AN EAST AFRICAN SOJOURN
OLONANA, SWALA, KUSINI & GORILLA FOREST CAMP
After Breakfast at 08:30 you will be picked up by our representative and transferred to
Wilson airport. You will fly the scheduled Air Kenya flight to Masai Mara (1000/1045 hrs) Olonana Camp.
 The jewel in Africa’s crown, Masai Mara is host to the most spectacular array of wildlife. Her 320 square kilometers of open savannah, woodlands and tree-lined rivers creates an eco-system that supports huge numbers of bird and mammal species. The western border of the park is the spectacular Siria Escarpment, and together with the acacia dotted plains, creates scenery of stunning beauty. Lion are found in abundance throughout the reserve as are elephant, giraffe, a variety of gazelle species and zebra. Cheetah and leopard are also regularly seen and, if lucky, you may also find rhino. Game viewing is never dull in the Mara, and patience is often rewarded with unique sightings: a pride of lion stalking their prey; a solitary leopard retrieving its kill from the high branches of an acacia tree; male wildebeest sparring to attract females into their harem; or even a herd of elephant protecting their young from opportunistic predators. The annual wildebeest migration traditionally is present in the Mara from July-September and at this time nature’s dramas unfold before your very eyes at every turn. As well as wildlife, the Masai Mara is also home to many members of the colorful Maasai tribe who may be seen around the borders of the park – Morans (warriors) loping across the plains, young boys herding goats, or elders grouped under a tree discussing matters of the day.
On arrival at the airstrip you will be met by Olonana Driver/Safari Guide and transferred to Camp for lunch.
 A luxury camp idyllically nestled in the heart of Kenya’s big game country, Olonana extends a service and style reminiscent of the romantic safari era at the turn of the 19th century, and a peaceful haven from which to explore the Maasai Mara, one of nature’s most thrilling eco-systems. Whilst retaining an old world charm, Olonana is at the forefront of eco-tourism in Kenya with solar power, bio degradable products and an ingenious wetlands project which allows for all used water to be totally recycled. The camp comprises just 12 spacious and airy en suite accommodation tents (all with 2 queen size beds, floor to ceiling mosquito net ‘windows’ and verandah) located on the banks of the Mara River, where the resident hippo pods spend their days wallowing. The main cottage’s lounge and dining area offers a ‘home from home’ feel enhanced by the hosts and resident Safari Guides, whilst its spacious verandah provides the perfect setting for after dinner star gazing. Guests at Olonana enjoy an intimate and relaxed atmosphere where the pace of your safari can be as active or as leisurely as you wish. A wide of range of ‘a la carte’ activities are offered including bush/tracking walks, Maasai walks, visits to the nearby Maasai cultural village, picnic lunches, sundowners and game viewing drives. The flexibility of Olonana allows guests to take both activities and meals as and when they wish. Lunch at the Camp is followed by an afternoon game viewing activity.
Overnight: Olonana
On this day you have a choice of to go out with picnic breakfast or picnic lunch or even still go out in early morning for the 06:30 game drive & come back for breakfast.
Optional and payable direct is a Balloon Safari with pickup at 05:30 to the Balloon launching site. After the Balloon experience you will be transferred back to camp for lunch and afternoon game drive as you enjoy the Masai Mara’s magnificent flora and fauna.
Or still you have an option and also payable direct do a fishing/adventure trip to Lake Victoria.
 As the balloon is inflated against the first rays of sunrise your pilot will go through safety procedures. It’s then time to climb aboard. Once aloft, the balloon floats gently over the plains, giving a bird’s eye view of the game below as the sun creeps slowly over the horizon. Spread beneath you is a panorama of Africa – elephants looking improbably small; giraffe browsing amongst the treetops; antelope grazing; a pair of lionesses stalking a herd of wildebeest; an eagle guarding his eerie; and cheetah glancing up as the shadow of the huge balloon crosses their paths.
 An early start this morning with a transfer to take you to the airstrip for a 0630 hrs flight (25 minutes) by light aircraft to an Island on Lake Victoria. On arrival on the island, you will be welcomed by the hosts, before an appetizing full English breakfast is served al fresco under the shade of beautiful trees and looking across the lawns to the shores of Lake Victoria. After breakfast board your boat for the morning - 30 ft boats, complete with sun-shield. There will be the opportunity to try fishing for the legendary giant Nile perch found in these waters as you explore the myriad of tiny islands found in this region of the lake. Each boat is stewarded by an experienced and knowledgeable fisherman. Nile perch weighing over 150 lb are regularly caught on the lake. Lake Victoria is a spectacular sight: the world's second largest freshwater lake, an inland sea covering some 68,800 square kilometers. Although an area comparable in size to Scotland, Lake Victoria remained unknown to the outside world until the middle of the 19th century. Bird-life is abundant and includes the spectacular fish eagles that can be seen perching high in the treetops or dramatically swooping across the lake as they capture fish in their fiery talons. There is the chance to stop at a traditional fishing village and see how the villagers live from day to day before returning to camp for your return flight to the Maasai Mara.
