8-Day Kenya & Tanzania Family Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Nairobi → Maasai Mara → Isebania / Sirari Border → Serengeti → Ngorongoro Highlands → Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Maasai Mara

   After breakfast you leave Nairobi and travel on toward Maasai 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. This is good country in which to look for 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. Transport and game drives are shared with other travellers on this joining departure. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Maasai Mara.

2. Day 2

   Full-Day Maasai Mara Safari

   Explore in shorter wildlife-drive blocks, returning to camp or lodge for a meaningful midday rest. Your route takes in open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem, with your guide reading recent movement to decide where to spend time. Species commonly associated with the area include lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, buffalo and large herds of plains game. 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. Transport and game drives are shared with other travellers on this joining departure. Dinner and overnight are again at your Maasai Mara camp or lodge.

3. Day 3

   Full-Day Maasai Mara Safari

   Use another measured day for a different Mara area while keeping the schedule responsive to the children. You travel through open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem, working the areas your guide judges most productive on the day. 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. The evening returns you to your Maasai Mara accommodation for dinner and overnight.

4. Day 4

   Maasai Mara to Serengeti

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Maasai Mara to Serengeti. Complete the confirmed Isebania–Sirari border and operating-team handover, with realistic breaks and timing clearly stated before travel. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra. 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

   Take morning and afternoon game drives around the selected Serengeti sector, leaving time to enjoy the property. Your route takes in vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, with your guide reading recent movement to decide where to spend time. Keep watch for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra as you move between the different habitats. 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. Dinner and overnight are again at your Serengeti camp or lodge.

6. Day 6

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   Continue at a comfortable family pace, following current conditions rather than promising a particular wildlife encounter. The drives cover vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, moving between habitats as conditions change. There is the possibility of seeing lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, though wild sightings are never guaranteed. 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 third night at Serengeti.

7. Day 7

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro Highlands

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Serengeti bound for Ngorongoro Highlands, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into a collapsed volcanic caldera roughly six hundred metres deep, with grassland, soda lake and fever-tree forest on its floor. Look for lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen as the light softens through the afternoon. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. The evening is spent at your Ngorongoro Highlands accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

8. Day 8

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Ngorongoro Crater bound for Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. You reach Arusha in the afternoon, with the final stretch of road giving time to look back over the journey. 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 Arusha at your hotel or the airport.