Elephant Level

Do you need a break away from the hustle and bustle of your normal life? Are you feeling run down and in need of some good food, fresh air and exercise? This safari gives you the chance to totally relax in the wild, be at one with nature and return home invigorated.

Designed to be as active or inactive as you please, this safari allows you to break out of your routine. Horseback gallop alongside wild zebras, sleep under the African stars high in the treetops and walk in the bush, all without a phone or computer in sight! With a strong emphasis on health, fitness and well-being, this safari leaves you feeling strong, fresh and fulfilled.

All the camps in this itinerary have been specially selected for their emphasis on their outdoor activities, homegrown and home-cooked foods, stunning locations and safari style. Receive advice on diet, fitness and overall health. Massage, aromatherapy, yoga and meditation are just a few of the wonderful treats arranged for you on this unique safari.

Our experienced, qualified yoga instructor will accompany you throughout your safari. She will offer daily ninety-minute yoga sessions for those seeking the ultimate in relaxation. Although yoga and meditation are her best-known therapies, she also practices massage and reflexology, while advising on the natural health of the body and mind.

Also included in this unique package are two treatments of your choice while at Loisaba. They offer manicures, pedicures, facials, aromatherapy and other treatments, making it the ultimate bush spa! At Rekero in the Masai Mara your health regime will include walking with the witch doctor and the local tribes people as they teach you about their local health remedies, which have been handed down the generations. At Ngong House, you can choose a final therapy of your choice before returning home.

Day 1 On arrival at the Nairobi international airport, you will be met by your Eco-resorts representative and transferred to Macushla House. Located in the suburb of Langata, Macushla House gives a quiet, peaceful stopover in this busy city area. With six spacious bedrooms, two lounges, a private study, bar, pool and dining room, Macushla caters for both the business and the holiday travelers. A delicious range of fresh, home-cooked meals, served throughout the day, provides fine dining at your convenience.

Today you will meet your yoga instructor and start your yoga classes, well needed after that long flight! Located close to the Giraffe Manor, Karen Blixen Museum, Nairobi National Park and the Animal Orphanage, Macushla is the perfect place to start your safari adventure. Overnight at Macushla House.

Days 2-4 After an optional early morning dip in the pool and a healthy breakfast, you will be collected from Macushla and taken to Wilson airport, where you will board a short flight to Nanyuki and then another short flight to the private ranch of Loisaba. During your stay at Loisaba you will be offered advice on diet, personal fitness and general health for mind and body, while staying at both the Loisaba Lodge and the Loisaba Star Beds.

The Loisaba Wilderness area is a 150 square km, privately managed wildlife conservancy, situated approximately 100 km north of Mount Kenya. The wilderness area is the same size as the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania and larger than many of Kenya’s national parks! The vast plateau plains lie to the north, while the southern plateau breaks into valleys, escarpments and cliffs that frame stunning views of the distant Mount Kenya. The wilderness is a haven for more than 250 species of birds and 50 species of mammal. Alongside the more usual types of game such as elephant, buffalo, Grevvy zebra and greater kudu, the area is also rapidly gaining a reputation for the big cats. Even wild dogs, thought for many years to be extinct in the region, are now being sighted.

Arriving at Loisaba Lodge in time for lunch on Day 2, you will spend your first Loisaba afternoon at your leisure, either having a massage after your day of travel or enjoying a gentle nature walk in the sanctuary, before your yoga class and transfer to the Loisaba Star Beds.

Spend your next two nights at the Loisaba Star Beds, which are unique to Loisaba. Situated high in the trees, and safe from any animals wandering by, you can spend the night breathing in the pure African night air as you sleep. Comprised of a raised, handcrafted, wooden platform, which is semi-covered with a thatch roof, the Star Beds are usually reached by foot, horse or camel, making it a wonderful expedition for the adventurous traveler! Each platform is positioned to ensure complete privacy while you are there and, although rustic, has modern bathroom facilities to ensure your comfort.

