The lions are restless. They take turns drinking from the muddy water hole until a herd of zebras catches their attention. Most of the pride is hidden in the long grass, thickets, or rock kopjes.
A zebra stallion hesitantly leads his herd to the water and stops to smell the wind and watch the thickets for movement.
A lioness studies the herd from cover. She lashes her tail angrily and charges with eyes locked on a zebra. In the first fifty feet, she swiftly gains on the zebra and, with a giant leap, lands on its back and digs in with her claws. She twists the zebra’s neck sharply, and it loses its balance falling hard to the ground with a panicked grunt in a cloud of dust. The lioness goes for its throat with powerful jaws, breaking the zebra’s neck. She continues the stranglehold as it struggles and suffocates.
Five male lions arrive and take over the carcass. Many more lions materialize from the bush and head toward the kill. They keep coming and coming. Several lionesses dart in to snatch scraps for their cubs and are repulsed by aggressive males who quickly devour the zebra. This leaves a lot of hungry mamas milling about who haven’t eaten.
Are you prepared for the circle of life?
If you arrive early at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi (NBO), one of our owner guides will meet you and get you to Wilson Airport for an extraordinary 3-hour scenic flight to the Maasai Mara.
Fly over the Great Rift Valley, Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, and Lake Baringo, all known as the Lakes of the Rift Valley. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to photograph flamingos and other wildlife from above.
The Captain lands at Sand River within the Maasai Mara National Reserve, next to the Tanzanian border. We partnered with your first mobile camp, Africa Born Safaris, a luxurious, secluded, and "exclusive use” camp replicating the tented camps of the early 1900s.
A morning 2-hour flight explores the Sand River as it splits from the Mara River, undulating through the Maasai hills like a snake slithering through the grass. Captain Ryan looks for elephant and wildebeest herds crossing the river and circles around them for amazing photos from above.
He’ll fly into Lake Magadi’s airstrip for coffee before flying over Nguruman Hill’s dramatic forests; your scenic flight drops off the edge of the escarpment and down into the Great Rift Valley along the Kenya-Tanzania border and back to camp by mid-morning.
All game drives and flights are on your schedule, which we discuss the evening before, along with the routes.
An early morning balloon safari with Balloon Safaris Ltd. is over the Mara. They include champagne and a made-to-order hot breakfast by their Chef. If you spot some cool wildlife action from the air, let us know once we pick you up, and we’ll head that way.
Your game drives are private with seasoned, professional safari guides that know Mara’s savannahs, riverine forests, water holes, and heavy bush country like no other. Picnic lunches are in extraordinary remote locations.
After your day’s game drive, we’ll stop by a local Maasai manyatta (village) to watch the moran’s traditional jumping dance called adumu, which means jumping in a competitive dance.
Your day starts with a flight over the Mara River to spot where the wildebeests are crossing.
And once you land, we’ll do a game drive along the Kenya-Tanzania border and immediately go to the river crossings that you spotted from the air. Because there are so many wildebeests, it’s common to watch predators stalk, kill, and eat their prey right before you.
Take to the morning skies and fly along the Mara River and over the border into Tanzania. We clear customs at Kisumu and Musoma. The flight is two hours, with an hour at each customs stop.
Your destination is Serengeti Under Canvas, a luxury mobile camp in the heart of the Serengeti. You have its “exclusive use” based on availability. They move 5x a year, following the wildebeest migration, and the camp is set up as close as possible to the action.
Using only private campsites, this mobile camp is intimate, the ultimate in luxury camping, and you are their only guests unless you bring family or friends along. A personal butler and a 5-star Chef are there to serve you. Savor hearty cuisine served on sparkling crystal and silver that reflects the starlight.
Relax under the dark velvet night sky and gather around a roaring campfire to share the day’s safari stories while listening to the African night come alive.
Yes, you’re doing two balloon safaris. One was in the Mara, and the other is in the Serengeti, as the terrain and wildlife in each Park varies. This provides an inclusive African balloon safari experience.
An early morning balloon flight with Serengeti Balloon Safaris includes sparkling wine and a full English breakfast in the bush.
After your flight, we’ll head to the river where you spotted the wildebeest crossing from the air for amazing ground-level photos
Your dawn flight is over the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, and along the top of Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano, meaning “the mountain of God” in Maasai.
Lengai is an active volcano located in the Gregory Rift. You’ll fly along Lake Natron’s red volcanic waters, often described as having a desolate and lunar beauty. It is the most important breeding ground for millions of lesser flamingos worldwide.
The flight continues over the northern Serengeti along the Kenya border and back in time for lunch.
A sundowner game drive before dinner offers wonderful light from the setting sun for extraordinary wildlife photos.
A morning flight over Serengeti’s rivers allows you to spot where most of the wildebeests are crossing. They don’t always cross in the same place, which often happens when they catch the scent of a carnivore in the wind.
Once on the ground, your game drive focuses on those river crossings to photograph the massive herds of wildebeests, zebras, and antelopes and the predators that stalk them.
Your last day is whatever you want it to be, whether it’s a game drive or taking to the skies for another air safari.
At the end of the day, relax by the campfire with sundowners during one of Africa’s magnificent sunsets to regale your safari stories as the Chef prepares a culinary delight to be long remembered.
A French Champagne breakfast is in the bush. Afterward, enjoy a game drive to Seronera’s airstrip for a scenic flight around Mt. Kilimanjaro and land at Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight home.*
* If you want to end your holiday on Zanzibar Island in the Indian Ocean, we can arrange to fly you there with Captain Ryan (not included).
Alternate dates are helpful if your mobile safari camps are unavailable on your dates.
