Kenya Educational Safari. Kenya School Tours

10 Days Kenya Walking Safari: Swara Plains, Amboseli, Crater Lake And Hell's Gate National Parks (Educational Tour 3)

This is a detailed educational safari in the old wild Africa where plains game still roams free in total absence of mass tourism. Start with the Swara Plains, a private wildlife conservancy with limited numbers of visitors and no minibuses. The students can choose to walk in the morning when it is cool and relax in the afternoon as you watch giraffes, elands and the playful monkeys right within the campgrounds. Learn about birds as Weavers, Fire Finches, Starlings, Mousebirds and Lovebirds give full day performances.

A safari in Amboseli with the snow-capped Kilimanjaro takes 3 days giving us enough time to see huge herds of elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, cats and plains game.

We then go to the Rift Valley lakes for guided game viewing hikes in Crater Lake and Hell's Gate with guaranteed interruptions of Colobus monkeys, baboons, giraffes, elands, zebras, various gazelles and warthogs.

As with all of Ontdek Kenya's school tours, this is yet another unique safari away from mass tourism that exposes students to different aspects of Kenya in a fun but educational way.

Day 1, 2 & 3: Swara plains. Walks And Game Drives. O/N Acacia Camp

The latest addition to our portfolio of camps and wildlife conservancies is the Swara plains just 30 minutes out of the city of Nairobi. This 20,000 acres ranch is old wild Africa at its very best: wide open savannah grasslands, tall yellow fever trees, endless views, over 3000 resident population of easy to see plains game and +270 birds species. Swara plains is part of the Tsavo-Amboseli eco-system and with exception of elephants, rhinos and buffaloes all the other plains game found in Tsavo and Amboseli are found here. You will see big herds of oryx, elands, wildebeests, giraffes, monkeys, hartebeests, zebras, impalas, Grant's and Thompson's gazelles, warthogs and the occasional gerenuk (= Giraffe-neck gazelle) in total absence of mass tourism.

There is also a good number of cheetahs and leopards but unlike the cats in other national parks which are now socialized to act for visitors (a cheetah sitting on a car's bonnet is not natural!), the cats here will grant you a sight but soon sneak into the bush - their natural reaction. Environment conservation is top priority here e.g. numerous dams have been dug to trap the scarce rainwater and there are well-maintained earth roads for game drives and nature walks. Not surprisingly the ranch and the camp have long been used for wildlife research.

The number of visitors to the ranch is deliberately kept small by having a camp (Acacia camp) with only 13 rustic and still comfortable bandas (cottages) making this a place to see game without being surrounded by safari mini buses.

Good food is a big part of a travel experience, and as the owner/manager of Acacia has a long history of managing some of the well known tented camps in Kenya, in Acacia you can expect top kitchen with a touch of home cooking.

For birders, walkers as well as anyone looking for a nature based tour in Kenya, we invite you to Swara Plains for all the right reasons: one-off wildlife viewing experience, guided nature walks, colorful and easily found birds, yes right outside the bandas as you relax e.g. Hoopoe, Hunter's and Scarlet-chested Sunbirds, Fisher's Lovebirds, Black-faced Waxbills, Superb, Rüppell's Long-tailed and Hildebrandt's Starlings, Von der Decken's Hornbills, Slate-coloured Boubou, White-bellied Canary, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Crested Francolin among others.

Days here are for guided walks and game drives.

Days 4, 5 & 6: Amboseli. Game Drives And Bird Watching. O/N Kibo Camp

We drive south to Amboseli national park at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro . The magic of Amboseli is seeing the big game including huge herds of elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, impalas, Grant's gazelles and elands with the backdrop of the snow-capped Kilimanjaro. This is a place for great photos justifying our tour as a photography safari.

Should you be a birder Amboseli has +425 species of birds recorded. There are water birds, birds of prey as well as dry scrub birds.

Overnights at the Kibo Camp.

Day 7: Rift Valley. O/N Lake Naivasha Country Club

Leave Amboseli in the morning and have lunch at Acacia Camp. Thereafter proceed to Lake Naivasha with a stop at the Naivasha market. We will be based at an old colonial lodge with well-maintained lawns stretching to the lakeshores. The gardens have easy to see birds and the jetty is a good place to see water birds as well hippos.

Day 8: Hell's Gate National Park. O/N Lake Naivasha Country Club

We wake up for breakfast with the sun giving a wonderful effect over the lake. An early morning here should not be missed by anyone with an eye for birds since the lake boasts a wide variety of water and woodland birds.

After breakfast we do a short transfer to the gate of the park. This is a unique park where walking is done in the middle of wildlife. Giraffes, zebras, warthogs and many types of gazelles are found here. The first part of this walk is done in typical flat African savannah in a volcanic area with huge rock boundaries. There are camphor and acacia trees all over and this is where to look for the giraffe as they mainly feed on them. A picnic lunch provided by the hotel will be at a view point over the gorge.

The last part of the hike is done in the Hell's Gate Gorge by descending into a steep canyon with running water from geysers and wild vegetation. The climax of the day is in walking in the Side Gorge where the rocks have split to leave only a walking path. We climb back to the rangers post for transfer back to the Lake Naivasha Country Club.

Day 9: Crater Lake. O/N Lake Naivasha Country Club

An early rising will ensure that one gets another magical display of the various birds. After breakfast we do a transfer by bus to the nearby Crater Lake Game Sanctuary. It is a lesser lake in the Rift Valley but a place where nature is at its best.

We do a walk in the sanctuary followed by a circular trek on the top of the crater from where we see the lake from various angles. Pleasant interruptions on the walks will be from giraffes, black and white Colobus monkeys, elands and a range of gazelles.

Day 10: Kiambethu Tea Farm + To Nairobi For Outbound Flight

Leave Naivasha in the late morning for lunch at the Kiambethu Tea Farm. This is an old colonial home established by the early settlers and the pioneers of tea growing in Kenya. There will be a talk on tea: its arrival in Kenya, the growing, processing and up to when you put it into your cup. A short walk in the tea plantation and into a small remaining part of indigenous forest completes the tour.

We have a healthy farm lunch and thereafter transfer to Nairobi for the evening flight out.

Itinerary changes may be made due to local conditions beyond our control.

PRICE:

Our attractive price based on the size of your party includes all accommodation as per itinerary, all meals from breakfast of day 2 through lunch of day 10, all transport Nairobi-Nairobi and airport transfers, bottled water during the walks, services of guides, the park entrance fees and a Flying Doctors Evacuation cover. The only extras on you are spendings on airfare to Kenya, airport taxes, visa, insurance, drinks at the table, tips and expenditure of personal nature.

FOR A PRICE QUOTE:

DEPARTURES are at the traveler's convenience.

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