Early morning game drive to look for the big cats and other predators of the Mara, returning to the camp or lodge for lunch and treatments at the Maasai Wellbeing Space.
In the afternoon, a game drive will take you to a special area where the largest tower of giraffe can be seen, followed by dinner at the lodge or camp and an optional night game drive.

Walk through the valleys and plains surrounding Saruni Mara, accompanied by a vehicle, or a game drive up to the top of Kilileoni, the highest mountain in the Serengeti-Masai Mara ecosystem – led by your skillful and knowledgeable Maasai guides.
In the afternoon you will discover more of Mara North and its surrounding conservancies and experience first-hand what makes the Mara one of the most exciting wildernesses in the world.
Weather permitting, experience a bush dinner in the middle of nature under the vast African sky, with Maasai warriors singing and dancing around the fire.

Visit the rhino sanctuary on the way to the airstrip and once again admire the hippos and the crocodiles of the Mara River.
The flight to Diani’s Ukunda leaves the Mara at 14:00 PM and arrives in Ukunda at 16:00 PM. An Alfajiri vehicle will be waiting to transfer you to the peace and calm awaiting 5 minutes away at the world-famous Alfajiri Villas.
Unwind from your journey by taking a refreshing dip in your private swimming pool, followed by a welcome sundowner on your lavish veranda overlooking from high the white sands of Diani beach and the Indian Ocean, cooled by the early evening tropical breezes. Enjoy an elegant seafood offering paired with exquisite wines before falling asleep to the lulling sounds of the sea.

Wake up each day with the sea breeze and spend your morning walking along the beach, kayaking and snorkelling as you discover the colourful aquatic life of the Indian Ocean.
Head out on the clear ocean on a traditional dhow to visit Funzi Island for a day of sailing, fishing, swimming with dolphins and discovering rare turtles before casting ashore for a delicious fresh seafood lunch.
Spend your afternoons enjoying lazy siestas, lounging by the pool, indulging in massage treatments or a bit of retail therapy and souvenir shopping at the nearby shopping centres.
If you are feeling adventurous, you may want to give kite surfing a try, or deep sea fishing, trying your luck with a heavy line to hook a prized marlin or wahoo!
Spend the evenings relaxing barefoot on the beach collecting seas shells.
Finish off another heavenly day with sundowner dhow rides at sunset, and sumptuous fresh seafood dinners.

Enjoy your final morning waking up in paradise and relax to your fullest with a leisurely stroll on the white-sand beach.
After a morning unwinding and rejuvenating, depart in the afternoon for your flight back to Nairobi, which leaves Diani at 16:00 PM and arrives at Wilson Airport at 17:30 PM.
Transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Depending on the time of your international flight, stop at the Talisman or Carnivore restaurant for dinner.

*Our team can amend this itinerary as you wish.

WILDLIFE & ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS WITH MARK GEE

Art of Night Africa Photography Tours are 2 day/2 night photographic adventures which really do live up to the claim “holiday of a lifetime”. Each tour is run by international award-winning photographer Mark Gee. Mark spent time at Bushtops during August 2015 and June 2016, and was totally blown away by the experience both times, so much so that he wants to invite others to join him to repeat this amazing photographic adventure.

Two tours will be held at Mara Bushtops, located within its own private conservancy right next to the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Then we are adding a tour at Serengeti Bushtops just over the Tanzania border within the Serengeti National Park.

Both locations are African wildlife hotspots, especially for the famous Wildebeest Migration. The night skies are incredible, thanks to the absence of light pollution in the area. If you haven’t ever viewed the Milky Way Galaxy with the naked eye before, you will be amazed by the starry skies here! By focusing on wildlife and astrophotography, each tour promises to be a photographers paradise.

So what will I learn on the tour?

Whether you’re a hobbyist photographer or a seasoned pro, these tours will cater for all. Mark will accompany you on all the game drives and night shoots, guiding you every step of the way and offering personalized tuition. We will cover all the basics of equipment, settings and techniques to get you the best shots possible. You will also learn how to process your images, with a step by step guide in either Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop.

