Women Adventure Travel:Vacations for Active Women in Kenya

8 Days: Women Walking Tour In Aberdares And Rift Valley (Women-only Tour 2)

Join us in a unique women adventure safari designed for the active woman seeking a Kenyan vacation in which she is not cooped up in a safari bus. Visit the Aberdares not just for the Tree hotel experience but also for other hidden gems in the Aberdares /Mt. Kenya area such as the Aberdares game sanctuary and Sangare ranch teaming up with giraffes, zebras, impalas, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelles all yours to discover as you take guided walks in total absence from mass tourism. Solio ranch - which holds the highest concentration of Black Rhinos in Africa - is a must visit in this area. Going to the tree hotel will add to the many highlights that you have already enjoyed in the region.

3 walking days in the game rich private sanctuaries in lake Naivasha make this a perfect walking tour in all senses. With renown Ontdek’s ground logistics, accommodation in select lodges and tented camps, knowledgeable local guides and options of small group or private departures the time is right to book this women adventure tour.

Please see our tours board for scheduled departures.

Day 1: Nairobi

Arrival and transfer to the La Mada or equivalent hotel in Nairobi.

Day 2: Aberdare Game Sanctuary. O/N Sangare Tented Camp

A 3 hrs transfer takes you to Nyeri in central Kenya, home of the Kikuyu tribe. You will drive through the main farming areas of Kenya with a lot of coffee and pineapple plantations. We will make a stop at the open air Karatina market, which is the biggest farm produce market in the region.

We arrive at the Aberdare Country Club in time for lunch. In the afternoon we will walk in the Aberdare Game Sanctuary with opportunities to see warthogs, Thompson and Grant's gazelles, zebras, reticulated giraffes and the biggest antelopes: elands. On their own these animals are a wonder to watch but to do so while you are walking is an experience that has always brought joy to our guests. Warning: kindly reserve your films or memory space! There is a big temptation to take all the pictures on this day but take our word: there will still be other opportunities. Transfer to Sangare Tented Camp for overnight.

A brief on Sangare Ranch:

Sangare is a 6500 acres private wildlife conservancy sandwiched between the Aberdares and Mt. Kenya. The 12-tent camp overlooks a fresh water lake full of exciting bird life and where game comes to drink. The Sangare Hill forms a magnificent backdrop for the camp.

The ranch whose habitat is open savannah with scattered bushes is home to zebras, giraffes, antelopes, warthogs, leopards, hyenas, elephants and buffaloes. Bird life in Sangare is rich with + 300 birds species recorded such as Red-winged Starlings, Greater Blue-eared Starlings, Olive Pigeons, Northern Crombec, Grey Flycatcher, Cardinal Woodpecker... At the lake there is ease to see Red–knobbed Coot, Black Crake, Storks and others.

The tents are spacious and luxurious with four poster beds, unique African furnishing, private verandahs and en suite facilities with flush toilet and shower.

Day 3: Sangare Ranch Walk. O/N Sangare Tented Camp

Leaving the camp on foot we will enter the open grassland by taking a right turn from the lake, where the big herd of the resident Waterbucks, Elands and Bushbucks will make us stop for pictures and just for the sheer beauty of this antelope that is found in wet areas.

The walk is on a service road (used for game drives) and we move on towards the Sangare hill on relatively flat terrain before we get to the bottom of the hill. From here we use a path in the bush to climb up the hill where we get a one-off view over the whole area. We have a good view of the Sangare camp and the lake, the snow-capped peaks of Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare range. Picnic lunch is at the Sangare Hill.

We then circumnavigate the hill and enter back into the Sangare Ranch. Taking a different road through the ranch we will walk looking for giraffes, impalas, zebras, warthogs, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelles.

Back to the camp for overnight.

Day 4: Solio Ranch + Aberdare NP. O/N Treetops

After breakfast we drive to the nearby Solio Ranch for an extensive game drive in the Rhino Sanctuary, which has the world's largest concentration of black rhinos. The white rhino is also found here as well as the reticulated giraffe, leopard, lion and a wide range of plains game and bird life. We will drive around in the ranch but since this private sanctuary is little visited by the main Kenyan tour operators, we will not have many cars surrounding us.

Lunch is at the Outspan Hotel in Nyeri, which is also the check in point for Treetops.

Many people who come to the Aberdare National Park expressly visit the tree hotels for game viewing. Their interest is highly justified: to see elephants, buffaloes, rhinos and other game coming to a floodlit waterhole right below the balcony of the hotel is really amazing.

Our hotel of choice is Treetops, which is designed for game viewing on a 3-storey structure standing on stilts. Treetops gets its name from the original hotel in which Princess Elizabeth arrived on Feb 5, 1952 and checked out on Feb 6 as the queen of England after her father, King George died in London during the night. The game viewing is an all-night show and many visitors pass the time focused on the waterhole where among the species frequenting are elephants, rhinos, hyenas, various gazelles, warthogs, giant forest hogs, the elusive bongo and with luck a leopard or a lion may pay a visit.

Day 5: Crescent Island Walk. O/N Lake Naivasha Country Club

A three hour bus transfer takes us to the Rift Valley, where we will stay for 5 nights at the Lake Naivasha Country Club. We will have breaks at the equator crossing and at the Thompson Falls in Nyahururu.

We arrive at 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 an African game viewing hike 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, wildebeests, 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 6: 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 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 Ranger's Post for transfer back to the Lake Naivasha Country Club.

Day 7: 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 8: Kiambethu Tea Plantation + 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 for the women adventure tour;

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 8, 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.

Want to have another women-only tour? Please visit our women-only tours page.