Visit Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary within Ol Pejeta Conservancy and see chimpanzees rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. Learn about the long-term care they receive in the only sanctuary in Kenya where chimpanzees can be seen.

Opened in 1993 with support from Dr Jane Goodall, Sweetwaters reveals another dimension of Ol Pejeta’s work. Its focus is refuge and protection for animals that cannot simply be returned to the wild.

Take a boat safari on Lake Naivasha, travelling across the Great Rift Valley’s freshwater lake in search of hippos and waterbirds. Watch for African fish eagles overhead and movement among the papyrus at the water’s edge.

Seen from a boat, Naivasha’s wildlife-rich shores offer an intimate contrast to vehicle-based game drives. Acacia woodland frames the lake, while the calls of birds and the sight of surfacing hippos define the experience.

Head into Ol Pejeta Conservancy after dark on an optional night game drive. Experience the plains and acacia woodland at a different hour, when sounds carry through the bush and nocturnal wildlife may be active.

Night viewing offers a contrast to the conservancy’s daytime drives, revealing how the landscape changes beyond sunset. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed.

Visit the Karen Blixen Museum in the author’s former home near Nairobi, and enjoy lunch in the gardens of nearby Karen Blixen Cottages & Restaurant. Explore the setting associated with the coffee farm and life that inspired Out of Africa.

The house provides a tangible starting point for understanding Blixen’s writing and Kenya’s colonial-era history. Garden dining gives the visit a quieter perspective on the leafy suburb that bears her name.

Join a guided birdwatching walk through the acacia-dotted grounds of Naivasha Sopa Lodge. Look for kingfishers, herons, cormorants and other species drawn to the nearby lake; African fish eagles may also be seen overhead.

The walk focuses attention on the birdlife that makes Lake Naivasha a notable Rift Valley habitat. This is one of two included choice activities, offered as an alternative to the guided wildlife walk on Crescent Island.

Sail aboard a traditional dhow and snorkel along Zanzibar’s coast on an optional marine excursion. Enjoy the view of the reef-fringed shoreline from the water and look beneath the surface for marine life.

The dhow reflects a long sailing tradition associated with the Indian Ocean, while snorkelling reveals a coastal environment distinct from the island’s historic streets. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Meet your Driver Guide and fellow small-group travellers over dinner in Nairobi. It is a hosted introduction to the people who will share your journey through Kenya and Tanzania.

Conversation over the meal offers a chance to ask questions about the safari ahead and settle into the rhythm of travelling as a small group in East Africa’s lively capital.

Explore Nairobi National Park on a game drive, crossing grassland and acacia bush with the city skyline visible beyond the reserve. Look for wildlife in a landscape that feels remarkably open despite its proximity to Kenya’s capital.

Established in 1946, this was Kenya’s first national park. Its unusual meeting of urban skyline and wild savannah makes it a distinctive introduction to the country’s conservation story.

Watch orphaned elephants gather for their midday milk feed and mud bath at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s Nairobi nursery. Hear the individual stories behind the young elephants as their keepers care for them at close range.

The visit offers a direct look at the painstaking work of raising elephants rescued from the wild. Their playful interactions sit alongside a serious conservation mission focused on rehabilitation and, where possible, a return to protected habitat.

See Nairobi’s civic landmarks on a city sightseeing tour taking in the Parliament Buildings, Kenyatta Avenue, Government Square, City Market and University Way. The route also passes the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, a prominent feature of the capital’s skyline.

These streets show Nairobi beyond its safari gateway reputation: a busy centre of government, commerce and everyday city life, shaped by Kenya’s colonial past and its development since independence.

Dine among the gardens at Shamba Cafe in Nairobi’s Loresho district. Your three-course farm-to-table dinner draws on produce grown at the working farm, including herbs, vegetables and flowers.

The garden setting gives the meal a close connection to its ingredients. It is a chance to experience a more local, produce-led side of Nairobi dining while sitting together away from the bustle of the city centre.

Search Ol Pejeta Conservancy for wildlife on a late-afternoon game drive through open grassland and acacia woodland. Look for plains game, birdlife and the conservancy’s rarer species, with views towards Mount Kenya when conditions are clear.

Ol Pejeta protects the Big Five and a major black rhino population. A sundowner in the bush offers time to absorb the changing light and the scale of this working conservation landscape.

