Kenya Walking Adventures & Wildlife Safaris

7 Days: Menengai Crater, Nakuru, Crescent Island, Crater Lake And Hell’s Gate National Parks (Walking Safari 1)

A quality Kenya walking adventure with lots of game, reduced road transfers, good accommodation (no camping) and one-of-a kind landscapes in areas not visited by mass tourism then this tour is just ideal for you. The dormant Menengai Crater is the starting point of this Kenya walking tour that shows variety of landscapes found in the Rift Valley. Lake Nakuru is coloured pink with thousands of flamingos and Lake Naivasha has a huge population of hippos. The open savannahs in Hell’s Gate, Crater Lake and Crescent Island are home to plains game such as baboons, giraffes, elands, zebras, various gazelles and warthogs, which we will easily see during the walks.

Day 1: Nairobi

Arrival at the airport at night and reception by Ontdek Kenya. Transfer from the airport to the La Mada or equivalent hotel in Nairobi.

Day 2: Menengai Crater. O/n Maili Saba Tented Camp

After breakfast is the briefing by the guide about the tour. By 8.30 a.m. we leave Nairobi via the Nakuru road to the Rift valley. The Nairobi - Nakuru road is on a contour along the rim of the Rift valley and on a viewpoint we will be able to see our whole route for the tour.

We arrive at the Maili Saba tented camp our base for 2 days, in time for lunch. This camp, which opened early ‘06, is one of our favorite places. With 10 luxurious tents built on the edge of the dormant Menengai Crater, Maili Saba offers all what a nature traveler would want in an African holiday: silence, tranquility, one-off scenery, unique accommodation and food worth traveling for, all rendered in a level of service that is professional and non-intrusive. With a limit of only 20 guests, this is a place for anyone who wants to be pampered away from mass tourism.

In the afternoon we do a guided walk in the crater where we will enjoy the beautiful contrasts of nature: rocks that have stood the test of time, natural springs with mirror clear water, lava that reminds us that this is the Rift Valley and baboons trooping around with their babies. For birders, though this area is not yet listed as a hot spot in Kenya birding tours, its mixed habitat of rocks, patch grass land, scattered bushes and natural springs have interesting bird life such as Yellow Bishop, Pin-tailed Whydahs, Streaky Seedeater, Schalow’s Wheatear, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Hunter’s Sunbird, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Purple Grenadier and the elusive Cinnamon-breasted Rock Bunting among others.

Day 3: Lake Nakuru National. O/N Maili Saba Tented Camp

We will spend the day in the nearby Lake Nakuru National Park, famous for its thousands of flamingos as well as vast herds of buffaloes and tens of rhinos. There is a good chance to see cats such as leopard, cheetah and lion.

Day 4: Crescent Island Walk. O/N Lake Naivasha Country Club

This tour remains in the Rift Valley lakes so we now move to the Lake Naivasha Country Club, our base for three days, in time for lunch. This lodge opened in 1937 as a staging post for Imperial Airways' flying boat service from Durban to London. The 55-acre property boasts green lawns shaded by mature acacias and spreading fever trees that stretch down to the lake's shore.

In the afternoon we do our first African game viewing walk at the privately owned Crescent Island, which is a peninsula on the eastern shore of Lake Naivasha. There is a lot of easy to see game e.g. giraffes, waterbucks, elands, zebras and impalas. It is also a heaven for birds with +200 species recorded. The walk is gentle and satisfying. We return to the Lake Naivasha Country Club in time for afternoon tea.

Day 5: Hell's Gate Walk. 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 viewpoint on the Hell's Gate gorge.

The last part of the walk is done 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 6: 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 7: Kiambethu Tea Farm + To Nairobi For Outbound Flight

Leave Naivasha in the 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.

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 7, 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.

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Departures are at the traveler's convenience.

Want to have another Kenya walking tour? Please visit our walking tours page.