Elephant Level

Become an Art Expedition Explorer and unearth the secrets of East Africa. Pack your creativity with your camera equipment and travel to East Africa's wilderness with Master Art Guide, Stuart Morse, for a fascinating adventure. Explore Kenya's scenery and spot the magnificent wildlife of three very different regional ecosystems that include rainforests, mountains and the savannah plains.

You'll stay in the heart of the wilderness, with top quality lodges, camps and private ranches as your safari homes. Re-create your experience through Fine Art Photography, Field sketching and painting. Learn to capture photo images in both color and the traditional medium of black and white stills.

New techniques, professional 'tips' and plenty of practice time ensure this adventure is educational as well as good fun! Stuart incorporates a digital camera for the group to celebrate their creative diversity on the spot, while daily creativity talks stimulate new ideas.

Bring these digital photographs to life, along with your sketches as you celebrate your group's creativity with an Art Exhibit while staying at the exclusive Lewa Downs Sanctuary as part of your adventure. All levels of creativity are celebrated as the exhibit displays the group's inspiring vision and reaction to the unique environment.

This wonderful safari introduces you to the landscapes, people and animals of East Africa, giving you cherished memories and artwork of the world's wild places and the skills with which to capture them for the future. A true exploration of both East Africa's wildest places and the skills and techniques of Fine Art, this is an experience not to be missed!

Day 1 Arriving into the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, you'll be met and taken to the Nairobi Hilton Hotel. Here you will receive a safari briefing from your Eco-resorts representative, who will ensure all your questions are answered as you are settled into your room.

Dependant upon your arrival time, you may wish to relax around the pool, take a nap, or explore some of the Nairobi attractions such as the Giraffe Manor or Karen Blixen's House while the rest of your group arrives.

Have dinner together at the hotel with your group as Stuart, your Master Art Guide, introduces you to each other, discussing the Fine Art Safari format. Stuart will also start the first of many art discussions on capturing Kenya's beauty in your artwork.

Day 2 After breakfast at the Nairobi Hilton, you will be collected from Reception by your safari driver-guides. These fully qualified, extremely knowledgeable guides will ensure that you receive as much information as you wish about the landscapes, peoples, plants and animals of the country. Just as the old-time explorers, Burton, Speke and Livingstone did, you'll explore Africa with the help and advice of the local peoples.

You head north today, towards the Aberdare Mountains in the heart of the Kikuyu Highlands. The main road takes you through the outskirts of Nairobi and then out into rolling plains with savannah grass. You pass by Thika, made famous by Elspeth Huxley's biographies, and slowly start to climb in altitude as you approach the highlands. You'll stop off for a coffee break at the Equator before continuing your journey back in the Northern hemisphere on your way to Nyeri Town. Nyeri was the home of Lord Baden-Powell who founded the Boy Scouts while living in Kenya. Deep valleys and ridges with tall trees and numerous small farms cover the landscape, and in the distance you can see the rolling blue hills of the Aberdare Mountains.

After a leisurely two hour drive you'll arrive at the delightful Aberdare Country Club, your home for the next two nights. The Country Club main buildings have been converted from an old, original colonial building and are traditionally furnished with wooden floors, large comfortable armchairs, huge fireplaces and stunning paintings and prints by Kenyan artists. The staff are friendly, helpful and very attentive with old-fashioned service and standards.

The club is surrounded by its own private game reserve, which covers over 1,200 acres of land. Warthogs, peacocks, waterbuck, bushbuck, monkeys, and many other animals and birds roam the grounds, providing plenty of art opportunities, right from the comfort of the Clubhouse.

After a buffet lunch, famous in Kenya for its quality and variety, spend the afternoon in the Club Game Reserve with Stuart, learning photo techniques and enhancing your skills. Start getting your eye coordinated for spotting the game, and then try to get the perfect photo as well! You'll enjoy a wonderful dinner in the evening before Stuart takes you through a Fine Art Lecture in the Club lounge, where the paintings and sketches of local artists surround you.

Day 3 After an early breakfast, you head off for the Aberdare National park today.

The Aberdare Mountain ranges soar to peaks of 13,000 feet and dip into deep, V shaped valleys with streams and rivers cascading over spectacular waterfalls, including Kenya's longest fall of approximately 1,000 feet There are three main eco-systems to study within the Aberdare Mountains: the rain forest, which gives way to dense bamboo forests, which itself gives way to moorland as the altitude rises.

