8 Days Kenya Safari Amboseli Aberdare Nakuru Masai Mara

Day 1: Nairobi – Drive to Amboseli National Park
Day 2: Explore Amboseli National Park
Day 3: Amboseli – Drive to the Aberdare National Park
Day 4: Aberdare – Drive to Lake Nakuru National Park
Day 5: Lake Nakuru – Drive to Maasai Mara National Reserve
Day 6: Explore Masai Mara National Reserve
Day 7: Explore Masai Mara National Reserve
Day 8: Masai Mara – Drive to Nairobi

Day 1: Nairobi – Drive to Amboseli National Park

Rise early to enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Depart by road to Amboseli National Park. There you will experience your first game drive en route to your lodge. After lunch, we venture into this beautiful national park on an afternoon game drive, which usually offers close-up photographic opportunities of the wild animals.

Amboseli is famous for close encounters with big herds of elephants. The game park is a photographer’s paradise, combining close-range wildlife sightings with scenic landscapes, including the towering Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain.

The vegetation of the park varies seasonally, with green swamps during rainy periods and arid bush during dry periods, both well-suited to game viewing. Sightings include the big cats of Africa, including the Big Five.

Accommodation Options:
Luxury Accommodation: Tortilis Safari Camp Amboseli, Elerai Camp Amboseli, Tawi Lodge, Amboseli
Mid-range Accommodation: Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge, AA Lodge Amboseli, Sentrim Amboseli Lodge
Budget Accommodation: Kibo Safari Camp, Kibo Guest House, Kimana Lodge Amboseli
Meal Plan: {Lunch & Dinner}

Day 2: Explore Amboseli National Park

Today we spend a full day in Amboseli on morning and afternoon game drives. Amboseli National Park is one of the most popular game parks in Kenya. Amboseli Park covers sprawling grasslands at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak.

Standing at 5896m above sea level, the snow-topped mountain forms the backdrop to game viewing in Amboseli. The park hosts some of Kenya’s largest elephant herds and is famous for its large bull elephants with their impressive tusks.

Amboseli is considered one of the top game parks in Africa for getting up close to elephants in the wild, and it offers some of the finest wildlife photographic opportunities, flanked by the scenic Mt Kilimanjaro.

The Game Park also contains large populations of buffalo, zebras, wildebeest, giraffes, hippos, and various antelope species, such as impala. The park is also home to lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos and many other species of plains game.

The park also boasts an abundance of birds, including bee-eaters, kingfishers, pelicans, African fish eagles and falcons.

We return to the same camp in Amboseli for a night under starry skies. Enjoy meals and another overnight at the camp/ lodge with beautiful views of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Accommodation Options:
Luxury Accommodation: Tortilis Safari Camp Amboseli, Elerai Camp Amboseli, Tawi Lodge, Amboseli
Mid-range Accommodation: Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge, AA Lodge Amboseli, Sentrim Amboseli Lodge
Budget Accommodation: Kibo Safari Camp, Kibo Guest House, Kimana Lodge Amboseli

Meal Plan: {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}

Day 3: Amboseli – Drive to the Aberdare National Park

Depart for Nairobi after breakfast. Our destination today is the Aberdare National Park. We stop for lunch at an upscale restaurant in Nairobi and travel overland through plantations of coffee and tea to The Aberdare Country Club or at the Outspan Hotel.

After high tea, we set off for the Ark Tree Lodge or the Treetops Lodge, located in the forest on the mountain slopes of the Aberdare Mountains at 7,000 feet. These outstanding hotels offer high-altitude game viewing, including animals that are rarely encountered elsewhere: giant forest hog, bush pig, tree hyrax, large spotted genet, and the elusive bongo.

Wildlife can be observed from different levels – and from outside, where you can see, hear, and smell everything, and inside, where you can sit with a cup of tea and stay warm and cozy.

You can put in a request to be awakened during the night if your favorite animals show up. A herd of elephants might be just feet away, and if you are lucky, a leopard or large male Lion might put in an appearance.

