9-Day Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli, Serengeti & Ngorongoro Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Nairobi → Masai Mara → Lake Nakuru → Amboseli → Arusha → 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. Once you reach Masai 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. 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. This is a joining departure, so the safari vehicle is shared with other guests. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Masai Mara.

2. Day 2

   Full-Day Masai Mara Safari

   Today is spent entirely in Masai Mara, beginning with a game drive shortly after first light. The drives cover open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem, moving between habitats as conditions change. 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. 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

   Masai Mara to Lake Nakuru

   You leave Masai Mara 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. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Lake Nakuru.

4. Day 4

   Lake Nakuru to Amboseli

   The morning starts in Lake Nakuru, from where you continue overland to Amboseli, travelling south past Kajiado and through Maasai rangeland toward the Tanzanian border country. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across open plains, dust flats and spring-fed swamps beneath the bulk of Kilimanjaro. Your guide works the area for large elephant herds, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, and abundant water birds around the swamps, with sightings varying by season and conditions. Amboseli is known for its free-ranging elephant families, and on clear mornings Mount Kilimanjaro often rises above the plains, though cloud can hide it. Dinner is served at your Amboseli camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

5. Day 5

   Amboseli to Arusha

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Amboseli for the drive to Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through 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. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Arusha.

6. Day 6

   Arusha to Serengeti

   The morning starts in Arusha, from where you continue overland to Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive 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.

7. Day 7

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   The day is set aside for Serengeti, with drives timed around the first and last hours of light. 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.

8. Day 8

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   You leave Serengeti after breakfast and head 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. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Ngorongoro.

9. Day 9

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   After breakfast you leave Ngorongoro Crater and travel on toward 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.