My preschooler’s dream trip includes jetting off to the heart of Kenya and getting up close and personal with animals most of us would rather see in books than in person. She would like nothing more to run wild with baboons, lions, lemurs, elephants, rhinos, tigers, and hyenas. Though, for now she’ll have to make do with the stuffed versions. If she were a bit older (and I was a bit richer) I would not hesitate to take advantage of the following safari deal:
SmarTours is currently offering a spectacular travel package to Nairobi in mid-November priced at just $2,999 per person. The cost includes roundtrip airfare from New York City plus nine nights’ accommodations, hotel taxes, 24 meals (nine buffet breakfasts, seven lunches, and eight dinners), game drives, guided sightseeing tours (with a guaranteed window seat) and all transfers. The catch: You must book your reservation by July 22, 2008.
The package includes a round-trip New York-London flight on Virgin Atlantic and a round-trip London-Nairobi flight via Kenya Airways. Your fall adventure begins in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi with a visit to the home of the author of “Out of Africa”, coffee farmer Karen Blixen, and a stop at the Giraffe Center, where you can see rare Rothschild’s giraffes. After spending two nights in Nairobi you will head toward the Central Highlands, crossing the Equator to reach Samburu National Reserve. While there you will spend a full day exploring the country’s landscape and making friends with the local animal species, including hippos, zebras, long-necked gerenuk antelopes, as well as leopards, cheetahs, and lions.
Two days later you will drive to Mt. Kenya National Park where you will stay one night at Serena Mountain Lodge. The treetop hotel has a game-viewing deck that provides amazing views of buffalo, elephants, and other wildlife. The property also boasts panoramic views of the surrounding mountainous landscape and the ancient rain forest nearby. From Mt. Kenya, you’ll visit majestic Nyahururu Falls before arriving at Lake Nakuru National Park–host to one of the largest populations of pink flamingos in the world.
The safari also covers a tour of the Masai Mara National Reserve, home to a wide range of animal species. You’ll stay two nights at the luxurious Mara Simba Lodge where you can lounge by the hotel’s pool or enjoy a performance of traditional tribal dances by the Masai Warriors.
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