6 Day Aberdares, Lake Nakuru & Masai Mara Safari
This six-day safari works its way from the mountains to the plains. Begin with a night at The Ark, deep in the misty forests of the Aberdare National Park, where you watch elephants and buffalo at a floodlit waterhole from the comfort of the lodge. Continue down into the Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru National Park for rhinos, then finish with two nights in the Masai Mara, Kenya’s greatest wildlife reserve.
It’s a good first safari: three contrasting landscapes, a wide range of wildlife from forest hogs and colobus monkeys to lions and cheetahs, and comfortable lodges throughout, finishing at Mara Maisha Camp, a tented camp with a pool close to the Talek area of the reserve.
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Nairobi
We meet you at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and transfer you to the Sarova Panafric Hotel. Spend the rest of the day relaxing after your journey. Overnight at the Sarova Panafric.
Overnight
Day 2: Nairobi – Aberdare National Park (FB)
After breakfast, your driver-guide collects you for the drive north through the farmland of the central highlands to the Aberdare Country Club for lunch. Leave your main luggage here and take a small overnight bag up to The Ark, a lodge set in the forest above a waterhole and salt lick. Spend the afternoon and evening on the viewing decks as elephants, buffalo, giant forest hogs and bushbuck come to drink, and look out for black-and-white colobus monkeys in the trees. Dinner and overnight at The Ark.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3: Aberdares – Lake Nakuru National Park (FB)
After breakfast, return to the Country Club for your luggage and drive into the Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru, arriving at Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge for lunch. The park is one of Kenya’s most important rhino sanctuaries, home to both black and white rhinos, and also protects Rothschild’s giraffes, buffalo, lions and leopards. Game drive in the afternoon along the lakeshore and woodland. Dinner and overnight at Sarova Lion Hill.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4: Lake Nakuru – Masai Mara (FB)
After breakfast, drive south-west through Narok to the Masai Mara, with lunch on the way. Arrive in time for an afternoon game drive, finishing at Mara Maisha Camp, about 4.5 km from Talek Gate. Its 40 tents are raised on platforms, each with an en-suite bathroom and a private veranda, and the camp has a pool for the heat of the day. Dinner and overnight at Mara Maisha Camp.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5: Masai Mara Full Day (FB)
Take a picnic lunch and spend the whole day in the reserve looking for lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants and the huge herds of plains game. From July to October, your guide will head for the Mara River in search of a migration crossing. For a special start to the day, add an optional sunrise balloon flight. All meals and overnight at Mara Maisha Camp.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6: Masai Mara – Nairobi (BL)
Take a final early game drive, then return for breakfast. Leave the Mara with a packed lunch and drive back to Nairobi, where we drop you at your hotel or the airport in the late afternoon.
Breakfast, Lunch
Optional Activities
- Hot air balloon safari over the Masai Mara – US$ 450 per adult, US$ 300 per child
- Maasai village visit – US$ 25 per person
Package Includes
- All park entrance fees
- Accommodation and meals as per the itinerary
- 1.5 litres of bottled water per person per day in the vehicle
- Services of an English-speaking, experienced driver-guide
- Transport in a 4×4 safari Land Cruiser with a pop-up roof, for your exclusive use throughout the trip
- Airport transfers in Nairobi
- All government taxes and levies
- Safari accessories (first aid kit, cooler box and fire extinguisher), a 24-hour emergency number and RF radio in all safari vehicles
Package Excludes
- Flying Doctors (AMREF) air ambulance evacuation cover – US$ 10 per person
- Hot air balloon safari and Maasai village visit
- Driver tips
- Drinks, international flights, visas, travel insurance and personal expenses
