Adamson's Footsteps Kenya Explorer

Your Kenyan adventure begins when you land at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Gateway to East Africa, Nairobi is a hustling, bustling city of noise and colour but your destination is a quiet city suburb. Sit back in comfort as you transfer by private vehicle to House of Waine, an oasis-style boutique hotel and ideal setting for a restorative night after a long international flight.

Take the afternoon to relax at the pool and stroll around the hotel's private gardens. If you have the energy to explore, several places of interests lie nearby. Top of the list are the Karen Blixen Museum and the virtually unmissable Giraffe Centre as well as the Daphne Sheldrick elephant orphanage and wildlife sanctuary. However you choose to spend the day, end it with a sundowner drink and a fine meal at the House of Waine - you could even try the local Kenyan dishes prepared by the hotel's chefs for a truly authentic start to your safari!

Enjoy breakfast served with a smile before an early morning transfer takes you to Nairobi's Wilson Airport in plenty of time for your flight. Your destination is Meru National Park and your accommodation for the next three nights, the award-winning Elsa's Kopje. With its open-fronted cottages offering stunning views from their hillside settings, this lodge was built of the site of the Adamson's original camp, making it the perfect place to immerse yourself in the rhythm of an African safari. Early morning game drives; lazy, sleepy lunches; fascinating nature walks and spot-lit night drives lie ahead...

Settle into your stone and thatch suite and make your way to your private viewing deck: Meru National Park lies before you. A landscape of bleached yellow grass and green ribbons of riverside forest, well-watered Meru is one of Kenya's best-kept safari secrets and the perfect introduction to the country's amazing wildlife.

Guided game drives and nature walks are the main focus at Meru. Its varied habitats are home to a wide diversity of animals but it is classic savannah wildlife that dominates. Your expert ranger will be on the lookout for elephant, lion, zebra, giraffe and buffalo while bird watchers will be more than delighted with the 400 plus bird species. Remember to keep one eye out for rhino as Meru is renowned for sightings of these highly endangered animals; keep the other open for leopards in the trees overhanging the park's crocodile-infested rivers.

Kenya is also home to fascinating traditional cultures and a stay at Meru would not be complete without absorbing some of the sights, sounds and tastes of the local communities: visit a local village for an absorbing insight into life on the savannah. If you want to get involved, then Elsa's Kopje runs number of local development programmes that you can experience and contribute to during your visit.

A new adventure dawns today. After breakfast you will transfer to the nearby airstrip for a short flight to Shaba National Reserve, a rugged savannah environment set against the backdrop of Rift Valley hills. One of Kenya's more 'off-radar' reserves, Shaba was the setting for the 'Born Free' story and for the next three days you will enjoy private game drives in the land of Elsa the Lioness.

Joy's Camp, a chic tented camp with a well-deserved reputation as a hidden gem and honeymoon hideout, is your magical accommodation in Shaba. Its setting above a large natural spring means you can enjoy easy 'armchair' game viewing during your stay while the camp's creative chefs are sure to offer you the chance to feast on alfresco meals on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River.

Your knowledgeable guides will be on the lookout for familiar species such as elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard but there are also unusual, arid-area animals to see in Shaba, the long-necked gerenuk, Beisa oryx, Grevy's zebra and reticulated giraffe among them. Visits to the nomadic Borana, Samburu and Turkana communities that inhabit the area can also be arranged, providing opportunities to glimpse into ancient lifestyles.

After a last breakfast at Joy's Camp, a scenic flight takes you south to the Mara Shikar Airstrip in anticipation of the heavyweight highlight of this journey: the ever-popular Masai Mara. Your experience however is a crowd-free one: step off the plane to be met and transferred to Elephant Pepper Camp, set far from other lodges in the exclusive-use Mara North Conservancy. Overlooking the teeming Masai Mara plains from its tree-shaded spot, this highly rated eco-tented camp is where you will enjoy your final wilderness encounter.

Indulge in a wildlife experience like no other: the Masai Mara is famous for its prolific big game, predatory cats and vast antelope herds.  At Elephant Pepper Camp you will be able to absorb it all through extended daily game drives in open-sided vehicles, spot-lit night drives and guided nature walks with local naturalists.

The guides at Elephant Pepper have a well-deserved reputation for their passion and excellence - and they need it when the great wildebeest migration rolls into the region between July and November. This is when game viewing on the Mara plains is at its most intense and exciting: the huge herds are exhausted after their harrowing river crossings and many are picked off with ease by the Mara's formidable range of large predators. Expect daily drama and a lifetime of memories as you sit back and watch age-old instincts play out before you.

Wake up to your final views of the Mara plains and a last breakfast at camp: a flight back to Nairobi waits. Take in the now familiar sights and sounds of the Kenyan wilderness as your 4X4 growls its way to the airstrip - remember to keep an eye out for any last animal sightings. From here it's a scenic flight over the mesmerising Great Rift Valley landscape back to Wilson Airport whereupon you transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the end of your Kenyan adventure.