Travel to AWF's East African Heartlands and Experience the Best of Kenya!

Saturday August 20 - Tuesday August 30, 2005

Safari includes special briefings by AWF Conservation Program staff.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT CRAIG SHOLLEY AT CSHOLLEY@AWF.ORG or 1-888-4-WILDLIFE

ITINERARY:

To Arrive August 20

TRAVELING TO NAIROBI, Kenya

There are a variety of ways to get to Nairobi for the start of this safari, and with guidance from AWF's tour operator, we'll assist with the travel best suited to your schedule and needs. The most convenient way to arrive Nairobi is to leave the United States on Friday, August 19, and connect with a choice of several day-time flights from London that arrive in Nairobi late on the evening of August 20. There may be other less expensive ways, and you might also prefer to have more time in Nairobi. For complete assistance regarding flight plans and optional pre- and post-trip opportunities, call AWF's tour operator toll-free at 800-408-3100.

Saturday, August 20

NAIROBI

Whenever you arrive Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you are met and transferred to the Norfolk Hotel. Opened in 1904, the Norfolk is the city's finest and most historical hotel. Depending upon your arrival time, today there are a variety of optional sightseeing excursions that you can organize for an additional fee. Norfolk Hotel (1 night)

Sunday, August 21

NAIROBI/TSAVO NATIONAL PARK

This morning you board well-equipped Landrovers on a drive south from Nairobi through Kenya's citrus farming districts into the beautiful semi-arid scrubland that for most the 19th and 20th centuries was considered the best big game area in East Africa. This magnificent region was frequently visited by such great characters like Ernest Hemingway and Theodore Roosevelt. The region is more than 5000 sq. miles of the finest African wilderness left on the continent. On your first day of safari, expect to encounter a variety of large mammals including some of the great elephants that drew the early travelers here. These great pachyderms continue to thrive in Tsavo National Park. For the next two nights, you'll enjoy very comfortable accommodations at the newly refurbished Kilaguni Lodge, Kenya's first tourist lodge. Kilaguni's famous extra long verandah looks out over a water hole and onto the Tsavo veld and one can see all the way to Mt. Kilimanjaro. Abundant wildlife is usually congregated around the waterhole, and the view from the verandah provides a wonderfully satisfying introduction to the African wilderness. After lunch at the lodge, the afternoon is spent exploring and game viewing in the national park. Kilaguni Lodge (2 nights, all meals).

Monday, August 22

TSAVO NATIONAL PARK/AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK

From the earliest colonial reports, Tsavo was where most of East Africa's great elephants resided. In the 1980s, terrible poaching occurred which prompted the Kenyan Government to become the first African government to take a strong conservation stand on the international sale of ivory. Consequently, the jumbos have rebounded marvelously, and during your game viewing today, you're likely to enjoy several dramatic encounters. The park is filled with a variety of other big game, including African buffalo, Maasai giraffe, Burchell's zebra, and rarer species like lesser kudu. Birdlife abounds here and ranges from the diminutive sunbird to the largest of avian species - the ostrich. During your time in Tsavo, there will be an opportunity to visit Mzima Springs, where several underground rivers flowing off Mt. Kilimanjaro erupt over a lava quarry, providing crystal clear water that attracts much game. Mzima Springs is home to Nile hippopotamus which reside here year round. While in Tsavo, you'll also have the chance to visit the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, a project funded by AWF. The sanctuary is home to a growing population of one of the continent's most endangered large mammals - the black rhinoceros. At the Sanctuary, you'll meet with staff who are responsible for the care and protection of these prehistoric appearing giants.

Tuesday, August 23

KILIMANJARO HEARTLAND & AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK

Today, you drive into AWF's Kilimanjaro Heartland for a first-hand look at the important wildlife conservation and community based tourism programs that are being conducted by AWF in this region. This vast area of nearly 6 million acres is an important elephant corridor between Amboseli National Park in Kenya, and Arusha and Kilimanjaro National Parks in Tanzania. The drive into the Heartland from Tsavo offers a spectacular ride over the Shetani Lava Flow near the Chyulu Hills and results in your closest approach to Mt. Kilimanjaro, providing some exceptional photographic opportunities. After lunch at the Amboseli Serena Lodge, begin two days of exciting wildlife viewing in Amboseli National Park. Amboseli Serena Lodge (2 nights, all meals)

Wednesday, August 24

KILIMANJARO HEARTLAND & AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK

Amboseli is famous for its cheetah, large herds of wildebeest and zebra, and a diversity of antelope species including impala, Grant's and Thomson's gazelle. Amboseli National Park is essentially a huge salt lake that pans with water during the rainy season and dries completely during the dry season. An extremely important centrally located marsh provides water all year-round, and it is the reason the Park is one of Kenya's most famous wildlife viewing areas.. Situated directly beneath Mt. Kilimanjaro, the photographs taken from Amboseli have become the trademark of all successful African photographic safaris. Today, you explore the park, searching for its well studied families of elephants that have been researched for more than 30 years. AWF historically supported this ground-breaking work, and has expanded research into Tanzania where new areas of protection have been established. While here, you'll have the opportunity to hear directly from AWF staff involved with elephant conservation, and others who work with the local Maasai to establish ecotourism projects which support communities and allow them to easily rationalize the preservation of wildlife on their lands.

