Kenya & Tanzania · Budget
A 9-day budget safari through the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Arusha, Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Budget nights at Miti Mingi Eco Camp (Maasai Mara) and Buraha Zenoni (Lake Nakuru), 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 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
The safari starts in Kenya with the drive from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara. The 4×4 Land Cruiser arrives at Miti Mingi Eco Camp, named in our catalogue for the Mara, ideally in time for the first game drive. The reserve is the Kenyan heart of the migration country, and whether or not the herds are in, its open grassland is one of the best places to begin a long safari, with wildlife often visible across great distances.
Maasai Mara
A full day in the Mara can explore the country the Mara Conservancy describes on the migration’s route, from the Sand River across towards Look-Out Hill and down to the Mara River. In season, that is where the herds may be; out of season, the same country holds the reserve’s resident wildlife. Before the herds arrive in June, the Conservancy writes of topi on termite mounds and lions waiting out the heat, scenes that are as much a part of the Mara as the migration.
Maasai Mara → Lake Nakuru
Today’s drive leaves the Mara for Lake Nakuru, a park first protected in 1961 for its flamingos and other waterbirds. Since then it has become better known for its rhinos, black and white, protected inside the electric fence built in 1986. Arriving at Buraha Zenoni, our catalogue’s property for Lake Nakuru, there may be time for an afternoon drive in the park to look for them among the acacia woodland and the escarpments.
Lake Nakuru → Kenya–Tanzania border → Arusha
This is the journey’s big transfer, from Kenya’s Rift Valley to Arusha in northern Tanzania, the gateway to the northern safari circuit. After a morning at Lake Nakuru, the Land Cruiser heads south and crosses into Tanzania at a border post your quotation confirms. Travellers should check entry requirements for their nationality on official websites before departure.
Arusha → Lake Manyara
What the Arusha stop includes is set out in your quotation. If it means Arusha National Park, TANAPA describes grassland where buffalo, zebra, giraffe, warthog and waterbuck gather, cool forest and the Momella lakes, with Mount Meru, Tanzania’s second-highest peak, rising above. The main access is through Ngongongare Gate near Usa River. Later the journey continues west to Lake Manyara, where the night is spent at a camp or lodge near the park.
Lake Manyara → Serengeti
A morning in Lake Manyara National Park shows a compact park at its most varied, from the groundwater forest at the foot of the escarpment to the soda lake where lesser flamingos feed. The canopy walkway, one of the longest in Africa, is in the park; whether it is included is agreed when you book. In the afternoon the road climbs over the highlands and down to the Serengeti, where the night is at a camp or lodge in the park.
Serengeti
A full day in the Serengeti follows the herds if they are near, or the park’s resident lions, leopards, elephants and buffalo if they are not. TANAPA calls the park home to the world’s last remaining large-mammal migration, and having seen the Kenyan side of it in the Mara, the Tanzanian side completes the picture. More than 500 bird species are recorded here, from ostriches striding across the plains to eagles overhead.
Serengeti → Ngorongoro
After a last morning on the Serengeti plains, the journey returns to the Ngorongoro highlands and the rim of the crater. The NCAA explains that the crater formed around 2.5 million years ago when a massive volcano collapsed, and that animals move freely in and out of it throughout the year. The night is spent at a camp or lodge on or near the rim, with the descent to the floor saved for the morning.
Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha
The last game drive of the safari is on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater, where the NCAA counts more than 25,000 animals and many visitors look for the Big Five. Walking is not allowed on the crater floor, so the whole visit is from the Land Cruiser, one of the four-wheel-drive vehicles permitted to enter. Afterwards the journey ends, finishing in Arusha.
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
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.
