Return of the Safari Pioneers 2020

Gather at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport for check in and meet your fellow travelers. Upon boarding our privately reserved business class cabin of the Boeing 787, unwind in comfort for the nonstop flight to Nairobi. Our master chef will serve a first-class dinner on board, observing social distancing and strict hygiene and service protocols.

Upon our mid-morning arrival in Nairobi we are whisked to a private first-class lounge for immigration and customs formalities before boarding our chartered Cessna Caravan Executive aircraft for short bush flights to camp.

While on safari you’ll be part of one of three groups with 10 guests each. Every guest will visit each of the four camps for three nights, driving from Mara Plains to Mara Nyika and flying the short hop to ol Donyo Lodge and Arijiju Retreat on private charters. At your accommodations you’ll be assigned your own butler and housekeeper dedicated solely to your room.

Wedged between Tsavo and Amboseli National Parks, Chyulu Hills is a volcanic landscape of grass-covered cones and craters stretching out towards Mt. Kilimanjaro. So picturesque are these green hills, that they made an appearance in ‘Out of Africa’. The area is an important wildlife corridor and home to the Maasai, who graze their cattle on group ranches alongside the National Park. Stunning ol Donyo Lodge, part of National Geographic’s selection of Unique Lodges of the World, offers 275,000 acres of private wilderness to explore. In a pioneering partnership of collaborative conservation with the local Maasai community, the lodge directly supports wildlife including lion and cheetah populations and iconic bull elephants. Enjoy game drives, walks, and horseback riding, and relish superlative dining and hand-picked wines in this Relais & Chateaux property.

Explore the endless savanna of the Masai Mara with three nights each at two different camps – both in areas of low tourism density – to provide distinctly different perspectives of this iconic wildlife destination.

Mara Plains is one of only five camps set inside the 35,000-acre Olare Motorogi Conservancy on the northern border of Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve. Enjoy unfettered access to both the private conservancy land as well as the 375,000-acre Maasai Mara for unrivalled wildlife viewing. When in camp, enjoy Relais & Chateaux excellence in fine dining.

Mara Nyika is an intimate tented camp set in a valley on the western side of the private 50,000-acre Naboisho Conservancy, home to high concentration of wildlife including impressive numbers of big cats. The conservancy is comprised of land contributions from 500 Maasai landowners and a large part of conservancy fees are channeled back into the community.

The Laikipia Plateau stretches from Mount Kenya to the Rift Valley and features ancient migratory corridors for wildlife and a refuge for some rarer species like wild dog, reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra and black rhino, and your conservancy fees help maintain elephant migration corridors, lion research projects and preservation of rhinos. Explore these game-rich Kenyan highlands on game drives, quad bikes or horseback. Home base is the magnificent private bush residence Arijiju, a haven of wellness and serenity. Designed to discreetly blend into the natural landscape, the villa is built into the hill’s bedrock with a flat, grass-covered roof. Stone walls, vaulted archways, and the cloistered courtyard are embellished with richly textured interiors. In between game drives, unwind in the elegant hamman or refresh in the infinity pool overlooking a well-visited waterhole.

As our adventure draws to a close, we board private air charters from our respective camps to Nairobi and rejoin the group in the Kenya Airways private lounge reserved for our expedited departure formalities. Settle into your luxurious seat in our privately reserved business class cabin on the Kenya Airways nonstop overnight flight back to New York. In the morning, we say farewell to fellow safari pioneers.