12 Days 11 Nights Mara, Nakuru, Samburu, Amboseli, and Tsavo Safari

 Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Samburu, Amboseli, Tsavo West, and Tsavo East Safari

Full Itinerary

Day 1: Nairobi-Masai Mara

Following breakfast at your Nairobi hotel, you will depart for the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Along the way, you will stop at the viewpoint of the Great Rift Valley and Narok town for lunch and refueling. Arrive in time for a late afternoon or early evening game drive en route to the campsite for dinner and overnight.

Day 2: Masai Mara

Early breakfast, then proceed for a full day of game viewing in the reserve. However, there will be a break for a picnic lunch at the hippo pool. The abundance and diversity of wildlife in this reserve are remarkable. In the Maasai Mara, practically every mammal can be observed, with only a few exceptions. Various antelopes and scavengers like hyenas and vultures are common. The reserve contains all the cats that are lions, cheetahs, and leopards. Sighting leopards need luck, lions are abundant, and there are excellent chances for spotting cheetahs. The hippo pool is a popular spot to observe hippos, and with some luck, you might also spot crocodiles sunning themselves on the rocks. Elephants, buffalo, the Masai giraffe, wildebeests, and the common zebra abound. Return to the campsite for dinner and overnight.

 Day 3: Masai Mara

After breakfast, proceed to another game-viewing session. After lunch, You will have the option to either go for a game drive or at extra cost, visit a nearby Masai village to see their nomadic lifestyle. Both activities will end at the campsite in the mid-afternoon, where you will retire for the night after dinner.

 Day 4: Masai Mara-Nakuru

After breakfast, depart the Mara region for Nakuru. The drive provides sweeping panoramic views of Mt. Longonot and Lake Naivasha from a distance, visible from the main highway. You will arrive in Nakuru in time for dinner and spend the night at the campsite.

 Day 5: Lake Nakuru/Samburu

Wake up to an early morning game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park. You can spot flamingos and other water birds that thrive in a saltwater body. With luck, you may track the white rhino and the Rothschild’s giraffe, which both have endangered species status. The park is 188 km long and is home to cats (both lion and leopard), various antelopes, and grazers like warthogs, waterbucks, and Cape buffalo that breed near the shoreline. After the game run, depart Nakuru for Samburu via the Thompson Falls, named after Joseph Thompson, one of the first European explorers who walked from Mombasa to Lake Victoria in the 1880s. Lunch will be at Nanyuki, which is at the foothills of Mt. Kenya. Arrive in Samburu in the evening, a game drive en route to the campsite, where you will retire for the night after dinner.

Day 6: Samburu

Morning and afternoon game drives in Samburu with a lunch and leisure break in the mid-afternoon. The reserve is home to rare, drought-resistant animals unique to the semi-arid region located north of the equator. These include the reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra, the Beisa Oryx, the gerenuk, and the blue-shanked Somali ostrich. Samburu is predominantly arid for most of the year, sustained by the Ewaso Nyiro River, which originates in the Aberdare Mountains and flows into the Lorian Swamp is located to the north of the Shaba National Reserve. All meals and overnight at the campsite.

 Day 7: Samburu, Mt. Kenya

After breakfast, depart from Samburu to Mount Kenya (Nanyuki), arriving in time for lunch. After lunch, visit the Mau Mau caves (where Kenyan Freedom Fighters could hide from the British Troops during the struggle for independence).

Dinner and overnight at a budget hotel.

Day 8: Mt. Kenya—Amboseli

After breakfast, you will depart for Amboseli, traveling through Nairobi. On clear days, you may have the opportunity to see the peak of Mt. Kenya. Lunch is provided during the journey. In the evening, you will reach Amboseli, with a short game drive en route to the campsite where dinner will be provided and spend the night.

Day 9: Amboseli

After breakfast, proceed on a game drive in this park, which lies in a dried-up lakebed. In Amboseli, some swamps and springs are feed by underground rivers from the melting snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro, which give permanent water to the wildlife. The Animals frequently seen in this area include lions, elephants, cheetahs, buffalo, plains game, the rare Taita weaver, and the gerenuk. The animals are mainly found around the Ol Kenya swamp. If the weather is clear and there is no low cloud cover, you may see the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, which forms a beautiful backdrop to the park. The observation hill offers a view of the entire park and beyond. An afternoon game drive will follow after lunch. Rest of meals and overnight at the campsite

Day 10: Amboseli-Tsavo West

After breakfast, depart Amboseli for Tsavo West National Park, with lunch en route. You will visit the Shetani Lava Flows, as the area where the park lies is of volcanic origin. The Mzima Springs, which contain 20 million tons of crystal-clear water from the underground streams of the nearby Chyullu Hills, are an additional attraction; various aspects of marine life, including hippos, crocodiles, and fish, can be seen from the specially constructed underground glass tank. The animal species seen at Tsavo are hippos, crocodiles, elephants, gazelles, zebras, giraffes, various birds, buffalo, and kudu in a dense acacia environment.

Dinner and overnight at the campsite

Day 11: Tsavo West-Tsavo East

Following breakfast, a morning game drive will commence, providing an opportunity to spot rock hyraxes, squirrels, and mongooses, as the park is home to a substantial population of these animals. Depart for Tsavo East National Park; lunch en route. Here, only the section south of the Galana River is open to the public for game drives; the rest of the park serves as a wilderness for the animals to retreat into. Here, the dried-up Aruba dam can be seen, along with crocodiles at the crocodile point below the Lugard Falls. Dinner and overnight at the campsite

Day 12: Tsavo East—Nairobi or Mombasa

After breakfast, your final game drive will follow, during which you may see Plains game, zebra, antelope, lesser kudu, ostrich, and large herds of elephants. Lunch will be provided during the journey back, and you will arrive in Nairobi in the evening.