During your time at the Star Beds, explore the beautiful Loisaba wilderness either on foot, camel, horse or in a specially prepared safari vehicle. Why not spend the cool hours of morning trekking through the bush or galloping along side wild zebra on the open grassy plains? Don’t forget your daily yoga class in the afternoon! Whichever you decide, you’ll savor the aromatic smells of the African bush. All meals and overnight at the Loisaba Star Beds.

Days 4-6 In the morning of Day 4, set off on camels for the Loisaba Lodge, where you will have lunch and enjoy a variety of different activities, including river rafting (seasonal), fishing, tennis, swimming, horse riding, camel riding and bush walking.

With a strong emphasis on health and fitness, Loisaba Lodge gives you the opportunity to purify your mind, body and soul with a range of different treatments. You can spend your afternoons relaxing with a warm aromatic massage, loosening those stiff riding muscles and aching feet. Or indulge in a facial using the best beauty products.

After energetic mornings, spend the afternoons having one of the five different types of massage available at the Loisaba Lodge. Once the heat of the day has moved on, enjoy a gentle stroll through the private sanctuary before your yoga session.

How about sinking down into a thundering Jacuzzi filled with aromatic salts and minerals? This could be followed by a manicure and pedicure to enhance those bush split nails and tired feet. This package includes two of Loisaba’s treatments, so go ahead and indulge yourself!

At Loisaba, you will notice the abundance of dramatic views. Enjoy an early evening walk, peacefully witnessing the day turn into night as you sip on an exquisite cocktail before heading back to the Lodge for dinner and overnight. All meals and overnight at the Loisaba Lodge.

Day 6 After a leisurely breakfast, fly to Nanyuki and then to the Masai Mara, where you will be collected by your own private vehicle and driven to Rekero, the home of the Beaton family.

One of the greatest and most diverse concentrations of wildlife in Africa is found in the Masai Mara reserve. Famous for its large populations of lion, leopard and cheetah, a safari to Kenya is incomplete without a visit to the Mara. Surrounded by rolling hills and endless savanna plains, Rekero hosts just eight guests in comfortable, thatched bungalows set around a waterhole, host to elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo.

Upon arrival, plan what you would like to do while at Rekero, while enjoying your home cooked lunch. The health emphasis at Rekero will be less on facials and manicures and more on nature walks and cultural insights on how the local tribes stay healthy. All meals and overnight at Rekero.

Day 7-9 While at Rekero, spend some time exploring the local area. The Beaton’s have a very good relationship with the traditional hunter/gatherer tribes of East Africa, the Masai and the Ndorobo. You are welcome to enjoy cultural visits to their communities, walk with the tribesmen and spend time with the local witch doctor performing his rituals. These ancient tribes still use natural homemade remedies and tonics for the majority of ailments and have done so for centuries.

Wildlife viewing from Rekero is tailored according to the movement of the wildlife and is guided away from mass tourism. Surrounded by the grazing lands of the Masai people, the Mara is a sanctuary for all of the “Big Five” animals: lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard. The sweet grasses and abundant water ensure a full compliment of plains game such as the impala and Thompsons gazelle. The deep river pools provide homes for hippo and crocodiles.

Each year, generally in August/September, the Mara is host to the spectacular Wildebeest Migration, one of the natural wonders of the world! Literally millions of these awkwardly shaped ungulates move across the open plains in an endless stream stretching from horizon to horizon. The movement of this vast herd is fascinating in itself, but seldom a day goes by without the added bonus of watching the predators that follow the herd. Lion, leopard, cheetah and wild dogs rely on the herd for food. Spotting one of these magnificent predators is more or less guaranteed at this time.

While at Rekero, enjoy a gentle bird walk through the surrounding gardens or a yoga session on the front lawn in the early evenings. After supper, relax on the Rekero verandah and enjoy the comings and goings of the waterhole.

