11-Day Best of Kenya & Tanzania Safari - Maasai Mara · Lake Nakuru · Amboseli · Arusha · Lake Manyara · Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater

Day by day

11 days in East Africa.

1. Day 1

   Nairobi – Narok – Maasai Mara

   Pick-up from your hotel between 7:30 and 8am and transfer to our town office to meet the group for the start of this Kenya and Tanzania safari. Depart for the Maasai Mara National Reserve via the Great Rift Valley viewpoint and Narok town for refuelling and final shopping, then continue to the reserve and check in to camp for lunch. In the afternoon the 4x4 Land Cruiser heads out for the first introductory game drive, returning to camp for dinner and overnight.

   Overnight

   Miti Mingi Camp, Maasai MaraZebra Plains Mara Camp

   Meals

   Lunch and dinner

2. Day 2

   Maasai Mara game viewing

   After breakfast, a full day of game viewing in the reserve. The scenery is savanna grassland over rolling hills, the track network allows close-range viewing and photography, and the Mara is home to all of the Big Five: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. Break for a picnic lunch at the hippo pool, looking out for hippo and crocodile, then continue game viewing until evening and watch the sun set over the hills. Exit the park for dinner and the night.

   Overnight

   Miti Mingi Camp, Maasai MaraZebra Plains Mara Camp

   Meals

   Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner

3. Day 3

   Maasai Mara – Lake Nakuru National Park

   Breakfast at leisure, then an optional visit to a Maasai village. The Maasai are a pastoral community who take pride in their cattle and their culture, and the morans, the young warriors, are its best-known feature; about an hour is spent with them. Afterwards depart the Mara region for Nakuru with lunch en route, with Mount Longonot and Lake Naivasha visible from the main highway. Dinner follows on arrival, and the night is spent in Nakuru.

   Overnight

   Buraha Zenoni, Lake NakuruLake Nakuru Sopa Lodge

   Meals

   Breakfast, lunch and dinner

   

4. Day 4

   Lake Nakuru – Amboseli National Park

   After breakfast, a game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, known for its prolific birdlife, particularly flamingo, and for its white rhino sanctuary, with buffalo and waterbuck along the shoreline. Then the long drive south through Nairobi and across the Maasai plains to Amboseli National Park, with lunch on the way, arriving at camp in the early evening as the elephant herds move back towards the swamps. Dinner follows your arrival, and the night is yours to rest.

   Overnight

   Nyati Safari Camp, AmboseliKibo Safari Camp, Amboseli

   Meals

   Breakfast, lunch and dinner

5. Day 5

   Amboseli Game Viewing

   A day of game drives in Amboseli, a park of swamp grounds where elephant and hippo bathe in numbers. Amboseli's elephants include some of the largest tuskers in Kenya, and they are plentiful; a variety of plains game, antelope and birds share the drier ground around the wetlands. If the weather permits you may see the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro above the park. Picnic lunches are provided, and you return at the end of the day for the night.

   Overnight

   Nyati Safari Camp, AmboseliKibo Safari Camp, Amboseli

   Meals

   Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner

6. Day 6

   Amboseli – Namanga Border – Arusha

   Early morning game viewing makes the most of the last hours in Kenya's parks. Check out and drive to the Namanga border to begin the Tanzanian half of the safari; after immigration, board the shuttle bus to Arusha. On arrival you are met and transferred to your hotel, booked on a bed-and-breakfast basis, with dinner on your own account. An upgraded hotel can be arranged for the difference in price.

   Overnight

   Charity Hotel, ArushaKibo Palace Hotel Arusha

   Meals

   Breakfast

   

7. Day 7

   Arusha – Lake Manyara National Park

   After breakfast, pick-up in Arusha at 8am to join the group for the drive to Lake Manyara National Park, arriving in time for lunch. The afternoon game drive in the 4x4 Land Cruiser tracks the animals that live between the Rift Valley wall and the soda lake, among them elephant, hippo, giraffe, baboon and, with luck, the park's tree-climbing lions, against a backdrop of forest, lakeshore and escarpment. Dinner and overnight at camp, with beds and bedding provided.

   Overnight

   Fanaka Campsite, Lake ManyaraLake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge

   Meals

   Breakfast, lunch and dinner

8. Day 8

   Lake Manyara – Serengeti National Park

   After breakfast, depart for Serengeti National Park, passing the Olduvai Gorge museum, the site where the Leakey family discovered fossils of human and animal ancestors dating back almost two million years. Arrive at your camp in time for lunch, then take an afternoon game drive on the Serengeti plains, where lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and the great herds are the main attractions. Meals are provided, and the day closes with a relaxed evening.

   Overnight

   Seronera Camp, SerengetiSerengeti Serena Safari Lodge

   Meals

   Breakfast, lunch and dinner

9. Day 9

   Serengeti National Park – Ngorongoro Crater

   After breakfast and a final game drive in the Serengeti, pack up and drive to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area with picnic lunches en route. The Ngorongoro Crater is counted among the seven natural wonders of Africa and is the world's largest intact caldera, of global importance for the threatened species that live within it. Dinner follows, and the night is spent on the rim in tents with beds and bedding provided.

   Overnight

   Simba Campsite, NgorongoroNgorongoro Serena Safari Lodge

   Meals

   Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner

   

10. Day 10

    Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha

    After breakfast, the 4x4 Land Cruiser takes you 2,000 feet down into the Ngorongoro Crater, viewing animals on the descent and across the floor. The crater sees its own seasonal movement of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle between the floor and the surrounding highlands, and lion, elephant, buffalo and rhino are resident. Picnic lunch in the crater, then ascend and drive back to Arusha, arriving at about 5:30pm, on a bed-and-breakfast basis with dinner on your own account.

    Overnight

    Charity Hotel, ArushaKibo Palace Hotel Arusha

    Meals

    Breakfast and picnic lunch

11. Day 11

    Arusha – Nairobi / Kilimanjaro Airport / Arusha Airport

    After breakfast in Arusha, our partner takes you to the shuttle bus for Nairobi, where you are met and transferred to the airport or your Nairobi hotel. If you are flying from Kilimanjaro or Arusha airport instead, you are transferred directly from the hotel for your flight home or onward to another destination, which marks the end of the Kenya and Tanzania safari. Confirm your flight details when booking so the correct transfer is arranged.

    Meals

    Breakfast

Your questions, answered.