Snowbird Private Kenya Safari! Ooh, Who doesn’t Love a Safari?

Last minute offerings… We have prepared a ‘Snowbird Kenya Safari’ itinerary, to tempt you into taking a short safari. It is a short and quite affordable safari, but if you would like to see something longer that encompasses a variety of experiences, do please get in touch, nothing is TOO Much!

Please do consider this time of year for a safari, as it is a very special time to visit. The highlights of this period are: Fewer tourists around so more privacy and an enhanced experience in the Parks and Reserves. A great time to enjoy the incredible East African Coast and the Indian Ocean. Warm weather. Calving season for the wildebeests in the Southern Serengeti where 300,000 calves are born in a three-week period! This is an amazing spectacle. (February). It is a drier time of year, so the wildlife tends to concentrate around waterholes and are thus much more visible and impressive.

And…It’s generally a great time of year to get away from Winter at home!

Our revered Kenyan Team draw upon four generations of African Safari heritage to give our clients the best access to the very best that Africa has to offer in safety and comfort. We carefully plan, outfit and operate private African safari adventures throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, taking our guests to some of the most breath-taking locations on the continent. Each and every one of our safaris is customized to suit the guest’s tastes and budget, based on years of hands-on field experience combined with relationships built-up over decades of personally guiding our safaris. This is the Ultimate Private Safari!

Background on my VIP Team. The family journeyed from England to Africa in the 1820’s. Arriving first into South Africa they spent a short time in Port Elizabeth, before making their way north to Kenya. Upon arrival at the port of Mombasa, they laden up their ox cart and so began their journey and consequently, first ever safari through Africa.

The family is one of the oldest settler families in Kenya arriving in the late 1800’s, have a unique and special part in the history of the country. They trekked through the rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals, along the way meeting the many diverse and different people of Kenya, who would later become their people too.

The Family journeyed some 700kms on their very first safari, without any roads to follow yet arriving to their destination in Nanyuki, Laikipia in Northern Kenya.

This maiden journey for the family sparked the beginning of a lifelong generational love for Africa. They are respected and revered in the African community. They were home.

Snowbird  4 guests, 8 guests or 12 guests. Safari Overview January- March, 2025 Dates TBC

Day 1 – 4 On arrival at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you will be met by your private guide and transferred onto your private air charter to the magical Meru National Park

My VIP team Private Mobile Camp – Meru – Exclusive Use 3 Nights

Day 4 – 7 Fly by private air charter to the beautiful Laikipia Plateau and enjoy your very own game conservancy, staying at Enasoit – Exclusive Use 3 Nights

Day 7 – 10 Fly by private air charter to the VIP Team private tented camp, situated on the shady banks of the Sand River, Maasai Mara National Reserve. My VIP Team Private Mobile Camp-Exclusive use. 3 Nights

Day 10 Fly by private air charter to Nairobi. You will have a chance to enjoy sightseeing and any last-minute shopping as you will have a vehicle at your disposal today. You will have day rooms where you can freshen up before your international flight home

Key Dates

1) Day 1 – 4: My Kenyan VIP Private Mobile Camp – Meru ,Meru National Park

2) Day 4 – 7: Enasoit, Laikipia

3) Day 7 – 10: My Kenyan VIP Private Mobile Camp, Maasai Mara

Meru National Park Area Overview It has diverse scenery from woodlands at 3,000 feet on the slopes of the Nyambene hills, northeast of Mount Kenya, to wide-open plains with wandering riverbanks dotted with doum palms. The rivers are teaming with hippo and crocodile. If you want to you can fish for barbus and catfish at camp and along the Tana River. The area abounds with breathtaking views of swamps, meandering rivers inventively lined with palms, thick woodlands and a spectacular view of Mt. Kenya.

This is where the conservationists George and Joy Adamson raised Elsa the Lioness made famous in the best-selling book and award-winning movie Born Free. Elsa the Lioness is buried in this park and part of Joy’s ashes were scattered on her gravesite. Joy Adamson also released Pippa the cheetah in this park.

Enjoy the days exploring the Meru National Park looking for a wide range of animals including elephants, Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Rhino, Grévy’s zebra, and hippopotamus. The wildlife here is vast and you will have no trouble finding game. Meru also offers a diverse number of birdlife there have been over400 species of birds recorded in this park and you will be able to see an array of them from camp.

