This safari will take place in several locations in Kenya including Daphne Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Centre in Nairobi, Amboseli National Park, Lake Naivasha, Maasai Mara National Reserve, and the Mara River.
Kenya
A country smaller than the state of Texas, the Kenyan landscape combines the Great Rift Valley littered with alkaline lakes, 500 kilometers of coral reef fringed by the most beautiful talcum-soft white sandy beaches, tropical rainforests, snow-covered Mount Kenya on the equator line, lush agricultural fields, savanna grasslands, and the world's second largest freshwater lake.
Kenya is one of the only a handfuls of countries in Africa that have the greatest wildlife diversity in the world including all the Big Five games like lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and cape buffaloes. In addition, Kenya is home to the United Nations Environmental Program's world headquarters, the center for humanitarian relief operations, and guardian to three world heritage sites including Central Island (Lake Turkana), Sibiloi National Park / Koobi Fora (Lake Turkana), and Mount Kenya.
Amboseli National Park
Amboseli National Park is located in Loitoktok District, Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The ecosystem mainly savannah grassland that spreads across the Kenya - Tanzania border. The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to get close to free-ranging elephants among other wildlife species. Other attractions of the park include the opportunities to meet the Maasai and spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro. Amboseli National Park is home to wild animals which include the African elephant, buffalo, impala, lion, cheetah, hyena, giraffes, zebra, and wildebeest among other African animals.
There is also a host of Kenyan birds both large and small to see if you keep your eyes open and stop at every sighting. Amboseli National Park is accessible whether you use your own vehicle, take public transportation, or book an open-topped minibus or safari van tour with a tour guide. The road from Nairobi to Namanga (240 kilometers / 149 miles) is tarmac but becomes rough with potholes. A chartered light aircraft may land at the airstrip at Empusel Gate while other airstrips exist at Namanga and Kilimanjaro Buffalo Lodge. Here, you can also book a scheduled flight departing from Nairobi to Amboseli.
Maasai Mara National Reserve
The Maasai Mara National Reserve covers some 1,510 square kilometers (583 square miles) in southwestern Kenya. It is the northern-most section of the Mara - Serengeti ecosystem which covers some 25,000 square kilometers (9,700 square miles) in Tanzania and Kenya. It is bounded by the Serengeti National Park to the south, the Siria escarpment to the west, and Maasai pastoral ranches to the north, east, and west.
Rainfall in the ecosystem increases markedly along a southeast-northwest gradient, varies in space and time. The Maasai Mara National Reserve (also spelled Masai Mara and known by the locals as "the Mara") is a large game reserve in southwestern Kenya which is effectively the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park game reserve in Tanzania.
