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A group of Zebras walking across and open field.

East African Splendour

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Destination
Kenya: Nairobi, Maasai Mara.
Tanzania: Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti
Duration
12 Days
Door-to-door
Price
Starting from
$27,400

Classic Safari Supersights

At 12 days, the East African Splendour is a shorter version of our 17-day African Splendour Classic Safari. But the marvels we encounter—the Maasai Mara, the Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater—are matchless in their classic African and planetary magnificence. Quintessentially African in their wealth of wildlife and their uniquely stunning landscapes, planetary because their likes are found precisely nowhere else on Earth. 

We begin in Hemingways, a serene and leafy hotel in Nairobi’s suburbs, before heading to Sir Richard Branson’s innovative yet tradition-honouring Mahali Mzuri, an ideal outpost for our forays into the river forests and golden plains of the Maasai Mara. Then, based from the soothingly luxe Four Seasons, we delve into the ocean of life that is the Serengeti. Our last stop before heading back to a pleasant pre-flight rest in Nairobi is the Ngorongoro Crater, whose steep walls encase a 100-square mile caldera populated by the full cast of Africa’s glorious animals (and, while ensconced in The Manor at Ngorongoro, we’ll visit nearby Lake Manyara, which many consider Africa’s most comely lake, and whose lyric flight of flamingos you may remember from Out of Africa).

The creation was an act of mercy.William Blake

Highlights

  •  The Serengeti: “The light is dazzling, the air delectable; the magic of the American prairie here blends with the other magic of the animals as they existed before man,” wrote the great British litterateur Cyril Connolly.
  • The Maasai Mara, the northern, more exuberantly foliated reaches of the vast Maasai Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, the world’s greatest assemblage of free-roaming animals, a place where, Isak Dinesen wrote, “you felt the night-air soft and deep and pregnant with benediction.”  
  • Once a towering volcano, a rival of lordly Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro Crater is a natural masterpiece that brings to mind Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. 
  • And last and of course, the constant, touchdown to takeoff presence of a Micato Safari Director. backed up by our 24-hour Concierge Service and our in-country and international staff. 

Itinerary

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Day 1 En Route

En route to Kenya and its capital city, Nairobi.

Day 2 Nairobi and the serene Hemingways Hotel

We arrive in Nairobi and Hemingways, a quietly ravishing haven for lovers of old-style panache mixed with modern amenities and great cuisine, wonderfully set in the lush suburb of Karen.

Days 3 to 5 Sir Richard Branson’s Mahali Mzuri in the Maasai Mara

We fly west from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara, the northern, more verdant section of the single most salubrious wildlife habitat on this or any known planet, the Serengeti-Maasai Mara ecosystem. Game drives in the Mara are especially fruitful….Our Mara headquarters is Sir Richard Branson’s Mahali Mzuri, whose innovatively designed, yet very African tents “resemble the tents of our youth like a Gulfstream G650 resembles a Piper Cub,” as we said a while back. Mzuri is auspiciously set next to one of the Mara’s prime migration pathways.

Days 6 & 7 A lightening of spirit at the storied Four Seasons Serengeti

Now— these are thrilling safari words!— into the Serengeti, amazing in its enormity, its almost infinite skies and long, golden reaches, its million-year quiet. We’ll make far-ranging game drives on the great plain and in its riverine forests, based from the stunningly deluxe Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, set on rocky bluffs, giving us vast, endlessly stimulating views.

Days 8 to 10 Lake Manyara and the epic Ngorongoro Crater

A typically spectacular flight and pleasant drive deliver us to The Manor at Ngorongoro, a marvelous 10-cottage, 20-suite retreat set within a 1500- acre Arabica coffee estate adjacent to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Those of us who have travelled in South Africa will recognize the Manor’s elegant Cape Dutch style; those who haven’t will simply be charmed. Our three nights at the Manor are a rare idyll.

