KENYA & TANZANIA HIGHLIGHTS SAFARI

Day by day

The itinerary

1. Day 1 · Nairobi

   Arrive Nairobi

   JAMBO - KARIBU!! Upon arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Tourcan Vacations representatives will meet you with our traditional, unique & special welcome (bubbly, wet towels and presentation of authentic safari hat and a beautiful authentic canvas pouch filled with safari essentials). You will then proceed to your hotel for check in. Later today enjoy breakfast then spend the day at leisure. Accommodation: Norfolk Hotel or similar Included meals: Breakfast

   Norfolk Hotel or similar
   Breakfast

2. Day 2 · Nairobi

   Nairobi

   After breakfast you will proceed to Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. This centre has played a significant role in Kenya’s conservation efforts. The baby elephants are brought from the national park for a mud-bath at the orphanage, where for an hour (i.e. 1100hrs - 1200hrs) you can get close to them and sometimes touch them. You may not feed the animals but will get a chance to view the handlers feeding them. The orphanage offers hope for any orphaned baby elephant fortunate enough to be found alive and so far, it is proud to have saved over 150 orphaned infant elephants, which would otherwise have perished. The baby elephants are raised at the orphanage with the intention of gradually reintegrating them into the wild. The age range of the elephants can vary from a few months to three years. Each elephant is assigned to its own keeper, who acts as a surrogate mother and will stay with the elephant until it is released back into the wild. Enjoy lunch at Brasserie and proceed to visit the renowned Giraffe Centre, where you will be given a rare opportunity to get up close to these gentle giants in this natural sanctuary, which was founded to protect the endangered Rothschild giraffe. Here you are able to climb to the top of a platform and stand eye to eye with the giraffes and feed them with small pellets. Accommodation: Norfolk Hotel or similar Included meals: Breakfast & Lunch

   Norfolk Hotel or similar
   Breakfast, Lunch

3. Day 3 · Nairobi

   Nairobi

   Enjoy breakfast then spend the day at leisure. Accommodation: Norfolk Hotel or similar Included meals: Breakfast

   Norfolk Hotel or similar
   Breakfast

4. Day 4 · Masai Mara

   Nairobi – Masai Mara Game Reserve

   Check out of the hotel after breakfast. You are transferred to Wilson airport for your schedule flight to Masai Mara departing at 1030hrs 1110hrs: Met on arrival of your flight by the camp's team and transfer to the camp for check in and lunch. In the afternoon you will proceed on a shared game viewing drive in this vast and expansive reserve teeming with game. Mara game reserve is famous for her big five; the most sought after in the early 20th century, when Kenya was a hunters' paradise. These include the lion, Cape buffalo, the savanna elephant, black rhino and the elusive leopard. The vast savanna grasslands as far as the eye can see is home to impalas, maasai giraffes, waterbucks, warthogs, thompson & grand gazelles, topis, the resident wildebeests among many others. Dinner at the camp. Accommodation: Tipilikwani Mara Camp or similar Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

   Tipilikwani Mara Camp or similar
   Breakfast, lunch, dinner

5. Day 5 · Masai Mara

   Masai Mara Game Reserve

   2 full days in the reserve Optional (Supplement cost) Balloon Safari over the Mara plains Today’s adventure begins just before dawn. Flames from the hot air balloon burners light the darkness as the crew inflate their craft. The first, pink tongues of sunlight flicker across the skies and the hot air balloon fills then rises. Suspended in a basket beneath the rainbow-coloured canopy, you're off for a game-viewing adventure with an entirely different perspective. Apart from the occasional hiss of the burners, a lion's roar, elephants crashing through the bush, baboons perched in the tips of the trees startled and screeching to see something above them, the flight above the Masai Mara plains is magically silent. At the end of the flight, the passengers are treated to a champagne breakfast in the bush, complete with flowers. China and crystal are set out on the table that is placed under a convenient acacia tree. The finishing touch to the flight is a game drive back to the camp, and the possibility of seeing the same pride of lions, or herd of elephants that had been viewed while ballooning. A flight certificate is issued on completion of the balloon safari. Today, you will have an option of either enjoying two extensive game viewing drives per day or departing with packed lunch boxes for a full day of game viewing. Be on the look-out for the big five that Maasai Mara is famous for. These include the lion, savannah (African) elephant, the Cape buffalo, the leopard and the black rhino. We return to the lodge for dinner and overnight. Accommodation: Tipilikwani Mara Camp or similar Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

   Tipilikwani Mara Camp or similar
   Breakfast, lunch, dinner

6. Day 6 · Serengeti

   Masai Mara Game Reserve - Serengeti National Park

   Breakfast at the camp. Check out and you are transferred to the airstrip for your schedule flight to Tarime departing at 0815hrs 0900hrs: On arrival, you are met by the airline's team and transferred to Isebania border front for customs and immigrations formalities (Canadian passport holders need a visa to enter Tanzania). Onward transfer to Tarime airstrip for your onward schedule flight to Serengeti departing at 1045hrs 1210hrs: Met on arrival of your flight by our team and transferred to your camp for check in. Enjoy lunch at the camp then begin your safari in Serengeti National Park. Covering an area of 14,763 square kilometres, the world famous Serengeti National Park is Tanzania's oldest park and is known for its massive annual migration of wildebeest and zebra. Seeking new pasture, the herds move north from their breeding grounds in the grassy southern plains either through the marshy western corridor’s crocodile-infested Grumeti River whilst others migrate northeast to the Lobo Hills and into the Masai Mara. The granite outcrops of the Moru Kopjes add to the stunning beauty of this immensely huge national park. Arrive at the lodge early evening and in time for dinner and overnight. Accommodation: Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp or similar Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

   Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp or similar
   Breakfast, lunch, dinner

7. Day 7 · Serengeti

   Serengeti National Park

   OPTIONAL (Supplement cost): Dawn Balloon Safari over the Serengeti Plains ending with a champagne breakfast. 2 full days in Serengeti Park You have an option of departing on a morning and afternoon game viewing drive respectively or departing with packed lunch boxes, for a full day of game viewing drives on the vast Serengeti plains. In the early morning and evening light, the Serengeti landscape is stunningly beautiful. The Rolling plains and grasslands, stretching far into the horizons as far as the eye can see is home to the black-maned lion, the savannah elephant, the Cape buffalo, wildebeests, the elusive leopard, cheetah, the spotted & stripped hyena, the rhino, topi, burchelle’s zebra, the Maasai giraffe among many others. Serengeti National Park is one that can never disappoint. One is spoilt by the variety of bird and wildlife species in this game reserve with game-viewing drives. Enjoy dinner and overnight at our lodge. Accommodation: Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp or similar Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

   Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp or similar
   Breakfast, lunch, dinner

8. Day 8 · Ngorongoro

   Serengeti National Park - Ngorongoro Conservation Area

   Breakfast at the camp. Check out and you are driven to Ngorongoro Conservation area, with a stop at the Ol Duvai Gorge Archaeological site, where an old river has carved away the rock to expose layer upon layer of volcanic soil. This is where Dr Louis and Mary Leakey found the remains of hominids "Nutcracker Man" and "Tool making Man". The "Cradle of Mankind" now has a visitor centre where you may hear a short lecture on the work of the Leakey’s and their successors and a small museum where you may see some of their finds, including a giant giraffe - it is hard to believe that they were once even taller! Continue to the lodge to arrive in good time for lunch. This afternoon relaxes and from our lodge enjoy the breath-taking spectacular views. Dinner and overnight at your lodge. Accommodation: Karibu - Lions Paw Ngorongoro or similar Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

   Karibu - Lions Paw Ngorongoro or similar
   Breakfast, lunch, dinner

9. Day 9 · Ngorongoro

   Ngorongoro Conservation Area

   Today, we descend some 610 meters into the crater, which is home to an abundance of wildlife and a photogenic paradise, for a full day of game-viewing drive. Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact caldera in the world teams with an abundance of wildlife permanently resident on the crater floor. Prides of lions, herds of Cape buffalo, impala, Thompson gazelles, rhino, giraffes, golden & black-backed jackal, zebra, cheetah, leopard and the spotted hyena freely roam on the crater floor plains. Unmatched for its natural variety & breath-taking beauty, there are few places on earth where such a tremendous diversity of landscapes exist inside a region this size. Apart from its wildlife riches, the crater is also of great archaeological importance, with the remains of some of mankind’s earliest ancestors discovered in the area, also a home to hundreds of bird species, refreshing in the small lakes in the crater floor. Enjoy lunch on the crater floor. Return late afternoon to your lodge for an afternoon of relaxation with dinner and overnight at the lodge. Accommodation: Karibu - Lions Paw Ngorongoro or similar Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

   Karibu - Lions Paw Ngorongoro or similar
   Breakfast, lunch, dinner

10. Day 10 · Zanzibar

    Ngorongoro Conservation Area - Zanzibar

    Amka! After a sumptuous breakfast check out, all good bush experiences must come to an end and sadly you must say kwaheri to your wonderful lodge Manager and his team as you depart to Arusha, transfer to the airport for your flight to Zanzibar departing at 1300hrs Welcome to Zanzibar The Story of an Island Paradise The very mention of Zanzibar - the beautiful and historic spice island lying just off the coast of Tanzania - is enough to conjure up a multitude of mental images that are both exotic and striking. It is this emotional reaction that has caused this Indian Ocean Island to become one of the world’s most sought-after holiday destinations. Stepping Back in Time The island’s history is indelibly stamped by hundreds of years of trade in spices - nutmeg, cinnamon and saffron to name-but-three - with itinerant merchants traveling by sailing ship from as far away as Europe, the Middle East and even China. It has been this commodity - one as valuable as gold in its time - that has driven and shaped the cultural flavors of the island. Zanzibar’s architecture, language and religion are a reflection of both the island’s distant and recent past; with the passing dhows that constantly sail along the coastline and the murmurs of the fishermen drifting on the sea breeze, that past is seemingly not so distant. The magical island has been likened to that of a time capsule, one that has been unopened by modern tourism. 1420hrs: Upon arrival and after baggage collection, you will be met and transferred to your beach hotel for check in. Spend the rest of the day at leisure. Accommodation: Breezes Beach Club- or similar Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

    Breezes Beach Club or similar
    Breakfast, lunch, dinner

11. Day 11 · Zanzibar

    Zanzibar

    Spend these days at leisure enjoying the white sandy beach and sunshine at your luxurious beach resort. You may also partake in optional beach activities from Scuba diving, snorkeling to deep sea fishing which can be arranged at an extra cost. All Meals and overnight at the resort. Accommodation: Breezes Beach Club or similar Included meals: All inclusive plan

    Breezes Beach Club or similar
    Breakfast, lunch, dinner

12. Day 12 · Zanzibar

    Depart Zanzibar

    Check out of the resort and you will be transferred to the Airport for onwards flight.