8-Day Kenya & Tanzania Mid-Range Safari: Maasai Mara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro

Day-by-day itinerary

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

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Maasai Mara

   You leave Nairobi after breakfast and head for Maasai Mara, descending the wall of the Great Rift Valley and passing through Narok and Maasai farming country. Once you reach Maasai Mara there is time to check in before heading out among 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. Dinner is served at your Maasai Mara camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

2. Day 2

   Full-Day Maasai Mara Safari

   Explore the reserve during morning and afternoon game-drive windows, following habitat and current wildlife movement. 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. 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. You return to your camp or lodge for dinner and a second night at Maasai Mara.

3. Day 3

   Full-Day Maasai Mara Safari

   Use a second full day to reach another part of the Mara landscape without treating any species or river event as guaranteed. Much of the day is spent among open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem. 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. The evening returns you to your Maasai Mara accommodation for dinner and overnight.

4. Day 4

   Maasai Mara to Serengeti

   The day opens in Maasai Mara with a morning departure for Serengeti. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. There is the possibility of seeing lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, depending on movement and conditions on the day. 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 at your camp or lodge in Serengeti.

5. Day 5

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   Spend a full day exploring the Serengeti sector selected for the season, with a midday rest where lodge location allows. 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. 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 second night at Serengeti.

6. Day 6

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   Continue through the Serengeti on a route chosen around current road and wildlife conditions. 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. 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

   The morning starts in Serengeti, from where you continue overland to Ngorongoro Highlands, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across 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. The evening is spent at your Ngorongoro Highlands accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

8. Day 8

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   The day opens in Ngorongoro Crater with a morning departure for Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. Arrival in Arusha is usually in the afternoon, depending on traffic and road conditions on the approach. Arusha is the staging point for the northern Tanzania circuit and where most safari briefings take place. Arrival back is normally in the afternoon, with a drop-off at your hotel or the airport in Arusha.