Micato Safaris & Rue La La

playing around in the car in South Africa

a rhino in Kruger while at Singita Sabi Sand: Ebony Lodge

Rue La La is an internet shopping website that has different designer sales everyday. (Very similar to Gilt (which has been featured on Gossip Girl this season), ideeli, hautecouture and other sites of this nature). Products that are for sale are not always fashion related - sometimes there are home appliances, decor and travel options. Today's travel sale is for a Micato Safari trip!! Two great things coming together!!

We LOVE Micato Safaris! They planned our honeymoon in South Africa and Zambia back in March 2008 and everything was top-notch and amazing. The trip being offered on Rue La La is the Kenya and Tanzania trip:

The below are the details from Rue La La's website:

Eleven-Night Hemingway Wing African Safari for Two Embark on the excursion of a lifetime through Kenya and Tanzania, where exhilarating adventure and unbridled luxury await.


A spectacular eleven-night Hemingway Wing African Safari through Micato Safaris. Your itinerary begins and concludes in Nairobi, and includes stays in the Samburu National Reserve, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Manyara. Package is valid for two participants only; all participants must be at least eight years of age.


Guaranteed weekly departure dates on select Tuesdays between June 7 and December 27, 2011. (Blackout dates apply).

A hot air ballooning adventure in Maasai Mara on one morning of your safari, offering a stellar vantage point to view Kenya’s magnificence. Upon descent, you will celebrate with a sumptuous Champagne Breakfast for two, served on the plains you recently overlooked from above. This exclusive add-on is included for Rue La La Members only.

$100 Micato Safari Shop credit per person to stock up on gear for the excursion from the online shop.

Varied accommodations throughout your excursion in hotels, lodges, and tented camps for an authentic safari experience.

All meals, from beginning to end of the tour, as well as a meal in the private home of Micato Kenya’s founders, Felix and Jane Pinto. Complimentary bottled water and soft drinks, and occasional beer and wine, are also included. Alcohol will only be served to participants over the age of 21.

The services of expert naturalist guides to provide you with personalized insight into Africa’s landscape. A personal concierge will also be available at all times to assist you. Porterage will be provided at all hotels, camps, and airport.

Transportation to and from all events listed in the itinerary, including all internal flights and airport transfers. Airfare to and from Nairobi is not included and must be arranged independently.

A consultation with a skilled Virtuoso Travel Advisor who can provide full-service travel agency support, ensuring your trip is nothing short of spectacular.

Accommodations:

Fairmont The Norfolk Hotel: The essence of luxury since 1904, the Norfolk is the legendary hotel that combines the best of modern elegance and old-world charm. The hotel features everything you’d expect from a world-class property: impeccably-appointed rooms, a health club with gym, sauna and steam room, beauty salon, and book shop to name just a few.
Larsen’s Tented Camp: Tranquil and luxurious, this camp enjoys uninterrupted views of the Uaso Nyiro River from the private verandas of every spacious and stylish guest tent. An evocative lounge and bar tent sets the mood, and a dining tent serves sumptuous dinners by candlelight on. The Tree House, overlooking the Samburu plains, is a delightful place to spend an afternoon with a good book or sipping a Pimms Cup at sundown.
Fairmont Mara Safari Club: Brilliantly renovated, the Mara Safari Club by Fairmont Hotels is the newest jewel in the Mara. Magnificent tents feature lush appointments, four-poster beds, and private verandas overlooking hippos bobbing and snorting in the river below. The main lodge is Africa at its most elegant with stunning artwork, tapestries, and dramatic architecture. A large deck on the exterior curves with the river, and a swimming pool provides extra relaxation.
Serengeti Serena Lodge: The Serena Lodge’s design is inspired by traditional African villages – elegant yet unobtrusive. Individual “rondavel” bungalows house luxurious guest rooms, where the traditional skills of woodcarving, weaving, and pottery are incorporated. Soaring domed ceilings of thatched reeds augment the lodge’s rustic grandeur, and the hilltop setting provides breathtaking vistas of big game.
Ngorongoro Serena Lodge: The Serena Lodge is seemingly chiseled into the edge of the crater, and the ivy-covered stone buildings blend masterfully into the surroundings. Most rooms have private terraces with extraordinary views of the crater floor. Large picture windows, beamed ceilings, old stone, heavy rustic wood furniture, and lush greenery complete the idyllic effect.
Lake Manyara Serena Lodge: Lake Manyara Serena Lodge is spectacularly set on the edge of the Escarpment, overlooking the Great Rift Valley and the stunning Manyara soda lake with its masses of pink flamingos. The lodge’s design was inspired by the park’s abundant birdlife; swooping curves are complemented by soft geometric patterns. Accommodations are whitewashed “rondavels” with thatched roofs and colorful furnishings.
A look inside:


