14 DAYS KENYA AND ETHIOPIA COMBINE

1. Arrival

   PRE TOUR: ARRIVING IN KENYA NAIROBI

   Our Safari adventure starts the moment you land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you will be met by our staff at the airport and transferred to Nairobi in the peaceful surrounds of our comfortable pre and post safari accommodation in Kenya Comfort Hotel Nairobi which will be booked and paid by the company on bed and breakfast. You can relax by the pool before your briefing with the Guides who will provide the essential information for the safari or you can decide to have a Nairobi City excursion on a request.

2. Day01

   DAY 1: NAIROBI- MASAI MARA

   

   

   

   After breakfast from your hotel in Nairobi we will pick you up at 7:00am and leave for Masai Mara through The Great African Rift Valley escarpment where you will have a stop at the Viewing Point to view the escarpment. Then you drive through Masai Town Narok. Arrive at Mara Camp in time for Lunch. After lunch you will have late afternoon game drive until sun set.

   Overnight

   Dinner and overnight at Enchoro Wildlife Tented Camp.

   Meal Plan

   Breakfast Lunch Dinner

3. Day02

   DAY 2: MASAI MARA FULL DAY

   

   

   

   Early morning breakfast then depart at 7:30am for a full day with packed lunch then proceed for the game drive in search of its popular animals like the well-known Big Five e.g. Elephant, Leopard, Rhino, Buffalo and Lion and predators e.g. lion, cheetah, hyena, wild dogs etc. and their opponents like the Zebra, Wildebeest, Giraffe, Hippo and the dangerous Crocodiles with a visit to Mara river where you will have your lunch at migration point where the wildebeest migrating from Serengeti to Masai Mara and you will see migration taking place. After lunch you will continue with the game drive until Sunset then you will drive back to the camp.

   Overnight

   Dinner and overnight at Mara Enchoro Wildlife Tented Camp.

   Meal Plan

   Breakfast Lunch Dinner

4. Day03

   DAY 3: MASAI MARA- LAKE NAIVASHA

   

   

   

   An early morning game drive up to 9:30am in search of animals hunting, killings and eating after which you will come back for full breakfast you will have time to visit Masai Village and then depart for Lake Naivasha with lunch at Narok. After lunch you drive to Lake Naivasha arriving late in the afternoon for a boat trip where you will be able to see many species of birds and water animals e.g. hippos and have good pictures of them.

   Overnight

   Dinner and Overnight at Lake Naivasha Tapahe Guest House.

   Meal Plan

   Breakfast Lunch Dinner

5. Day04

   DAY 4: LAKE NAIVASHA- LAKE NAKURU

   

   

   

   Early morning game drive to Hell’s Gate National Park this is the only park where one can cycle, walk and drives while seeing animals. After the game drive you will go back for the breakfast and leave for Lake Nakuru National Park arriving in time for lunch with game drive en-route to find leopard which are frequently sighted in Lake Nakuru Park. After lunch you leave for day game drive, take a further drive to seek out the 2 species of rhino found in the park. Lake Nakuru is known with many species of birds and thousands of flamingoes.

   Overnight

   Dinner and Overnight at Lake Nakuru Citymax.

   Meal Plan

   Breakfast Lunch Dinner

6. Day05

   DAY 5: LAKE NAKURU - NAIROBI – ADDIS ABABA

   Flight

   

   

   After the breakfast, you will check out the hotel then spend the day game viewing at Lake Nakuru National Park, where you will have a chance to visit a unique sanctuary catering for a sizeable number of the endangered rhinoceros and the Rothschild giraffe. Water bucks as well as the predators such as the lion and leopard are common at the park. Also, to be seen is a myriad different variety of bird life in and around the lake. Flamingos are also plenty at the lake. On this day you will have your lunch at the cliff where you will have a good view for the whole park, thereafter leave for Nairobi in the afternoon with a drop off at airport for your 06:55pm flight to Addis Ababa.

   Overnight

   Overnight at Bluebird Hotel

7. Day06

   DAY 06: ADDIS – MEKELLE – DANAKIL

   Flight

   

   

   After breakfast you will be picked up and transferred to the airport for your morning flight to Mekelle after arrival depart from Mekelle to the Danakil for 3 days. We drive from Mekelle to – Dodom, We start early drive to Dodom (at the base of Erta Ale). Leave after an early breakfast, possible at 07:30. This is may be one of the worst roads in the world. The 70 km distance may take about 5 hrs passing through changing landscape of solidified lava, rock, sand and occasional palm lined oasis. After you pass several small hamlets scattered here and there in this desert land, Dodom is about 9.5km from Erta Ale and it takes about 3 hrs. Trekking. Early dinner around 17:00 and trek up to Erta Ale at 20:00 hours. Camels transport all the camping materials and some food (sleeping materials like light mattresses and mat and water) to the rim of the volcano, where we spend the night watching the dramatic action of the boiling lava. Erta Ale ranks one of the most alluring and physically challenging natural attractions anywhere in Ethiopia. It is a shield volcano with a base diameter of 30 km and 1km square caldera at its summit. Erta Ale contains the world’s only permanent lava lake. Erta Ale is 613 meters, with a lava lake, one of only five in the world, at the summit. It is notable for being the longest existing lava lake, present since the early years of the twentieth century.