What equipment do I need?

  • A digital DSLR or a mirrorless camera, with a basic knowledge of operating the camera and changing settings.
  • For wildlife photography – a zoom lens somewhere in the 70-200mm range is good, but the longer the focal length the better.
  • For astrophotography – lenses with a maximum aperture between f/1.4 and f/4 and a focal length between 10 and 24mm are ideal. For example – a 14mm f/2.8 lens is perfect, a zoom lens with a minimum focal length of 24mm at f/4 would be fine too.
  • A sturdy tripod.
  • Laptop computer with Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop installed.
  • A headlamp or torch – one with a red light mode is best.

Optional equipment:

  • Spare camera batteries – always good to have backup batteries ready to go.
  • Spare memory card(s) – memory cards can fill up fast and also fail, so good to have a spare.
  • Portable external hard drive for additional data – we shoot in raw, so tend to use a lot of data, especially when photographing a time-lapse image. Extra hard drive space can come in handy.

Tour Itinerary:

  • Introduction and meet and greet before heading out on our first full day game drive for wildlife photography. Picnic lunch provided out on the drive. Meet back at the camp late afternoon before heading to a sundowner, where we will talk about the night’s proceedings.
  • After dinner we will meet up, go over some of the fundamentals of night/astrophotography, and head out on a night game drive with our cameras to practice.
  • Morning Q&A and processing session. After lunch we will head out on an afternoon game drive for wildlife photography.
  • After dinner we will meet up, go over some of the techniques we learnt the previous night with a Q&A session, and then head out on our final night game drive with our cameras.

*The night photography sessions are weather dependant, but alternative activities will be held if the weather doesn’t give us the opportunity to head out.

EAST AFRICA SAFARI INSPIRED BY CONDE NAST TRAVELER

There are some experiences that are simply so extraordinary that they become iconic – places that you can’t imagine not visiting when traveling to a certain region, where coming back always feels like coming home. We know these hidden gems in East Africa that are recognized as the best by the world’s most discerning travelers, year after year.

Motivated by your feedback, we have put together your most loved East Africa safari, featuring all those perennial properties that regularly appear in the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards. Traversing Kenya and Tanzania’s best known safari landscapes, this is the African adventure that our guests come back to over and over again, whether to catch the thundering herds of East Africa’s spectacular Great Migration or to enjoy the wealth of resident wildlife and the magnificent scenery throughout the remainder of the year.

Tour Itinerary:

On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport you will be warmly welcomed by a member of our team, who will drive you to your hotel in vibrant Nairobi.

Kenya’s capital is one of the largest and most influential cities in Africa, an important commercial and financial hub. It is the port of entry for most travellers to Kenya and offers bustling markets, interesting history and numerous attractions. Named after a Maasai watering hole, “enkare nyarobi”, which means “place of cool waters”, Nairobi is known for its leafy streets and parks. With its towering skyscrapers and imposing architecture, the city’s skyline also draws the attention. Visits to the city’s beautiful Uhuru Park and an informative excursion to the Karen Blixen Museum are not to be missed.

Surrounded by vast acres of indigenous forest, the elegant Giraffe Manor is famous for its resident herd of giraffe, which casually wander around the hotel grounds. Beautifully furnished rooms include comfortable four-poster beds and well-appointed bathrooms.

Spend the night in a standard room with ensuite bathroom at Giraffe Manor in Nairobi

After an early breakfast, you will be driven to Wilson Airport, where you will board a flight to Kichwa Airstrip in the Masai Mara. On arrival, you will be welcomed by a member of the team from &Beyond Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp, who will drive you to the camp.

As Kenya’s most renowned wilderness destination, the Masai Mara National Reserveoffers exceptional game viewing, including the opportunity to witness the seasonal Great Wildebeest Migration, one of nature’s greatest wildlife spectacles. The park takes its name from the Mara River, which flows through the reserve, as well as from the Maasai people. Covering an area of 1 510 km² (580 square miles), the Masai Mara is a land of breathtaking vistas, abundant wildlife and endless plains. The reserve is a photographer’s and naturalist’s paradise, with abundant elephant, buffalo, giraffe, lion and cheetah sighted year round alongside the migratory wildebeest and zebra.

