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East African Splendour
Classic Safari Supersights
At 12 days, the East African Splendour is a shorter version of our 17-day African Splendour Classic Safari. But the marvels we encounter—the Maasai Mara, the Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater—are matchless in their classic African and planetary magnificence. Quintessentially African in their wealth of wildlife and their uniquely stunning landscapes, planetary because their likes are found precisely nowhere else on Earth.
We begin in Hemingways, a serene and leafy hotel in Nairobi’s suburbs, before heading to Sir Richard Branson’s innovative yet tradition-honouring Mahali Mzuri, an ideal outpost for our forays into the river forests and golden plains of the Maasai Mara. Then, based from the soothingly luxe Four Seasons, we delve into the ocean of life that is the Serengeti. Our last stop before heading back to a pleasant pre-flight rest in Nairobi is the Ngorongoro Crater, whose steep walls encase a 100-square mile caldera populated by the full cast of Africa’s glorious animals (and, while ensconced in The Manor at Ngorongoro, we’ll visit nearby Lake Manyara, which many consider Africa’s most comely lake, and whose lyric flight of flamingos you may remember from Out of Africa).
Safari Highlights
At 12 days, the East African Splendour is a shorter version of our 17-day African Splendour Classic Safari. But the marvels we encounter—the Maasai Mara, the Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater—are matchless in their classic African and planetary magnificence. Quintessentially African in their wealth of wildlife and their uniquely stunning landscapes, planetary because their likes are found precisely nowhere else on Earth.
We begin in Hemingways, a serene and leafy hotel in Nairobi’s suburbs, before heading to Sir Richard Branson’s innovative yet tradition-honouring Mahali Mzuri, an ideal outpost for our forays into the river forests and golden plains of the Maasai Mara. Then, based from the soothingly luxe Four Seasons, we delve into the ocean of life that is the Serengeti. Our last stop before heading back to a pleasant pre-flight rest in Nairobi is the Ngorongoro Crater, whose steep walls encase a 100-square mile caldera populated by the full cast of Africa’s glorious animals (and, while ensconced in The Manor at Ngorongoro, we’ll visit nearby Lake Manyara, which many consider Africa’s most comely lake, and whose lyric flight of flamingos you may remember from Out of Africa).
Safari Highlights
- The Serengeti: "The light is dazzling, the air delectable; the magic of the American prairie here blends with the other magic of the animals as they existed before man," wrote the great British litterateur Cyril Connolly.
- The Maasai Mara, the northern, more exuberantly foliated reaches of the vast Maasai Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, the world’s greatest assemblage of free-roaming animals, a place where, Isak Dinesen wrote, "you felt the night-air soft and deep and pregnant with benediction."
- Once a towering volcano, a rival of lordly Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro Crater is a natural masterpiece that brings to mind Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World.
- And last and of course, the constant, touchdown to takeoff presence of a Micato Safari Director. backed up by our 24-hour Concierge Service and our in-country and international staff.
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Additional Information
Day 1 - En Route
En route to Kenya and its capital city, Nairobi.
Day 2 - Nairobi and the serene Hemingways Hotel
We arrive in Nairobi and Hemingways, a quietly ravishing haven for lovers of old-style panache mixed with modern amenities and great cuisine, wonderfully set in the lush suburb of Karen.
Days 3 to 5 - Sir Richard Branson’s Mahali Mzuri in the Maasai Mara
We fly west from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara, the northern, more verdant section of the single most salubrious wildlife habitat on this or any known planet, the Serengeti-Maasai Mara ecosystem. Game drives in the Mara are especially fruitful….Our Mara headquarters is Sir Richard Branson’s Mahali Mzuri, whose innovatively designed, yet very African tents “resemble the tents of our youth like a Gulfstream G650 resembles a Piper Cub,” as we said a while back. Mzuri is auspiciously set next to one of the Mara’s prime migration pathways.
Days 6 & 7 - A lightening of spirit at the storied Four Seasons Serengeti
Now— these are thrilling safari words!— into the Serengeti, amazing in its enormity, its almost infinite skies and long, golden reaches, its million-year quiet. We’ll make far-ranging game drives on the great plain and in its riverine forests, based from the stunningly deluxe Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, set on rocky bluffs, giving us vast, endlessly stimulating views.