The forest is home to a multitude of elephant, buffalo, giant forest hog and the endangered Black Rhino. The Aberdares are also an excellent area for spotting the elusive leopard and occasional sightings have been made of the Golden Cat. Black and White Colobus and Sykes Monkeys are easily seen, as are waterbuck, reedbuck, duikers, serval cats and bushbuck. Melanistic cats appear to be quite common in the high altitudes of the Aberdares and black serval cats are spotted fairly often.

As you rise in altitude, through the bamboo belt, it is possible to spot the elusive bongo antelope and the giant forest hog, but viewing in this incredibly dense growth of bamboo is challenging to say the least! However, bird viewing is excellent; keep an eye out for the magnificent crowned eagle as it hunts for one its favorite meals, a Colobus monkey.

Once above 10,000 feet, the bamboo gives way to rolling moorlands with tumbling, crystal clear streams which are well stocked with trout; varieties of lobelia, groundsel and heather cover much of the ground. Here eland, lion, elephant and buffalo may be found, in addition to the numerous birds, such as the Jackson's francolin, sparrow hawk, African Goshawk, sunbirds and plovers. The moorland area offers superb scenery and excellent animal photo opportunities along with stunning scenic vistas.

With a picnic lunch in the moorlands, you'll spend the day taking photographs, testing out new skills and enjoying the magnificent scenery. At the end of the day, head back to the country Club for a hot shower, delicious dinner and then review day's art with Stuart.

Day 4 Spend this morning in the grounds of the Aberdare Country Club practicing your new techniques on paper or with a camera. Finish up a watercolor or two, using the previous day's sketches or try to capture the 'so ugly they're cute' warthogs as they rummage through the bushes in search of food. Why not capture the light of the soft, pearly gray skies over the Aberdare Mountains that fill the horizon?

After a full lunch, you'll check out of your rooms today, leaving the majority of your baggage with your driver/guide and the safari buses. With a change of clothes, toiletries and your photography gear, you'll take the special shuttle bus into the Aberdare National Park for your night at the famous Ark Lodge.

With it's own waterhole and salt lick, the Ark offers superb game viewing from it's myriad outdoor viewing platforms and verandas. Make sure you bring a sweater or two though; at nearly 8,000 feet, it gets chilly when the sun goes down. Elephant, buffalo, waterbuck, hyena and leopard are frequently spotted here, with the rare rhino and Bongo antelope making the occasional appearance as well.

Surrounded by forest canopy, the Ark offers opportunities to spot Colobus monkeys and numerous birds as well. The perfect chance to practice dim light photo shots and fast moving action photos. The trick is guessing which is the next branch that monkey is going to grab!

Sit upon one of the numerous verandas as you sketch the elephant or buffalo that wanders past, or capture the high forest canopy that rises into the sky around you.

Roaring fires and excellent food help to keep the evening jolly and if you do wish to take a nap, the staff will 'buzz' your room if any exciting animals visit in the middle of the night.

Day 5 After your night's game viewing, enjoy a hearty breakfast at the Ark while discussing those night photography tips with Stuart. You'll then drive back down to the Aberdare Country Club to collect the rest of your belongings before you head off to the magical Lewa Downs Sanctuary.

Your drive takes you through the Mount Kenya foothills with her steep valleys and ridges, rich black cotton soil, coffee and tea plantations and sheep farms. The two-hour journey also takes you through the little town of Nanyuki, which was one of the main "White Settler" towns founded when Kenya was a British colony. This town was the last bastion of civilization for the new colonialists as they set off towards the Laikipia Plateau, Mau Escarpment and Eldoret areas where the designated settler land was located.

Once over the 'hump' of Mount Kenya, you'll enter the rolling plains of the Laikipia Plateau. This fairly dry grassland country is the home to the nomadic Samburu and their close cousins, the Masai. Excellent grazing country, the Laikipia region has been used by pastorialists herding their cattle for hundreds of years. There are a few permanent rivers and springs in the area and this has provided sustenance for this arid area even in dry years when the rains fail.

One of Kenya's original settler ranches, Lewa Downs has been in the Craig family since 1924, when the Craig's grandparents first started to raise cattle. It is now a part of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, which includes Anna Merz' highly respected Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary. The area is committed to the conservation of the wildlife and diverse habitats found on these northern slopes of Mount Kenya and combines this wildlife protection with benefits to the local community such as schools, clinics and employment.

