Kenya · Midrange
An 8-day midrange safari through Samburu, Mt Kenya, Lake Nakuru and the Maasai Mara. Lodge accommodation, with Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru).
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 → Samburu
The safari leaves Nairobi heading north, passing through central Kenya on the way to Samburu National Reserve, which the County Government of Samburu manages. The reserve’s main entrance, Archer’s Gate, is close to Archer’s Post on the Marsabit highway, and arriving in the afternoon can leave time for a first drive along the river. Northern Kenya feels very different from the parks further south: drier, hotter and home to animals adapted to the heat.
Samburu
The Ewaso Nyiro is the lifeline of Samburu, and a day of drives often follows it, because the river draws elephants and other animals throughout the day. Away from the water, the grassland savannah and rocky outcrops are the place to look for Grevy’s zebra and the gerenuk, two of the Samburu Five. The reserve is small, at about 165 square kilometres, but its variety means there is always somewhere new to explore.
Samburu → Mount Kenya
Heading south from Samburu, the journey reaches Mount Kenya, a mountain that Kenya Wildlife Service describes as an ancient extinct volcano with glacier-clad summits, moorland and forested slopes. Protection began with the surrounding forest reserve in 1932, and the national park followed in 1949. Whether the stay includes any time on the mountain’s slopes is set out in your quotation; the change from Samburu’s heat to the cooler highlands is part of the day’s interest.
Mount Kenya → Lake Nakuru
Mount Kenya is reached through three official gates, Sirimon, Naromoru and Chogoria, used by climbers and trekkers heading for Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana; this journey names no trek, so the mountain is enjoyed from below. The road then crosses west into the Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru, where Buraha Zenoni, named in our catalogue, is the base for the night, and where black and white rhinos live in a fenced national park.
Lake Nakuru → Maasai Mara
The morning in Lake Nakuru National Park is the safari’s best chance for rhinos, and the park’s mix of lake shore, grassland, woodland and escarpment makes it a varied drive. Afterwards the 4×4 Land Cruiser sets out for the Maasai Mara, a long transfer that ends at the lodge for the next three nights. Arriving in the Mara after the north and the Rift Valley, its open grassland feels vast.
Maasai Mara
The first full day in the Mara is a chance to meet the reserve’s residents: lions in the shade of the acacias, elephants and giraffes moving through the grass, and the topi that stand on termite mounds to watch for danger. The Mara Conservancy describes these scenes as the reserve’s quieter beauty before the herds arrive in June or July. In migration season, they share the stage with hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra.
Maasai Mara
A second full day lets the safari go further, perhaps to the Mara River if the herds are near, or to areas the first day did not reach. If a crossing seems possible, the Conservancy asks visitors to keep quiet and well back from the crossing point, because herds pushed by vehicles have crossed at unsafe banks and hundreds of animals have died. The best days here are unhurried, and a second day makes that possible.
Maasai Mara → Nairobi
The last morning in the reserve is a final chance to watch the Mara wake up, before the Land Cruiser heads back to Nairobi. The journey has crossed Kenya from the dry north to the south-west, from the Samburu Five and the slopes of Kenya’s highest mountain to the Rift Valley and the Mara. It ends in the capital by the end of the day, after eight days on the road.
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.
Lake Nakuru
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
Samburu · Mt Kenya · Lake Nakuru · Lake Naivasha · Maasai Mara
Budget nights at Miti Mingi Eco Camp (Maasai Mara), Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru) and Leisure Apex (Lake Naivasha), with camp or lodge stays at the other stops.
Big Time pick
Samburu · Ol Pejeta · Lake Nakuru · Maasai Mara
Lodge accommodation, with Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru).
Maasai Mara · Lake Nakuru · Samburu
Budget nights at Miti Mingi Eco Camp (Maasai Mara) and Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru), 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.
