Fort Jesus Passageway

Maasai Women

Nairobi Skyline

Akamba Village Artisan

Buffalo on the Plains

Cobblestone street in Stone Town

Itinerary

Day 1 - After the evening departing flight from JFK our first stop is the modern bustling metropolis, Nairobi, Kenya with its gateway through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Meals on flight.  

Day 2 - Arrival in Nairobi Kenya. Move through immigration and customs Transfer to Hotel for overnight. 

Day 3 - After breakfast the City Tour to the famed National Museum of Kenya where one witnesses the geological time capsules of the planet earth, evolution of our species, the flora and fauna, and myriad of modern day cultural and ethnic groups that make up the diverse nation of Kenya. The Nairobi National Park and the Bomas of Kenya, an unforgettable cultural presentation of traditional dancers and acrobats will crown our first full day in Kenya. Later that evening we will board the train for Nairobi to Mombasa with dinner. The  overnight train  arrives the next morning. Breakfast is served before disembarkment.

Day 4 - Check in to our hotel and prepare for a full day city tour of  Mombasa.  Fort Jesus, which still stands, as a bastion of East Africa trading port for Africans into slavery, is our first stop. That site is followed by walking through the narrow streets with shops full of items to remind one of this island frozen in the time of the 15-17^th century.  The motored tour then takes us to largest production of wood sculptures in East Africa at Akamba Village. After breakfast we complete our Mombasa tour by visiting Gomongo Village.  Gomongo Village provides a slice of life from about ten cultural groups in Kenya which include the Kikuyu, Turkana, Pokot, Maasai, Akamba, and others.  Afterwards, we return to our hotel to relax to the maximum along the Indian Ocean.  Dinner

 Day 5 - In the early morning after breakfast our flight takes us to the island of Zanzibar. Check-in hotel then begin Stone Town Tour. Zanzibar Stone Town is known for its  quaint narrow streets with stone architecture from the Sultans and aristocratic Indian elite who still colonize the indigenous African people. We will visit the site of the  slave market and dungeon, the museum, Africa House and other places of interest in this very small pedestrian city.  Dinner

Day 6 - Breakfast in Zanzibar.  Part of the morning is spent on completing tour of Stone Town.  Leisure and extra excursions for those who wish to explore more of the island.  Zanzibar is known for its unique tropical flora and fauna, spice markets, and diverse population of Africans, Arabs, and Indians whose major language is Kiswahili.  They boast of speaking the most perfect form of Kiswahili.  Afternoon flight to Arusha.  Check in hotel for overnight and dinner.

Day 7 - Arusha/Olduvai Gorge/Ngorongoro Crater (Safari) Early breakfast; drive to Ngorongoro through parts of the Rift Valley, see Kilamanjaro on our way to visit Olduvai Gorge, its museum, site of Zinjanthropus boise, the shifting sands; drive through the Serengeti. We take the hypnotic view from the crater from then ascend to the crater floor to view one of the world's phenomena of a lake sunken about a half mile into the earth approximately 2 million years ago with a complete ecosystem. If the Garden of Eden did indeed exist, then this is it.  One will not find it uncommon to see elephants, zebras, wildebeests, buffalos, lions, gazelles, hippos, and birds of many varieties. Ascending from the floor of the Crater is a virgin forest still intact. We will see Lake Manyara Eyasi and other sister lakes on the way to our hotel. Dinner and overnight in the Wildlife lodge.

Day 8 - Early breakfast, then we visit a Massai Village to experience authentic Maasai life.  The Maasai are a nomadic people of the plains who are in constant search for adequate grazing ground for their large herds of cattle and other live stock.  When two Maasai meet, the first greeting they exchange is Keserian ingra? Keserian ingishu? (How are your wife and children? How are your cattle?)  To have one without the other is to be poor.  To have both is to be rich.  The Maasai are thought to be a hybrid of Nilotes (from the Nile River region) and Hamites originating from North Africa.  They came from North Africa, migrated along the Nile River and settled in East Africa initially settling around the Lake Turkana area in Kenya about the 15th century.  Physically, they are among the handsomest of mankind with slender bones, narrow hips, wide shoulders, and most beautifully developed muscle contour.  The Tanzanian Maasai are less exposed to Western influences as compared to their Kenyan counterparts, and thus have retained closer links with their culture and traditions that are now severely challenged.  The Ilkisongo (Tanzania) prefer dark red and dark blue in their bead work whereas the Ilpurko (Kenya) like orange and light blue.  We leave for Nairobi via Arusha for overnight and dinner at our hotel in Nairobi.

Day 9 - This day will remain open for either shopping or any activities that we want to do and time did not allow before. There will be airport transfer for our flight home in the late evening.

Day 10 - Arrive at JFK. End of educational tour.

More information will be posted regarding this exciting tour to Kenya, Tanzania & Zanzibar.  We would love to have you join us!