Day 1London
Your flight is an late evening flight with Kenya Airways from London Heathrow direct to Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Airport. It is an eight hour flight but there are plenty of movies to watch or because it is an overnight flight you should be able to sleep for most of it.
This morning you will arrive in Nairobi. You will be greeted by our local representative and begin your overland journey to Lake Naivasha. This is a stunning road trip and there is lots of opportunity for you to stop for photos. The journey will take approximately 3 hours.
On arrival in Lake Naivasha you will settle into Loldia House and after a hearty lunch you will have the afternoon and evening to enjoy safari activities.
This morning you will head out with your guide for an excursion to Lake Nakuru National Park. This park is famous for the large numbers of flamingos but it also has a good population of Rhino - excellent seen as the Rhino populations in the Mara are a little low!
This morning you have plenty of time for some more safari excursions before your journey to the Mara. I would recommend a boat trip on the lake. This is a great way to see the magnificent bird life and there is also a large number of hippos in the lake.
In the afternoon you will be taken to the airstrip (approximately 15mins drive) for your flight to the Mara. This flight is approximately 1 hour long and on arrival you will meet your guide from Governors. Hopefully you will arrive in time for an afternoon game drive before dinner!
On safari from Governors - you can enjoy morning and afternoon game-drives when the wildlife is at its most active.
Game viewing in the Masai Mara. If you feel you have done enough game viewing, you may like to ask the camp to organise a visit to a nearby Masai village. For many people this is a fascinating insight into how this colourful tribe live, and the contrast with our own lives in the UK is often startling!
You can enjoy a final morning game-drive, breakfast and lunch at the camp before you fly back to Nairobi in the late morning. On arrival in Nairobi you will be greeted at the airport and taken to The Norfolk where you can enjoy a good meal in the restaurant and rest for the evening.
This morning you return to the international airport for your flight to Zanzibar. This is a short flight, approximately one hour and on arrival on the island you will be collected and taken to the Shooting Star Lodge, home for the next four nights. The journey will take you through colourful villages and past spice plantations on the way, and will take around two hours.
At leisure at Shooting Star Lodge - you can spend your time here doing as much or as little as you like. There are plenty of places to relax in the sun or shade by the pool or on the beach. If you're feeling more active, you can enjoy diving and snorkelling on the nearby reefs, sailing, or windsurfing.
One of my favourite things to do in Zanzibar is to visit one of the small-scale spice farms on the island - you get a really hands-on experience tasting and smelling the spices for which the island is famous, and children from nearby villages often run out to greet you. This can be easily arranged either in advance or when you're at the hotel, so you can see how you feel day by day.
For something completely different to the beach, you could head into Stone Town one day for a daytrip - the town is located on the west coast, around an hour and a half away, and is a busy and fairly dusty town. However, it's full of shops and street stalls, so if you're looking to buy souvenirs this is the best place for it, and the narrow winding streets are reminiscent of Marrakech. There are also dozens of restaurants here where you can eat out - if you need recommendations just let me know!
You will have most of today at leisure to enjoy some time on the beach. In the afternoon you will be taken to the airport for your flight to Nairobi. In Nairobi there is no need to collect your luggage or leave the airport as this is only a transit and you will soon be on the flight home to London.