If you dream of a tour full of contrasts and packed with great varied nature experiences – and where you are rewarded with relaxation on a beautiful tropical island on the final leg of the tour, you should take a closer look at this tour, where you visit no less than three countries in Africa!
The tour begins with safari drives in some of Kenya’s smallest and largest national parks. Look forward to experiencing rhinos with the Nairobi skyline as a backdrop in Nairobi National Park and lots of elephants flanked by Kilimanjaro in Amboseli. From some of Kenya’s smallest national parks, the tour then continues to the largest park. Tsavo impresses with its red soil, its varied wildlife and its beautiful landscapes.
After exciting safari experiences in Kenya, you can look forward to magical Madagascar, where you will, for example, get acquainted with the country’s history and meet ‘the mad queen’.
Madagascar is also virtually synonymous with lemurs, and therefore the experiences naturally continue in one of Madagascar’s fairytale national parks, Andasibe-Mantadia, where a rainforest with lemurs and chameleons awaits you.
From Madagascar, you fly on to beautiful Mauritius, where you spend the final days of the tour with sunshine and beautiful beaches – if you do not choose to go sightseeing on the island as well.
A wonderful tour to three very different countries!
Today you depart from your chosen airport with connecting flight(s) along the way. The tour goes to East Africa and wonderful Kenya.
On arrival in Nairobi, you will be met by our local partner, who will drive you to your hotel, located close to the airport.
You have a single night in Nairobi.
Depending on when you arrive, you can choose whether you just want to relax at the hotel or perhaps take the opportunity to see some of the city before the safari experiences begin tomorrow. See our range of optional excursions below.
After breakfast at the hotel, we head towards one of Kenya’s smallest national parks, Nairobi National Park, which is just 117 km2. Despite its size, the park is one of the country’s best known safari parks, and for good reason. The location alone – inside the capital itself – is something very special. The wildlife is rich. The only classic safari animal you are guaranteed NOT to see here is elephants. The national park is simply too small to accommodate them. But do not worry. You are sure to see them at a later stage of the tour!
What you are instead almost guaranteed to see in Nairobi National Park are rhinos. A large number of both white and black rhinos live here, and you would have to be unusually unlucky not to see a rhino on today’s safari in the park.
After spending the morning in the national park, you will enjoy a good lunch in Nairobi, before the tour continues towards another of Kenya’s smallest national parks: Amboseli National Park.
In Amboseli you check in at your lodge, where you have two nights. Enjoy a drink while you take in the views of the mighty mountain, Kilimanjaro, as the sun sets on the horizon.
The whole day is devoted to safari in Amboseli National Park, and today you can definitely look forward to seeing elephants. The park is one of the best places in Africa to see these big animals, and many of them even have some enormously long tusks.
Almost everywhere you go, you will have a view of Kilimanjaro, which is located in Tanzania, but which is probably more often photographed from the Kenya side. In Amboseli, you may, in fact, be lucky enough to get the perfect shot of elephants strolling across the pancake-flat landscape as the sun sets before entering the forests at the foot of Kilimanjaro, where they spend the night.
The sparse vegetation in Amboseli makes it easier to spot the wild animals, and in addition to elephants, you will see lots of zebras, antelopes, giraffes – and probably lions as well.
If you are interested in birds, you will not be disappointed in Amboseli, as parts of the park are swampy almost all year round, which attracts many different bird species.
You have a packed lunch today, so you can spend the entire day on safari.
We highly recommend that you start the day with a balloon safari over Amboseli. Imagine gliding almost silently across the savannah as the sun rises and Kilimanjaro towers behind you. It is quite simply magical.
From one of the smallest national parks in Kenya, the tour then proceeds to one of the largest and oldest parks: Tsavo East. On the way from Amboseli to Tsavo East, you follow the paved main road, but soon you hit Tsavo East, and the drive turns into a game drive.
In Tsavo East, the soil is bright red, giving the wild animals a rather distinctive reddish appearance. You might as well get used to the red earth – you will meet it again when you reach Madagascar.
The landscape in Tsavo East is flat, making it easy to spot the animals.
