7-Day Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Samburu Safari

After being picked up from your hotel, depart for Masai Mara National Reserve via the Great Rift Valley, with a stop to take in the dramatic views before continuing on. The Mara’s extensive network of roads and tracks makes it one of the best parks in Kenya for photography and wildlife viewing. A picnic lunch is taken at the hippo pool, before returning to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Distance: Road transfer from Nairobi to the Masai Mara via the Rift Valley viewpoint

Activity: Travel day with a Rift Valley viewpoint stop

Accommodation: Lodge or camp in the Masai Mara

Meals: All meals included, drinking water provided

After an early breakfast, set out for a full day of game tracking across the Mara’s rich acacia-studded grassland and rolling hills, with a packed lunch at the hippo pool. During the migration season, this is also a chance to witness a river crossing at the Mara River, where crocodiles lie in wait for wildebeest making the crossing. Virtually every type of East African wildlife can be found here, making the Mara one of the most visited parks in the country.

Distance: Full-day game drive with packed lunch

Activity: Full day of game viewing

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

Meals: All meals included, drinking water provided

Wake up for tea or coffee, then head out for a final early-morning game drive before breakfast. After breakfast, depart the Mara region for Lake Nakuru, with the chance to view Mount Longonot and Lake Naivasha along the way. Lunch is taken en route, with an afternoon game drive on arrival followed by dinner and an overnight stay.

Distance: Road transfer from the Masai Mara to Lake Nakuru

Activity: Travel day with an afternoon game drive on arrival

Accommodation: Lodge near Lake Nakuru National Park

Meals: All meals included, drinks not included

After breakfast, set out on a game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, home to a wide range of waterbirds that breed in the lake’s alkaline waters, including flamingo, alongside white rhino, Rothschild’s giraffe and other plains game, with waterbuck and Cape buffalo common along the lakeshore. Depart for Samburu National Reserve via Thomson’s Falls and Nanyuki, arriving in time for lunch, with a game drive en route to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Distance: Morning game drive in Lake Nakuru, then road transfer to Samburu

Activity: Game drive and travel day

Accommodation: Lodge in Samburu National Reserve

Meals: All meals included, drinks not included

A full day of morning and afternoon game drives in Samburu, with a lunch and leisure break at the lodge in the middle of the day. Samburu sits north of the equator and is home to rare, drought-resistant species that go for long periods without water, including the reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra, the gerenuk and the Beisa oryx.

Distance: Morning and afternoon game drives

Activity: Full day of game viewing

Accommodation: Lodge in Samburu National Reserve (second night)

Meals: Meals at own expense, drinks not included

An early pre-breakfast game drive is followed by breakfast and the drive to Ol Pejeta Conservancy, arriving in time for check-in and lunch. An afternoon game drive follows, with the chance to view plains game and visit the conservancy’s chimpanzee sanctuary, the only one of its kind in Kenya.

Distance: Morning game drive in Samburu, then road transfer to Ol Pejeta

Activity: Game drive and chimpanzee sanctuary visit

Accommodation: Lodge in Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Meals: All meals included, drinks not included

After breakfast, depart for Nairobi, with the drive offering a chance to take in the tranquil mountain scenery and, in clear weather, a view of Mount Kenya’s peak. Arrive in Nairobi by lunchtime for drop-off, bringing the safari to a close.

Distance: Road transfer from Ol Pejeta to Nairobi

Activity: Travel day and departure

Accommodation: N/A, end of safari

Meals: Breakfast