Number of Days: 15 Days
Destinations: City Tour, National Museums, Elsamere Conservation, Hells Gate, Lk, Bogoria, Lk. Baringo, Samburu, Flower Farms in Naivasha, Coffee & Tea Farms in Nyeri, Dairy Farms in Naivasha and Nyeri, Mombasa City Tour, Haller Park, Optional Mount Kenya climbing trip. Accommodation: City Hotels, Camping, Home stays, Lodges, Beach Hotel
THE TOUR COVERS THE FOLLOWING FACETS OF EDUCATION
History of Kenya, City Tour, National Museums of Kenya, Parliament on Kenya’s politics, August 7th US Embassy Memorial Bomb Blast Site, Railway museum, Karen Blixen Museum, Bomas of Kenya, David Sheldrick), Ngomongo Village, Environment, Samburu and Kalenjin Cultures, Mombasa Culture and history, Flower farming, Coffee/tea and sugarcane farming, Adventure, visit children’s home, visit local schools for mentorship and coaching program, Visit a youth centre (like Mathare and Yes Youth Sports Academy) for programs exchange, Geothermal Power Plant and Mombasa.
DAY 1: DEPARTURE FROM HOME COUNTRY
Meals excluded: Any complimentary meals served on the flights
DAY 2: ARRIVE NAIROBI IN THE EVENING (2 Nights)
Upon your arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, our guide will meet and assist you and then transfer you to your city hotel for the evening. The evening meal/dinner is on own arrangement as flights arrive in different hours some as late as midnight and therefore no need to include the dinner in the cost of the package. The hotel is also booked on bed and breakfast basis with any other meals coming in as extra cost.
DAY 3: FULL DAY NAIROBI CITY TOUR
Culture, Museums, history and conservation Today we start our full day city tour that will feature historical museums, conservation efforts in Kenya and cultural exposure with dance and tales of all communities in Kenya.
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: This morning we shall start with a visit to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This is a small flexible charity, established in memory of David Sheldrick, famous Naturalist and founder Warden of Kenya’s giant Tsavo East National Park in which he served from 1948 until 1976.
This orphanage is home to orphan baby Elephants and is open daily from 1100 – 1200 hours during feeding time. One is able to watch the orphans as they are brought out to feed and sometimes can participate in feeding them. There is no set entrance fee but a small donation is expected to help sustain the Elephants.
Helping save the lives of orphaned Elephants and Rhinos who are ultimately released back into the wild is just some of the many wildlife commitments The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is involved in.
Karen Blixen Museum: After the visit to the Sheldrick, we shall head to the Karen Blixen Museum. Located in Karen, the beautiful Nairobi suburb that was once part of Karen Blixen’s vast coffee estate, “Mbogani” was Karen’s home from 1917 until 1931. The house and grounds were made famous by the film ‘Out of Africa’ and have been restored by the Danish community of Kenya. Visitors have a glimpse of typical colonial life in Kenya at the turn of the twentieth century. As well as many of Karen’s original belongings, replicas replace items that have been lost over the years. From the beautiful gardens there are magnificent views of the Ngong Hills, held dear by Karen and described so tenderly in her writings. At the front of the house the original millstone tables can be seen from which Karen conducted much of her farm business.
Lunch. We shall have lunch at either the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden or at Rangers Restaurant located at the gate of Nairobi National Park.
Bomas of Kenya: After lunch, this afternoon we will visit the Bomas of Kenya, located adjacent to Nairobi National Park and a few kilometres from the city centre. Bomas is a Swahili word for villages and the Bomas of Kenya contains numerous homesteads reflecting Kenya’s cocktail of cultures, faithfully recreated for visitors to see traditional village life of the many Kenyan communities. There will be a display of traditional dances, music and other folklore traditional songs in a splendid arena.
Later in the Afternoon we will return to the hotel for the evening and dinner.
DAY 4: FULL DAY NAIROBI CITY TOUR
Pre-Colonial Transport, Sports, Children’s Home
We shall have another full day city tour in Nairobi; Breakfast in the hotel and kick off another full day city tour to learn more about this great country and its history; Today’s highlight will be more to interactions with community members and giving back to the society in an Orphans Children’s Home Railway Museum and August 7th Bomb Blast Memorial Site: Have a glimpse into the oldest railway network in East and Central Africa and a visit to the sad August 7th 1997 bomb blast site.
The National Museum of Kenya and Snake Park This museum is located in Nairobi. It has a wider range of preserved animal species from different parts of the world . The preserved animal are arranged as per their difference in phyla indeed this section of the field trip help us to understand their morphological relationship of animals rather than their morphological similarity
A part from the preserved species the museum contain live different species of snake in a snake park .
Nyumbani Children’s Home: This is a home for Orphaned Children; Here we shall interact with these children and also donate either material or non-material items that will go to the welfare of these children who have survived against all odds.