Here you have the opportunity to see lions, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, the special jet-black serval, antelopes, kudus, oryxes, hyenas, ostriches, gazelles, buffaloes and elephants and many others. And this is probably where you have the best chance to spot the shy leopard! Tsavo East is also a paradise for bird enthusiasts, particularly from late October to early January, when many migratory birds live in Tsavo.
You have a single night in Tsavo East.
Today, the tour continues from Tsavo East to Tsavo West, and the landscape changes dramatically.
Where Tsavo East is characterised by its bright red soil, Tsavo West means contours in the landscapes, denser vegetation and lava fields. The dense bushes in Tsavo West often make it more difficult to spot the animals, but the unique nature more than makes up for this – along with the beautiful views of Kilimanjaro.
On today’s drive, you will stop at Mzima Springs – a series of natural springs lined with palms and acacia trees that produce enough water to meet most of the city of Mombasa’s freshwater needs. Here, you will make a round accompanied by a ranger. Keep an eye out for the crocodiles that lie on the shore as well as the hippos in the water. It is also a very good place to spot birds, for example kingfishers.
You have a single night in Tsavo West.
There is time for a morning game drive today – and perhaps also lunch at the lodge before the journey back to Nairobi.
It is also possible that your guide will arrange a packed lunch for the car which you can eat during the drive. The trip to Nairobi takes somewhere between 5 to 7 hours, depending on the traffic. Sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery that glides past outside. During the first few hours, you may be lucky enough to spot more wild animals as you drive through the national park. Later, the surroundings become more rural, and it might be a good idea to have an audiobook ready – or perhaps just spend the time digesting all that you have experienced in the past few days.
You spend one night in Nairobi before you fly on to Madagascar the next day.
There is departure from Nairobi towards the large, red island in the Indian Ocean, Madagascar.
On arrival in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, you will be met at the airport by our local partner.
We recommend that you exchange some money at the airport. Our partner can assist with this, and also if you want to buy a local SIM card.
You will then be driven to your hotel close to the airport, where you have a single night.
Although Madagascar officially belongs to the African Continent and shares tectonic plate with East Africa, it is almost like coming to another continent. The island is the fourth largest island in the world and has a completely unique culture and history – and not least unique flora and fauna. 90% of the animal and plant species that live in Madagascar are not found anywhere else in the world.
Most people probably associate Madagascar primarily with lemurs, vanilla, and pepper. But, in fact, Madagascar also has a very rich and exciting history and cultural history, and you will get a sample of that today.
Although Madagascar is now a republic, the country has a long history of kings and queens. And the capital Antananarivo, which, in daily parlance, is often also simply called ‘Tana’, has been the focal point of this history for many centuries.
The city is located in Madagascar’s central highlands, which are home to the ethnic Merina people. It was founded in the early 17th century by the local Merina king, King Andrianjaka, and, back then, it was called Analamanga. He ousted a rival ethnic group, and slowly began to build his kingdom. At the end of the 17th century, the city was renamed Antananarivo.
In 1787, through cunning alliances and shrewd political moves, the Merina king, Andrianampoinimerina, succeeded in uniting the country under him and becoming the first king of all of Madagascar.
The reason why you are visiting the Queen’s, and not the King’s, Palace this afternoon is that Madagascar’s queens are far more famous than its kings.
The most famous of them all is Queen Ranavalona I, who ruled from 1828 to 1861. She was also called ‘the mad queen’, and you can look forward to hearing more about her today! You will also meet the country’s last queen, Queen Ranavalona III, who was sent into exile when the French invaded and colonised Madagascar in the late 19th century
The guided tour of the palace is very interesting and provides a good insight into Madagascar’s history.
After lunch, the tour heads towards eastern Madagascar and the beautiful Andasibe-Mantadia National Park.
After a couple of hours of driving through a hilly plateau landscape with lots of rice fields, the scenery changes. The hills become higher, and the forests denser. Here and there, you can glimpse the river at the bottom of the valleys.
You arrive at Andasibe-Mantadia National Park during the afternoon, where you check into your hotel for the next three nights.
