5 Days Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru & Lake Naivasha Budget Safari
Big Time pick
Maasai Mara · Lake Nakuru · Lake Naivasha
Budget nights at Miti Mingi Eco Camp (Maasai Mara), Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru) and Leisure Apex (Lake Naivasha).
Kenya · Midrange
5 Days Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru & Lake Naivasha Lodge Safari
A 5-day midrange safari through the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha. Lodge accommodation, with Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru).
- Duration
- 5 days
- Route
- Maasai Mara → Lake Nakuru → Lake Naivasha
- Comfort
- Midrange
- Transport
- 4×4 Land Cruiser
- Accommodation
- Buraha Zenoni · Overnight at the lodge.
Price
Price on request
The way through.
- 01Maasai Mara
- 02Lake Nakuru
- 03Lake 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.
A wide river flowing between wooded banks in the Maasai Mara. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Big Time Safaris Into the Mara by Land Cruiser
Nairobi → Maasai Mara
This lodge safari starts in Nairobi with the drive to the Maasai Mara, the longest road day of the trip. By the time you reach the reserve the city feels far away, and the afternoon’s first game drive is a chance to adjust to the scale of the place. Many people find that the Mara’s greatest surprise is how much wildlife is visible on open ground, and the reserve’s rules require vehicles to keep a respectful distance.
- Overnight
- Lodge in the Maasai Mara, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
Wildebeest gathered after crossing the Mara River into the Maasai Mara during the Great Migration. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen (CC BY-SA 3.0) Where the herds gather
Maasai Mara
A full day of game drives can take you towards the rivers that give the Mara its shape. In migration season the Conservancy describes crowds of wildebeest gathering on the banks of the Mara River, sometimes crossing and sometimes moving on, so patience matters as much as luck. Away from the river and outside the season, the reserve still holds elephants, giraffes, lions and the topi that the Conservancy pictures standing on termite mounds.
- Overnight
- Lodge in the Maasai Mara, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
A male lion in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0) Up to Lake Nakuru
Maasai Mara → Lake Nakuru
After the Mara, the journey turns towards the Rift Valley and Lake Nakuru, where our catalogue names Buraha Zenoni for the night. Lake Nakuru is one of three lakes that together form the Kenya Lake System World Heritage Site, with Lakes Bogoria and Elementaita, and the park around it holds woodland, grassland and escarpment as well as the lake itself. An afternoon drive, if the timing allows, is a good first look.
- Overnight
- Buraha Zenoni
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
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) From alkaline to fresh water
Lake Nakuru → Lake Naivasha
An early drive around Lake Nakuru gives the best chance of the park’s black and white rhinos, which have been protected here since the fence went up in 1986. Then the safari continues to Lake Naivasha, only a short way south but entirely different in character: a freshwater lake fringed with papyrus, where hippos graze the shore. What the afternoon at Naivasha includes is set out in your quotation.
- Overnight
- Lodge at Lake Naivasha, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
An African fish eagle carrying a fish over Lake Naivasha, Kenya. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 4.0) Lake Naivasha to Nairobi
Lake Naivasha → Nairobi
The last morning is at Lake Naivasha, a lake the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute describes as known for exceptional biodiversity, and where its scientists track papyrus cover, hippo impacts and water quality. It is a peaceful place to end a safari before the drive back to Nairobi. Nearby Hell’s Gate and Mount Longonot national parks are worth knowing about for a longer stay, though this journey does not list them.
- 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.
Where you stay.
Lake Nakuru
Buraha Zenoni
Overnight at the lodge. The camp or lodge is discussed with you during planning and confirmed with your itinerary, subject to availability. How accommodation works on our safaris
Places along the way.
Related journeys
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Lodge accommodation, with Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru).
Your journey begins with a conversation
Make this journey your own.
Tell us your dates, who is travelling and anything you would like to change. Our team will tell you what this journey can include.