Follow in the footsteps of the great explorers with Micato Safaris, the tour operator voted World’s Best by readers of Travel+Leisure a record seven times. On Micato’s Hemingway Wing Safari you’ll experience breathtaking beauty, restful luxury, and exhilarating adventure. Amazing wildlife awaits in the Maasai Mara, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, and dramatic Samburu regions. Visit a tribal village, feed a giraffe at eye-level, and experience the cradle of mankind; on a Micato Safari, you will craft memories that will last a lifetime.
The goal is to provide each traveler with a seamless, unforgettable luxury safari experience. Through award-winning Safari Directors, accommodations that cosset you in sublime comfort in the midst of Africa’s rugged wilds, and extensive family experience, Micato creates trips that are unmatched in their degree of included extras, from exceptional special events to educational enhancements.
Your safari will also benefit those from the land you will discover. The company’s One for One Commitment ensures that for every safari sold, Micato will pay the fees to send an African child to school – a child who would otherwise stay home due to extreme poverty.
The Hemingway Wing Safari takes guests on the road less travelled, journeying to the remote and dramatic Samburu region in Kenya’s old northern frontier. The excursion also offers visits to both Kenya and Tanzania without rushing or sacrificing the quality of the experience. All of East Africa’s legendary game parks are included, as well as a few hidden gems. Luxurious tented camps, hotels, and lodges will be your home, and four flights expedite travel between locations while providing aerial panoramas over the lush mosaic of East Africa’s villages, farmlands, escarpments, and endless plains below.
Itinerary:

Day 1-3: United States to Nairobi. Board your flight from the United States, and embrace the anticipation your journey through Africa. After touching down in Nairobi, you’ll be whisked to Fairmont The Norfolk Hotel, and immediately feel the intrigue that has seduced travelers for centuries. Enjoy a talk by a Maasai warrior, and an illuminating visit to Kenya’s fascinating National Museum. Tour author Karen Blixen’s home and visit with endangered Rothschild giraffes. Dine at the home of Micato Kenya’s founders, Felix and Jane Pinto – the warmth of their home will make you feel exceptionally welcome and at home in Africa.
Days 4-5: Samburu National Reserve. Wild and rugged, Samburu is fiercely beautiful with arid savannahs watered by the lovely Uaso Nyiro River. It is also one of Kenya’s most protected areas and home to species only found north of the equator, from the reticulated giraffe to Grevy’s zebras and beisa oryxes. On your game drives, you’ll pursue the elephants, lions, leopards, and cheetahs that thrive in the reserve. Stay at Larsen’s Tented Camp, your luxurious hostelry set beneath a canopy of acacia trees along the banks of the river.
Days 6-7: Maasai Mara. Excitement and expectations build as you fly to the Maasai Mara, with its myth-like stories of bountiful wildlife. The game drives are rousing exploits in the company of guides who will regale you with bush lore, educate you on conservation, and entertain you with tall tales. Experience a Maasai village visit, and a Bush Walk to indulge all of your senses. Savor the exotic contradiction of a sophisticated cocktail party in the untamed wildness at Bush Sundowners. Fairmont Mara Safari Club accommodations will provide delightful nights under canvas.
Days 8-9: Serengeti. Wing your way on a bush flight to another legendary safari setting where the vast ecosystem hosts the planet’s most awesome wildlife – the Serengeti is a World Heritage Site, and listed as an International Biosphere Reserve. Its arching landscapes embody quintessential Africa – golden and endless. Long peaceful days at the Serengeti Serena Lodge will provide excellent game viewing and utter tranquility.
Day 10: Ngorongoro Crater. The Great Rift Valley is called the “Cradle of Mankind” thanks in part to the discoveries of human fossils dating back almost two million years. Marvel at Ngorongoro Crater, the unofficial “eighth wonder of the natural world.” This ancient amphitheatre forms a unique haven for wildlife with over 20,000 animals. You’ll stay at the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, which hugs the crater’s rim and offers vast vistas over the Crater’s shimmering reaches.
Day 11: Ngorongoro Crater. As sunrise streaks the early sky, head into the magical two-and-a-half-million-year-old caldera. With landscapes unchanged since the dawn of time, the sheer number of species is incomparable; elephants, hippos, cheetahs, lions, and zebras appear with every turn of the head. Return to the rustic serenity of the Serena, and relax by a roaring fire as you savor breathtaking views of the crater below.
Day 12: Lake Manyara. Make your way to the ancient lake of Manyara, where game is plentiful and the bird-watching magnificent. It is also one of the few places in Africa to see tree-climbing lions. Your deluxe accommodations at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge overlook the gleaming water below, where you may spot the area’s trademark pink flamingoes.
Days 13-14: Nairobi to United States. Spend a final morning in the bush admiring unspoiled Africa as you prepare to return to civilization. Arrive in Nairobi around mid-afternoon and relax in a dayroom before you fly home later that night, arriving stateside on Day 14.