Steeped in the aura of classical safari, the recently refurbished &Beyond Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp boasts 12 classic tents, 20 superior tents and eight superior view tents. While all the tents look out onto the open grasslands or the shady forest surrounding the Sabaringo River, the superior view tents boast exceptionally beautiful, uninterrupted views of the Masai Mara. The superior tents feature Maasai-inspired interiors that showcase a simple and contemporary use of local materials.

Experience the beauty of the Masai Mara on a hot air balloon flight. Take off at dawn and float in whichever direction the morning winds take you. Your altitude may vary from treetop height or lower, offering a unique perspective and great photographic opportunities, to 300 metres / 1 000 feet, showcasing the wonderful panorama. From time to time the pilot must put more heat into the balloon with the powerful whisper burners. In between these burns, there is silence apart from the natural sounds below. The flight lasts about an hour and is followed by champagne and a full English breakfast.

Spend two nights in a superior view tent at &Beyond Kichwa Tembo Masai Mara Tented Camp. Your stay includes accommodation, three meals daily, teas and coffees, soft drinks, house wines, local brand spirits and beers, two scheduled game drives per day, transport to and from Kichwa Tembo Airstrip and emergency medical evacuation insurance.

Depart the Masai Mara on a flight to Migori Airstrip, where you be welcomed and driven to Tarime, where you will cross the border into Tanzania to board another flight to the Serengeti National Park.

With its name meaning “endless plains” in the Masai language, the Serengeti National park is undoubtedly one of the world’s most celebrated wildlife areas and is an ongoing source of inspiration to writers, filmmakers and photographers. It is Tanzania’s oldest game reserve, renowned as site of the annual Great Migration, when an estimated three million antelope (mostly wildebeest) migrate to Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Reserve. This epic, seasonal journey is a deeply moving experience and a wonderful photographic subject. Visitors to the park can roam its sprawling plains on exhilarating game drives or hop into a hot air balloon for an once-in-a-lifetime safari adventure.

&Beyond Grumeti Serengeti Tented Camp is set in the remote Western Serengeti and offers one of the best wildlife experiences in this incredibly picturesque area, which enjoys far fewer tourist numbers than many other parts of the park. The camp is situated on a by-water of the Grumeti River, known for its dramatic wildebeest crossings and enormous Nile crocodiles. Tucked into a strip of riverine forest, guests thrill to the antics of the hippo resident in the tranquil pool in front of the camp and the spectacular pied colobus monkeys, found nowhere else in the Serengeti. Every year, in June and July, Africa’s renowned Great Migration passes through the Grumeti region and hundreds upon thousands of wildebeest, zebra and other herbivores cross the Grumeti River, risking the jaws of some of Africa’s largest crocodiles.

During the remainder of the year, the area offers exclusive game viewing far from the crowds, with the open Western Serengeti plains attracting the elegant cheetah and large prides of lion, as well as clans of hyena that number up to a hundred individuals. The riverside thickets are the ideal dwelling place for leopard and elephant. This area also lies in the path of the annual movement of exceptional numbers of topi antelope.

Spend two nights in a spacious tent with ensuite bathroom with open air shower at &BeyondGrumeti Serengeti Tented Camp.

Enjoy an early morning breakfast before being driven to the Grumeti Airstrip, where you will board a flight to Lobo Airstrip. Upon landing, you will be collected for a scenic game drive to &Beyond Klein’s Camp.

&Beyond Klein’s Camp is situated on a private concession on the edge of the Serengeti National Park, where night drives and bush walks allow guests to explore the nocturnal world of the predators or to get an intimate glimpse into the details of the African bush. Overlooking the wooded hillsides, rolling grasslands, lush marshes and forested river banks of the Serengeti and with Kenya’s renowned Masai Mara directly to the north, Klein’s Camp is one of the most strategically positioned wildlife sanctuaries in the world. Set on the edge of the Kuka Hills, it commands breath-taking views of the valley below, through which huge herds of wildebeest and zebra migrate each year. While the Great Migration is an annual highlight, guests can experience excellent year-round lion, leopard and cheetah sightings. Huge herds of buffalo and breeding herds of elephant are all resident and birdwatching in the seasonal marshlands is exceptionally rewarding. Several species of raptor breed on the cliffs above Klein’s Camp and numerous birds of prey, including vultures and eagles, are frequently spotted soaring on the updrafts.

