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 · Luxury · Big Time pick
6 Days Sweetwaters, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha & Maasai Mara Luxury Safari
A 6-day luxury safari through Sweetwaters, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha and the Maasai Mara. Accommodation is in lodges.
- Duration
- 6 days
- Route
- Sweetwaters → Lake Nakuru → Lake Naivasha → Maasai Mara
- Comfort
- Luxury
- Transport
- 4×4 Land Cruiser
- Accommodation
- Overnight at the lodge.
Price
Price on request
The way through.
- 01Sweetwaters
- 02Lake Nakuru
- 03Lake Naivasha
- 04Maasai Mara
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 spotted hyena lying in the grass in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Weldon Kennedy from London, UK (CC BY 2.0) North to Sweetwaters and Ol Pejeta
Nairobi → Ol Pejeta (Sweetwaters)
The journey begins with the drive north from Nairobi to Laikipia and Ol Pejeta Conservancy, where Sweetwaters, named in the title, is the first stop. Ol Pejeta was established in 2004 on a former cattle ranch and now combines wildlife protection, community programmes, tourism and ranching. It describes Laikipia as the richest region for wildlife in Kenya outside the Maasai Mara, and, where time allows, an afternoon drive on the conservancy’s plains is a first chance to see why.
- Overnight
- Lodge in Ol Pejeta (Sweetwaters), named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
A southern white rhinoceros grazing in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Kandukuru Nagarjun from Bangalore, India (CC BY 2.0) Rhinos of Ol Pejeta, then Lake Nakuru
Ol Pejeta → Lake Nakuru
Ol Pejeta describes itself as the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, protecting more than 165 critically endangered black rhinos, and it is home to the last two northern white rhinos in the world. It is also the only place in Kenya to see chimpanzees, which live in the conservancy’s care. After a morning there, the journey heads west into the Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru, another rhino stronghold, for the night.
- Overnight
- Lodge at Lake Nakuru, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
Drowned trees standing in the shallows of Lake Naivasha. Illustrative photograph. Photo credit: Lake Naivasha Crescent Camp (opens in a new tab) Lake Nakuru to Lake Naivasha
Lake Nakuru → Lake Naivasha
Two rhino sanctuaries in two days make for an interesting comparison, and a morning drive at Lake Nakuru, where time allows, looks for its black and white rhinos among the escarpments and woodland around the lake. The lake itself was first protected for its flamingos and other waterbirds, though their numbers vary. In the afternoon the journey continues to Lake Naivasha, a freshwater lake where hippos graze the shore and papyrus fringes the water.
- Overnight
- Lodge at Lake Naivasha, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
Zebras grazing on short grass in the Maasai Mara. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Big Time Safaris Naivasha to the Maasai Mara
Lake Naivasha → Maasai Mara
Lake Naivasha is the gateway to two national parks, Hell’s Gate and Mount Longonot, and a morning by the lake shows something of this volcanic stretch of the Rift Valley before the drive south-west to the Maasai Mara. The 4×4 Land Cruiser aims to reach the reserve in time for an afternoon game drive, the first of the journey’s Mara drives, and the contrast with the lakes of the past two days could hardly be greater.
- Overnight
- Lodge in the Maasai Mara, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
An elephant family walking across the grasslands in the Maasai Mara. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Big Time Safaris A full day in the Mara
Maasai Mara
After rhinos and lakes, the Mara offers the great open-plains safari. The reserve’s grassland is home all year to lions, elephants, giraffes and topi, and from around June or July to November the Mara Conservancy describes the migration herds moving across valleys and hills in their hundreds of thousands. A full day leaves room to decide where to go based on the season and the latest sightings, with time to stay as long as a sighting deserves.
- Overnight
- Lodge in the Maasai Mara, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
Open plains below a long escarpment in the Maasai Mara. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Big Time Safaris From the Mara to Nairobi
Maasai Mara → Nairobi
Where time allows, an early morning drive is the Mara’s parting gift, with the best light and often the most activity, before the journey back to Nairobi. Six days have taken in a conservancy that combines conservation with ranching, two very different Rift Valley lakes and the reserve that defines a Kenya safari for many visitors. The safari ends in the city by the end of the day, with the rhinos of Ol Pejeta and Nakuru and the open plains of the Mara to look back on.
- 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.
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.
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Accommodation is in lodges.
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.