We’ll enjoy a restful afternoon (or a very active one; the Manor offers horsebacking, mountain biking, swimming in the Manor’s pool, and estate walks, among other enjoyments), before a classic high tea and dinner in the private dining room or wine cellar.

And the next day we visit one of the earth’s natural masterpieces. We’ve got a lot of affection for Ngorongoro. Here’s the essence of the crater’s tremendous charisma: 25,000 or so large and very viewable mammals— from apex predators to galumphing hippos— inhabit the crater’s 100-square-mile floor, and zigzagging up the old volcano’s forested wall to its rim, and gazing for the first or fifth time at the lush lands and their inhabitants in the crater below, is a great moment in any traveller’s life.

We’ll descend to the crater and excitedly roam from morning to afternoon, stopping at mid-day for a charmingly luxurious bush lunch, before heading back to a serene evening at the Manor.

Now we encounter Lake Manyara. Africa is blessed with epic lakes (Tanganyika is the world’s second deepest; all the Rift Lakes are gigantic stunners), but many, including Ernest Hemingway, consider the smaller gem of Lake Manyara— with its diamond-white alkali rim, its million or so coral-coloured flamingos, and the deep sapphire waters at its centre— the loveliest of all. After a relaxed (or active) morning at the Manor, we’ll embark on a fine afternoon of game viewing around the lake (many tree-climbing lions frequent Manyara’s Africa-embodying scrublands, mahogany forests, and bird-thronged marshlands). And after cocktails and canapés in the bush, we head back to the Manor for a final night before regretfully getting ready to head home.

Day 11 Return to Nairobi for flights home

After flying back to Nairobi, we’ll relax in full service, meals-included day rooms at the Four Points by Sheraton at the Nairobi Airport, have a quiet dinner, and head out to Jomo Kenyatta Airport for our late evening flights home.

Day 12 Connect in Europe with homeward flights

Arrive home tired but exalted, on Day 12 of this mightily splendid safari.

Camps & Lodges

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Hemingways Nairobi

Nairobi, Kenya
One of Africa’s finest and most cheerfully luxurious hotels, Hemingways Nairobi is a supremely reposeful pre- or post-safari haven, set in Nairobi’s leafy suburbs, near Isak Dinesen’s beloved Ngong Hills.
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Mahali Mzuri

Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya
One of Sir Richard Branson’s inspired African creations, Mahali Mzuri is a small, inventively luxurious safari camp beautifully positioned in the northern Serengeti-Maasai Mara ecosystem, the unquestioned capital of world wildlife.
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Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti seamlessly combines thoughtfully enthusiastic luxury with a deep engagement with the pan-galactically spectacular Serengeti in Tanzania.
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The Manor at Ngorongoro Crater

​Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Deliciously situated in a coffee plantation next to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the elegant Manor offers close access to the stupendous Ngorongoro Crater itself, and, down below, flamingo-thronged Lake Manyara.
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What's Included

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  • Luxury accommodations and all meals.
  • Highly-credentialed Micato Safari Directors and Driver-Guides throughout your journey.
  • 24/7 Concierge Team poised to meet last minute, unexpected, and unusual requests.
  • A variety of activities, individualized for you by your Safari Director at every safari location.
  • Every last gratuity, even substantial ones to Safari Directors, Driver-Guides, waiters, porters… and everyone else, from beginning to end of your safari.
  • Regional wine and beer at mealtimes, vehicles stocked with soft drinks and bottled water.
  • Daily valet laundry service. You can pack less and even return home with a bag of clean clothes… now that’s luxury!
  • Complimentary in-vehicle Wi-Fi as well as free Wi-Fi wherever else it exists on safari, including camps and lodges.
  • All airport transfers, game park, national park, and conservancy fees.
  • Extensive safety protocols perfected by 60 years of on-the-ground expertise.
  • Sublime safari swag! Bush hats, specially designed Micato Safaris duffels, luggage tags, document wallets, flashlights, and more.
  • For every guest on safari, Micato sends an African child to school.

