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www.deeperafrica.com
DATE
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
ACCOMMODATIONS
Travel day
Onsea House
Arusha
Dunia Camp
Deeper Serengeti
Day by Day Itinerary
Safaris in Style
ACTIVITIES
International flight
Pickup at Kilimanjaro Airport by Deeper Africa guide after clearing
customs. He will have a sign with your name on it. Your guide will
transport you to Onsea House. You’ll have a short briefing to review your
safari itinerary.
Overnight at Onsea House.
Breakfast at Onsea House. Transport to the Arusha Airport for your bush
flight to the Serengeti. Olakira Camp is set in the far southern reaches of the
Serengeti ecosystem with Dunia Camp being more centrally located in the
Seronera region. We’ll select which of these two camps is best for your
safari based on the season and migration patterns so we get you as close to
the herds as possible.
Bush Flight
Departs Arusha @ 12:30
Arrives Seronera bush strip @ 13:50
Your Deeper Africa guide and Land Cruiser will be waiting for you at the
bush strip upon arrival. Once you enter the Serengeti you’ll begin wildlife
viewing traveling the distance to Dunia Camp or Olakira Camp. We’ll have
lunch ready for you by the time you get to camp.
You’ll be visiting four separate ecosystems in the Serengeti and the northern
section of the park which is in Kenya, called the Maasai Mara. The areas
that you visit will leave a lasting impression. You will want them to stay this
way forever. We do as well.
Your guide will give you insight into animal behavior, flora, and fauna; this is
expected. But, at Deeper Africa we also work hard to give you insight into
how we invest and nurture the benefits of wildlife tourism flowing into local
communities and households. This is the key to long term conservation of
these wild places and wild animals. If wildlife tourism can benefit local
communities and local people then Africa’s great parks will survive and
prosper.
All of your camps are in remote locations that will touch your soul. They
are also all on the leading edge of conservation stewardship. For example:
Their footprint on the Serengeti is as light as possible. The number
of guests is limited, so the human footprint is minimized. You
experience the true wilderness.
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All fruit and vegetables are sourced locally and grown by individual
farmers and cooperatives. Great tasting food for you, but just as
important, support for local communities through trade linkages.
Note the small details, such as the soaps in your bathrooms. As
much as possible, we buy from local people.
Camp operations are focused on reducing, reusing, and recycling
waste to prevent pollution. In East Africa reusing waste streams
gets creative. How about melting wine bottles into glass beads? Or
using old Land Cruiser tires for woven mats. If we can’t reduce or
reuse, then as much of the waste stream from the camp is recycled.
Tins go to scrap metal re-users, scrap metal from machinery and
camp equipment is recycled. We have been able to eliminate plastic
bottles from camp. We are working on getting the plastics taken by
a mosquito net factory.
All of the camps operate carbon neutral. Donations are made to
Carbon Tanzania which supports the protection of already
growing forest in Tanzania (www.carbontanzania.com).
CarbonTanzania follows the internationally accepted Greenhouse
Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting standards for
the offset programs.
We invest in local people by training a new generation of guides,
conservationists, as well as business men and business women. All
of your guides and camp staff are Tanzanian and Kenyan. They are
trained to international standards of guiding and hospitality. They
will make you feel comfortable and welcome.
Day 4
Dunia Camp
Lunch at camp and afternoon wildlife viewing with your guide.
“Sundowners” (drinks at sundown) at camp. Dinner and overnight at Dunia
Camp.
Breakfast at Dunia Camp. The word ‘Serengeti’ is derived from the Maasai
language, meaning endless plain. This vast savannah grassland extends
northward into the Maasai Mara in Kenya for over five thousand square
miles of land, forming one of the world’s largest wildlife refuges. This is
land as it was in the beginning; no fences, no settlements, just a perennial
migration of wildlife. In a journey that reaches back through time, these
herds of animals (currently estimated at 1.25 million) follow the seasonal
rains - traveling from the Serengeti into the Mara instinctually moving with
the seasonal rainfalls, sometimes migrating as much as 300 miles a year.
Wildlife is allowed to roam freely across the Kenyan and Tanzanian borders,
uniting the two parks into a single ecological unit that supports the largest
concentration of large mammals on the planet. Your safari will take you to
four different ecosystems in the Serengeti; two on the Tanzanian side and
two on the Kenyan side.
The annual migration is what makes the Serengeti famous. The herds gather
on the Tanzanian side of the ecosystem from sometime in November or
December through early July. The migration includes vast herds of
wildebeest, but also zebra and Thomson’s gazelle. The herds steadily move
southward through April or May when the seasonal rains cause them to turn
and begin the journey back northward toward the Maasai Mara. Wildebeest
are well-suited to harvest the short grasses that cover the semiarid plans of
the Serengeti. The soils of this region have an underlying hard pan covered
by a fertile layer of volcanic soil. Grass growing in this soil is highly
nutritious, taking up nutrients trapped by the hard pan.
Set your wildlife viewing schedule as you choose with your guide. Choices
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for wildlife viewing include:
Morning and afternoon wildlife viewing with lunch at camp;
All day wildlife viewing with picnic lunch; or
Wildlife viewing out before sunrise with return for brunch and afternoon
wildlife viewing.
