Study in Africa Cheetah

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Safari for Teachers and Travelers

A program designed for teachers but suitable for any traveler interested in modern Kenya. The trip of a lifetime with emphasis on the diversity of Kenya and interactions with local people.

We will meet Kenyans living in shambas [farms], teachers and students in schools, Kenyan artists at their homes and studios. We will visit the homes and villages of several Kenyan tribes. Our travels will take us to amazing landscapes and wildlife scenes and can include sites of archaeological interest. The experience, memories, photographs and contacts will provide rich material for classrooms back home.

The program will occur during the period July 4 to August 1 with options to select one week, two weeks, three weeks or the entire program.

Proposed Itinerary

July 4 Arrive in Nairobi. We will pick you up and transfer to our home compound in Limuru.
Week 1

The area and people around Limuru, Nairobi and the nearby Rift Valley
  Local shambas, Kabuku school, church. The local market.
  The Italian POW church on the Rift escarpment. Mt Longenot and local artists including Heidi Lange at her batik studio /home in Naivasha. Visit the home and museum of George and Joy Adamson and conservation projects at Elsamere. Visit a working Kenyan farm in Njoro with an amazing Ladies Craft Center. A nearby school. Game drive in the Lake Nakuru National Park with lions, rhinos and more.
  The area of Karen with the Elephant Orphanage, Giraffe Center, Kazuri Bead factory, Karen Blixen home and gardens. Sites in Nairobi city including the Stanley Hotel and the Thorntree Cafe. The National Museum and nearby Snake Park. The Masai Market. Utamaduni Craft center and the Carnivore Restaurant. Talk with Luo and Kikuyu Kenyans about their country
July 11 Arrival in Nairobi.
A small octagonal church on a bushy hill
A tree-lined path through a gate, past a wall marked Kenana Primary School
Italian POW church on escarpment
School visit near Njoro
Week 2

The dry savanna region
  Overnight stay in Limuru. Journey up past Mt Kenya in the Central Highlands and the town of Nanyuki to stay at Ol Pejeta ranch with its Chimpanzee Sanctuary, rhinos and more, and then descend on down to the dry savanna area of Samburu where we will camp by a river and meet local Samburans, visit the Samburan town of Archers Post, the villages and schools.
  Walk with a Samburu guide and experience his environment. Game drive the savanna and riverine forests with the unique wildlife of the drier environment.
Talk with Samburan Kenyans about traditions and challenges.
July 18 Arrival in Nairobi.
Saburan men talk while kids look on, in a wide, nearly dry muddy river bed
Canadian kids with their Kenyan counterparts
Week 2: Staff talking to Samburans
on drying river bed
Week 3: School kids dance in Masai Mara
Week 3

The home of the Maasai
  Safari down the Rift Valley and into the great Masai Mara for a real bush camp experience on the Talek River. Sit at the campfire while Maasai tell their stories and talk about challenges and changes. Experience life as a Maasai, visiting their schools and villages.
  Witness amazing wildlife scenes of vast herds migrating the grassland. Travel the woodlands and savanna landscapes in search of the lions, cheetah and other predators that hunt them. A great educational opportunity to increase your understanding of animal behavior and ecology, and the modern conflicts of wildlife, tribal traditions and resource development. The best of East Africa!
  Talk with Maasai Kenyans about wildlife and the life of the Maasai.
July 25 Arrive in Nairobi.
Week 4

The south coast of Kenya
  Travel to the south coast by road past Tsavo and Voi where lions attacked railway workers leading to books like The Maneaters of Tsavo and the film "Ghosts of the Darkness".
  Stay at a beautiful and peaceful resort with exercise room, spa and water sports. Enjoy beach, sand and the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. Monkeys galore! Explore the tidal flats on day excursions.
  Watch local fishermen. See Kenyas coastal tourist destination, Diani Beach on the seaward side from villages of the Digo, Giriama and other coastal tribes.
  Visit and learn about historic Mombasa including Fort Jesus and "Old Town". Shop in modern Mombasa.
  Visit the conservation site where Owen the hippo stranded by the tsunami met and fell in love with the tortoise Mzee. Visit the archeological site Jumba ruins.
  Talk with a marine biologist / Digo tribe about the coastal environment.
colourful buildings and shopping stalls line a busy street in the coastal Kenyan city of Mombasa
A ball for the neighbors leads to great friendship
Street Shopping in Mombasa
A Mombasa Market
small African sailboats bob in a green sea under blue sky along a broad expanse of of sandy beach
Old walls and cannons in Fort Jesus, Mombasa
Beach on the south Kenyan coast
Old cannons line a sidewalk in Fort Jesus

Cost

[Minimum 12 persons in any week]

Price includes:

  • food - breakfast, lunch and dinner [except on coast where lunch is extra], coffee, tea
  • accommodation
  • in-country transportation including airport transfers,
  • staff
  • security
  • national park/reserve fees
  • event/exhibit entry fees
  • camping fees
  • guide, tribal speakers/village visits

Departures home throughout the program should be timed in relation to our proximity to Nairobi [Limuru].

children gather under a towering brick arch in an old fort
A school group at Fort Jesus in Mombasa

Price does not include:

alcohol or soft drinks, or special restaurant meals if wanted, including Carnivore restaurant or sites added by participants.

Note that return from the coast to Nairobi in week 4 can be by road in our vehicles or by plane [extra charge but inexpensive].

Breakdown by week

Week 1 $ 1,720 per person
Week 2 $ 2,035 per person
Week 3 $ 2,050 per person
Week 4 $ 1,720 per person
Total cost
July 4 to August 1 [29 days]		 $ 7,525 per person

Prices are in Canadian and based on current park prices and a Canadian dollar at par with US. Our costs in Kenya are in Kenyan shillings and based on US dollars. A small adjustment may be made if park prices change or if the Canadian dollar drops in value from par in relation to the US dollar.

A deposit of $ 500 is needed [preferably by April 1] to secure participation. Once we receive your deposit, further information including what to bring will be sent out. A final invoice will then be sent to participants.

Contact Brian Hartwick by email, or call 604 947-2380 if you have questions.