Mathare Youth Sports Club:Play soccer and other sports with local slum children whose dream is to play in the international sports clubs in Europe, Asia and America.
DAY 5: NAIROBI – NAIVASHA / HELLS GATE NATIONAL PARK
Cut Flower Farms: Have an insight into Green-House farming technology in the farms that supplies cut flowers to Europe.
Olkaria Geothermal Power Plant in Hells Gate National Park:Get an insight on energy generation in this area that taps into underground heat and converts it into electricity for the nation. The area has volcanic history.
Elsamere Conservation Centre: Go through a conservation education session at the centre from the conservation experts. We will have a Lesson on Conservation and the various conservation efforts and activities at Elsamere.
DAY 6: NAIVASHA / HELLS GATE NATIONAL PARK – LAKE NAKURU
Breakfast at the Elsamere Centre and start our journey to Lake Nakuru National Park. We shall carry parked lunch that will ensure we drive straight to the park for both morning and afternoon game drives.
Lake Nakuru National Park, the world famous haunt for pink flamingos, is a shallow alkaline lake in Kenya’s Rift Valley and some 62 km2 in extent. The road from Nairobi to Nakuru passes down the Kikuyu escarpment with fine views of the Kedong Valley and Mounts Suswa and Longonot. The landscape is picturesque, areas of sedge, marsh and grasslands alternating with rocky cliffs and outcrop. In late 80’s the park also became Kenya’s first rhino sanctuary and is today home to both the White and Black Rhinos. Lions, leopards, hippos, giraffes, waterbucks are equally at home in this unique park.
In the evening we shall drive out of the park and spend the night in the Town of Nakuru.
DAY 7: LAKE NAKURU – DAY TRIP TO LAKE BOGORIA
Breakfast at the hotel in Nakuru. Get our packed lunch boxes and start our journey deep into Rift Valley; we drive past Lake Baringo and arrive in Lake Bogoria at around lunch hour and have lunch at the shows of Lake Bogoria
After Lunch, enjoy the sceneries around Lake Bogoria as well as the famous hot springs of Lake Bogoria which are also breeding ground for various birds. Be careful as they are hot and dangerous.
Lake Bogoria Hot Springs and Geysers:have a feel of mother nature’s mystery in the hot springs and geysers where you can understand the intensity of the hot springs by boiling green maize and eggs.
Bird Watching: this area alone has over 135 species of birds; see how many you can identify. Afternoon, we shall pass by lake Baringo on our way to the cultural villages. Cultural Villages:interact with Baringo’s Kalenjin families and learn from them about their cultural way of living.
Evening pass by a local School: Visit a local school and get an insight into rural education in kenya and aspirations of these kids despite the challenges. This will be done if time allows. In the evening drive back to Nakuru Town for overnight.
DAY 8: NAKURU – SAMBURU GAME RESERVE
Breakfast in the hotel and then head Northwards towards the remote and dray pastoralist region of Samburu. This is a dry area also but has made good strides in conservation and eco-tourism projects. This journey will take us past the famous Borana Farm, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and other private and community conservancies. We shall have lunch in Nanyuki or Isiolo. We shall arrive in Samburu Game Reserve in the afternoon and start with a game drive.
Game Drive in Samburu National Park:Have a break from learning and enjoy a game drive in the vast Samburu Game Reserve which has a lot of endangered species. Enjoy afternoon game drive in this great national reserve that has been the setting of many great movies and award winning TV series such as Survivor Series. The Samburu Game Reserve offers what is arguably Kenya’s greatest – and least changed – encounter with the wild Africa of yesteryear. This harsh, savagely beautiful wilderness depends on the steady flow of the Uaso Nyiro River for its existence. The river waters house a wide variety of animal species not found south of the Equator including the majestic Beisa Oryx, the reticulated giraffe, the thin-striped Grevy’s zebra, and the ‘giraffe-necked’ gerenuk antelope, which stands on its hind legs to feed. Elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard can all be seen along the river, and the 400-plus species of birds are spectacular. This is the home of the Samburu tribe, cousins of the Maasai, who share the same nomadic, cattle-herding existence, and an even stricter adherence to their age-old rites and customs.
DAY 9: FULL DAY IN SAMBURU GAME RESERVE (Game drive and cultural visits)
This day will be spent with a morning game drive and afternoon we shall visit the Samburu Cultural Village for a lecture on Samburu Culture and a dance with these great pastoralists.
Samburu was also the setting of the famous Television Series; Survivor Series Adventure. As the setting of the Award-winning Survivor Series Adventure, Samburu has a lot to offer in terms of Adventure and survival tactics. If time allows, we shall have a session of the old Survivor Series Program and activities and spice it up with local resident’s participation. This can be arranged with adequate notice and at a fee.