We always encourage our guests to learn more about “back of the house”
operations. Visit the kitchen and watch your food being prepared. Check
out the recycling operations, the solar generation area, water boiling areas, or
firewood and fuel storage.
Day 5
Sayari Camp
Serengeti National Park
Sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Dunia Camp.
Breakfast at Dunia Camp followed by transport to the bush strip for your
morning flight. Your Deeper Africa guide will see you safely onto the bush
plane and then begin the drive northward to meet up with you this evening
at Sayari Camp.
Bush Flight
Departs Serengeti bush strip @ 9:25 am
Arrives Kogatende bush strip @ 10:35 am
Staff from Sayari Camp will pick you up at the Kogatende bush strip. Sayari
Camp is located in the northern Serengeti at the Mara River. This is a vast
pristine ecosystem. Few tourists venture into this wild region. Unlike the
southern plains of the Serengeti that dry out, forcing all but the hardiest of
species to leave, this area remains lush and green. Sayari Camp is centrally
located. You can wildlife view in the Lamai Triangle, along the Mara River,
or in the Wogakuria plains. The Lamai Triangle is home to the largest
remaining concentrations of elephants in the Serengeti.
Unlike the migration herds, predators are territorial, remaining in their home
territory all year long. Wildlife populations double during the migration
season, but that still means that resident wildlife populations are some of the
most dense on the African continent and include substantial populations of
plain’s game, including buffalo, giraffe, and warthog, as well as a wide range
of antelope species, including dik dik, bushbuck, waterbuck, eland, impala,
and topi.
Lion prides in the Serengeti are territorial. Females within a lion pride are
related to each other. Daughters, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and nieces
live together for up to 15 years - the typical lifespan of a lioness. Males are
forced to leave the pride at between two to three years of age. When not
attached to a pride, lions are nomadic, occasionally banding together with
other male cousins or brothers. The majority of prides in the Serengeti have
two or three adult males, but the males in power can form larger alliances.
Nomadic males are a constant territorial threat to the pride males. Each of
the Serengeti pride territories vary in size. The controlling factors tend to be
habitat and the availability of food. Some Serengeti prides can do quite well
with small amounts of territory, while other prides require substantially
larger amounts of ground. While pride members defend their territories they
can never keep an exclusive lock on all of their territory. Overlaps at the
edges of the territories find young nomadic males creating confrontations
whenever possible.
You will cross through a number of pride territories during your Serengeti
travels. During migration season, the lions prosper with sufficient food to
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feed all of the pride members. But once the herds migrate north into Kenya,
the resident wildlife becomes the prime target; territory and hunting skills
become the means of survival.
Day 6
Sayari Camp
Serengeti National Park
Day 7
Rekero Camp
Serengeti National Park
Sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Sayari Camp
Breakfast at Sayari Camp. Sayari Camp offers the unique opportunity to
leave the Land Cruiser behind and share the earth with Serengeti’s wildlife.
Walking safaris are guided by experienced in-residence walking guides. An
armed ranger also accompanies the walks. Animals are usually spotted on
walking safaris, however the goal is not to get as close as possible to the
wildlife, but rather to observe their undisturbed behavior. This is one of the
few areas within the Serengeti boundaries where tracking and spotting skills
can be learned on foot.
Sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Sayari Camp.
Breakfast at Sayari Camp. Today you’ll be traveling from the Tanzanian side
of the Serengeti to the Kenyan side, the Maasai Mara. We’ll send you off
with a packed lunch for your flights.
Coastal Bush Flight
Depart Kogatende bush strip @ 9:05 am
Arrive @ Tarime bush strip @ 11:10 am
Customs border checks for Tanzania and Kenya.
Coastal Bush Flight
Depart Tarime bush strip @ 11:15 am
Arrive at Migori bush strip @ 12:00 noon
Safari Link Bush Flight
Depart Migori strip @ 12:15 pm
Arrive Mara Olkiombo bush strip @ 12:45 pm
Pickup at bush strip by Rekero Camp staff. Rekero is located inside the
Maasai Mara Game reserve in the midst of Kenya’s Mara Serengeti
ecosystem. The camp is at the confluence of the Mara and Talek Rivers. If
you understand the geography of the Mara, this is the place to be. Rekero is
an unfenced remote wilderness camp in an area teeming with wildlife and
bird life. Rekero Camp is set seasonally from June through March. At the
end of March the camp is broken down for two months to allow the bush to
recover from the humans and revert back to the wilderness. It is rebuilt
again in June.
Guiding is one of Rekero Camp’s best known attributes and the current
guiding team is all from neighboring Maasai communities. The Good Safari
Guide awarded Rekero Camp an award for the Best Safari Guiding Team in
2011. This award is a great honor. Additionally, Rekero holds a Silver Eco
Rating from Eco Tourism Kenya. It is a special place.
Day 8
Rekero Camp
Maasai Mara Reserve
Spend the afternoon with your Rekero guide out in paradise. Sundowners,
dinner, and overnight at Rekero Camp.
