Speedbird Travel & Safaris

Day 1 – Nairobi

Your flight will land at Jomo Kenyatta Airport . Customs formalities. Meet and assist by a Speedbird representative. Transfer to a city hotel. Rest of the day is at leisure, then maybe shop for a stylish safari outfit. Overnight at your city hotel.

Day 2 – Lake Nakuru National Park

After breakfast we take another scenic drive to Lake Nakuru National Park to begin The Great Rift Valley Lakes Experience with a stop at the view point. Lake Nakuru is one of the many beautiful Rift Valley Lakes, and is home to countless flamingos and other bird and animal life. Our first game-viewing safari starts today. Using our specially designed vehicles, with ample window seats, we follow the life and style of the many species of wildlife living in this area. After a wonderful safari we drive back to our hotel in town.

Day 3 – Lake Nakuru National Park

We begin early today viewing the animals starting their daily routines. Full day in Lake Nakuru National park with picnic lunch. We get another glimpse of the animals and afternoon is free to enjoy a hike around this beautiful national park before returning to our hotel again for a spirited discussion over a sumptuous dinner. Overnight at Lodge/Camp.

Day 4 – Lake Naivasha + Menengai Crater

Breakfast at the hotel. Check out and transfer to the base of the Menengai Crater. A morning guided walk in the crater where we will enjoy the beautiful contrasts of nature: rocks that have stood the test of time, natural springs with mirror clear water, lava that reminds us that this is the Rift Valley and baboons trooping around with their babies. For bird watchers, though this area is not yet listed as a hot spot in Kenya birding tours, its mixed habitat of rocks, patch grass land, scattered bushes and natural springs have interesting bird life such as Yellow Bishop, Pin-tailed Whydahs, Streaky Seedeater, Schalow’s Wheatear, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Hunter’s Sunbird, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Purple Grenadier and the elusive Cinnamon-breasted Rock Bunting among others. In the late afternoon drive to the shores of Lake Naivasha, which is one of the highest and purest of the Rift Valley lakes. Overnight at Lodge/Camp.

Day 5 – Lake Naivasha + Crescent Island

Breakfast . This morning visit a rural village . In the afternoon we enjoy a boat trip and an African game viewing walk 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, 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 Lodge/Camp in time for afternoon tea. Overnight at Lodge/Camp.

Day 6 – Naivasha + Hell’s Gate

Depart after breakfast and visit the Hell’s gate National Park for a game drive and walk. Famous for its hot natural geysers, spectacular looming cliffs and the “Hells Gate Gorge”, the park is one of few in Kenya where walking and cycling is allowed. Activities in this park also include rock climbing, bird and game viewing. Sites of particular interest include Fischer’s Tower, formerly a volcano’s plug, the Central Tower and Njorowa Gorges, Olkaria and Hobley’s which are two extinct volcanos. The wildlife here mainly includes the herbivores such as buffalo, giraffe and the antelope/gazelle family. Hells gate is an ornithologists paradise with over 103 species of bird recorded. Thereafter return to your Lodge/Camp for overnight.

Day 7 – Lake Naivasha + Crater Lake

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. Return to your Lodge/Camp for overnight.

Day 8 – Lake Naivasha +Mt. Longonot

Depart from the hotel after early breakfast when its still cool and prepare for the climbing to the highest peak 3321 metres above the sea level. Walk around the crater rim then proceed into the crater, have lunch, climb out of the crater then to Longonot town for transport back to the hotel. This Crater mountain is a dead volcanic situated deeply in the middle on great Rift Valley.From here you can see most of the rift valley lakes from the nearby Lake Naivasha, Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Lake Baringo and Lake Natron at the border of tanzania/ Kenya. On clear weather you can also see kilimanjaro and Cherengani hills. Return to your Lodge/Camp for overnight.

Day 9 – Depart + Kiambethu Tea Estate

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 back home. End of The Great Rift Valley Lakes Experience.