7-Day Masai Mara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Nairobi → Masai Mara → Serengeti → Ngorongoro → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Masai Mara

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Nairobi bound for Masai Mara, descending the wall of the Great Rift Valley and passing through Narok and Maasai farming country. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, buffalo and large herds of plains game. The reserve is best known for its big cat densities, and between roughly July and October the wildebeest migration commonly moves through the ecosystem. This is a joining departure, so the safari vehicle is shared with other guests. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Masai Mara.

2. Day 2

   Full-Day Masai Mara Safari

   An unhurried full day in Masai Mara gives your guide room to follow whatever the morning turns up. Much of the day is spent among open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem. Keep watch for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, buffalo and large herds of plains game as you move between the different habitats. A full day allows morning and late-afternoon drives when animals are most active, with the option of a picnic lunch out in the reserve. The reserve is best known for its big cat densities, and between roughly July and October the wildebeest migration commonly moves through the ecosystem. This is a joining departure, so the safari vehicle is shared with other guests. Dinner and overnight are again at your Masai Mara camp or lodge.

3. Day 3

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   The day opens in Serengeti with a morning departure for Ngorongoro, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through a collapsed volcanic caldera roughly six hundred metres deep, with grassland, soda lake and fever-tree forest on its floor. This is good country in which to look for lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Ngorongoro.

4. Day 4

   Masai Mara to Serengeti

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Masai Mara to Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. Look for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra as the light softens through the afternoon. The Serengeti's wildlife moves with the seasons, so the sector visited is chosen to match where the herds and predators are likely to be at that time of year. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Serengeti.

5. Day 5

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   An unhurried full day in Serengeti gives your guide room to follow whatever the morning turns up. You travel through vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, working the areas your guide judges most productive on the day. Sightings may include lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, depending on season and conditions. The scale of the plains rewards a full day, with time to work several areas rather than rushing between them. The Serengeti's wildlife moves with the seasons, so the sector visited is chosen to match where the herds and predators are likely to be at that time of year. You return to your camp or lodge for dinner and a second night at Serengeti.

6. Day 6

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Serengeti for the drive to Ngorongoro, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Once you reach Ngorongoro there is time to check in before heading out among a collapsed volcanic caldera roughly six hundred metres deep, with grassland, soda lake and fever-tree forest on its floor. This is good country in which to look for lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. Dinner is served at your Ngorongoro camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

7. Day 7

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Ngorongoro Crater for the drive to Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. Once you reach Arusha there is time to check in before heading out among northern Tanzania's safari gateway town below the slopes of Mount Meru. Arusha is the staging point for the northern Tanzania circuit and where most safari briefings take place. The day ends with a drop-off in Nairobi at your hotel or the airport.