Thursday, August 25

AMBOSELI/SAMBURU HEARTLAND

After breakfast you leave the Lodge early for the drive to a nearby airstrip and your flight to AWF's Samburu Heartland. Located just north of the equator in the rain-shadow of Mt. Kenya, this area of nearly 10 million acres reminds many travelers of the beautiful southwestern US. Landing here, you'll have two exciting days exploring the Samburu National Reserve. For two nights, you'll enjoy accommodations inside the Reserve at its most exclusive accommodation, Larsen's Camp. The camp is built on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River and from the small private deck outside your tent, you can often watch elephants bathing, impala drinking, and baboon troops playing on the opposite side of the river. After lunch in camp, you'll begin game viewing. Larsen's Camp (2 nights, all meals)

Friday, August 26

SAMBURU HEARTLAND

During your game viewing in Samburu, you'll search for some of the rare species of the Northern Frontier that are not found elsewhere; species like the reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, beisa oryx, the gerenuk, and the severely endangered Grevy's zebra. Major predators like lions, hyenas and leopards live along side fascinating avifauna, and black rhinoceros. Once thought to be extirpated from the region, wild dogs are again being seen with some frequency in the Samburu region. AWF's focus in this Heartland includes work with the local Samburu people to involve them in monitoring the behavior and movements of Grevy's zebra and wild dogs. The Samburu and local Maasai are also involved in a number of community enterprise programs in this region - programs that include ecolodge development and management, bee-keeping, and souvenir business ventures.

Saturday, August 27

SAMBURU HEARTLAND / MAASAI MARA GAME RESERVE

Today, departing Samburu, you travel to one of Africa's finest game areas, the great Maasai Mara National Reserve. The Mara is contiguous with Tanzania's vast Serengeti National Park, providing an uninterrupted ecosystem for East Africa's largest assemblage of animals and the site of one of Earth's last great migrations. The hour-long flight from Samburu is a dramatic attraction as you fly close to Mt. Kenya's great glaciers and over the flamingo-filled Great Rift Valley lakes. For three nights you'll enjoy exceptional accommodations at Governor's Camp in the northwest salient portion of the Mara. During normal years at this time, more than a half million wildebeest are found, having abandoned the dried up Serengeti to the south for the better watered Mara. Governor's Camp was named after the British colonial governors who spent their retreats from Nairobi here, and this region continues to provide magnificent wildlife viewing appeal. After lunch in camp, you'll begin to explore the savannah for some of the world's most spectacular wildlife . Governor's Camp (3 nights, all meals)

Sunday and Monday, August 28-29

MAASAI MARA GAME RESERVE

The Mara's gently rolling grassland is bisected by a number of waterways including the Mara River. Forests line the river and are the favorite haunt of leopards. The Mara's beautiful black-maned lions are legend, and there are many cheetah and spotted hyena. But the Mara is most famous for its large herds of ungulates, and you should see an enormous variety, including wildebeest, topi, hartebeest, eland, impala and several species of gazelle. In addition to the game drives, you'll have the chance to visit a Maasai village and spend some time on the river banks observing pods of hippo and large Nile crocodiles basking on the shoreline. Hot air ballooning is available at an optional charge.

Tuesday, August 30

MAASAI MARA/NAIROBI/Depart

After a final dawn game drive and hearty breakfast, you take a short flight back to Nairobi arriving around noon. You'll have a private room at the Norfolk Hotel until this evening. Shortly thereafter, you'll be transferred back to the airport for overnight departures to Europe and then back to the States.

SAFARI COSTING:

Land Arrangements:

Per person, double occupancy

Single supplement

Note: A minimum of ten guests are required in order to operate this itinerary at this price.

Included in the cost of your land arrangements:

All hotels, camps and lodges as indicated in the itinerary

All meals beginning with breakfast on August 21 and ending with breakfast on August 30

All game viewing activities, guide fees and park fees as indicated in the itinerary

All safari transportation in Landrovers and transfers as indicated in the itinerary

Air flights

Water and soft drinks provided in vehicles

Not Included in the cost of your land arrangements:

International air fares

Personal expenses such as curios; excess baggage fees; travel and personal insurance; phone calls; emails; faxes; gratuities; costs of obtaining passport, visas and other travel documents; airport departure taxes; inoculation fees; drinks; laundry.

Additional benefits to you which are included in the safari costs:

Airline ticketing and travel service, a comprehensive information manual to assist you with getting ready, visa services, and local advice available at any time from Hoopoe Safaris toll-free at 800-408-3100.

Luggage tags

Strong ground support throughout your itinerary in case of emergency

TRAVEL WITH THE AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION

The African Wildlife Foundation, together with the people of Africa, works to ensure the wildlife and wild lands of Africa will endure forever. For more than 40 years, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) has focused exclusively on the continent of Africa. Through these years AWF has played a major role in ensuring the continued existence of some of Africa's most rare and treasured species such as the elephant, the mountain gorilla, rhinoceros and cheetah. AWF has invested training and resources in African individuals and institutions that have gone on to play critical roles in conservation. AWF has significantly increased scientific understanding of Africa's extraordinary ecosystems through research, and has pioneered the use of community conservation and conservation enterprise to demonstrate that wildlife can be conserved while people's well being is also improved. AWF provides crucial assistance to national parks and reserves and promotes international cooperation to protect important sites and populations that stretch across national boundaries. Selecting an AWF trip assures one of traveling in the company of conservation experts on a well-designed and top quality safari.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT CRAIG SHOLLEY AT CSHOLLEY@AWF.ORG or 1-888-4-WILDLIFE