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A waterbuck grazing on a lawn by Lake Naivasha

Kenya · Budget

4 Days Maasai Mara & Lake Naivasha Budget Safari

A 4-day budget safari through the Maasai Mara and Lake Naivasha. Budget nights at Miti Mingi Eco Camp (Maasai Mara) and Leisure Apex (Lake Naivasha).

Duration
4 days
Route
Maasai Mara → Lake Naivasha
Comfort
Budget
Transport
4×4 Land Cruiser
Accommodation
Miti Mingi Eco Camp, Leisure Apex

Price per person

Low season
USD 590
High season
USD 690
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Route

The way through.

  1. 01Maasai Mara
  2. 02Lake Naivasha

Places as named in the journey title. Nights in each are set out in your itinerary.

Day by day

Your itinerary, day by day.

Starts in Nairobi · finishes in Nairobi

The route, days and named stays are as planned. What is included at each stop, from food, park fees and drinking water to room types, permits and border arrangements, and any camp or lodge not named here, is set out in your written quotation. Game drives on travel days depend on arrival and departure times, timings can change with road and park conditions, and wildlife sightings are never guaranteed. Photographs illustrate each day’s destination; they are not pictures of a particular departure.

  1. Hippos resting on a sandbank beside a river in the Maasai Mara
    Hippos resting on a sandbank beside a river in the Maasai Mara. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Big Time Safaris
    Day 01Maasai Mara

    Nairobi to the Maasai Mara

    Nairobi → Maasai Mara

    After an early start from Nairobi, the 4×4 Land Cruiser reaches the Maasai Mara and Miti Mingi Eco Camp, the base for days spent almost entirely in the reserve, with an afternoon game drive to follow where arrival time allows. Out on the plains, a first drive, if time allows, is about getting a feel for the place: where the rivers run, where the animals gather, and how quickly the light changes as the afternoon goes on.

    Overnight
    Miti Mingi Eco Camp
    Meals
    Set out in your written quotation
  2. A Nile crocodile basking on a rocky riverbank in the Maasai Mara
    A Nile crocodile basking on a rocky riverbank in the Maasai Mara. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Big Time Safaris
    Day 02Maasai Mara

    The rivers of the Mara

    Maasai Mara

    The Mara’s rivers shape everything in the reserve, and today is a chance to understand them. In the migration months the Mara Conservancy traces the herds from the Sand River towards the Mara River, where crowds of wildebeest may gather on the banks before crossing, or move on without crossing at all. Good crossing etiquette matters here: keep quiet, keep back from the crossing point and never block moving herds, because herds pushed by vehicles have crossed at unsafe banks with terrible losses.

    Overnight
    Miti Mingi Eco Camp
    Meals
    Set out in your written quotation
  3. A duck and her ducklings on the water by a lakeside tent at Lake Naivasha
    A duck and her ducklings on the water by a lakeside tent at Lake Naivasha. Illustrative photograph. Photo credit: Lake Naivasha Crescent Camp (opens in a new tab)
    Day 03Maasai Mara · Lake Naivasha

    To the shores of Lake Naivasha

    Maasai Mara → Lake Naivasha

    Leaving the Mara, the journey heads for Lake Naivasha in the Rift Valley, a very different kind of water from the region’s alkaline lakes. Many Rift Valley lakes are alkaline; Naivasha is fresh, fringed with papyrus and edged by grassland where hippos graze, often out of the water. Leisure Apex, the property our catalogue names for the lake, is the night’s stop, and the afternoon gives time to see the shore. Hippos on land are dangerous, so keep well back from them along the water’s edge.

    Overnight
    Leisure Apex
    Meals
    Set out in your written quotation
  4. Mount Longonot rising behind acacia woodland in the Rift Valley
    Mount Longonot rising behind acacia woodland in the Rift Valley. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Big Time Safaris
    Day 04Lake Naivasha

    Lake Naivasha to Nairobi

    Lake Naivasha → Nairobi

    The lake is a working landscape as well as a wild one: the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute runs a research station here and studies its fisheries, its papyrus and the flower farms that dominate the catchment. Nearby, Hell’s Gate and Mount Longonot national parks show how volcanic this part of the Rift Valley is. After a final morning by the water, the Land Cruiser returns to Nairobi, ending a journey that moved from savannah to fresh water in four days.

    Meals
    Set out in your written quotation

Like the shape of these days? Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and our team will set out the stays, meals and inclusions in a written quotation.

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Accommodation

Where you stay.

Destinations on this journey

Places along the way.

Related journeys
All Kenya safaris
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