Days 8 to 10 - Lake Manyara and the epic Ngorongoro Crater
A typically spectacular flight and pleasant drive deliver us to The Manor at Ngorongoro, a marvelous 10-cottage, 20-suite retreat set within a 1500- acre Arabica coffee estate adjacent to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Those of us who have travelled in South Africa will recognize the Manor’s elegant Cape Dutch style; those who haven’t will simply be charmed. Our three nights at the Manor are a rare idyll.
We’ll enjoy a restful afternoon (or a very active one; the Manor offers horsebacking, mountain biking, swimming in the Manor’s pool, and estate walks, among other enjoyments), before a classic high tea and dinner in the private dining room or wine cellar.
And the next day we visit one of the earth’s natural masterpieces. We’ve got a lot of affection for Ngorongoro. Here’s the essence of the crater’s tremendous charisma: 25,000 or so large and very viewable mammals— from apex predators to galumphing hippos— inhabit the crater’s 100-square-mile floor, and zigzagging up the old volcano’s forested wall to its rim, and gazing for the first or fifth time at the lush lands and their inhabitants in the crater below, is a great moment in any traveller’s life.
We’ll descend to the crater and excitedly roam from morning to afternoon, stopping at mid-day for a charmingly luxurious bush lunch, before heading back to a serene evening at the Manor.
Now we encounter Lake Manyara. Africa is blessed with epic lakes (Tanganyika is the world’s second deepest; all the Rift Lakes are gigantic stunners), but many, including Ernest Hemingway, consider the smaller gem of Lake Manyara— with its diamond-white alkali rim, its million or so coral-coloured flamingos, and the deep sapphire waters at its centre— the loveliest of all. After a relaxed (or active) morning at the Manor, we’ll embark on a fine afternoon of game viewing around the lake (many tree-climbing lions frequent Manyara’s Africa-embodying scrublands, mahogany forests, and bird-thronged marshlands). And after cocktails and canapés in the bush, we head back to the Manor for a final night before regretfully getting ready to head home.
Day 11 - Return to Nairobi for flights home
After flying back to Nairobi, we’ll relax in full service, meals-included day rooms at the Four Points by Sheraton at the Nairobi Airport, have a quiet dinner, and head out to Jomo Kenyatta Airport for our late evening flights home.
Day 12 - Connect in Europe with homeward flights
Arrive home tired but exalted, on Day 12 of this mightily splendid safari.
Departure Dates
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Start: January 1, 2025 End: December 31, 2025 Price: $27,400 pp Days: 11 | Land Only Price My Trip |
Price My Trip
Product Code: ppo-micatosafaris-658173
1. AccommodationsFirst-class hotel accommodations based on twin-bedded rooms with private bath or showersthe categories assigned to hotels reflect the opinion of Micato Safaris.2. MealsThree meals daily per the itinerary, based on evening arrivals on Day 2. 3. Air TransportationYour travel agent should arrange international flights or Micato can refer you to its preferred purveyor of air tickets. Internal African flights on safari must be purchased through Micato.4. LuggageTour rates include the transport and handling of two pieces of luggage per per- son per airline regulations. Guests are urged, however, to travel with only one medium-size suitcase. On certain flights within Africa, strict luggage restrictions apply; details are provided in tour documentation. Luggage and personal effects are at owner's risk throughout the tour.5. TaxesThe tour program includes hotel taxes as imposed by city and state govern- ments, entrance fees to National Parks and Game Reserves, and airport taxes for intra-country flights. International airport taxes are not included.~ Please Note: If a minimum number of travellers is not reached, Micato may provide local guides in each location in place of a Micato tour or safari director. Extensions are locally guided. ~Not Included in Quoted Tour Rates:Cost of obtaining passports, visas, travel insurance, excess baggage charges, items of a personal nature such as drinks, laundry, communication (calls, faxes, emails, etc.), international airport departure tax (to be paid in U.S. dollars or acceptable foreign currencies), and deviations from the tour.