Overnights: Olonana
After breakfast have a final morning game viewing drive in Maasai Mara before being transferred to the airstrip for the scheduled flight to Nairobi (1100/12:00 hrs). On arrival at Wilson airport you will be welcomed by our representative who will usher you into the Air Kenya flight for Kilimanjaro International Airport – Tanzania (12:45/13:35)
On arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport, you will be welcomed by our representative who will then drive you straight to Swala Camp in Tarangire with game drives enroute.
Upon arrival, you will be met by Swala camp manager, who will then brief you about Swala Camp and your itinerary.
Dinner & Overnight: Swala Camp
After breakfast, depart for a full day game viewing in Tarangire National Park.
Lunch, Dinner & Overnight Swala Camp
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park derives its name from the Tarangire River that rises in the highlands of central Tanzania and winds its way through the game sanctuary. The river irresistibly lures the herds of plains migrants from the parched surrounding area to its shrunken - but permanent - brackish waters during the dry season.
The animals come by thousands from as far north as the shores of Lake Natron, dramatically swelling the resident population with wildebeest, zebra, eland, elephant, hartebeest, buffalo and fringe-eared Oryx.
Lunch, Dinner & Overnight: Swala Camp
After breakfast, depart to Kuro airstrip for your Air Excel Scheduled flight to Serengeti South. Upon arrival at Kusini airstrip met and transferred to Kusini camp for Lunch enroute game drive in Serengeti National park.
Lunch, Dinner & Overnight: Kusini
Full day game viewing in Serengeti National Park.
The Serengeti’s 14,763 square kms contains about three million large animals, most taking part in seasonal migrations, unparalleled in nature.
Twice a year, triggered by the rains, 1.3 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle gather to undertake the long trek to new grazing lands. The migration of the herbivores roughly defines the boundaries of Serengeti National Park, which is the central zone of the Serengeti ecosystem, an area that also takes in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Maswa Game Reserve in the west. Within this 25,900 square kms of varied landscape live thirty-five species of plains game and 500 bird species.
The endless plains of the Serengeti lie 330 km North West of Arusha.
Lunch, Dinner & Overnight: Kusini
After breakfast, transferred to Serengeti South airstrip for your schedule flight to Arusha Airport departing at 10H00/12H10.
Uganda Gorilla Tracking Option
Today you arrive in Uganda, where you are met at the Entebbe International Airport, and taken to your hotel for a welcome drinks and a briefing. We then travel to a nearby airstrip to take an air charter to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. On arrival, we are welcomed to our camp. The rest of the afternoon is at leisure to relax or explore. After dinner, we retire for the night, lulled to sleep by the sounds of one of Africa’s most incredible natural environments.
Overnight: Gorilla Forest Camp
Meal Plan: Full Board
The next two days activities may be amongst the most exciting and challenging of our entire expedition. The Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi are part of a worldwide population of just 600 individuals. The gorillas we are allowed to track belong either one of two habituated family groups. For up to five years each, these groups have undergone an extremely delicate process that has gradually brought them to tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day and allowed a few privileged visitors to interact with them in the wild.
The gorillas are by no means tame, and are completely wild animals. However, experienced guides will accompany us on our tracking, many of who have been involved in the habituation process themselves. The guides will use their knowledge of the gorillas’ habits and information from the previous day to locate the group’s whereabouts.
Because of this, the time taken to track the gorillas varies enormously, from as little as half an hour to as much as 9 hours before one returns to camp. Once the gorillas are located, our group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. This is one of the world’s truly memorable experiences – a look into one of these magnificent creatures eyes brings home the bond that exists between them and us. It also brings home the poignant fact that they are on the edge of extinction, and that our presence here contributes to ensuring their continued survival. The hour is often over all too quickly, and we slowly make our way back to camp to recount the day’s adventures.
