First of all, I want to thank everyone for all of their candid, incredibly helpful responses to all the posts from me and my fiancee. You have made planning what will be an amazing trip all that much easier.
We have posted our month-long Kenya honeymoon itinerary before and we are still working on eliminating some aspects so as not to miss the forest for the trees, but we need a little help.
Here is our itinerary so far:
Monday 6/16: Get into Nairobi airport and stay at a hotel
Tuesday 6/17: We transfer you to Meru with our vehicle
Wednesday 6/18-22: volunteer at orphanage
Mon 6/23: Transfer to Meru National park we are on the Southwestern side and Meru is located on Eastern side. So no need of driving all the way to Naromoru.
Tues 6/24: Meru National park
Wed 6/25: Drive from Meru N. Park to Samburu game reserve
Thurs 6/26: Samburu game reserve
Friday6/27: Leave Samburu, stop at Sweetwater's chimpanzee orphanage, overnight in Naromoru
Sat 6/28: Drive to Rift valley to lake Nakuru, birders paradise and rhino sanctuary
Sun 6/29: drive to Lake Naivasha, hike in scenic gorges of Hells Gate National Park
Mon 6/30: leave Naivasha, drive to Morijo, and stay there for 3 nights
Tue7/1: Morijo
Wed 7/2: Morijo
Thur 7/3 from Morijo to Maasai Mara
Fri 7/4: Maasai Mara
Sat 7/5: Maasai Mara
Sun 7/6: drive back to Nairobi and fly and overnight
Mon 7/7: afternoon flight from Nairobi to Lamu
Tue7/8 Lamu
Wed 7/9: lamu
Thur 7/10: Take the bus from Lamu to Malindi
Fri 7/11: Mombasa
Sat 7/12: Fly to Zanzibar
Sun 7/13: Zanzibar
Mon7/14: Zanzibar
Tue7/15: Zanzibar
Wed 7/16: Fly Back to Nairobi
Thur 7/17: Fly out of Nairobi
I know from previous replies and discussions with friends who currently live in the area that this is an attempt to try to do too much, but we're having serious anxiety about what to cut out.
I know that ultimately it is our decision and dependent on what we want to do, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.
-My friend's father, who lives in Kenya, suggested that we choose between Sweetwaters and Samburu to spend more time in one of the parks (He loves Sweetwaters, but his son told me that Samburu is his favorite park by far)
-His son, who lived in Kenya for 5 years suggests that we skip Hell's Gate and go to Crescent Island instead (with a detour to the artist Heidi Lange's studio)
-We were also wondering about Lamu, even though everything we have read about it makes it seem like one of the most amazing places, Lisa is really concerned about public transportation (Lamu to Malindi), and if we eliminate it we'd have more time in all of the parks and Zanzibar
Thanks again everybody!
Jason