The original farm house and its guest cottages are the center of this private ranch and form your base as you go on game walks, horse riding expeditions or day and night drives to exploring this fascinating area. The experienced naturalist guides provide an endless variety of information throughout the day while the evening brings delicious food and safari tales swapped round a roaring log fireplace.

Spend the afternoon exploring the sanctuary and choose your favorite landscapes to field sketch, paint or photograph the following day. Enjoy dinner and overnight at the cottages. Stuart will present a creativity talk to spark new ideas and dialogue.

Days 6-8 The next three days are spent walking and driving through the Lewa Downs Sanctuary in search of the perfect landscape to capture on paper, or that magical glint in a buffalo's eye that leaps off the photo at you!

There will be plenty of time for rest and relaxation for those that please and at least one or two game walks and game drives should be taken while staying in this super wildlife sanctuary.

Stuart will be on hand as you explore this vast eco-system, learning new tricks of the trade and putting into practice all that you have learned. Field sketch and paint your masterpieces and take the photos of your life in preparation for your own exhibition!

You will work with Stuart to select the group's digital images and sketches to put on exhibit. All levels of creativity are celebrated as the exhibit displays the group's inspiring vision and reaction to the unique environment.

On Day Eight, at the Lewa Downs Main lounge, you'll have the chance to exhibit your work to the other clients and to invited guests. There are many excellent local artists living in this area, some of who will be attending the exhibit to share their feedback and art experiences with you.

Day 9 We say goodbye to the Lewa Downs team today as we travel back to Nanyuki town to catch our flight to the famous Masai Mara National Reserve. Located to the south of Nairobi, and bordering Tanzania, the Masai Mara forms part of the huge Serengeti eco-system. The Mara spreads over 1510 square kilometers of rolling plains, sudden rocky outcrops, and green winding rivers.

Not only is the Mara blessed with this stunning landscape, but also its animal diversity is one of the greatest in Africa. Surrounded by the grazing lands of the Masai people, the Mara is a sanctuary for all of the "Big Five" animals: lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard. The sweet grasses and abundant water ensure a full compliment of plains game such as the impala and Thompsons gazelle. The deep river pools provide homes for hippo and crocodiles.

The breath-taking beauty of the Masai Mara and its astonishing diversity of wildlife combine to ensure that the Mara is one of the most popular stops on a Kenyan safari and the site for your final few nights.

Once you arrive in the Mara, your camp vehicles will collect you from the airstrip and take you on a game drive enroute to the famous Governor's Camp in the northern part of the Masai Mara. Less developed than other parts of this reserve, Governor's Camp offers friendly, helpful service in large, comfortable, stand-up tents with attached toilets and showers. Governor's doesn't feel like camping...until the night when the noises of the African bush surround you! No matter though, as your Masai warrior night watchmen make sure you are safe and sound.

While experiencing the old fashioned luxury of a tented camp, you'll have the chance to game drive through the open plains of this famous reserve in search of the close-up shots of the wildlife which are possible in this area. With open, short-cropped grasses, it is easier to find the game in the Mara than in most safari parks, allowing you hoof to horn visibility!

Spend the afternoon searching for your favorite animals and choosing which landscape you wish to capture, before your dinner and overnight at the Governor's Camp.

Days 10-11 One of the more interesting aspects of the Mara reserve is the use the Masai tribe still makes of it. Unlike a national park, where livestock are not allowed, the Mara reserve is still open to the Masai who share the fodder and the water with the wildlife.

Imagine herding your cattle and goats through a wilderness full of lion, buffalo, leopard, hyena and many other predators. And many of the herdsmen are actually boys, just 7 or 8 years old! In the Mara you'll have the chance to meet these proud people and learn their culture, virtually unchanged from the days of the earliest explorers.

Between the Masai people and the vast, open wilderness of the Mara, with it's incredible variety of wildlife, these final days of your Art Safari will fly past as you capture as much as you can see with your newfound skills.

All activities, meals and overnights will be taken at Governor's Camp, with their local guides as your drivers.

Day 12 All good things must come to an end and it is now time to pack your belongings for the journey home. A last game-drive enroute to the airstrip gives you time to spot the last few animals and birds before your flight back to Nairobi.