Overnight: Gorilla Forest Camp
Meal Plan: Full Board
Today is another flight back to Entebbe. Both the flight to Bwindi and the return flight today are highlights of this trip. The huge vistas that open up on our one-and-a-half-hour journey belie Uganda’s small size. We see in the distance the hills and plains of Rwanda and Tanzania and the Rift Valley dropping away from us towards Lake Edward and the Congo. Below us rolling ranchland soon gives way to dry scrub and gigantic wetlands just before our final approach over Lake Victoria. Later in the day, we will transfer to the nearby landing site and travel by speedboat to the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, 23 kilometers (14 miles) off Entebbe on Lake Victoria. The lake, at 69,000 square kilometers (27,000 square miles) is the second-largest fresh water lake in the world, and this boat ride will give you some idea of its sheer size.
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Ngamba Island Sanctuary is a program run by the Jane Goodall Institute for orphaned chimpanzees rescued within Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The environment on the 97 acres (45 ha) island is the same as for wild chimpanzees: an African tropical rainforest with more than 50 species of plants that chimps are known to utilize in Uganda. There is plenty of room for the chimps to explore their forest environment. However the forest is not large enough to provide long-term sustenance for the 34 chimps at the sanctuary, so staff members feed them four times every day. Two of these feeds are delivered from the viewing platform, providing an opportunity for the island's many visitors to observe and photograph the chimps. After lunch on the island, we will get a chance to view the afternoon feeding.
We then relax for the rest of the day on our return to our hotel to prepare for our evening flight out.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch
*Imperial Resort Hotel Day Rooms
INCLUSIONS
Accommodation in standard twin rooms
Meals as indicated in the daily meal plan
Bottled water, soft drinks, local beers, house wine and laundry at the Gorilla Forest Camp only
All road and air transfers as indicated
2 gorilla permits per person and chimp tracking fees where applicable
Services of an English speaking driver guide
Park fees
All activities described in the itinerary, unless specified as extras
Mineral water, tea and coffee in the vehicle
Medical Evacuation to a hospital in Nairobi
EXCLUSIONS
International Air Fares, entry visa fees, domestic and international departure tax
Beverages other than mineral water in the vehicle, and other than the drinks included
at the Gorilla Forest Camp
All expenses of a personal nature
Tips and gratuities to your driver/guide hotel/camp staff etc.
PLEASE NOTE THAT GORILLA PERMIT AVAILABILITY CANNOT BE GUARANTEED UNTIL WE RECEIVE A DEPOSIT OF US$500 PER PERMIT AND ACTUALLY PAY FOR THE PERMITS
IN CASE OF A CANCELLATION PERMIT PRICE IS REFUNDABLE AS FOLLOWS:
91 DAYS AND ABOVE 25% CANCELLATION FEE
46-90 DAYS 50% CANCELLATION FEE
9-45 DAYS 75% CANCELLATION FEE
0-8 DAYS 100% CANCELLATION FEE
WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO AMEND THE STATED ITINERARY IN RESPONSE
TO UNEXPECTED CHANGES IN LOCAL CONDITIONS
AIRCRAFT WEIGHT AND TIME RESTRICTIONS
MAXIMUM PASSENGERS ALLOWED ABOARD FLIGHT AIRCRAFT USED TOTAL WEIGHT LIMIT (CLIENTS AND LUGGAGE) KG TOTAL WEIGHT LIMIT (CLIENTS AND LUGGAGE) LBS
1 PAX C-172 180 396
2 PAX C-172 180 396
3 PAX C-210 350 770
4 PAX C-210 350 770
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
AIRCRAFT PAYLOAD ROUGHLY ALLOWS EACH PAX 12 KG OF LUGGAGE, BUT THE
OVERRIDING LIMIT IS THE TOTAL AIRCRAFT PAYLOAD
PLEASE NOTE IT IS THE BOOKING AGENT'S RESPOSIBILITY TO CHECK CLIENT WEIGHTS
AND ENSURE THAT THE RIGHT AIRCRAFT IS REQUESTED AT THE TIME OF BOOKING
PLEASE NOTE PRICE QUOTED BY US IS BASED ON CLIENT NUMBERS. IF, BASED
ON CLIENT WEIGHTS, IT IS DETERMINED THAT A LARGER AIRCRAFT IS REQUIRED,
THE QUOTED PRICE WILL GO UP ACCORDINGLY
PLEASE NOTE ALL FLIGHTS TAKING OFF FROM ENTEBBE AFTER 1400 HOURS
MUST BE DONE USING CESSNA 210 AIRCRAFT. OUR ORIGINAL QUOTE MAY INCREASE
TO CATER FOR THIS ONCE WE RECEIVE FINAL INTERNATIONAL ARRIVAL TIMES
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