9-Day Kenya and Tanzania Safari

At 9am, you are picked up from the airport and depart for Masai Mara, with lunch en route. Arrive in the late afternoon for a short game drive until dusk, with chances of spotting lion, hippo, crocodile, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, warthog, hyena, leopard, numerous antelope species and elephant.

Distance: Road transfer from Nairobi to the Masai Mara

Activity: Late-afternoon game drive

Accommodation: Tented camp in the Masai Mara

Meals: Lunch & dinner, breakfast not included

A full day spent viewing the great predators and exploring the park’s remarkably high concentration of wildlife. The plains hold enormous herds of grazing animals, alongside the more elusive cheetah and leopard hiding among the acacia trees. During your stay, an optional visit to a Maasai village offers the chance to witness traditional singing and dancing, with a glimpse into local homes and social structure a genuinely memorable experience.

Distance: Full day of game drives, optional Maasai village visit

Activity: Full day of game viewing

Accommodation: Tented camp in the Masai Mara (second night)

Meals: All meals included

An early morning game drive is followed by breakfast back at camp. Afterwards, leave with game viewing en route for the return journey to the Serengeti. On arrival at the Isebania border, stop for a picnic lunch before crossing and entering the park via the Ikoma Gate, with a game drive en route to your camp.

Distance: Morning game drive, then road transfer to the Serengeti

Activity: Border crossing and game drive en route

Accommodation: Luxury camp in the western Serengeti

Meals: All meals included

Today is best planned between you and your safari guide, whether that means a full-day game drive or a half-day exploring the plains with time to relax at camp in between. The Serengeti is an immense park, with unsurpassed concentrations of wildlife across its vast, endless grasslands, offering some of the finest game viewing anywhere in Africa. The Serengeti ecosystem is one of the oldest on earth, and the annual wildlife migration, the largest mass movement of land mammals on the planet, is what makes it famous, with over a million wildebeest and zebra moving south for the short rains each October and November, then west and north after the long rains in April, May and June. Characterised by endless plains, acacia trees and large stone kopjes, the Serengeti presents an archetypal picture of wild, remote Africa, holding lion, elephant, giraffe, gazelle, monkey, eland, zebra, wildebeest, leopard and cheetah, with the park’s climate, flora and fauna remarkably unchanged over the past million years.

Distance: Full-day or half-day game drive, flexible to your interests

Activity: Game viewing across the Serengeti plains

Accommodation: Luxury camp in the western Serengeti (second night)

Meals: All meals included

After an early breakfast, depart for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area with a packed lunch, with game viewing en route and an optional stop at Olduvai Gorge, the important archaeological site where Dr. Louis Leakey unearthed evidence central to the modern understanding of human origins. The conservation area covers 8,300 square kilometres and includes the world’s largest unbroken caldera alongside huge expanses of highland plains, volcanoes, scrub bush and forest, where the Maasai, an indigenous pastoralist people, are permitted to live within its boundaries.

Distance: Road transfer to Ngorongoro, optional Olduvai Gorge stop

Activity: Travel day with game viewing en route

Accommodation: Lodge near Karatu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Meals: All meals included

Wake early and, after breakfast, drive into the remarkable Ngorongoro Crater, widely considered the world’s largest unbroken volcanic caldera, 610 metres deep and roughly 260 square kilometres across, with breathtaking views from both the crater rim and the floor below. An estimated 25,000 large mammals live within the crater itself, mainly zebra and wildebeest, alongside elephant, warthog, impala and buffalo. A rhino sighting is rare, but Ngorongoro remains one of the best chances in Tanzania to see the endangered black rhino, alongside flamingo and over 100 recorded water bird species at the crater’s soda lake. In the afternoon, drive back toward Lake Manyara.

Distance: Full day in the crater, then road transfer toward Lake Manyara

Activity: Crater game drive

Accommodation: Lodge near Lake Manyara National Park

Meals: All meals included

After breakfast, depart with a morning game drive at Lake Manyara National Park, famed for its tree-climbing lions and large troops of baboon, with a picnic lunch followed by a further afternoon game drive. This beautiful, compact park diversifies your safari with a lush, green habitat in stark contrast to the other parks on this route, with Lake Manyara itself, a shallow alkaline body of water, covering roughly two-thirds of the park’s 330-square-kilometre area. Afterwards, proceed to Arusha for a stop, then drive on to the Namanga border, where a Kenyan guide meets you and continues on to Amboseli National Park, with a brief game drive on the way to your lodge.

Distance: Morning game drive at Lake Manyara, then road transfer to Amboseli via the Namanga border

Activity: Lake Manyara game drive, border crossing, brief Amboseli game drive

Accommodation: Lodge in Amboseli National Reserve

Meals: All meals included

Amboseli is an excellent place to view a wide range of wildlife, including wildebeest, giraffe and baboon, with an optional Maasai village visit planned after breakfast for those who haven’t already taken the option earlier in the trip; Maasai warriors are famously known as a proud, nomadic people whose history of bravery in encounters with wild animals is recognised across the world. Set out for an early morning game drive before breakfast, then depart by road for Nairobi, with lunch served en route. On arrival, transfer to your hotel for the night.

Distance: Morning game drive, then road transfer to Nairobi

Activity: Final game drive, optional Maasai village visit

Accommodation: Hotel in Nairobi

Meals: All meals included

After breakfast, you are picked up from your hotel at a time of your choosing and transferred to the airport for your international flight home, bringing your Kenya and Tanzania safari to a close.

Distance: Airport transfer

Activity: Departure

Accommodation: N/A, end of safari

Meals: Breakfast