Dates & Rates

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2025 Dates

To and from Home | Every date is a guaranteed departure

Jan. 09 – Jan. 20 May 29 – June 09 Aug. 14 – Aug. 25 Oct. 30 – Nov. 10
Jan. 16 – Jan. 27 June 05 – June 16 Aug. 21 – Sept. 01 Nov. 06 – Nov. 17
Jan. 23 – Feb. 03 June 12 – June 23 Aug. 28 – Sept. 08 Nov. 13 – Nov. 24
Jan. 30 – Feb. 10 June 19 – June 30 Sept. 04 – Sept. 15 Nov. 20 – Dec. 01
Feb. 06 – Feb. 17 June 26 – July 07 Sept. 11 – Sept. 22 Nov. 27 – Dec. 08
Feb. 13 – Feb. 24 July 03 – July 14 Sept. 18 – Sept. 29 Dec. 04 – Dec. 15
Feb. 20 – Mar. 03 July 10 – July 21 Sept. 25 – Oct. 06 Dec. 11 – Dec. 22
Feb. 27 – Mar. 10 July 17 – July 28 Oct. 02 – Oct. 13 Dec. 18 – Dec. 29
Mar. 06 – Mar. 17 July 24 – Aug. 04 Oct. 09 – Oct. 20 Dec. 25 – Jan. 05
Mar. 13 – Mar. 24 July 31 – Aug. 11 Oct. 16 – Oct. 27
May 22 – June 02 Aug. 07 – Aug. 18 Oct. 23 – Nov. 03

2026 Dates

To and from Home | Every date is a guaranteed departure

Jan. 08 – Jan. 19 May 28 – June 08 Aug. 13 – Aug. 24 Oct. 29 – Nov. 09
Jan. 15 – Jan. 26 June 04 – June 15 Aug. 20 – Aug. 31 Nov. 05 – Nov. 16
Jan. 22 – Feb. 02 June 11 – June 22 Aug. 27 – Sept. 07 Nov. 12 – Nov. 23
Jan. 29 – Feb. 09 June 18 – June 29 Sept. 03 – Sept. 14 Nov. 19 – Nov. 30
Feb. 05 – Feb. 16 June 25 – July 08 Sept. 10 – Sept. 21 Nov. 26 – Dec. 07
Feb. 12 – Feb. 23 July 02 – July 13 Sept. 17 – Sept. 28 Dec. 03 – Dec. 14
Feb. 19 – Mar. 02 July 09 – July 20 Sept. 24 – Oct. 05 Dec. 10 – Dec. 21
Feb. 26 – Mar. 09 July 16 – July 27 Oct. 01 – Oct. 12 Dec. 17 – Dec. 28
Mar. 05 – Mar. 16 July 23 – Aug. 03 Oct. 08 – Oct. 19 Dec. 24 – Jan. 04
Mar. 12 – Mar. 23 July 30 – Aug. 10 Oct. 15 – Oct. 26 Dec. 31 – Jan. 11
May 21 – June 01 Aug. 06 – Aug. 17 Oct. 22 – Nov. 02

Price Per Person

Land Arrangements, Per Person (2025)

Jan – May November Balance of Year
Double Occupancy $24,950 $25,950 $27,550
Single Supplement $4,450 $4,450 $6,250
Internal Flights $2,450 $2,450 $3,050

Bring the Kids! Please contact us for child pricing.
Ask us about a private vehicle for your Classic Safari.

Video Inspiration

Enjoy this taste of a Micato Safari. While this video doesn’t literally represent this safari, it absolutely captures the spirit.

Options & Extensions

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The Micato Grand Safari

Three lions
Destination
Kenya: Nairobi, Amboseli, Maasai Mara
Tanzania: Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti
Duration
15 Days
Door-to-door
Price
Starting from
$37,000
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