8-Day Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Lake Manyara Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Nairobi → Lake Nakuru → Masai Mara → Serengeti → Ngorongoro → Lake Manyara → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Lake Nakuru

   You leave Nairobi after breakfast and head for Lake Nakuru, travelling through the Rift Valley floor and the farming towns of the Nakuru region. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into a Rift Valley soda lake ringed by yellow-barked acacia woodland and steep escarpment viewpoints. Look for black and white rhino, Rothschild's giraffe, buffalo, waterbuck and dense birdlife as the light softens through the afternoon. The park operates as a sanctuary and is one of Kenya's more reliable places to look for rhino; flamingo numbers on the lake rise and fall with water levels. Transport and game drives are shared with other travellers on this joining departure. The evening is spent at your Lake Nakuru accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

2. Day 2

   Lake Nakuru to Masai Mara

   After breakfast you leave Lake Nakuru and travel on toward 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. Look for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, buffalo and large herds of plains game as the light softens through the afternoon. The reserve is best known for its big cat densities, and between roughly July and October the wildebeest migration commonly moves through the ecosystem. Dinner is served at your Masai Mara camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

3. Day 3

   Full-Day Masai Mara Safari

   You have a complete day in Masai Mara, starting early while the air is still cool and animals are active. 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. Sightings may include lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, buffalo and large herds of plains game, depending on season and conditions. 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. Dinner and overnight are again at your Masai Mara camp or lodge.

4. Day 4

   Masai Mara to Serengeti

   After breakfast you leave Masai Mara and travel on toward Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. This is good country in which to look for 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. The evening is spent at your Serengeti accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

5. Day 5

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   The whole day is given to Serengeti, with an early start to make the most of the cooler morning hours. 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. 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. You return to your camp or lodge for dinner and a second night at Serengeti.

6. Day 6

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Serengeti bound for Ngorongoro, 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. There is the possibility of seeing lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen, depending on movement and conditions on the day. 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 to Lake Manyara

   You leave Ngorongoro after breakfast and head for Lake Manyara, driving west from Arusha past Maasai settlements and the escarpment wall. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into groundwater forest, open floodplain and an alkaline lake beneath the Rift Valley escarpment. This is good country in which to look for elephant, baboon troops, hippo, giraffe and large numbers of waterbirds including flamingo. Manyara is known for its groundwater forest fed by springs at the base of the escarpment, and for lions that are sometimes seen resting in trees. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Lake Manyara.

8. Day 8

   Lake Manyara to Arusha

   The day opens in Lake Manyara with a morning departure for Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into 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. Arrival back is normally in the afternoon, with a drop-off at your hotel or the airport.