Great Migration Safari 2014

Hello again everyone.

Due to newly released special offers I've been able to reduce the cost of this great fully escorted safari by $2000 per person, making the cost $11495 per person twin share. The single supplement is now $1700.

I have now finalised the itinerary for the Great Migration Safari in Kenya and Tanzania for 2014.
This year we will be flying with Qantas and South African Airways. This option may be a little dearer, but last year we found that Kenya Airways did not really provide the service we expected and their connection times were too long.

We have two nights at Nairobi Tented Camp. Full board with game drives.
Two nights at Serena Mountain Village near Arusha. Full board with game drives.
Two nights at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. Full board with one six hour game drive.
Three nights at Nasikia Mobile Camp, Serengeti. Full board with game drives.
Three nights at Sekenani Camp, Masai Mara. Full board with game drives.
One night at Southern Sun Mayfair Hotel with breakfast.

I have also cut out some of the driving that we had to do in rough, dusty conditions on the 2013 Great Migration Safari and replaced these sectors with flights. Indeed, the only way to get into and out of Nasikia is to fly. Again this has increased the cost over last year, but will make the entire safari more comfortable.

The great wildebeest migration usually makes its way from the Northern Serengeti to the Masai Mara in August, crossing various rivers on the way. For this reason we will stay a total of six nights in the area to give us the best chance of witnessing a crossing. This is wild Africa at its unpredictable best, and even if we are not fortunate enough to witness a crossing, the herds of animals are still an moving and unforgettable sight. The herds are of course attended by all the big predators - lion, hyena and if we're lucky leopard. Then there is also a bewildering array of general game including elephants, hippos, giraffes and various species of gazelle and antelope, not to mention the incredible birdlife.

I have chosen comfortable, reasonably priced accommodation, naturally, all with en-suite facilities.
You will find the both the quality and quantity of food excellent and wine, beer and spirits are available throughout and are by no means expensive.

So to sum up. The inclusions are - flights as listed in economy class, all meals, all games drives in two specially adapted four wheel driver vehicles, transfers as required in Africa, 13 nights accommodation in 4 star lodges, tented camps and hotels, professional driver/guides throughout and accompanied from Brisbane by yours truly.

The cost per person for this once in a lifetime experience is $11495 per person twin share. The single supplement is $1700.

The details are as follows.

Wednesday 6 August
Qantas flight QF597                                              Depart Brisbane 1610     Arrive Perth 1950
South African Airways flight SA281                    Depart Perth 2350

Thurday 7 August
Arrive Johannesburg 0545
South African Airways flight SA184            Depart Johannesburg 1010     Arrive Nairobi 1510 

Met by your Driver  and transferred to the Nairobi Tented Camp for a safari orientation.
Full board accommodation at Nairobi National Park Tented Camp.

Friday 8 August
After breakfast met by your Real Africa Safaris Guide for a game drive & Tour of Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. 

In Kenya a tiny elephant nursery situated in Nairobi under the auspices of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, overseen by Dr. Daphne Sheldrick, whose elephant experience spans a lifetime, and with the cooperation of the Kenya Wildlife Service, for the first time ever now offers hope for any orphaned elephant fortunate enough to be found alive.

It took Daphne Sheldrick 28 years of trial and error during the years that her husband was warden of Kenya's largest and most important elephant sanctuary, Tsavo East National Park, to perfect the milk formula and complex husbandry necessary to rear the orphaned infant African elephants.

Saturday 9 August

After breakfast transfer to Namanga Border by road.  Change vehicles and proceed to Arusha to arrive in time for lunch. Afternoon at Leisure.

Sunday 10 August

Breakfast  & proceed on game drive in Arusha National Park.

Monday 11 August

After breakfast we check out and proceed to Ngorongoro Conservation area in time for lunch. Afternoon at leisure. Accommodation for 2 nights at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge.

Tuesday 12 August

Breakfast followed by a six hour game drive and crater tour.

The Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania, once a gigantic volcano, is the largest intact caldera in the world. Some maintain that before it erupted, it would have been higher than Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Today, long since having collapsed and eroded, it is an extensive highland area with the famous 600 m deep Ngorongoro Crater as its focal point. Nearly three million years old, the ancient caldera shelters one of the most beautiful wildlife havens on earth. Endangered black rhino are protected within its rim, giant tusked elephants wander the forests, black-maned lions stalk the grasslands, and flamingoes crowd the soda lakes. An estimated 25 000 large mammals are resident in this bowl of plenty, including a population of approximately 6 000 resident wildebeest, 16 highly endangered black rhino and around 70 lions. Cheetah move in and out of the Crater, while leopard are most often encountered in the spectacular Lerai Forest. 

 
Wednesday 13 August
After breakfast we transfer to Lake Manyara Airstrip. From here we fly to Serengeti National Park. We then transfer to Nasikia Mobile Camp. Here we will spend three nights with two game drives per day

Nasikia’ offers prime locations for game driving and wildlife viewing – even night game drives and wilderness walks.  Reading, dreaming, drawing, painting, writing and simply contemplating life is just some other activities where ‘Nasikia’ offer you the ultimate surrounds for creativity.

Famed for its vast tree-less grasslands and excellent wildlife sightings, the endless open plains of Tanzania’s magnificent Serengeti National Park boast 35 species of plains-dwelling game and prolific birdlife. The annual movement of wildebeest and other herbivores across East Africa’s Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of the greatest spectacles in the natural world. Over two million animals participate in this great migration, with some 200 000 zebra ahead of and 500 000 Thomson’s gazelle behind the main players – one and a half million wildebeest. The wildebeest spend the wet season on the south eastern Tanzanian plains and the Serengeti’s dry season on the plains of Kenya’s Masai Mara.

Saturday 16 August
Breakfast and with packed lunches, transfer to the local airstrip.  Fly scheduled flight to Tarime.  At Tarime transfer by road to Mogori via Isebania Border.  At Migori fly a scheduled flight to Masai Mara.  On arrival at the local airstrip you will be met by your guides and transferred to Camp .

3 nights at Sekanani Camp, Masai Mara with 2 game drives per day.

Masai Mara National Reserve is the northern extension of Tanzania’s famous Serengeti Plains and is usually called “the Mara”. Reachable by road or air from Nairobi, the Mara is Kenya’s premier place for seeing wildlife. Two sizable rivers, the Mara and Talek, wind through the landscape, flanked by gallery forests and seasonal marshes. The Mara hosts resident populations of elephants, hippos, topis, hartebeests, buffalos, giraffes, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles, impalas, Kirk’s dik-diks, and a few black rhinos. Predators are plentiful, notably cheetahs, leopards, and unusually large prides of lions.

Tuesday 19 August
Depart after breakfast for a road transfer to Nairobi. Afternoon & evening at leisure at The Southern Sun Mayfair Hotel.

Wednesday 20 August
For those guests not staying on for additional arrangements you will be met by your driver at the hotel and transferred to Nairobi International Airport for your departing flight.

South African Airways flight SA185          Depart Nairobi 1600     Arrive Johannesburg 1915
South African Airways flight SA280          Depart Johannesburg 2205

Thursday 21 August
Arrive Perth 1325
Qantas flight QF594                                     Depart Perth 1625     Arrive Brisbane 2240

Below are links to our accommodation websites.

http://www.nairobitentedcamp.com/
http://www.serenahotels.com/serenaarusha/
http://www.sopalodges.com/ngorongoro-sopa-lodge/overview
http://www.nasikiatanzania.com/index.php/nasikia-camps/mobile-camp
http://www.sekenani-camp.com/
http://www.tsogosunhotels.com/hotels/nairobi/pages/overview.aspx#.UqKCp-LpJ2A

 

For further information on this amazing adventure 

please contact me either through Ucango Travel on

 07 5451 8600 or call me direct on 0449 689 447. 

My email address is peter.emery@ucango.com.au