4-Day Maasai Mara and Lake Nakuru Safari from Nairobi

After an early pick-up from your hotel in Nairobi, the drive west passes a viewpoint over the Great Rift Valley before continuing through Narok toward the Maasai Mara. You arrive in time for lunch, then head straight out for an afternoon game drive across the reserve's open grassland.

Distance: Approximately 270 km, 5 to 6 hours driving

Activity: Scenic drive via the Great Rift Valley, afternoon game drive

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in the Maasai Mara

Meals: Lunch and Dinner

A full day of game drives covers the Mara's acacia-studded grassland and rolling hills, with a packed lunch out on the plains. The reserve's network of tracks and consistently high wildlife density make it one of the most reliable parks in Africa for Big Five sightings, with lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino all realistic, alongside huge resident herds of zebra and wildebeest.

Distance: Full-day game drive with packed lunch

Activity: Morning and afternoon game drives

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in the Maasai Mara (second night)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

After a final early-morning game drive, breakfast, and check-out, the drive continues to Lake Nakuru National Park, with the chance to view Mount Longonot and Lake Naivasha along the way. An afternoon game drive on arrival covers the lakeshore and surrounding acacia woodland.

Distance: Road transfer from the Maasai Mara to Lake Nakuru

Activity: Final Mara game drive, travel day, afternoon game drive on arrival

Accommodation: Lodge near Lake Nakuru National Park

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

A morning game drive covers Lake Nakuru's rhino sanctuary and lakeshore, home to white and black rhino, Rothschild's giraffe, waterbuck, and, when conditions are favourable, dense flocks of flamingo. The drive then returns to Nairobi, arriving in the early afternoon.

Distance: Morning game drive, then approximately 160 km, 3 hours driving back to Nairobi

Activity: Morning game drive, then return drive to Nairobi

Accommodation: N/A, end of safari

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Extend your trip

Want Amboseli added too? See our 6-Day Kenya Highlights Safari. Sunrise hot-air balloon safari over the Maasai Mara is available as an optional add-on at extra cost.