This is a twelve-night route through three parts of Kenya. It opens in Nairobi, a highland capital where savannah runs up to the suburbs, then moves to the Maasai Mara and the Mara Naboisho Conservancy, private land leased from Maasai owners where the rules allow off-road driving and drives after dark. It closes on the Diani coast, seventeen kilometres of coral sand on the southern Indian Ocean shore, before a final night back in Nairobi.
You travel by light aircraft and road between the regions. Days in the Mara run to game drives, walking and time at the waterhole; days on the coast go to the reef lagoon, the dhow and the sand. The accommodation ranges from a Cape Dutch guesthouse in Karen to a hilltop tented camp above the Isupukiai River Valley and a private villa on a coral cliff, each chosen for its setting and standard.
Two nights to settle in at 1,795 metres on Nairobi's highland plateau, the Ngong Hills to the west and the days cool and dry. These first two nights settle you in: the Giraffe Centre and its Rothschild's giraffe breeding programme, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's orphaned elephant calves and the Karen Blixen Museum all lie close by, with Nairobi National Park near enough for a morning game drive. Karen Gables is a privately owned Cape Dutch guesthouse in the Karen suburb, seven rooms in a family house whose gardens fall to a quiet stream, fifteen minutes from the Giraffe Centre and the elephant orphanage.
From Nairobi you move to the Maasai Mara and the Mara Naboisho Conservancy, private land where member camps can drive off-road and after dark, and where conservancy rules cap the vehicles at any sighting. Lion densities here are high, with resident prides and territorial leopards and cheetahs, so predator sightings hold through the year; wildebeest and zebra reach the Mara from the Serengeti between July and October. Giraffes, zebras and elephants come to the waterhole below the deck. Hemingways Ol Seki Mara is a hilltop camp above the Isupukiai River Valley with 270-degree views, ten tents rebuilt in 2022 with folding glass frontages that open the bedroom to the plains.
From the Mara you travel to Diani Beach on Kenya's southern coast, seventeen kilometres of powder-fine white coral sand roughly thirty kilometres south of Mombasa. A fringing reef about five hundred metres offshore shelters a warm, shallow lagoon calm enough for swimming, snorkelling and paddling straight off the sand, while traditional dhows sail out to the reef. Kitesurfing, deep-sea fishing and diving can be arranged locally. Alfajiri Cliff Villa is a private four-bedroom villa on a coral clifftop above the Indian Ocean, rented to one party at a time, with an infinity pool set at the cliff edge and its own ngalawa outrigger canoe for the reef.
The final night returns you to Nairobi's Karen suburb, on land that once formed part of Karen Blixen's coffee farm. The museum in her former farmhouse is a short walk away, and the Langata Gate into Nairobi National Park is around ten minutes' drive for a last morning game drive. Karen Blixen Cottages occupies a five-acre garden estate, thirteen en-suite rooms across seven cottages under century-old jacaranda, croton and bottle brush trees, with gardens holding over two hundred recorded flower varieties.
Ed Charles, BBC Producer
Fitzroy are true specialists in accessing the wilderness. They know where to go and importantly, when to go there. Highly recommended.
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
Every journey starts with a conversation. We favour a direct, personal approach: understanding your vision before anything else.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape a journey that is both thoughtfully considered and expertly delivered.
Get in touch to start planning yours.