VIP Team Private Mobile Camp – Meru Property Overview

The advantage of a Mobile Tented Camp over a lodge or a permanent tented camp is its flexibility and ability to be where the action is at any time of the year, since they are completely mobile. For, in Africa, no two seasons are exactly alike: no two years exactly the same. Since the movement of the vast array of herbivores and their attendant predators is triggered by rainfall, lush new growth and surface water, flexibility is a luxury that a mobile camp can offer a traveler.

Couple that with not having to share your home away from home with other humans, and you have a safari win-win! Mobile camping is all and more than the words imply.

The tents are huge and comfortable, insect proofed, each with its own veranda in front, with en-suite shower, toilet and separate changing area. Your tent will be furnished with either two single or one king size beds, firm yet comfortable mattresses, the finest bed linen, duvets and your bed will be warmed for comfort by hot water bottles in chilly conditions.

You will have a canvas wardrobe for your clothing, bedside tables, solar powered electric lights, and, in fact, everything anyone would expect in a luxury fixed lodge, including scented candles and fresh flowers.

The Dining Area – aka The Mess –incorporates a lounge and Bar area is spacious and insect proofed when necessary. In here, delicious multi-course gourmet meals are served, all cooked by skilled chefs on the camp stove and oven.

Menus include a variety of dishes to suit every taste and diet – vegan, vegetarian, meats, fish and fowl, pastas, pizzas and fresh salads, plus plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables brought in whenever needed, with bread baked daily. A refrigerator and deep freeze ensure that food is kept fresh, and that ice is ever plentiful.

The Safari crew play a vital role in making each safari memorable. Besides the wildlife ‘spotters’ and ‘trackers’, and the polished kitchen and dining staff, your unobtrusive tent butler will clean your tent during your absence & return your freshly laundered clothes.

Accommodations

Luxury Tent Our tents are luxurious with every effort made to ensure that our guests are comfortable. Each tent is equipped with electric lights, ensuite bathrooms with hot showers and flush toilets. We do not compromise on comfort!

Laikipia Area Overview The Laikipia plateau is fast becoming a region to rival the Maasai Mara. Rolling savannahs interspersed with riverine woodlands and granite inselbergs dot the landscape, with multiple rivers and streams eventually running off into the Ewaso Nyiro, northern Kenya’s largest river.

Home to all the Big Five, this idyllic region affords a huge variety of experiences and activities without the larger numbers of visitors that are sometimes found in national parks. Guests have the possibility of seeing northern species of giraffe, ostrich, and zebra amongst others. Horseback, camel, and walking safaris are very popular.

Laikipia encompasses an area the size of Wales and is located east of the Great Rift Valley and north of the snow-capped peaks of Mt Kenya, on the edge of Kenya’s fabled Northern Frontier District.

A patchwork of huge ranches, many of which are still working cattle ranches, have assumed the role of custodians of Kenya’s free roaming wildlife and are now geared towards adventurous and often luxurious safari tourism. Groundbreaking conservation projects work in tandem with the local ecotourism industry, generating sustainable income for the local Samburu and Laikipiak and Mokogodo Maasai communities, amongst many others.

Enasoit Property Overview Enasoit is a luxury tented camp in the wildlife rich Laikipia highlands of Kenya. The camp is an enchanting exclusive property, catering for only one group of guests at a time, and offering a uniquely private safari experience. Enasoit guests have the camp and surrounding wildlife reserve all to themselves – an ideal retreat for families and groups of friends.

As a small and intimate camp, Enasoit has unique charm. It is relaxed and welcoming, yet luxurious and beautifully appointed.

An Enasoit safari offers remarkable wildlife encounters and an array of exciting ways to experience the wilderness. One of the most distinctive features of Enasoit Camp is the extraordinary wildlife activity at the waterhole, located just in front of the main Mess Tent – the perfect viewpoint for wildlife-viewing from the comfort of an armchair.

