Kenya & Tanzania · Budget · Big Time pick
A 9-day budget safari through the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. 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.
Price per person
Places as named in the journey title. Nights in each are set out in your itinerary.
Starts in Nairobi · finishes in Arusha
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 → Maasai Mara
Nine days and two countries lie ahead, and the safari starts with the Maasai Mara. The 4×4 Land Cruiser leaves Nairobi in the morning, reaching the reserve and Miti Mingi Eco Camp, which our catalogue names for the Mara, aiming to arrive in time for a first game drive. The reserve’s open grassland and big skies set the tone for what follows, and with a full day still to come, this first drive can simply be about taking it all in.
Maasai Mara
The full day in the reserve follows whichever season you travel in. In migration months, the Mara Conservancy describes the plains filled with wildebeest, zebra, eland and Thomson’s gazelle; at other times the reserve’s resident animals are the focus. The Conservancy also reminds visitors that the herds themselves, rather than a single crossing, are the spectacle, which makes a whole day here more rewarding than any race to the river.
Maasai Mara → Lake Nakuru
Leaving the Mara, the journey heads north-east into the Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru, where our catalogue names Buraha Zenoni for the night. The park around the lake was enlarged in 1974 to include grassland, woodland and escarpments, and those habitats now support one of Kenya’s largest populations of black rhinos as well as white rhinos. An afternoon drive may be possible, depending on the time of arrival, and the lake shore is the place to start.
Lake Nakuru → Amboseli
Where time allows, an early drive at Lake Nakuru is followed by the long road south to Amboseli, a transfer that takes much of the day. Kenya Wildlife Service lists two main road approaches from the Nairobi side, through Emali or through Namanga, and the evening is spent at Nyati Safari Camp, which our catalogue names for Amboseli. The landscape changes completely over the course of the day, from the green Rift Valley to the dry plains near the Tanzanian border.
Amboseli
A full day in Amboseli, where Kenya Wildlife Service describes one of Africa’s premier places for close encounters with large elephant herds. The park’s swamps and marshes keep the elephants close, and the open terrain lets you watch family groups for as long as you like. On clear days Kilimanjaro rises behind them, and this is the closest the journey comes to the mountain before the crossing into Tanzania tomorrow.
Amboseli → Kenya–Tanzania border → Arusha
Today the journey leaves Kenya. After a last look at Amboseli, the Land Cruiser heads for the Tanzanian border at a crossing confirmed in your quotation; entry requirements for your nationality should be checked on official government websites before travel. The night is spent in northern Tanzania, in the Arusha area, ready for the drive to the Serengeti tomorrow.
Arusha → Serengeti
From Arusha, the usual starting point for the Serengeti according to TANAPA, the journey crosses the crater highlands and descends to the Serengeti plains. It is a long road, but scenic, and arriving in the afternoon there may be time for a first game drive. The Serengeti is home to more than a million and a half migrating wildebeest, with zebra and the predators that follow them, and to resident lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and rhinos.
Serengeti → Ngorongoro
A morning drive in the Serengeti gives a last chance to follow the herds or the predators before the journey turns back towards the Ngorongoro highlands. The crater rim, where lodges and campsites are found, is the night’s destination, and from it you can look down into the caldera that the NCAA calls the world’s largest intact and unfilled. The night is spent on the rim, with an early start planned for the crater floor.
Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha
The final day starts with a descent into the Ngorongoro Crater, where more than 25,000 animals live among grasslands, swamps and rivers, including elephants, buffalo, rhinos, lions and leopards. After the game drive, the Land Cruiser climbs out of the crater and the journey ends. The safari finishes in Arusha, where onward travel is arranged with you.
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.
Maasai Mara · Budget
Lake Nakuru · Budget
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
Big Time pick
Maasai Mara · Lake Nakuru · Amboseli · Lake Manyara · Serengeti · Ngorongoro
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.
Maasai Mara · Nakuru · Naivasha · Amboseli · Manyara · Serengeti · Ngorongoro · Tarangire
Budget nights at Miti Mingi Eco Camp (Maasai Mara), Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru), Leisure Apex (Lake Naivasha) and Nyati Safari Camp (Amboseli), with camp or lodge stays at the other stops.
Maasai Mara · Nakuru · Amboseli · Manyara · Serengeti · Ngorongoro
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.