Meet Najin and Fatu at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the world’s last two northern white rhinos. A ranger shares their story and explains the protection and scientific efforts surrounding the future of the subspecies.

The rhinos arrived in Kenya in 2009 and now receive round-the-clock care. This encounter makes an urgent conservation challenge personal, showing how field protection and reproductive science are being brought together to preserve a threatened lineage.

Enjoy a farm-to-table lunch at Ranch House Bistro beside Lake Naivasha. Locally sourced ingredients, including produce from the property’s farm, connect the meal to its Rift Valley surroundings.

The lakeside setting offers a different pace from the open safari plains. Papyrus along the shore and the area’s abundant birdlife give you time to appreciate the freshwater landscape while sharing a meal rooted in local produce.

Walk with a guide on Crescent Island, choosing to explore its open grassland on foot. Look for zebra, giraffe and antelope moving freely, with Lake Naivasha and the surrounding Rift Valley scenery in view.

Experiencing wildlife at eye level changes the perspective of a safari. This is one of two included Lake Naivasha choice activities; travellers select either the island walk or a guided birdwatching walk at Naivasha Sopa Lodge.

Explore the Maasai Mara on multiple game drives, including an afternoon outing and morning and afternoon drives. Scan wide grasslands and riverine forest for big cats, plains game and members of the Big Five.

The Mara River helps shape this celebrated wildlife landscape, while changing light and animal activity make each drive different. Travelling through the reserve gives you time to appreciate both its concentration of wildlife and the breadth of its open plains.

Share a private bush barbecue with your small group in the Maasai Mara. Dinner is served in the open air, with firelight and the sounds of the surrounding landscape shaping the evening.

Unlike a standard camp meal, this dining experience places the group within the setting they have come to explore. It offers time for conversation and a more sensory appreciation of the Mara after dark.

Explore a working coffee plantation near Arusha and learn how coffee is grown on the fertile slopes below Mount Meru. Walk through the estate while hearing about planting, growing conditions and the crop’s place in the region.

Coffee has long helped shape agricultural life in northern Tanzania. Seeing the plants and their setting firsthand brings a familiar drink back to its landscape and the work behind its cultivation.

Meet the makers at Shanga in Arusha, a social enterprise that trains and employs Tanzanians with disabilities. Watch weaving, glassblowing, beading, papermaking and metalwork during a visit to its workshops.

Many pieces incorporate recycled materials, connecting craft skills with a more resource-conscious approach to production. The visit shows how creative work, training and meaningful employment come together in a long-running community project.

Explore Tarangire National Park on several game drives, including cooler morning hours, a pre-sunrise outing and late-afternoon wildlife viewing. Look for elephants and other animals among baobabs, savannah and riverine woodland.

The Tarangire River is an important draw for wildlife, particularly in the dry season. One afternoon drive includes a bush sundowner, a pause to watch the light change across this distinctive northern Tanzanian landscape.

Enjoy a private breakfast in the Tarangire bush with your small group. Seated outdoors, take in the early sounds of the park and watch the surrounding landscape as the day begins.

Serving breakfast in a wilderness setting turns a familiar meal into part of the safari itself. The cool morning air, open space and possibility of wildlife nearby offer a different perspective from dining at camp.

Visit a Maasai village to meet members of a community whose pastoral traditions have long been connected to cattle and life across the Rift Valley. Learn about local customs and daily life, and see the jumping dance associated with Maasai ceremonial tradition.

This community visit adds a human perspective to the safari landscapes of northern Tanzania and Kenya. Hearing directly from residents offers more context for traditions that are often seen from afar.

Tour Gibb’s Farm and enjoy a farm-to-table lunch on its fertile estate outside Karatu. Explore the gardens and working farm, where coffee, fruit, vegetables and herbs are cultivated for the property.

Founded in the 1920s, Gibb’s Farm reflects the agricultural history of the Ngorongoro Highlands. Seeing what grows on the estate gives the meal a tangible connection to this long-established coffee country.

Spend time with Hadzabe community members near Lake Eyasi and learn about hunting, gathering and detailed knowledge of the surrounding bush. Hear their distinctive click language, see aspects of food preparation and daily skills, and perhaps try archery.

The visit offers insight into a hunter-gatherer way of life closely connected to this Rift Valley environment. It is an opportunity to listen to people describing their own practices and the knowledge passed between generations.

