Your Safari Trip in Kenya begins with an early morning departure from your Nairobi hotel after breakfast. At around 7:00 AM, set off southwards towards Amboseli National Park, traveling through the scenic Athi Plains. Along the route, enjoy the changing landscapes and make brief stops at suitable viewpoints where you may catch distant views of Mount Kilimanjaro and the expansive Kenyan savannah.
Around midday, arrive in the Amboseli area and enjoy a light picnic lunch before continuing to the lodge. By approximately 1:00 PM, check in at Amboseli Sopa Lodge, settle into your room, and take some time to relax.
Later in the afternoon, head out for your first game drive in Amboseli National Park. The park is particularly famous for its large elephant herds and spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro. Keep watch for elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, wildebeest, lions, and other wildlife as you explore the open plains and wetland areas.
Continue the game drive until around 6:00 PM before returning to the lodge for dinner and an evening of relaxation.
Main Destination:
Amboseli National Park
Begin the day with an early morning game drive, one of the best times to explore Amboseli when wildlife is active and temperatures are cooler. If weather conditions are favorable, you may enjoy impressive views of the snow-capped summit of Mount Kilimanjaro while watching herds of zebras and wildebeest around the park’s seasonal wetlands.
During the morning drive, keep an eye out for predators and other wildlife, including lions, cheetahs, elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, and numerous bird species. After the early game-viewing experience, return to Amboseli Sopa Lodge for breakfast.
Later, continue exploring the vast landscapes of Amboseli with further game drives. The park is especially well known for its elephants, which can often be seen moving across the plains or gathering around water sources. The combination of abundant wildlife, open savannah, wetlands, and Mount Kilimanjaro creates some of the most memorable scenery of your Safari Trip in Kenya.
You may also have an opportunity to learn about Maasai culture through a visit to a local village outside the park, depending on the arrangements for the day. Keep your camera ready throughout the experience, as Kilimanjaro can provide a spectacular backdrop to wildlife photographs when the skies are clear.
Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight accommodation.
Main Destination:
Amboseli National Park
Accommodation:
Amboseli Sopa Lodge – Mid-rang
After breakfast, depart Amboseli and begin your journey northwest towards Lake Naivasha. The drive takes approximately five to six hours, with stops along the way for refreshments, photographs, fresh fruit, and opportunities to see local crafts.
As you travel, the scenery gradually changes from the surroundings of Amboseli to the outskirts of Nairobi and eventually the dramatic landscapes of the Great Rift Valley. Make a stop at a suitable Rift Valley viewpoint to stretch your legs, take photographs, and admire the expansive views.
Continue towards Lake Naivasha and arrive at Muthu Lake Naivasha Country Club, where you will check in and enjoy lunch. Later, take a boat ride across Lake Naivasha towards Crescent Island. During the excursion, look out for hippos and waterbirds such as fish eagles and pelicans while enjoying the peaceful setting of the freshwater lake.
After the boat excursion, enjoy a guided walk on Crescent Island. The approximately two-hour walking experience offers an opportunity to see giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, impalas, and various bird species at relatively close range. With no large predators on the island, the walk provides a relaxed way to experience wildlife on foot.
Return to the hotel in the evening for dinner and overnight accommodation.
Main Destination:
Lake Naivasha, Naivasha
Accommodation:
Muthu Lake Naivasha Country Club
After breakfast, leave Lake Naivasha and travel a short distance to Hell’s Gate National Park. Enjoy a guided hike through the park’s dramatic landscape, characterized by towering cliffs, rocky formations, gorges, and geothermal features.
As you explore, you may encounter wildlife such as baboons, zebras, buffaloes, giraffes, hyenas, and a variety of bird species. Hell’s Gate is particularly distinctive because of the opportunity to experience its landscape on foot while observing wildlife in a natural setting.
After your activities at Hell’s Gate, continue towards Lake Nakuru National Park. Upon arrival, check in at Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, freshen up, and enjoy lunch before heading out for an afternoon game drive.
Explore the areas surrounding the alkaline Lake Nakuru while searching for wildlife and birdlife. The park is known for its rhinos, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, hippos, and other species. Depending on conditions, you may also see flamingos around the lake and predators such as leopards.
Return to the lodge in the evening for dinner and a well-earned rest after a day filled with hiking and wildlife viewing.
Main Destination:
Lake Nakuru National Park
Start the morning with breakfast at Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge before departing at approximately 6:30 AM for the Masai Mara. As you leave the Nakuru region, travel through the scenic Great Rift Valley and make a stop at the viewpoint for photographs and panoramic views of the surrounding escarpment and valleys.
Continue through the Rift Valley landscapes, passing rolling hills, grasslands, and Maasai communities along the route. The journey offers opportunities to observe traditional pastoral life and the changing scenery of western Kenya.
Arrive in the Masai Mara in the afternoon and settle into Mara Chui Resort before enjoying lunch. Later, head out for an approximately three-hour afternoon game drive.
Explore the Mara’s rolling grasslands and riverine areas while searching for elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, lions, cheetahs, and other wildlife. During the seasonal migration, large herds of wildebeest may be present across the plains, although the timing and location of the migration vary from year to year.
As the afternoon progresses, watch for predators resting or hunting across the grasslands. Return to the resort in the evening for dinner and overnight accommodation.
Main Destination:
Masai Mara National Reserve
After breakfast, set out for a full-day game drive across the Masai Mara. The reserve’s expansive golden grasslands and rolling hills provide a spectacular setting for wildlife viewing and photography.
Your guide will explore different areas of the reserve in search of its diverse wildlife. You may encounter members of the Big Five, including lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, and rhinos, although sightings depend on natural conditions and animal movements. Other species you may see include cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, antelopes, warthogs, hippos, and numerous bird species.
The Masai Mara is also an important part of the greater Serengeti-Mara ecosystem and is associated with the seasonal wildebeest migration, generally occurring between the Mara and Serengeti ecosystems at different times of the year.
Enjoy a picnic lunch in the wilderness before continuing your afternoon game drive. Your guide will help you search for wildlife while navigating the plains, riverine areas, and other habitats within the reserve.
As the sun begins to set, make your way back to Mara Chui Resort. Enjoy dinner and a relaxing evening beneath the African night sky, surrounded by the peaceful atmosphere of the Mara.
Main Destination:
Masai Mara National Reserve
Accommodation:
Mara Chui Resort
After breakfast, you may visit a nearby Maasai village as an optional cultural experience at an additional cost of US$20 per person. During the visit, meet members of the Maasai community and learn about aspects of their traditional lifestyle, customs, homes, and cultural heritage.
You may also see traditional songs and dances, explore locally made crafts, and purchase handmade beaded souvenirs directly from the community.
After the village experience, begin your road journey back to Nairobi. Travel through the scenic landscapes of the Great Rift Valley, with opportunities to enjoy the countryside and make brief stops along the route.
Continue towards Nairobi and arrive in the afternoon. Your Safari Trip in Kenya concludes with a drop-off at your Nairobi hotel or another agreed location, marking the end of your journey through Amboseli, Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru, and the Masai Mara.
Main Destination:
Nairobi City