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Masai Mara wilderness on horseback and Deloraine Lodge (8 and 11 days)
This horse safari is one of the most popular and challenging horse trails of the world - a great exploring safari for very experianced riders! This trail ride is one of Africa's top Mobile Riding Safaris, with over thirty years experience.
The Masai Mara Game Reserve and Greater Mara Conservancies represent most people’s idea of East Africa. The landscape is one of rolling savanna, intersected by dark green veins of riverine woodland on the banks of the Mara and Talek rivers. This wilderness is an extension of the Serengeti (Tanzania) ecosystem and is considered by many to be Kenya's best wildlife sanctuary, where animals can still be seen in vast numbers. Lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, hippo, crocodile, antelope and gazelle are some of the many species to be found. The annual migration of up to one million wildebeest is most dramatic and considered to be one of the greatest wildlife spectacles in the world.
The Mara is also home to the colorful and handsome Masai people who, with their herds of livestock, are synonymous with the region.
Day 1: You will be collected from your Nairobi hotel or directly from the airport in the morning and transferred to Wilson Airport for a flight to Siana Springs, in the Masai Mara.
It is a beautiful flight passing over the fertile Kikuyu Highlands before reaching the Great Rift Valley. We fly across the volcano studded floor of the Rift before reaching the Loita Hills and Siana Springs Air strip. You will be met by your guide and there will be an hour’s drive to camp. We reach our camp in a grove of acacia trees by a small stream at the southern edge of the Loita Plains at Olare Lamun (the rhino salt lick) in time for lunch. There will be an evening ride. Overnight Olare Lamun
Day 2: Today is a full day exploring this remote area with abundant game. Drives, rides and walks may be taken from camp. Overnight Olare Lamun.
Day 3: Our first moving day and we break camp in good time as it is the longest ride of the trip covering nearly 50kms. We ride across rolling open plains and the game generally becomes more plentiful as we approach the Mara ecosystem. We should see herds of zebra, topi, giraffe, wildebeest, gazelle and there is a good chance of seeing elephant and buffalo as well. We reach our camp on the edge of the Masai Game Reserve on the Olare Orok lugga late afternoon. From camp we are likely to hear lion and hyena at night and the abundance of game is apparent everywhere. Overnight Olare Orok.
Day 4 & 5: We have two full days of morning and evening rides from camp with the option of driving into the game park for some good photographic opportunities. From the Landrovers we can get much closer to lion, elephant and buffalo than we are able to do from the horses. Overnight Olare Orok.
Day 6: Another moving day. We head west across the Mara plains and reach the Mara River on the Park boundary. We hopefully ford the river (unless in complete flood) at one of the famous wildebeest crossings and then head south west across the Mara Triangle where we have our picnic lunch before ascending the Soit Olololol Escarpment to reach our camp in a forest glade overlooking the whole Mara ecosystem. Overnight Soit Olololol
Day 7: We ride south west along the top of the escarpment enjoying glorious views to the east on excellent going for the horses. We hopefully see the beautiful Mrs Ross’ and Schalows Turaco as well as much plains game. We descend the escarpment on foot along a rocky cattle track and have a picnic lunch under some acacias at the foot of the escarpment.
After lunch we ride back through the Mara Triangle at the foot of the escarpment before ascending on a game trail. Many bachelor buffalo herds are a feature of the afternoon. Overnight Soit Olololol
Day 8: We descend the escarpment again and ride across to the same wildebeest crossing on the river. We head in a north western direction and after lunch, we find our final campsite set up on the banks of the Mara River. Close by there are some hippo pools and their grunting at night is a special feature of this camp. Overnight Mara River.
Day 9: Leaving camp after breakfast with a picnic lunch we drive to Deloraine via the impressive tea growing area of Kericho. We arrive in time for tea and an evening walk around the beautiful garden. Overnight Deloraine.
Day 10: An early morning ride before breakfast is optional. Also day trips to either Lake Nakuru or Bogoria famous for their flamingos can be arranged with a picnic lunch. Overnight Deloraine.
Day 11: Road transfer back to Nairobi, leaving after lunch.
