#56 best destination in the world

 

Mount Kenya

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  • Highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro
  • Elevation 17,057 ft
  • Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya
  • Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift
  • Before glaciation, it was 23,000 ft high
  • It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years, which melted and has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the centre
  • There are currently 11 small glaciers, which are shrinking rapidly, and will likely be gone forever by 2050
  • The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya

 

Ol Kinyei Conservancy

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  • 18,700 acres of wilderness which belongs to a Maasai community who leased it to Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Camps for it to be set aside for the purposes of wildlife conservation
  • Ol Kinyei Conservancy is home to only two small permanent camps, which between them accommodate a maximum of only 24 guests at any given time

 

Olare Orok Conservancy

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  • 35,000 acres founded in 2006 as part of a new community conservancy
  • Poaching is rare in the conservancy as the Maasai are engaged with the conservation of the wildlife and earn an income from tourism and conservation
  • Famed for its big cats and the great wildebeest migration

 

Mara Triangle

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  • Southwestern part of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, managed by a non-profit, and is less visited and less crowded, often with many more game animals grazing on the plains and between the volcanic hills that distinguish this corner of the Mara

 

Naboisho Conservancy

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  • To prevent landowners from selling their land to outsiders, Basecamp tried to find a sustainable and financially viable alternative that would allow the Maasai to retain their land
  • The solution became the establishment of a community owned nature conservancy, which would be leased by tourism operators, yet owned by the Maasai

 

Ruins of Gedi

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  • One of 116 medieval Swahili-Arab coastal settlements that stretch from Somalia to Mozambique, to the Kenya-Tanzania border
  • Since the rediscovery of the Gedi ruins by colonialists in the 1920s, Gedi has been one of the most intensely excavated and studied
  • The site of Gedi includes a walled town and mosques, a palace, and numerous houses, are made from stone, are one-story, and are distributed unevenly in the town
  • There are large open areas in the settlement which contained earth and thatch houses
  • Stone “pillar tombs” are a distinctive type of Swahili Coast architecture found at Gedi
  • Gedi’s architecture and an abundance of imported material culture including pottery, beads, and coins provide evidence of the city’s rising prosperity and trade over the course of its occupation from as early as the eleventh century to its abandonment in the early seventeenth century

Ali Barbour’s Cave Restaurant

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  • Set inside a 120,000 year old coral cave and lit by warm candlelight
  • Specializes in seafood, international & traditional cuisine
  • Reservation Required, smart casual dress code, and they do not allow children 6 and under

 

Mara River Crossing

Wildebeests crossing Mara River, Northern Serengeti, Tanzania

  • Called “The Great Migration,” 1.5 million wildebeest, zebras, and gazelle follow a migratory route throughout the Serengeti and Maasai Mara, fraught with a series of river currents and predatory beasts lurking in the waters
  • Before they can get there, crocodiles lie in wait
  • Carcasses of those who didn’t make it litter the Mara’s banks
  • Vultures feast on what the crocodiles left behind
  • Migration happens in late July-early October

 

Marafa Depression

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  • Vast canyon-like area resulting from soil erosion

 

Kitengela Hot Glass Studio

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  • Glass studio, located in a planetarium dome
  • Visitors can watch as the skilled craftsmen create blown and cast objects, and make beads from recycled glass, as well as crafting chandeliers, furniture and panels of light and color for architectural installations

 

Lamu

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  • Small town on Lamu Island
  • Contains the Lamu Fort on the seafront, completed in the early 1820s
  • Lamu has 23 mosques, including the Riyadha Mosque, built in 1900, and a donkey sanctuary
  • UNESCO World Heritage site

 

 

Costs

all flights $1,242

food $44/day x 9 days = $396

hotel $67/day x 7 days = $469

tickets (all attractions) $61

TOTAL for whole itinerary $2,168