Meet Datoga community members near Lake Eyasi and learn about cattle keeping and the metalworking skills for which they are known. See how blacksmithing forms part of local life in this region of northern Tanzania.

The Datoga visit presents a different set of traditions from those of the Hadzabe communities who also live around Lake Eyasi. Together, these encounters reveal some of the cultural diversity of the Great Rift Valley.

Join a Swahili lesson with a Local Specialist during your time around Karatu. Learn and practise words from a language used widely across East Africa, gaining a practical way to connect with the people and places of the region.

Language offers a window into everyday culture beyond the safari vehicle. This is an included Trafalgar Choice activity, offered as an alternative to a guided walk through a Karatu village.

Walk through a Karatu village with your Driver Guide and observe daily life in a community shaped by farming, markets and a mix of local cultures. The guided walk brings attention to the people and activity of the Ngorongoro Highlands.

Karatu is more than a gateway to nearby wildlife areas: it is a lived-in agricultural town. This included Trafalgar Choice activity is offered as an alternative to a Swahili lesson with a Local Specialist.

Descend into Ngorongoro Crater for a game drive across its grassland, wetlands and other habitats. Search for wildlife on the caldera floor and pause for a picnic lunch with the steep crater walls rising around you.

The world’s largest intact, unfilled volcanic caldera holds year-round water and grazing, supporting a notably dense concentration of animals. Both the enclosed scenery and the chance to observe wildlife make this a distinctive Tanzanian safari experience.

Explore Serengeti National Park on game drives through open plains, around rocky kopjes and along wildlife-rich corridors. Look for lion, elephant, giraffe, zebra and antelope as your Driver Guide follows activity across the landscape.

The name Serengeti derives from a Maasai word associated with endless plains. Its vast ecosystem is shaped by seasonal movement and the search for water and grazing, offering a broader view of how wildlife uses the land.

Gather for dinner in a traditional boma setting at your Serengeti camp. Share a meal with your small group beside an open fire, within a circular enclosure inspired by a form long used in East Africa.

The fireside arrangement gives the evening a distinct sense of place. Food and conversation unfold against the sounds of the surrounding bush rather than in a conventional dining room.

Explore UNESCO-listed Stone Town with a Local Specialist, walking through market streets and visiting landmarks including the Sultan’s Palace Museum and Old Arab Fort. See the House of Wonders as you trace Zanzibar’s layered seafront history.

Swahili, Arab, Indian and European influences remain visible in the old town’s architecture and trading streets. The House of Wonders was built for Sultan Barghash in 1883, while the fort dates to the late 17th century.

Visit a Zanzibar herb and spice farm for a closer look at crops associated with the island, including cloves and cardamom. Explore the growing setting and learn how spices connect to local food and the island’s commercial past.

Zanzibar’s position in Indian Ocean trade helped make spices central to its identity. Encountering the plants firsthand adds scent and texture to a history often told through Stone Town’s buildings and markets.

Cook alongside local women at Mama’s of Zanzibar in a hands-on lesson focused on Swahili flavours. Help prepare dishes with local ingredients and traditional methods, then sit down with your hosts to share the meal.

Zanzibari cooking reflects the island’s East African roots and its long connections across the Indian Ocean. Preparing food together offers a personal introduction to that heritage and to the hospitality behind the dishes.

Ride on horseback through the grounds of Naivasha Sopa Lodge for an optional, ground-level view of its spacious lakeside setting. The property is known for wildlife sightings, with giraffe, waterbuck and monkeys often seen around the grounds.

A horseback outing offers a quieter perspective than travelling by vehicle, with the lodge’s acacia-dotted landscape close at hand. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore Hell’s Gate National Park on an optional excursion from Lake Naivasha. Take in dramatic cliffs and volcanic formations in a Rift Valley landscape known for its walking and cycling trails.

The park’s rock walls and geothermal geology create scenery quite different from the lake nearby. It appeals to travellers who want a more active encounter with the region’s terrain. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Take to the water on a sunset show cruise off Zanzibar’s coast. Watch the light shift over the Indian Ocean and the island’s shoreline while enjoying an evening experience away from the streets of Stone Town.

Zanzibar’s maritime setting has shaped its history for centuries, from coastal sailing to trade across the ocean. This discretionary cruise is at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Local Host for the available arrangements.