3
Days and 4
Enjoy lazy days and warm nights as you soak up the pleasures of life by the ocean. The energetic might try their hand at water sports, others may take a stroll along the shoreline, while others may simply curl up with a book. At day’s end, sun-downer in hand, do nothing more than gaze out across the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, at the hotel’s doorstep.
Day 5
This morning, you'll meet your driver/guide and board your 4x4 safari vehicle for the drive away from the coast to the private Taita Hills Sanctuary. Set in a dramatic, verdant landscape, the sanctuary is home to colourful birdlife and some large mammals, including lions and elephants. Enjoy an afternoon game drive through the sanctuary, and then continue to the five-star rated Sarova Salt Lick Game Lodge. This imaginative collection of buildings is set on stilts above a series of waterholes – floodlit at night – to which the local animals come to quench their thirst. Settle into your well-equipped room, enjoy a candle-lit dinner in the dining room enjoying the panoramic views and the chance to watch for game from your lofty viewpoint.
Day 6
After breakfast at your lodge in the sky, this morning, you'll re-board your safari vehicle for the short journey into the renowned Tsavo West National Park, a vast, protected area that features savannah grasslands, semi-desert scrubland, rocky ridges and extensive plains dotted with volcanic cones and low hills, and that supports an equally diverse variety of game and birdlife. Your destination is the sumptuous Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge and, after lunch here, you'll enjoy a game drive. Later, as you enjoy dinner in the traditionally thatched restaurant or a drink in the bar, watch the animals arrive at the lodge watering hole – always a stirring sight.
Day 7
Experience the excitement of an early morning game drive and enjoy a bush breakfast – coffee and rolls in the wild – before you return to the lodge and bid farewell to Kilaguni to head towards the adjoining Tsavo East National Park. Enjoy a picnic lunch, and cross the highway and the railway line as you head into into the vast plain, upon which a variety of species can be spotted. Soak up the spectacular scenery, including towering Mudanda Rock, beneath which elephants can often be seen, and the vast Yatta Plateau, one of the world’s largest lava flows.
You'll spend the next two nights at the Ashnil Aruba Lodge, overlooking the dam from which it takes its name. The lake formed by the dam is a magnet for wildlife in an otherwise dry landscape.
This evening, enjoy dinner and your first night at the camp.
Day 8
Enjoy all the wonders of safari, as you take early morning and afternoon game drives in search of wildlife that might include plains animals such as elephant, buffalo, cheetah, lion, leopard and countless different species of bird.
Return to the lodge for a last evening under the bush stars.
Day 9
Bid farewell to the lodge and make your way out of the national park, enjoying a packed lunch and perhaps a last glimpse of game en route, before arriving back at the beach resort, this afternoon, for a final four-night stay.
10
Days to 12
Enjoy welcome rest and relaxation on the shores of the Indian Ocean, with all the amenities of your hotel and the lovely beach to savour. You may like to explore colourful Mombasa and its Old Town and historic Fort Jesus, a 20-minute drive away, or to head north to some of the more remote beaches that dot the beautiful coast. The choices – and pleasures – are yours.
Day 13
Return to the airport for your flight home. Flights arrive later today or early the next day, dependent on flight times.