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BY AIR & ROAD – 5 days / 4 nights
Tour Highlights: Kogelo (the hometown & village of Barack Obama Sr., the father of current United States President-elect), Wildlife, birdlife, culture, landscape, the Maasai Mara National Reserve
In summary:
Day 1: Nairobi
Day 2: Nairobi – Kisumu (by Air)
Day 3: Kisumu / Kogelo – Mara
Day 4: Mara
Day 5: Mara – Nairobi
The itinerary:
Day 1: Nairobi
On arrival at JKI Airport, you will be met and transferred to your Hotel for overnight on bed and breakfast basis – The Fairview Hotel
Day 2: Nairobi / Kisumu
An early morning transfer to the airport for your flight to Kisumu (ETD 0710 hrs). On arrival, you are met and transferred to your hotel in Kisumu town for check in. Thereafter, drive to Kogelo for a visit with picnic lunch.
Nyang’oma Kogelo, also known as Kogelo, is a village in Siaya district, Nyanza Province – Kenya. It is located near the equator 60 kilometres west-northwest of Kisumu, the provincial capital. A road from Ng’iya junction along the Kisumu – Siaya road leads to Nyang’oma Kogelo. The village is also linked by a road to Bondo town.
It is a typical Kenyan rural village with most residents living modestly by small-scale farming. The village has a shopping centre with shops and a bar. The village has a primary school (Senator Obama Primary School) and a high school (Senator Obama Secondary School). The land for both schools was donated by Barack Obama Sr., a native of the village and they were renamed after his son and the then US senator Barack Obama in 2006. There is also a health centre.
Previously the village had no electricity, but it was connected to the power network immediately after the 2008 US presidential election. In 2008 Kenya Police set up a police post at the village. Nyang’oma Kogelo is part of South East Alego electoral ward of Siaya County Council and Alego Constituency.
Since 2006, the village received international attention, since it is the hometown of Barack Obama Sr., the father of current United States President-elect. Barack Obama, Sr. is buried in the village. Some of their family members, including his paternal grandmother, still live in the village.
Due to Barack Obama's presidency the village is expected to be visited by many tourists from the US and other countries. The Kenyan government is promoting it as a tourist attraction of western Kenya. An Obama-themed museum is set to be opened in the village in 2009.
Return to your hotel for dinner & overnight – Imperial Hotel
Day 3: Kisumu / Maasai Mara
Breakfast. Drive to Maasai Mara (approx. 250 kms) to arrive in time for lunch. This will be followed by an afternoon game drive in this reserve that borders Serengeti National Park of Tanzania. Dinner and overnight at a lodge – Mara Serena Lodge or similar (subject to availability)
Day 4: Maasai Mara
Full day of game viewing in the park noted for its black-manned Lion among other animals.
Maasai Mara Game Reserve: The rolling grasslands of the Maasai Mara offer ideal game viewing and photographic opportunities and the grassy plains are broken by rocky outcrops which are favorite midday resting places for Lion. This is where millions of Wildebeest cross the Mara River from the Serengeti National park of Tanzania to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve of Kenya - an annual spectacular event, which brings along thousands of plains game and predators to the Mara, making the park a beehive of ‘wildlife activities’.
Some of the other animals that could be found here include elephant, black rhino, buffalo, leopard, cheetah, wildebeest, zebra and gazelle. Hippo and crocodile abound in the muddy brown waters of the rivers, which traverse this reserve.
Dinner and overnight at a lodge as above
Day 5: Massai Mara / Nairobi
An early morning game drive in the Mara is followed by breakfast at your lodge; and thereafter, exit with a short game drive en-route and return to Nairobi to arrive late in the afternoon. Transfer to the airport for your onward flight.
END OF ARRANGEMENTS-
OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES POSSIBLE ON THIS ITINERARY:
- A balloon flight with champagne breakfast over the Maasai Mara
- A Sundowner either on Lake Victoria, or on the endless plains of the Maasai Mara
- Bush dinner in the Mara
- Bush breakfast in the Mara
- A Nature walk (in Kericho or the Mara) or a tea factory visit
- A Maasai Village (Manyatta) cultural visit
All these can be arranged through our offices – kindly enquire at the time of booking.