Rekero is well known for its healthy and delicious fresh farm food. With a huge assortment of newly picked vegetables, fresh meat and fish and home-baked bread, your quest for health and well-being will be fulfilled here. The experienced and much loved Rekero crew will see to your every need, sending you home feeling content and healthy.

Day 10 Sadly it is time to leave Rekero and head to the airstrip to catch your short flight to Nairobi. In Nairobi you will be met and taken to the quaint Ngong House, located in the famous Nairobi suburb of Karen, once home to Karen Blixen. Romantic and delightfully different, Ngong House is located just twenty minutes from the city-center, yet feels like the African bush. Four thatched roofed tree houses provide the accommodation, but what tree houses! Huge beds, comfortable couches, shady verandahs, hot showers and private mini-bars are just a few of the features! Ngong House bewitches visitors, with 10 acres of grounds, a swimming pool and superb fresh home cooked meals. Leaving is very difficult!

While at Ngong House you can indulge in just about any form of therapy you fancy! Yoga, massages, meditation or simply a swim are all available here. If you fancy some true African hustle and bustle, take a trip into Nairobi and visit the heaving Masai trading markets. If you still haven’t had enough of the wildlife, pop along to the nearby animal orphanage or the Nairobi National Park. All meals and over night at Ngong House.

Day 11 Today is spent at your leisure. Depending on what time your international flight check in time is, you are free to do as you please until you leave for the airport. But be sure to have one last massage and yoga session before climbing on the plane home!

Includes: All transfers, all accommodation, breakfast at Macushla House, all meals and all house drinks at Loisaba and Rekero, activities as listed above, park entrance fees and local taxes, 2 treatments of your choice at Loisaba, daily yoga sessions, 2 massages or reflexology sessions from our therapist, all domestic flights and charters.

Excludes: Drinks, lunch and dinner at Macushla House, telephone calls, personal purchases, tips, visas and international flights.

Contact Melinda Rees for more information on this safari.

Why travel with us? Because Eco-resorts is changing the world-one journey at a time.

Animals and people both need land. Ecotourism provides an alternative income for the people, leaving space for the migratory animals. Eco-resorts actively supports the villages and projects that are protecting East Africa's environment and culture.

We develop self-help eco-projects, which promote wildlife conservation. We also educate both our consumers and our partner camps with two free ezines. We use renewable energy products, reduce paper and plastic consumption in our office and have left the natural vegetation unscathed, resulting in duiker and monitor lizards visiting the office!

We donate 10% of all post-tax profits to fund community and/or conservation projects. Community projects are operated with the local villagers as the operators and managers; Eco-resorts provides advice and guidance when requested, but abides by local beliefs and traditions.

Our current projects include:

- The Children of the Rising Sun Orphanage, which provides accommodation, meals, medicine and schooling for 28 street-children. Our goal is to have a vocational job-training center operational at the home, for the kids and local villagers.

- The Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve, the last remaining tract of coastal lowland forest in Kenya, which provides the only refuge for several endemic birds and mammals, such as the golden-rumped elephant shrew and the Sokoke Pippet. Designated as one of Conservation International's 26 global bio-diversity hotspots (www.conservation.org) and surrounded on all sides by an ever increasing human population, the Forest is in danger of disappearing as trees are cut for carvings, land cleared for subsistence farming and animals trapped for food.

Eco-resorts hopes to ensure that the local villagers become the greatest supporters of the Forest. One of the many projects in the Forest trains the local villagers to breed forest butterfly species for export to the live butterfly market.

With two local butterfly farms already in operation, over 400 people in the area bordering the Forest now have an income that relies upon the continued health of the Forest. Our goal is to employ another 100 people.

Please contact melinda@eco-resorts.com for more detailed information on our ezines and the Eco-resorts community and wildlife conservation projects that your eco-adventure safari will support. Help us make a difference!