9 Days Lake Natron Horse Ride
Lake Natron Day 1
Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport, here you will be picked up by one of the team from Kiwoito Africa Safaris and driven for thirty-five minutes to the lodge where the first night is spent. Settle into the new surroundings and meet the other participants on the safari. Sundowners and dinner at either at the lodge or if there’s a polo game on you go to the polo club for sundowners followed by dinner back at the lodge.
Lake Natron Day 2
The following morning after a big English breakfast Drive to the North of N’garuka Village. Upon arrival, the crew are waiting with welcome drinks and opened arms for everyone to join the safari team at Kiwoito Africa Safaris. After the introduction to the tents, which are bell tents, lunch is served and a safari briefing takes place. After lunch, each guest gets given his or her horse and an afternoon ride takes place for everyone to get comfortable in the saddle. The day ends around the bonfire.
Lake Natron Day 3
Everyone is woken up to some tea or coffee, thereafter breakfast is served. The day’s ride is scenic and cultural and we ride through Masai bomas and encounter herd’s men out grazing their cattle. Around midday, we stop for a lunch break where we all have some refreshments under a nice shaded three. The lunch is either vehicle-supported or we carry it in our saddlebags. Thereafter we continue and try to cover ground to reach our night stop before the sun hits the horizon.
Lake Natron Day 4
Early wakeup call followed by an English breakfast before joining your mount. Directions are northbound for the day, with Gelai Mountain overlooking us from the East. The day’s ride leaves the Massai villages behind and enters the beautiful almost dreamlike scenery of the Natron region. If lucky the day’s ride will encounter big herds of zebras and wildebeest roaming the opened landscape. Lunch break takes place out in the bush before taking directions for the night’s camp.
Lake Natron Day 5
Wake up with coffee and tea before a bush breakfast.is served. Thereafter everyone mounts his or her horses and the safari continues. Today we will explore the areas around the only active volcano in Africa, Oldonyo L’Engai (Mountain of God). Late lunch back in camp with time for a siesta. The afternoon is for everyone to relax allowing riders and horses muscles to rest.
Lake Natron Day 6
After an early full English breakfast, we have the longest and toughest ride ahead of us. We are covering about 60 km in close to 40 degrees Celsius temperature. With the volcano behind us, we enter a riverbed that offers some shade and thereafter cross the open landscape before arriving for the lunch break. We stop in the shades of some big acacias, near a riverbed to gain some more energy for the last stretch of the day’s ride. The night is spent close to the hot springs, overlooking the lake.
Lake Natron Day 7
After breakfast, a 45-minute walk takes place heading towards the springs which enters the soda lake on the eastern shores. After the exhausting heat and dust, a rewarding dip adds to the enjoyment of the day’s adventures. Enjoy lunch in the springs and walk or drive back to camp. A late evening ride takes place, enjoying the cooler hours before darkness with good chances of seeing hyenas and jackals searching for food on the mud flats of the lake.
Lake Natron Day 8
Early morning departure, leaving the dry, desolate, and hauntingly beautiful lake behind us, following the well-known riverbed back to the lush, green grassland on the foot of Oldonyo L’Engai. The night is spent in a place now familiar to everyone.
Lake Natron Day 9
Everyone wakes up after a good night’s rest. A sad farewell is due to happen, and everyone has to say goodbye to the camp crew. It is time to pack your bags and for the last time on this journey, together with your mount ride to the airstrip, where a chartered plane is waiting to fly us all back to Arusha. Lunch will be served upon arrival to the lodge and showers available however if someone like to book a day room before flying out, let us know in advance.
This day Marks an End to Your 9 Days Lake Natron Horse Ride