Breakfast at Rekero Camp. Rekero was home for the “African Cats” film
crew and director, Kevin Scholey, during the entire filming schedule. If you
haven’t seen the movie do so. It is magical. It will introduce you to Mara, a
young lion, and Sita, one of the most famous cheetahs on the planet.
Sita is just one of the cheetahs who live on the Serengeti savannahs. You’ll
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have the opportunity to view many. You’ll be scouting for cheetah in one of
the two remaining cheetah strongholds in the world: the Mara/Serengeti
ecosystem. Cheetahs face increasing pressure from humans and land
encroachment - with between 9,000 to 12,000 left in the world.
The Serengeti cheetah population is threatened by a lack of genetic variation,
making them susceptible to disease and decreasing reproduction. Still, there
have been quite a few cub births in the Serengeti cheetah population over
the past five years. The most famous are Sita’s cubs.
Day 9
Rekero Camp
Maasai Mara Reserve
Day 10
Naboisho Camp
Mara North Conservancy
Lunch, sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Rekero Camp.
Breakfast at Rekero Camp. Visit one of the local Maasai villages in which
your guides were born and raised. Rekero has been at the forefront of
introducing wildlife tourism into local communities.
Community
development is crucial for the long term success of wildlife conservation,
because local people must benefit from tourism in order to believe in it and
nurture it.
Lunch, sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Rekero Camp.
Breakfast at Rekero Camp. Drive east after breakfast into the Naboisho
Conservancy, which borders the Mara. The Conservancy is owned by 500
Maasai landowners. Each one earns rent each month based on the amount
of land contributed to the conservancy. Naboisho means “coming together”
in Maa, the Maasai language. The Conservancy promotes wildlife
conservation and generates income and jobs for the community using
tourism as the economic driver. In the heart of the conservancy lies Koiyaki
Guiding School which provides Maasai youths with conservation and
guiding training.
Naboisho Conservancy offers a wide range of activities including game
drives, walking safaris, night game drives, and cultural tourism. Naboisho
Conservancy has the highest population of giraffes in Kenya, along with
many, many other animals.
Day 11
Naboisho Camp
Mara North Conservancy
Lunch, sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Rekero Camp.
Breakfast at Naboisho Camp. At Naboisho you’ll have the opportunity to
learn about and observe human wildlife conflicts and to study some of the
greatest challenges facing the stability of the Serengeti migratory herds. In
most other areas of Africa, major wildebeest herds have died out due to
ever-expanding human populations which demand water resources as well as
land for agriculture and domestic livestock. Humans’ need for land at the
edges of the Serengeti and their need for water resources threaten to reduce
both the migration range and access to water resources. It is land available
for grazing and access to water that determine the size of the Serengeti
wildebeest population. The herd’s population varies yearly depending on
rainfall and availability of grassland.
Naboisho Camp offers you stunningly beautiful tented accommodations,
great food, great guiding, and introductions in the nearby Maasai village.
Day 12
House of Waine
Karen outside of Nairobi
Travel Day
Lunch, sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Nabiosho Camp.
Breakfast at Naboisho Camp. Morning game drive. Lunch and time for
packing and getting ready for your afternoon flight. Staff at Naboisho Camp
will have your plane ticket for you. The pilot will assist you in getting
checked in and getting your luggage boarded on the plane.
Bush flight to Nairobi
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Departs Mara strip @ 11:00 am
Arrives Nariobi @ 12:35 pm
Day 13
Travel day
Pickup at Wilson Airport by Deeper Africa driver and transport to House of
Waine for dinner. We’ll have a dayroom ready for you and you’ll have time
to shower, pack, and relax.. Early dinner at House of Waine. Evening
transport to your international flight at Kilimanjaro Airport.
International flight
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INCLUDED IN YOUR SAFARI
2014 CUSTOM DEPARTURE DATES
Full board accommodations in all lodges and tented
camps
All meals
Unlimited game drives in private 4x4 safari Land
Cruisers
All park and entrance fees
Experienced and professional safari naturalist guides
Natural Learning program
Enrollment with Flying Doctors Evacuation Service
All in-country transportation
Laundry available at some lodges and camps
Beverages in your 4x4 safari vehicle
Bottled water available at all times
Extensive pre-departure briefing and materials
including health information, reading list and map
Schedule as you wish January through April and June through
December.
2014 CUSTOM DEPARTURE PRICING
4 or more persons $8,999 USD each
2 persons $8,999 USD each
Single supplement $1,400 USD
Arrivals into Kilimanjaro International Airport. Departures
out of Nairobi International Airport. Prices do not include
international air travel.
EXCLUDED FROM YOUR SAFARI
Alcohol and some beverages in some camps and
lodges
Gratuities
We plan your wildlife adventures in areas where wildlife
habitats are known to exist for the season and time you are
traveling. Still, animals in the areas you are viewing are not
in a zoo. They run freely, and we cannot always anticipate
their movements.
Also, Deeper Africa uses best efforts to provide the
lodging set out in this itinerary, but occasionally there are
circumstances that occur in East Africa that require
lodging substitutions. We reserve the right to make
comparable lodging substitutions whenever necessary.
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