When you arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi you will be met by an Albatros Travel representative and taken to your comfortable hotel in the heart of of the city.

The Norfolk Hotel is one of Nairobi's best known and finest luxury hotels, having played a key role in Kenya's colourful history. In fact, the modern city of Nairobi grew up around the Norfolk Hotel, which  has its own private tropical gardens and is considered the traditional starting point for safaris.

There are six different restaurants and bars at the Norfolk, ranging from the authentic Tatu African restaurant to the Cin Cin wine bar, with its stylish interior and intimate ambience. The Lord Delamere Terrace is modern Nairobi’s most famous meeting place, where drinks and light meals are served continuously from morning until midnight.

What better place could there be to start you adventure?

From Nairobi you will be taken to Meru National Park for a stay at Elsa’s Kopje – named after the lioness in the film ‘Born Free’. This luxury lodge is built into Mughwango Hill, making it almost invisible to the naked eye on approach. The lodge is situated above the original campsite of the famed conservationist George Adamson.

Uniquely designed and crafted, Elsa's Kopje incorporates the natural features of the rocky hillside and its individual open-fronted cottages have spacious en suite double or twin bedrooms - the ultimate ‘rooms-with-a-view’! There is an exceptionally inviting infinity pool overlooking the Meru plains, with an open bar, lounge and dining room area.

After a leisurely lunch, we will set out on an afternoon game drive and you will get your first taste of the rich wildlife and beautiful scenery this area has to offer. You can read more about Meru National Park by clicking here.

To witness the wildlife at its most active the best course of action is to take a game drive before breakfast. Large herds of elephants, reticulated giraffes, buffalos, hippos and cheetahs are regularly sighted within this area. On occasion, the shy white rhino will make an appearance – there are thought to be around 40 within the area. Leopards have also been spotted, but as always these big cats are fairly elusive to all but the sharpest of eyes.

Lunch will be taken at a picnic site or back at the lodge, and in the late afternoon you will be given the option of setting out on another game drive. With the vegetation being quite dense in many parts of the park, you’ll never know what’s around the next corner – making this beautiful park quite thrilling!

As the evening approaches you will return to the lodge to relax with a sundowner, followed by a delicious bush-inspired dinner cooked by the camp chefs.

This morning you will hop onto a scheduled flight back to Nairobi. Before continuing on to Amboseli National Park in the afternoon you will have the opportunity to satisfy your appetite at the renowned Carnivore restaurant.

After a short plane journey you will arrive at Tortilis Camp, named after the flat-topped umbrella thorn tree, the Acacia Tortilis.

The camp nestles in a woodland setting within a private 30,000-acre game concession, meaning that activities including walks, game drives, bush meals and sundowners can take place both here as well as inside the park itself. The main lounge, bar and dining area, all have thatched roofs and are constructed from natural materials in keeping with the local environment. The rooms are all king or twin bedded and are very spacious with elegant en-suite bathrooms.

Amboseli National Park is best known for its local elephant population - including some of the largest individuals in Africa. There are also spectacular views of Kilimanjaro, unrivalled anywhere in Africa, and visible from where you are staying.

This morning you'll enjoy a traditionally hearty breakfast before embarking on your first game drive of the day.

Amboseli offers one of Kenya's most spectacular displays of wildlife including giraffes, rhinos, elephants, lions, cheetahs and a host of other plains game. Coupled with the white crystalline snows of Kilimanjaro, Amboseli is without a doubt, a photographer’s paradise! It's here that you can get that iconic shot of elephants or giraffes with the recognisable cone of Kilimanjaro in the background.

Returning back to the lodge for a lazy lunch, you will then be offered to return to the plains in the late afternoon for further game spotting.

If you like, you could combine this with some bird watching or perhaps go for a hike on a walking safari. You could also learn about the culture and way of life of the indigenous Maasai population and visit a local village.

This evening you can choose to have dinner either inside the lodge, or beneath the great starry African sky with the chorus of the bush quietly serenading you in the background.

Today is another exciting day as the magic of Amboseli is left behind and you are taken to the Masai Mara Game Reserve, renowned for some of best game viewing in the world. You will be flown on a scheduled flight to the beautiful Sanctuary Olonana, arriving just in time for lunch.

Situated on a private stretch of the Mara River, close to the border with Tanzania, this award-winning tented camp is right next to areas with high concentrations of game animals. In fact, during the time of the Great Migration, the action happens right on the camp's doorstep! 

Olonana is located at the foot of the impressive Siria Escarpment, close to where the famous last scene from 'Out of Africa' was filmed.  You will get a taste of what’s on offer over the next three days as you take an afternoon game drive through the reserve.

This morning, you will have the option of rising early and experiencing a game viewing adventure from an entirely different perspective. What better way could there be than to start the day than floating in a hot air balloon across the Masai Mara in the crisp morning air?

The flight lasts for approximately an hour, and allows for a beautifully peaceful experience floating silently above plains, forests and rivers. Upon landing a fully cooked breakfast with champagne awaits you. More game viewing opportunities occur after breakfast as we make our way back to camp.

After this inspiring start to the day, we will take a game drive through the reserve. Alternatively, you can return to camp and enjoy many of its facilities, including the extensive safari library, a swimming pool and even an organic garden where much of the food served in camp is grown. There is also the mini-spa for your pleasure, offering traditional African treatments ad remedies as well as French marine therapies from Thalgo.

Yu will enjoy lunch seated in Olonana's main dining room which has a veranda boasting fabulous views over an action-packed stretch of the Mara River. From here it is possible to study an array of wildlife, including a family of noisy hippos who reside on the banks directly below the camp.

In addition to the abundance of game animals, there are also over 450 species of birds that have been identified as living within the Masai Mara ecosystem – so you might need to use one of the camp’s spotters guides and a good reference book from the camp library to identify them.

An afternoon game drive followed by the quintessential sundown cocktail will round off what has been without a doubt an exciting day in the Mara.

Note: the balloon safari is an optional extra and attracts an extra fee. Please see the 'Not Included' section for details.

The Masai Mara is also the setting for the seasonal awe-inspiring Great Migration, which has been described as `the greatest wildlife show on earth`. This breathtaking spectacle occurs every year between April and September and, once witnessed, is something you will never forget.

The diversity of the Masai Mara scenery, including meandering rivers, towering escarpments and rolling grasslands provides the perfect habitats for a huge abundance of game, including the Big Five, all of which can be found here.

Depending on the time of year, today will either involve a drive down to the river or across the plains in search of the scores of wildebeest who gather here at certain times of the year, or admiring the resident game which can be found all year round. Even if the Migration is not underway, the Masai Mara remains one of the best places for viewing game in all of Africa.

It may be the last day of safari however the adventure does not does not stop just yet. After breakfast, you will experience an en-route game drive to the airstrip.

From here we will transfer you to Nairobi on a scheduled flight for connection to your onward international flight.

You will have had an exciting and memorable nine days seeing some of Kenya's best wildlife parks and maybe at this pont you will want to stay on for a few extra days. Whether it is a week spent on one of Kenya's lovely white coral beaches or a further few days at a particular lodge that takes your fancy - or even just a couple of extra nights in Nairobi - all you need to do is contact one of out travel advisors and we will be happy to help you arrange it.