Experience & Activities Enasoit days are as action packed or as relaxed as you like. There is an array of activities on offer including day and night guided game drives, guided bush walks, tracking resident lions, bush picnics, sundowner drinks and dinner under the stars, horse-riding, bird watching, exploring ancient rock art sites, relaxing by the swimming pool, massage and spa treatments. There is also a games area with croquet, table tennis, volleyball, and boules.

Other activities that can be arranged prior to arrival at an additional cost include helicopter excursions, guest speakers (experts in their fields such as anthropology, conservation, astronomy), quad bike excursions, and a visit to the nearby rhino sanctuary.

Accommodations Exclusive Use of Camp Enasoit Camp has 8 rooms: 6 tented cottages and 1 family tent with 2 interconnecting rooms. The rooms are situated around the waterhole, which attracts a busy array of wildlife, easily visible from the tent verandahs. The tents are carefully constructed using canvas and local materials, combining the romance of living ‘under canvas’ with the comfort of a permanent structure. Each tent has an en-suite bathroom, wooden floors, a sitting area with a fireplace and private verandah.

Fast Facts Highlights

Ideal for private groups and families Exclusive use of Enasoit Camp and the 4,500-acre wildlife reserve; and access to adjoining 50,000 acre wildlife reserve. An amazing array of exciting activities on offer. Excellent wildlife viewing. Owner managed

Quick facts Can accommodate 16 guests in eight tented cottages. Plus an additional two thatched cottage rooms at the Pool House (5 min drive from Enasoit Camp), which can be used for larger groups. 24-hour power available. 45 minutes flight or 4-hour drive from Nairobi. Located on the equator at 6,000ft altitude. Days are warm (mid 20’s Celsius) and mornings and evenings are cooler

Maasai Mara Area Overview The Mara (as it is affectionately known) covers 583 mi and is widely considered to be Africa’s greatest reserve. The backdrop of the Siria escarpment in the west overlooks sweeping savannas, riverine woodlands, and forests on a deceptively flat landscape that extends eastwards towards the Sekenani Hills and northwards towards the Aitong Hills.

The Mara is in essence the northern extension of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and plays host to one of nature’s greatest phenomenon’s, the Great Wildebeest Migration.

Because of the quality of wildlife viewing, the Mara has for generations been the setting for hundreds of wildlife documentaries, including Disney’s African Cats, and the BBC’s Big Cat Diaries and Planet Earth. It is a wildlife photographer’s paradise and every year visitors come to capture the spectacular wildlife. The reserve and its conservancies contain some of the highest densities of predators in Africa and this only increases as nomads and vagrants follow the huge herds back and forth through this ecosystem during the seasonal wildebeest migration.

I’ve sent dozens of clients on Safari wit this team and have explored the Mara and these same areas with the team- they are beyond fun, the food is excellent, it is Quite Perfect!

SAFARI IS THE SWAHILI WORD FOR JOURNEY.

Yours starts here.

Out of Africa – Karen, Kenya A Safari, Chapter One

My first safari was over 25 years ago. One of my lasting memories is the vast wide-open blue skies and the infinite horizons. The seemingly edge of the earth thrusting itself up to graze the pale sky. The sky in Africa always seems bigger than anywhere else in the world, an endless horizon stretches forever. Occasionally peppered with billowing pristine white clouds, it’s like IMax scenery!

I’ve enjoyed numerous Journeys to Kenya, a last-minute invitation on a business Safari, known as a Fam, was impossible to resist! A Fam is industry vernacular for a Familiarization trip to explore hotels or lodges – with a small group of like-minded agency owners – usually an arduous schedule to enjoy ten days of adventure jam-packed into five days! Morocco was already on my schedule, change flights and I’m in Kenya.

My month in Morocco allowed a few days of down time before meeting the Fam group. Arriving in Nairobi at 3 am via Istanbul, I woke up in a familiar property, Hemingways in Karen, Kenya. The suites are enormous, terraces open to the expansive always green garden, a pond gurgles and swells with dragon flies, mynah birds speak their own language – coffee delivered to my sunny terrace – a marvelous way to wake up in Kenya!

Agenda: repack Morocco bags, safari gear into green canvas and leather satchels, swim and run a few errands with Sammy, my local driver. Sammy intent on reteaching me Swahili!

