Kenya & Tanzania · Budget
An 8-day budget safari through Amboseli, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, the Serengeti and the Taita Hills. Budget nights at Nyati Safari Camp (Amboseli), with camp or lodge stays at the other stops.
Price
Price on request
Places as named in the journey title. Nights in each are set out in your itinerary.
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.
Nairobi → Amboseli
The 4×4 Land Cruiser heads south-east from Nairobi to Amboseli, entering through Iremito Gate from Emali or Meshanani Gate from Namanga. Nyati Safari Camp, which our catalogue names for Amboseli, is the base for two nights. In Kenya Wildlife Service parks, visitors stay on established roads, keep at least 20 metres from wildlife and remain in the vehicle except in designated areas, rules that matter in a park where elephants are often close.
Amboseli
A full day in Amboseli is spent among the large elephant herds that make the park famous, with Kilimanjaro across the border on clear days. The park’s swamps and marshes, its open plains and acacia woodland each hold their own wildlife, and Observation Hill gives a view across all of them. Over 400 bird species have been recorded, including some 40 birds of prey, so it pays to look up as well as around.
Amboseli → Kenya–Tanzania border → Lake Manyara
Today the journey crosses into Tanzania. Namanga lies on the main road between Nairobi and Arusha, but the crossing this journey uses, and its formalities, are confirmed in your quotation; entry requirements should be checked in advance. Beyond the border, the road leads past Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park near Mto wa Mbu, a compact park at the foot of the Rift Valley escarpment. Arriving later in the day, the park’s groundwater forest and soda lake may have to wait until tomorrow.
Lake Manyara → Serengeti
Where time allows, a morning drive at Lake Manyara looks for blue monkeys and bushbuck in the mahogany and fig forest, lesser flamingos on the lake and the lions known for resting in trees. Then the road climbs over the crater highlands and down to the Serengeti, where the vast plains open up in every direction. Arriving later in the day, there may be time for a first game drive.
Serengeti
The full day in the Serengeti is the centrepiece of the Tanzanian part of the journey. Depending on the month, the herds may be close or far away, and the drives are planned around them; TANAPA notes the dry season of June to October for the migration and January to February for calving. The park’s predators, its elephants and buffalo, and its birdlife are here all year, and the plains are huge enough to feel empty one moment and crowded the next.
Serengeti → Ngorongoro Crater
Today the journey leaves the Serengeti for the Ngorongoro Crater, with a descent to the crater floor for a game drive among its resident wildlife. The NCAA describes the crater as about 610 metres deep, enclosing grasslands, swamps, rivers and woodland, and home to more than 25,000 animals. The rim and floor both give superb viewing, and the crater is accessible all year round.
Ngorongoro → Kenya–Tanzania border → Taita Hills
A long travelling day takes the journey from the crater highlands back across the border into Kenya and on to the Taita Hills in Taita Taveta County. Where the journey crosses back into Kenya is confirmed in your quotation. Nature Kenya describes the Taita Hills forests as islands of forest above the dry plains, forming the northern end of the Eastern Arc Mountains, with levels of endemism among the highest anywhere. Which part of the Taita Hills the stop uses, the forests or the separate wildlife sanctuary that shares the name, is set out in your quotation.
Taita Hills → Nairobi
Whichever site the stop uses, the hills that give the area its name are known for their forests, home to species that live nowhere else on earth, among them the Taita apalis, the Taita thrush, the Taita Hills warty frog and the Taita dwarf shrew. The forests face pressures from fire, farming, grazing and an invasive parasitic vine, and local groups such as the Dawida Biodiversity Conservation Group work with Nature Kenya and others to protect them. What the morning here includes is set out in your quotation, before the drive back to Nairobi.
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.
Amboseli · Budget
Other stops: overnight at a camp or 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
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Budget nights at Miti Mingi Eco Camp (Maasai Mara), Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru) and Nyati Safari Camp (Amboseli), with camp or lodge stays at the other stops.
Tell us your dates, who is travelling and anything you would like to change. Our team will tell you what this journey can include.
