10-Day Circuit Trip - Lake Nakuru · Maasai Mara · Isebania · Serengeti · Ngorongoro Crater · Lake Manyara & Amboseli

Day by day

10 days in East Africa.

1. Day 1

   Nairobi – Lake Nakuru

   Pick-up from your Nairobi hotel or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and transfer to our office, where you meet your guide and leave straight away for Lake Nakuru, about two hours from Nairobi. The first stop is the viewpoint over the escarpment; later Mount Longonot and Lake Naivasha appear in the distance from the highway. In Nakuru the guide collects picnic lunches and you go directly into the park, known for its flamingos and its endangered rhino, for a game drive in the 4x4 Land Cruiser until about 6pm. Dinner follows on arrival, with the night spent in town.

   Overnight

   Buraha Zenoni, Lake NakuruLake Nakuru Sopa LodgeThe Cliff Nakuru

   Meals

   Picnic lunch and dinner

2. Day 2

   Lake Nakuru – Maasai Mara

   After breakfast, leave Nakuru and drop down to Lake Naivasha for an optional boat ride to watch the birds and hippo at close range. Continue via Narok town for lunch and refuelling as the road runs deeper into the Maasai plains, then check in to your camp in the Mara. The first introductory game drive follows in the afternoon, tracking the animals and birds of the reserve with your driver-guide until sunset. Dinner and overnight at the eco camp.

   Overnight

   Miti Mingi Camp, Maasai MaraZebra Plains Mara CampGovernors' Camp, Maasai Mara

   Meals

   Breakfast, lunch and dinner

3. Day 3

   Maasai Mara National Reserve

   Breakfast at camp, then leave by 8am with picnic lunches for an extensive game drive across the savanna grassland and rolling hills of the reserve, whose track network allows close-range viewing and photography. The route reaches the Mara River, the migration crossing point, where crocodile and hippo are found; break for lunch after watching them. Game viewing continues until 5pm, when you leave the park with time for a couple of hours of optional activities. Dinner and overnight at camp.

   Overnight

   Miti Mingi Camp, Maasai MaraZebra Plains Mara CampGovernors' Camp, Maasai Mara

   Meals

   Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner

4. Day 4

   Maasai Mara – Serengeti National Park

   After breakfast, visit a Maasai homestead to see how the community organises its home, watch the dancing, hear the singing and learn bush skills such as lighting a fire. Your Kenyan guide then drives you to the Isebania border crossing, where you clear immigration and meet your Tanzanian guide and 4x4 Land Cruiser. Continue into the Serengeti with a game drive en route to camp at Seronera for dinner and overnight.

   Overnight

   Seronera Camp, SerengetiSerengeti Serena Safari LodgeFour Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

   Meals

   Breakfast, lunch and dinner

   

5. Day 5

   Serengeti National Park Game Viewing

   Leave camp with picnic lunches for a full day of game viewing in the Serengeti's savanna grassland. The park is enormous, and your guide's knowledge of the terrain and recent sightings is the key to finding animals: the Big Five are all present, large groups of wildebeest and zebra graze the plains, and cheetah and hyena work the open ground while leopard keep to the river-line trees. Dinner and overnight at Seronera camp.

   Overnight

   Seronera Camp, SerengetiSerengeti Serena Safari LodgeFour Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

   Meals

   Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner

6. Day 6

   Serengeti – Ngorongoro Crater

   After breakfast and a final game drive in the Serengeti, pack up and drive to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area with picnic lunches en route. The road crosses the short-grass plains and climbs to the crater rim, with views of the caldera that is counted among the natural wonders of Africa. Dinner and overnight at the public campsite on the rim, in tents with beds and bedding provided.

   Overnight

   Simba Campsite, NgorongoroNgorongoro Serena Safari LodgeNeptune Ngorongoro Luxury Lodge

   Meals

   Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner

   

7. Day 7

   Ngorongoro Crater – Lake Manyara

   After breakfast the 4x4 Land Cruiser takes you 2,000 feet down into the Ngorongoro Crater, viewing animals from the descent road and then across the floor, where lion, elephant, buffalo, hyena, zebra, wildebeest and, with luck, black rhino live year-round. Picnic lunch is taken in the crater, then ascend to the rim and drive down the escarpment to Lake Manyara. Dinner follows, with the night spent near the park.

   Overnight

   Fanaka Campsite, Lake ManyaraLake Manyara Serena Safari LodgeEscarpment Luxury Lodge Manyara

   Meals

   Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner

8. Day 8

   Lake Manyara – Arusha – Amboseli

   After breakfast, leave camp with picnic lunches for an extensive game drive in Lake Manyara National Park, known for its tree-climbing lions and large numbers of flamingo, as well as elephant, hippo and baboon in the groundwater forest. Lunch is inside the park, then drive via Arusha to the Namanga border, where you say goodbye to your Tanzanian guide and rejoin the Kenyan guide. Continue to Amboseli, arriving at camp in the evening for dinner and overnight.

   Overnight

   Nyati Safari Camp, AmboseliKibo Safari Camp, AmboseliElewana Tortilis Camp, Amboseli

   Meals

   Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner

9. Day 9

   Amboseli National Park

   A full day of game drives in Amboseli National Park, whose swamp grounds are where elephant and hippo bathe in numbers. Plains game, antelope and a wide variety of birds are seen across the drier ground, and if the weather permits Mount Kilimanjaro's peak shows above the park, most reliably early and late in the day. Picnic lunches are provided so the day can be spent in the park. Return at the end of the day for your overnight stay.

   Overnight

   Nyati Safari Camp, AmboseliKibo Safari Camp, AmboseliElewana Tortilis Camp, Amboseli

   Meals

   Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner

   

10. Day 10

    Amboseli National Park – Nairobi

    An early morning game drive from 6am to 9am, then back to camp for a full breakfast and check-out. Leave Amboseli and drive north to Nairobi, where you are dropped at your hotel or transferred to the airport for your flight home. This private safari is priced on request and requires a minimum of two people to book; tell us your flight time so the departure from Amboseli can be set to suit it.

    Meals

    Breakfast

Your questions, answered.