Upon arrival in Nairobi, your driver will pick you up and take you around Nairobi in search of those last minute souvenirs at the local handicraft shops and markets. Enjoy a quick dinner at a Nairobi restaurant and then it's off to the airport for your flight back home.

A unique chance to explore the wonders of East Africa, whilst enhancing your skills and techniques of Fine Art, this is an experience not to be missed! The stunning beauty of East Africa's landscapes, unrivalled game watching opportunities, the expert advice of Stuart Morse and the friendly, helpful service of Kenya's peoples all combine to provide the art safari adventure of a lifetime!

Master Artist Biography Stuart Morse is co-owner of Art Expeditions, a division of Morse Fine Art Studios, Inc. As a Master Art Guide, Stuart leads participants to use the fine art process in a unique curriculum to enhance innovation, explore new challenges and celebrate diversity. For more information, visit www.artexpeditions.com

Includes: All airport transfers in Kenya, all domestic flights, all transportation, all driver/guides, all accommodation, all meals while on safari and breakfast when in Nairobi, all national park/conservation fees, all activities, art supplies (excluding personal cameras), master artist lessons, art exhibition, laundry at Lewa Downs and Governor's Camp, unlimited water in all safari vehicles, house wines and beers at Lewa Downs only and local taxes.

Art supplies in package include:

• Drawing and watercolor field painting supplies (tablets, brushes, colored pencils, water containers, paint sets) for creating quick studies of subject matter.
• Field Journals for documenting photography, sketches, experiences and creative concepts.
• Printing and framing supplies for art exhibit at Lewa.

The Master Art Guide will have the following for the group to experience and learn using:

• A digital camera setup.
• Printer to print photos for the art showing.
• Instructional materials for Expedition.

Excludes: International flight, visa fees, personal purchases, tips, drinks or laundry at the Aberdare Country Club or the Ark, drinks at Governor's Camp, or personal travel insurance

NOTES Art supplies that each participant/ traveler will need to bring:

• Personal camera equipment. (35 mm or medium format which ever they have.)
• Black and White film
• Color film
• Personal Equipment bag or pack: Room enough for camera equipment with extra room for some drawing supplies (pencils, 9" x 12" sketch pad and small paint set 3" x 9"), journal (81/2" x 11") and water bottle (for drinking and painting). (Example: Daypack or large fanny pack if not much camera equipment.)
• Additional list will be provided prior to safari.

Contact Melinda Rees for more information on this safari.

Why travel with us? Because Eco-resorts is changing the world-one journey at a time.

Animals and people both need land. Ecotourism provides an alternative income for the people, leaving space for the migratory animals. Eco-resorts actively supports the villages and projects that are protecting East Africa's environment and culture.

We develop self-help eco-projects, which promote wildlife conservation. We also educate both our consumers and our partner camps with two free ezines. We use renewable energy products, reduce paper and plastic consumption in our office and have left the natural vegetation unscathed, resulting in duiker and monitor lizards visiting the office!

We donate 10% of all post-tax profits to fund community and/or conservation projects. Community projects are operated with the local villagers as the operators and managers; Eco-resorts provides advice and guidance when requested, but abides by local beliefs and traditions.

Our current projects include:

- The Children of the Rising Sun Orphanage, which provides accommodation, meals, medicine and schooling for 28 street-children. Our goal is to have a vocational job-training center operational at the home, for the kids and local villagers.

- The Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve, the last remaining tract of coastal lowland forest in Kenya, which provides the only refuge for several endemic birds and mammals, such as the golden-rumped elephant shrew and the Sokoke Pippet. Designated as one of Conservation International's 26 global bio-diversity hotspots (www.conservation.org) and surrounded on all sides by an ever increasing human population, the Forest is in danger of disappearing as trees are cut for carvings, land cleared for subsistence farming and animals trapped for food.

Eco-resorts hopes to ensure that the local villagers become the greatest supporters of the Forest. One of the many projects in the Forest trains the local villagers to breed forest butterfly species for export to the live butterfly market.

With two local butterfly farms already in operation, over 400 people in the area bordering the Forest now have an income that relies upon the continued health of the Forest. Our goal is to employ another 100 people.

Please contact melinda@eco-resorts.com for more detailed information on our ezines and the Eco-resorts community and wildlife conservation projects that your eco-adventure safari will support. Help us make a difference!