Spend two nights in an intimate cottage with ensuite bathroom with shower only at &BeyondKlein’s Camp.

 

 

Enjoy an early morning game drive and a wholesome breakfast before being driven back to the airstrip for a flight to &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas.

The luxurious tented camps of &BeyondSerengeti Under Canvas move around the park year-round, attempting to anticipate the movements of the Great Migration and exploring the remote and beautiful corners of the Serengeti with excellent resident game. Using only private campsites, these mobile camps are entirely intimate and exclusive, featuring spacious safari tents, each with a double bed, indoor seating area, ensuite bathroom, separate w.c and al fresco bucket shower. Redolent of classic safari style, custom-made Indian rugs, crisp linens, sparkling crystal and polished brass lend flair to the simplicity of camping. Carefully planned according to the projected movements of the Great Migration, the camps aim to bring guests within comfortable driving distance of the herds. However, the wildebeest masses move with the rains, which may occur at a different time each year, so it is not always possible to accurately predict where they will be. &Beyond’s expert guides will always try to place guests in the midst of the thronging wildebeest but, should the animals not appear when expected, the guides’ intimate knowledge of the ample resident game will ensure a rich game viewing experience.

Spend two nights in a spacious tent with ensuite bathroom with outside bucket shower at &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas.

Enjoy an early morning game drive, followed by a delicious breakfast, before being driven back to the airstrip for a flight to Manyara Airstrip. On arrival, you will be welcomed by a member of the &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge team, who will drive you to the lodge.

The Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania, once a gigantic volcano, is the largest intact caldera in the world. Some maintain that before it erupted, it would have been higher than Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Today, long since having collapsed and eroded, it is an extensive highland area with the famous 600 m deep Ngorongoro Crater as its focal point. Nearly three million years old, the ancient caldera shelters one of the most beautiful wildlife havens on earth. Endangered black rhino are protected within its rim, giant tusked elephants wander the forests, black-maned lions stalk the grasslands and flamingos crowd the soda lakes. An estimated 25 000 large mammals are resident in this bowl of plenty, including a population of approximately 6 000 resident wildebeest, 16 highly endangered black rhino and around 70 lions. Cheetah move in and out of the Crater, while leopard are most often encountered in the spectacular Lerai Forest.

Perched above cool, swirling mists on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater, the sumptuous safari suites at &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge offer breath-taking views. Inspired in design by the Maasai mud and stick manyatta, or homestead, this is without doubt one of the most spectacular lodges in Africa. Three separate and intimate camps totalling just 30 suites are reminiscent of a bygone era. Steeped in romance, each stilted, handcrafted mud and thatch suite is adorned with graceful antiques, grand chandeliers and elegant African treasures. The bedroom, sitting room and ensuite bathroom boast floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the magnificent Crater below.

Indulge in a gourmet feast served in one of the most unique settings in Africa. Descend into the scenic landscape of the Ngorongoro Crater and enjoy the incredible density of wildlife before making your way to a private picnic spot on the Crater floor. Tables set with snowy tablecloths and sparkling silver cutlery are laden with the most delectable of dishes. An army of butlers spring into action to attend to your every wish as you indulge in a mouth-watering meal served against the backdrop of groups of zebra strolling along the Crater floor.

Spend two nights at &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. Accommodation is in a suite with ensuite bathroom with bath and shower. Your stay includes three meals daily, soft drinks, house wines, local brand spirits and beers, teas and coffees, scheduled safari activities, refreshments on game drives and laundry.

Today, we wave a fond farewell. After a scrumptious breakfast, you will be collected for your flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Lake Manyara Aistrrip, where you will board your flight home.