Accommodation Options:
Luxury Accommodation: Ark Forest Lodge or Treetop Forest Lodge

Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}

Day 4: Aberdare – Drive to Lake Nakuru National Park

After breakfast, we proceed on a game drive on our way out of the Aberdare. We travel south through Kenya to Lake Nakuru National Park, stopping for lunch en route. Arriving at Lake Nakuru Park, we take a scenic afternoon game drive in this compact wildlife area.

This Kenyan game park has retained its reputation as an ornithologist’s delight, with more than 400 bird species. Bird species include the Great White Pelican, African Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Stork, Lesser and Greater Flamingo, and Long-crested Eagle.

Nakuru National Park surrounds the lake and was first gazetted to protect the rich bird life found here, later becoming a national park to provide sanctuary for endangered species such as the rhino.

There are about 25 white and black rhinos, one of the largest concentrations in the country. Predators are also residents of this park, while Rothschild’s giraffes have been translocated into the park for safety. This small park (180 sq km) is also home to warthogs, baboons, waterbuck, buffaloes, reedbucks, zebras and the occasional leopard.

This evening at our comfortable lodge in the national park, we enjoy dinner and a relaxing evening after game-spotting and bird-watching around the lake.

Accommodation Options:
Luxury Accommodation: Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, Sarova Lion Hill Lodge, Sarova Woodlands Hotel
Mid-range Accommodation: Egret Savannah Camp Lake Nakuru, Ziwa Bush Lodge Nakuru, Encore Hotel Nakuru
Budget Accommodation: Abbey Resort Nakuru, Chester Hotel Nakuru, Sleepway Cottages, Nakuru, Nakuru Kivu Resort
Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}

Day 5: Lake Nakuru – Drive to Maasai Mara Game Reserve

Today we depart from the lodge after breakfast and travel south towards the famous Masai Mara Game Reserve, in southwest Kenya. We drive through beautiful savannah grasslands and plains of the Great Rift Valley, making our way to our next overnight accommodation in the Masai Mara.

Check in at the lodge/camp, then lunch follows. Our afternoon game drive in this famous reserve reveals wonders.  Wherever you go in the Mara Reserve, you will see an abundance of wildlife, such as Masai giraffe, baboons, warthogs, bat-eared foxes, grey jackals, spotted hyenas, topis, impalas, hartebeests, wildebeest, elephants, buffaloes, zebras, and hippos.

After our action-packed day of wildlife sightings on the scenic plains of Africa, we return to our tented camp/ lodge for dinner.

Accommodation Options:
Luxury Accommodation: Olonana Lodge, an A&K Sanctuary, andBeyond Kichwa Tembo Camp, Cottar’s 1920s Camp
Mid-range Accommodation: Basecamp Mara Houses, Sand River Masai Mara by Elewana,  Muthu Keekorok Lodge
Budget Accommodation: Ol Moran Tented Camp, Enchoro Wildlife Camp, Mara Springs Budget Camp

Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}

Day 6 & Day 7: Discover Maasai Mara

Over the next two days, we enjoy early-morning and afternoon game drives. In this dream safari landscape of undulating plains scattered with acacias, we look out for the diverse and abundant wildlife of Mara. We may come across herds of wildebeest, elephants, zebras and antelopes, along with prides of lions, coalitions of cheetahs, a crash of rhinos and lone leopards.

The ultimate wildlife action here is, without doubt, the annual wildebeest exodus in July and August when millions of these grass-eaters move north from the Serengeti in search of greener grass before turning south again in October.

The Great Migration is one of the most awe-inspiring wildlife spectacles on earth! After an incredible afternoon of game viewing, we return to our lodge/camp for the night.

Accommodation Options:
Luxury Accommodation: Olonana Lodge, an A&K Sanctuary, andBeyond Kichwa Tembo Camp, Cottar’s 1920s Camp
Mid-range Accommodation: Basecamp Mara Houses, Sand River Masai Mara by Elewana,  Muthu Keekorok Lodge
Budget Accommodation: Ol Moran Tented Camp, Enchoro Wildlife Camp, Mara Springs Budget Camp

Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}

Day 8: Maasai Mara – Drive to Nairobi

Morning game drive to savor the park’s beauty; return to the lodge for breakfast. Afterward, depart for Nairobi by road, arriving late in the afternoon.

Meal Plan: {Breakfast}