Afternoon visit to a Samburu Cultural Village: Visit and stay with Samburu community and learn from them about their cultural way of living. This afternoon, we will also enjoy a visit to a Samburu Cultural Village before returning to the lodge for the evening. Join the Samburu dancers donning their African regalia and the jingling on their feet, flow by the rhythm of African beats and dance to their tunes that will leave you refreshed.
DAY 10: SAMBURU GAME RESERVE – COFFEE FARMS – NYERI
Breakfast at the lodge and head towards Central Highlands Region of Kenya where agricultural activities have been dominant since pre-colonial times. These region has coffee, tea and dairy farms. Upon departure in Samburu, we shall carry packed lunch and have a stopover in Nanyuki; a town where pre-colonial Railway builders stopped building the railway line. Local tales allege that the map for the railway construction was lost after the Engineers went for night fun at the expense of building the railway.
We shall have the opportunity of seeing firsthand how these farm produce are grown and harvested before being processed into finished products; Coffee, Tea and Milk.
Coffee Faming and processing:In Nyeri, we shall have our first coffee farm to visit. Visit local farms in central province and also the factory to know how they farm and process their coffee before it is sold to the international Market.
Tea Faming and processing: After coffee farms, we shall also have the opportunity of visiting team farms. Visit local farms in central province and also the factory to know how they farm and process their coffee before it is sold to the international Market.
After the visits to the tea farms, we shall spend the night at the Children and Youth Empowerment Centre Nyeri (CYEC); This is a camp for the less fortunate kids and former street children who are being empower to turn around their lives and shape their destiny. -Play, share skills and motivate the youth at the Camp
DAY 11: FULL DAY IN CHILDREN AND YOUTH EMPOWERMENT CENTRE (Nyeri)
After the visits to the tea farms, we shall spend the night in YES Youth Centre. This is also a camp for the less fortunate kids in our society. Play, share skills and motivate youth at the Yes Youth Camp which was formed by a former scout leader in Kenya
In the afternoon, assist the youth in one of their ongoing programs of the season. At this destination, you have the option of adding another three days of climbing Mount Kenya which is a life’s milestone to conquer the second tallest Mountain in Africa. If you are up to the challenge, the extra cost for the three days of climbing Mount Kenya will be advised:
DAY 12: NYERI – NAIROBI – SGR TO MOMBASA
From the central highlands, we shall proceed back to Nairobi with a stopover at the Thika School for the Blind. Thika Town is our Industrial Town and has many industries ranging from food processing industries to Industrial/Chemical processing factories. Thika School for the Blind:- Visit Thika School for the Blind and assist them with their daily chores. Take a moment and motivate them.
In the evening, we shall head to the City of Nairobi and have dinner in a city Restaurant. After early dinner, we shall head to the Railway station for a journey of lifetime; board our 18th Century Train and head to our Coastal city of Mombasa. Compare this journey with the modern high speed trains.
You are booked on 1st class cabins for your comfort and privacy. These cabins have private toilets, seats and doors which separate them from the rest of the passengers. Upon arrival in Mombasa, we shall have our Mombasa office representatives meet you at the Railway Station and transfer you to the beach hotel for relaxation.
DAY 13: MOMBASA (Free day on the beach)
This day is a free day and you will relax on the beach or in the hotel. We have allocated no activities for you for the entire day. Rest and have free, fun, sunny and Sandy day
DAY 14: MOMBASA FULL DAY CITY TOUR
This day we shall explore Mombasa City and its rich history and culture. This tour will entail a visit to the following key attractions;
- Fort Jesus (now a National Museum)
- Mombasa Old Town: The most interesting part of this tour is that tall buildings with ornate intricately carved balconies overshadow the narrow streets and alleyways.
Mombasa Old town: Have a feel of Mombasa history culture as it has been passed down from the many sailors that passed by from 14th Century. We shall have a lesson on its history.
Fort Jesus: Understand the significance of this monument between 14th and 18th Century in the battle for the control of Mombasa coastline by traders. We shall have a lesson on its history.
Haller Park: A showcasing of conservation and reclamation of land at its best where Bamburi Cement Company reclaims old lime excavation sites.
Ngomongo Cultural Village: A glimpse into various communities in kenya, their cultural, social and economic ways of life in this theme park. Listen to the curator’s tales.
DAY 15: MOMBASA (Free full day on the beach and evening departure)
This day is a free day and you will relax on the beach or in the hotel. We have allocated no activities for you for the entire day. Rest and have free, fun, sunny and Sandy day
In the evening you shall be transferred to the Moi International Airport in Mombasa. Ensure your flight is booked to depart from Kenya in Mombasa’s Airport in order to avoid driving all the way to Nairobi to fly from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
DAY 11-13: (Optional 3 days of climbing Mt. Kenya)
OPTIONAL THREE DAYS CLIMBING OF MOUNT KENYA
Achieve a life milestone by conquering the second tallest mountain Kenya. This will take three days to reach the top and return to the base. After returning to the base, we shall embark on the program and complete it as above.