An Intimate & Romantic Safari in Kenya

Arrive in capital city Nairobi and a luxury chauffeur is waiting to whisk you off to the colorful suburb of Karen your delightful hotel. Rest, relax, and enjoy a deluxe suite with views onto iconic African landscapes. Today provides a gentle introduction to Kenya and its charms as your private guide will take you on a brief tour of a city surrounded by wildlife. Giraffe roam amongst a sweet coffee plantation, the long necked wonders joined by warthogs as you gaze across to Nairobi's cityscape. You'll visit the Giraffe Centre Sanctuary for some personal interactions with the gentle giants, their necks bending down to take food from your hand. Enjoy lunch and a relaxed afternoon at the coffee estate before returning to the hotel.

Your romantic Kenyan safari begins in Amboseli National Park. Nature's biggest land mammal is the highlight of your first safari stop. A short flight soars alongside Mount Kilimanjaro, touching you down beside the herds that roam with swinging trunks and insatiable smiles. The snow-tinged peak of Africa's highest mountain sparkles in the distance, providing the evocative backdrop for all your Amboseli adventure. Settle into the your picturesque camp and set off on two game drives today. Get even closer to the elephants by winding a trail through the acacia woodlands, then cross the plains for first sightings of buffalo and insatiable big cats hiding amongst the long grass. Swamps are havens for hippos and abundant birdlife showcases the petite side to Kenyan safari. Retire for a serene evening at the camp, a splendid dinner served against the iconic backdrop.

As the sun slowly pierces the horizon, Amboseli is alive. Lions and cheetahs hide from view then suddenly explode into sight, emerging from the grass to stalk ungulates on the breakfast menu. Different ecosystems ensure intimacy with a myriad of Kenya's big game, from the scurrying hyenas in the scrub bush to those omnipresent elephants that bulldoze through the acacias. Like most safari days, the heat of the day is downtime, a chance to relax at camp and indulge in the luxury on offer. Wildlife also takes a rest at this time, although there's always a sprinkling of mammals gracing the horizon. As the afternoon trickles towards dust your second game drive continues the exploration and it culminates in watching an iconic African sunset from the top of Observation Hill.

Solio Reserve epitomizes the exclusivity of this signature vacation. Nestled between the slopes of Mount Kenya, Solio is home to Kenya's greatest concentration of endangered Black rhino, as well as an abundant collection of the other Big Five. There's some 45,000 acres of game reserve to explore and there's just one lodge. You'll rarely see the handful of other guests and feelings of solitude abound. Grazing zebra and waterbuck are beside your spacious cottage, their delicacy bringing enchanting touches to languid evenings beneath the stars. Floor to ceiling windows ensure the lavish surroundings are maximized; you only need to open the curtains to marvel at Kenya's wildlife below.

You'll fly to Solio from Amboseli, the aerial journey perfect for gaping at elephant herds and the scale of the parks. Then a range of activities are customized to you and your partner's preferences. Game drives seek out the big stuff; lions prowling, leopards hiding in the trees, and the Black rhinos that even safari aficionados may go months without seeing. But what's this? It looks familiar but the horn is different and the lip reveals that this is a White rhino approaching the safari truck. Parts of the reserve have been tailored to getting you onto the ground. Cycle and walk through the landscape, a skilled guide bringing stunning intimacy with the ungulate herds of Solio. After the excitement, tonight's itinerary includes a soothing in-room treatment by the lodge's massage therapists. But as you slip into serene heaven, remember to occasionally open your eyes and marvel at what wanders past the cottage.

Board a helicopter and soar above Solio, your pilot touching down on the raised slopes of Mount Kenya. Snuggle up and enjoy a romantic hilltop picnic breakfast, the champagne cork popping as eyes admire the seemingly endless panorama. As always, it's a private experience, just the two of you being expertly guided and then left alone in pristine nature. Return to Solio and the afternoon is customized. Choose game drives or walking safaris, or gallop alongside zebra herds with an inimitable horseback safari. Tonight's treat comes in the form of darkness. Head out on a nighttime drive and the atmosphere is almost spooky, the landscape promising ethereal surprise. You can get even closer at night, the guide turning on the lights and revealing that you're barely a few meters away from buffalo, elephant, rhino, and the nocturnal treasures that scurry across the ground.

It's a short aerial hop over to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and a luxury camp radiating elegance. Once more the landscape changes, iconic bushland now extending beneath your tent. The canvas walls ensure you're enveloped in the sounds of the wild, but the interior provides the kind of opulence you would expect from an award-winning honeymoon suite. You're situated above nature's amphitheater and it's easy to laze away many hours watching everything pass by your verandah. Lewa's wildlife brings new delights to the safari memories; strange gerenuk stand on their hind legs and feed on the branches, dik-diks and eland avoid the attentions of nearby lions, and a range of indigenous species can be found at the southern reaches of the range. Of course, there are all the regular favorites, so keep snapping the Black and White rhinos, elephants, and reticulated giraffe.

Two more game drives continue your tour of the weird and wonderful. Beisa oryx rampage through the bush, antelopes hang out in sticky swamps, and Somali ostrich leaves your eyes confused. Look down and Africa couldn't feel any more iconic. But look up and the eagles soar, their majestic wingspans joined in the air by ravenous vultures. The game drive itinerary is ever flexible and tailored to your indulgence. There's no fixed schedule and everything fits around your incumbent feelings of private escapism. Walking and horseback safaris are available and the guide has a handful of hidden spots to take you for sundowners. Or you can simply slumber at camp and enjoy hand delivered gourmet cuisine, the big game effervescent in the distance.

Lewa and Solio offer a safari exclusivity that's difficult to find elsewhere on the continent. They are places of solitude and seclusion that can simultaneously provide unrivaled safari experiences. The Maasai Mara is world-famous and a bucket list destination for millions around the world. It deserves its fame and popularity. However, this signature itinerary continues the paradigm of romantic exclusivity by revealing a unique angle to the Mara. Fly over the Great Rift Valley and a tiny airstrip welcomes you to the heart of lion country. Stretch out in a four-poster bed and soak up the space of your luxury camp. A tucked away private verandah overlooks the Mara River, and it's teeming with hippos wallowing beneath the sun. Wild sounds reverberate through the camp and still you don't see other people. While the Maasai Mara is undoubtedly popular, this vacation ensures you have your own piece to explore.

The Maasai Mara is best understood over time. Take one drive and the quintessential delights seem to appear with every turn. Spotted hyenas drift across rolling grasslands, giraffe leave distinct impressions on the horizon, and wildebeest clump together in great herds. A phenomenal collection of lion prides tuck into ungulate feasts, the acacia savannas seem to be without boundary, and there's always a dramatic hunting scene to be seen from a distance. Take a second drive and the same scenes repeat themselves. Take a third game drive and the herds keep multiplying, the cats keep hunting, and the plains keep dazzling with life.

Spend three days exploring the Maasai Mara and these impressions of beauty begin to accumulate. One game drive here is a phenomenal sight. But over three days you gradually interpret impressions of scale. The abundance of herds and big cats is unrivaled; you're not merely appreciating intimate encounters with Kenya's remarkable wildlife, you're constantly engulfed in a vast ecosystem that seems to be without boundaries. Like always, the game drive itinerary is flexible and departure times are flexible. So there's always an option of a leisurely morning in bed with your partner opening the curtains to reveal the Maasai Mara.

Enjoy a short flight above the Maasai Mara as you return to Nairobi; the last impression of Kenyan safari is one of herds dotting the plains like a patchwork of vitality. Land in Nairobi and you can relax in a dayroom before your international departure.