(subject to change) Accomodation
Camp: Spacious 10ft x 9ft sleeping tents with camp beds (double on request), mattresses, sheets and blankets. Towels, soap and torches provided. Gas lamp and hurricane lamp in each tent. Loo tent for each double tent and showers always available.
Deloraine House is the home of Tristan and Cindy Voorspuy. It is full of Kenya's fascinating history and boasts a host of British Royal visitors over the years. Deloraine was built in 1920 by Lord Francis Scott, a prominent early settler who became a leading politician in Kenya. It is set in 3500 acres of farm and is one of the finest examples of colonial architecture in the country. Your time here will reflect the elegant lifestyle of a bygone era.
Deloraine is located on the western edge of the Great Rift Valley on the lower slopes of Mount Londiani (9872 ft.), an extinct volcano with a bamboo shrouded crater. It is within an easy drive (45 minutes) of Lake Nakuru National Park, famous for its flamingo's, rhino, and a host of other game. Lake Bogoria, another beautiful flamingo lake and home to Greater Kudu is also close by and well worth a visit.
Guests are encouraged to join in with the house party atmosphere and become part of the family. Upstairs there are 3 large bedrooms, all with en-suite bathrooms and a further 2 bedrooms en suite downstairs. There are large drawing and dining rooms and outside two spacious verandas which overlook Deloraine’s beautiful mature gardens. There is also a cottage adjacent to the house with 3 separate double en-suite rooms.
The yard and stables, with approximately 80 horses, boast a string of some of the finest polo ponies in Kenya. There is an active breeding programme and the majority of the horse are home bred from ex polo mares. Guests are encouraged to ride around the farm and the nearby mountain provides spectacular views across the whole Rift Valley. There is also a cross country course and full size polo ground. A stunning forest ride to search for elusive black and white Colobus monkey’s is a must for the novice rider as well as the old professional and there are horses to cater for every ability.
There is a lovely swimming pool, croquet lawn and tennis court. Birding can be spectacular and 2-4 day stays are the norm. Half and full day safari’s to the lakes with a picnic are a usual feature and simply relaxing by the pool in the stunning formal gardens is extremely rewarding.
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Program: Horse Safari
Dates: Dec-March and June-Oct
Lodgings: mobile safari camp and lodge
Catering: Full Board, all inclusive
Rooms: Double room/tent
Languages: English
Nonrider: yes
Bring own Horse: no
Capacity min/max: 4 / 12
Eine der spektakulärste Reitsafaris weltweit mit dem unvergleichlichen Wildreichtum der Masai Mara. Reiten mit den gewaltigen Herden von Gnus, Zebras und Büffeln aus der Serengeti in unendlicher Savanne - ein einzigartiges Afrika-Erlebnis für anspruchsvolle Reiter! Dazu der Luxus und Komfort am Ende des Rittes auf Deloraine. Geniessen Sie diese exklusive Kombination!
Your Expert: Angelika Kaiser
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Horses:
Our horses are well schooled thoroughbred and thoroughbred cross. Many are home bred from our best mares. All of them are responsive, tough and fit. Many are trained for polo and the best ones are handpicked for each guest on their riding safari. Over the duration of a full riding safari our guests become highly attached to their own personal mounts.
Saddle & tack: English saddles (with a selection of polo, jumping, French trekking and Australian stock). Mainly snaffle bridles
Riding level & experience: Good riding ability is important. Guests should be comfortable at all paces, be able to gallop and react quickly and safely - we ride in areas where big game wildlife is abundant. You should be fit enough to ride between 4 and 6 hours a day. The weight limit is 210 lbs or 95 kgs unless special requests are made.
Most of the rides alongside the Masai Mara and through the northern ranches are on fairly open plains where you find black cotton soil interspersed with acacia bush. Many areas have short grass plains ideal for riding. Care must be taken for holes but canters and gallops are taken on the open plains.
Picnic lunches are carried in saddle bags on days that the camp is moved. Lunch normally lasts 1 - 2 hours with a short siesta. Sometimes if we encounter rough terrain we dismount and have to walk. For each of our set departure safaris we require a minimum of 4 guests whilst we keep numbers to a maximum of 12 in a riding party unless previously agreed.
Seasons – The riding safaris close for April, May and November.
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40
years - Equitour Riding Vacations - EQUITOUR AG
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