The seeds of the national park were sown in 1970 by the French. They created the Analamazoatra Special Reserve to preserve the forest and the area’s unique biodiversity. In 1989, Mantadia National Park was established next to the reserve, and together the two areas are now called Andasibe-Mantadia National Park.
Already after sunset, the first guided walk awaits you, where you will look for the nocturnal lemurs. Especially mouse lemurs are the focus of this walk. These are tiny creatures – the size of a small mouse – and they jump quickly and elegantly between the branches of the trees as if they were squirrels. It is no wonder that one of the species, Goodman’s mouse lemur, was only discovered in 2005! Keep an eye out too for stick insects, frogs and chameleons.
From the morning, you will go looking for luck – accompanied by a local guide! It is, in fact, a saying in Madagascar that it brings good luck being close to Indri lemurs (Indriidae), which are the largest of Madagascar’s lemur species.
Indri lemurs cannot survive in captivity, and the only way to ensure their survival is to protect their habitat – and you contribute to this through your visit to the park. The national park fee goes to guides, restoration of the forest etc., and the mere fact that you are visiting the park is an incentive for it to be preserved and expanded.
You will probably hear the Indri lemurs before you see them. Their call, which sounds like a cross between screaming and singing, can be heard at a distance of up to 5 km. The sound is penetrating and absolutely magical. It’s hard not to get goosepimples when they start singing. It is almost as if, immediately after sunrise, with their piercing singing voices, they are checking to see how each of them is doing – whether everything has gone as it should during the night.
In addition to your guide, you are often also accompanied by a ‘spotter’. The spotter runs ahead and locates the Indri lemur families, which you then force your way through the forest to see. They usually sit high up in the trees, where they have spent the night. Feel free to bring binoculars so you can see their furry arms clinging to the branches with almost human-like hands.
As always with wildlife, there is no guarantee that you will see them, but Andasibe is one of the best places in Madagascar to see Indri lemurs.
Of course, there are lots of other animals in the national park as well. You might be lucky enough to see bamboo lemurs, sifaka lemurs, brown lemurs, chameleons and a rich bird life.
You have a packed lunch with you today, so that you can make the most of your time in the park. After the morning’s hike, there is time to relax at a waterfall, where you eat your packed lunch and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Depending on what shape you are in, you can continue the hike in the afternoon, or you can choose to head back to the lodge and relax for the rest of the day.
The morning offers another guided walk in Andasibe. If you have any wishes for animals or plants that you would like to look for, please tell your guide, and he/she will do his/her best to make it happen!
Around noon, you will return to the lodge, where lunch is served.
The afternoon offers another guided walk. This time, you will visit the V.O.I.M.M.A Reserve, which has been created in connection with the national park itself. For many years, the area was zoned for agriculture. As the citizens of the local village, Andasibe, realised the need to preserve and develop the forest areas, while also wanting to maintain their connection to the rural areas, they applied for permission to establish a reserve where there were previously fields.
The income from the guided tours and the small souvenir shop goes to the village community and has, for example, helped ensure running water and a small hospital in the town. In addition, the reserve creates jobs and gives the locals greater insight into their natural surroundings and the importance of nature preservation. The reserve thus contributes both to expanding the natural habitats of the endangered lemurs and to the survival of the village community.
After a visit to the reserve, dinner is served at the hotel before a good night’s sleep beckons.
There is departure from Andasibe, and you return to the capital Antananarivo. From here you fly on to Mauritius and the last leg of this tour: a relaxing beach holiday.
Our local partner will pick you up at the airport and drive you to your hotel. You have four nights on Mauritius, but you can obviously extend your stay if you so wish.
The days are at your leisure.
Enjoy Mauritius’ stunning beaches, beautiful waters and lush nature for which Mauritius is so famous. If you want to spice up your stay with an excursion or two, check out our offers below.
It is time to say goodbye to Mauritius’ beautiful beaches. You will be picked up at your hotel and driven to the airport, from where you fly home with connecting flight(s) along the way.
You land at your chosen airport after an adventurous tour.
Children under 12 years from £3869
Single room supplement from £519
Catriona is passionate about helping other people fulfill their travel dreams, as she knows how much travel has only improved her life for the better!