ITINERARY COSTS:
Each of 6 people sharing: US$ 799
Each of 4 people sharing: US$ 899
Each of 2 people sharing: US$ 1,180
Single Room Supplement: US$ 195
ITINERARY COSTS WITHOUT 1ST NIGHT ACCOMMODATION IN NAIROBI:
Each of 6 people sharing: US$ 715
Each of 4 people sharing: US$ 815
Each of 2 people sharing: US$ 1,095
Single Room Supplement: US$ 160
LOW SEASON DISCOUNTED RATES (01 APRIL – 31 MAY 2009)
Each of 6 people sharing: US$ 730
Each of 4 people sharing: US$ 830
Each of 2 people sharing: US$ 1,110
Single Room Supplement: US$ 95
LOW SEASON ITINERARY COSTS WITHOUT 1ST NIGHT ACCOMMODATION IN NAIROBI:
Each of 6 people sharing: US$ 645
Each of 4 people sharing: US$ 745
Each of 2 people sharing: US$ 1,025
Single Room Supplement: US$ 55
- Accommodation on the above rates in the Mara is based on Mara Sopa Lodge (see description hereunder). Kindly check with us applicable supplement should you prefer Mara Serena lodge, Mara Sarova or other.
- Children discounts are available on request
- Low season rates above do not apply over the Easter Weekend
BRIEF HOTELS’ DESCRIPTIONS
Kericho Tea Hotel, located 266km from Nairobi, is a Country Club modernized to meet international standards with panoramic views of acres of lush green tea gardens. The hotel offers excellent cuisine, both local and international and has two bars. The hotel has 45 spacious and well appointed rooms and luxury suits plus cottages for visitors. All rooms have wall to wall carpet and are self contained. The terrace is a very popular relaxing place where one can see as far as the horizon. Recreational facilities are also within the hotel grounds such as an Olympic size swimming pool, lawn tennis, table tennis and a nearby golf course. The lush evergreen scenery is often confused for a golf course. A walk on the beautifully blended garden with flowers gives a lasting memory.
Mara Serena Safari Lodge set on the saddle of a hill, overlooks the 1800 square km of the rolling plains, woodlands and rivers that make-up the Maasai Mara triangle – one of the worlds’ richest wildlife sanctuaries. No other lodge can boast such a spectacular of the surrounding landscape, game and birdlife. It is on this very much terrain stretching endlessly before the lodge where the annual migrations take place, when millions of Wildebeest, Zebra and gazelle transverse the landscape to feed on the rich new grass and give birth to their young. Accommodation is in 71 rooms all overlooking the plains below. Additional features include a floodlit swimming pool, poolside barbeque massage and beauty treatment, a water hole (where animals come to salt-lick), hippo pool breakfasts, musical Evenings, Maasai dances, wildlife films, resident naturalist lectures and game drives among others.
Mara Sarova Lodge is Located on the Eastern side of the famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve, close to the Sekenani Gate. The camp is set on an elevation surrounded by two streams. The grounds are beautifully laid out with trees and plants, and electrical fences surround the lodge. Accommodation is in 75 bed rooms (72 twin rooms and 3 triples), each of which is a luxurious tent. Each room has a permanent shower and WC, and permanent roof and zip-up front. Facilities here include Isokon Restaurant (with two sections, one internal and one external with a canopy) where guests are served with meals, Oloip Bar (with a cozy log fire place), and a swimming pool surrounded by comfortable sun-loungers. Guests are welcomed to this cool and clean camp with a glass of chilled fruit juice, and entertained in the evenings by traditional dancers.
Mara Sopa Lodge: Located on the South Eastern edge of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, this lodge has 200 beds by way of 77 rooms, 12 suites and 1 Presidential suite, all of which are 'rondavel' style and have en-suite bathroom facilities which provide shaving sockets and hairdryers. Every room and suite has a private, elevated verandah with splendid views across the valley and on which guests can relax, sunbathe and watch resident birds and wildlife. Mini-bars are also available in each room. The lodge has direct-dial telephone facilities as well as satellite television and video options. Lodge generators provide 240volts, 50 cycles 24 hours a day. The water supply comes from nearby springs but guests are advised not to drink from the taps. Instead, bottled water is provided in every room (extra drinking water is available for sale). The lodge has a freeform, fresh-water pool, which offers spectacular views over the valley.
VIEW THE KOGELO TRAIL |