Who can complain about African November heat, follow the sun, avoid winter. Two days of Hemingways, move to Manzili House to meet the Fam, after a few days, FAM could have been altered to FAMILY.  I rarely go on Fams, if I want to visit a property, I go. One must play well with others for a week or so, and there is no escape! Turns out this group was beyond swell, hugs and tears upon departure!

Karen, Kenya properties are primarily reserved for pre and post safari. I’ve stayed at all the five-star options, Manzili House was new to me. Owned by a local family, Vanessa and George Roumeguere,  it’s a comfy luxury homestay – home away from home. Karen is a leafy quiet Nairobi suburb, Manzili House is on a family property, designed and built by the owners. My arrival with four 60-pound bags raised eyebrows – a month roaming Morocco was my only explanation! One of the guests arrived with a small duffel, the look…Uh oh – she didn’t get the safari bag memo.

Manzili House proved to be an enchanting choice for our group, as each traveler wandered in from international flights. A charming 4-bedroom home with individual suites and a separate 2-bedroom house with a full kitchen separated by a pool and garden, the ideal location for a small group. Acacia trees, flowering vines surround the garden property.

Perfect central base for exploring, it’s a stone’s throw from Nairobi National Park and the local must-see galleries, shops, Sheldricks Elephant Orphanage, and the Giraffe Center.

The main house is light and airy, beautifully decorated in distinctive Swahili architecture and impressive accessories- I felt at home! The owner’s son, Louie, plays host with the butler – who does anything and everything at a moment’s notice! Hospitality is in their genes.

I asked about the antiques and art – I mentioned we could be friends- I have a few of these pieces! Relaxing at the pool, a charming woman with tiny puppy greets me, I assume one of our Fam group. It’s Vanessa, the owner of Manzili House. Within minutes, we are fast friends! She’s French, married a French man whose French anthropologist mother married a Maasai, and he grew up with 100+ step brothers and sisters in Kenya. This is Karen, Kenya, after all. Google the legendary history of Karen…it’s quite interesting!

We chat and Vanessa exclaims, we must go visit my artist friend – let’s go, you will adore him! Puppy in tow, we traverse a few blocks through rural Karen – think Montecito or Beverly Hills landscaping, although you can’t see homes behind the massive shrubs and enormous trees and substantial gates. Some gates have local tribesmen as guards.

Indeed, we visit her friend, the artist Anthony Russell, in his over-the-top studio. Truly, it is more like a museum of antiquities merged with his enormous expressive art collages and photographs. Anthony, engaging and amusing, is a local legend, it turns out he owns a property formerly known as Shampoli, I stayed on one of my first Kenyan safaris. After an hour studio tour, he asked what are you doing in Karen?  I’m meeting a group of agency owners- he ponders and says – you are coming here tomorrow to meet me! Sneak peek with Vanessa! He also has a Masai Mara based Art Camp, no talent required, he is inspirational!

Vanessa and Louie and team host cocktails at the pool; bush babies leap from leafy limb to limb above. It’s Africa, after all! They are screechers, my first BB encounter was in a tree house lodge in Tanzania, I was terrified assuming they were the size of lions, preparing to invade my tree house and eat me.

Henry and their private chef serve a divine dinner, Vanessa, her husband George, and Louie are our hosts. Fire blazing in fireplace, dessert and after dinner drinks, we all linger despite some travelers having flown overnight.  Manzili House feels like home, with charming and engaging hosts.  

Manzili House Karen Kenya

We spent a delightful day visiting my favorite Karen haunts: bead shops, antiques, art, Giraffe feeding, and a scrumptious lunch at Cultiva!

Morning, we are Wheels Up from the private Wilson Airport. Our Fam is hosted by my dear friend and her teams: Scenic Air, Cottars Safari Camp and Ol Jogi Lodge.

The advantage of flying over Kenya with a private charter, is the joy of landing on an airstrip for an impromptu brekkie or lunch! Our amazing pilot, Kim, had a superb soundtrack for each route! Swooping low over volcanic landscapes, miles of untouched sand dunes, small village bomas, and of course, all the wildlife! It’s the only way to fly, Scenic Air lives up to its name!

Highly Recommend Manzili House!

Go To Chapter Two The Lodges.