   Overnight

   Dinner and overnight at the Camp

8. Day07

   DAY 07: ERTA ALE – HAMAD ELA

   

   

   

   Waking up early Erta Ale -Dodom　Leave back to Dodom you will reach latest at 8.00 am at the camp, after breakfast time to relax. Then drive to Hamad Ela 100km, picnic lunch on the way on shed of palm tree, reach Hamad Ela 04:30, better village with a total population about 500 people.

   You will see lots of camel caravans and you will have the sun set look from the very shallow salt Lake Assale.

   Overnight

   Dinner and overnight camping at Hamad Ela Camp.

9. Day08

   DAY 08: HAMAD ELA – DALLOL - MEKELLE

   

   

   

   Morning tour Drive to Ragad (Asebo), the place where the localities are mining salt. 1,200 km2 (460 sq mi) the Afar Depression is covered by salt, and you will Look the activity of breaking the salt from the ground, local people are cutting in to rectangular pieces and loading on camels. You drive ahead to Dallol and visit the different landscape formed by volcanic activity; Dallol + Lake Assale + salt canyon, camel caravans, follow up camel caravans and　Drive back to Hamad Ela for lunch and proceed Gheralta,

   Overnight

   Dinner and Overnight at Gheralta Lodge

10. Day09

    DAY 09: MEKELLE – ROCK HEWN CHURCHES OF TIGRAY

    

    

    

    Drive and Trek to Abune Yemata. Abune Yemata is 4 kms drive from Megab and a further 30 minutes' walk will bring you to the foot of the perpendicular rock mountains of Guh. The scenery is breath-taking and the mountains resemble pillars reaching to the sky. The challenging and the only way to the church is footholds and handgrips in the rock face. Just before the entrance to the church there is a narrow ledge carved in the cliff from which one can view a sheer drop of approximately 250m to 300m. Afternoon you will visit Mariam Korkoer and Daniel Koror churches and drive to Mekelle for over night

    Overnight

    Dinner and Overnight at Mekelle Axum Hotel

11. Day10

    DAY 10: MEKELLE – LALIBELA

    Flight

    

    

    Morning after breakfast fly to Lalibela at 10 am before the flight you will visit Axum for 2 hours to see the obelisks, then fly to Lalibela, after arrival start your tour of the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, visiting the Northwestern Cluster of churches - Bet Medhane Alem, Bet Maryam, Bet Meskel, Bet Danaghel, Bet Mikael & Bet Golgotha (entry not permitted for women). After lunch, continue with the Southeastern Cluster of churches – Bet Gabriel-Rufael, Bet Merkorios, Bet Amanual, and Bet Abba Libanos. Finally, you will visit the most famous of all the churches – Bet Giyorgis, constructed in honor of the patron saint of Ethiopia – Saint George.

    Overnight

    Dinner and Overnight at Lalibela Cliff Edge Hotel

12. Day11

    DAY 11: LALIBELA – GONDAR

    

    

    

    After briefly settling in your hotel, explore the sites of Gondar, including a visit to the Royal Enclosure, with six castles and several other buildings. Additionally, visit Fasilidas’s Pool, still used for Timkat celebrations today, Ras Gimb Palace Museum and the Debre Birhan Selassie church, with the most famous ceiling in Ethiopia.

    Overnight

    Dinner and overnight in Gondar Plaza hotel.

13. Day12

    DAY 12: GONDAR – SIMIEN MOUNTAINS

    

    

    

    After morning breakfast, you drive to the Simien national parks Spending one day in the Simien Mountains allows you to witness amazing views of the landscape, and potentially the opportunity to view the endemic Gelada Baboons or the "bleeding heart baboon". From Gondar you will take a drive into Debark, pay park entry fees and head straight into the park.

    The car will drop you off in Sankaber where you will take an easy hike to see Geech Abyss. Here you will find a spectacular waterfall, Jinbar Waterfall. After lunch you will drive back to Gondar.

    Overnight

    Dinner and overnight in Gondar Plaza hotel.

14. Day13

    DAY 13: GONDAR – BAHIR DAR – LAKE TANA

    

    

    

    After breakfast you drive Gondar to Bahir Dar which is around 2 hours’ drive After arrival Take a boat trip on Lake Tana to visit a selection of the monasteries hidden on the islands and shores of this sacred lake. Visit the Zege Peninsula and the monasteries of Azuwa Maryam and Ura Kidane Mehret and the island monastery of Debre Maryam near the outlet of the Blue Nile River. In the afternoon, drive out to the Blue Nile Falls for a short hike in the area. Finish the day with the sunset over the lake.

    Overnight

    Dinner and overnight in Bahir Dar Delano.

15. Day14

    DAY 14: BAHIR DAR – ADDIS ABABA

    Flight

    After morning breakfast, you will have time to explore Bahir Dar as you wait for your afternoon flight to Addis Ababa to catch up with your flight back home.

END OF SAFARI