10-Day Luxury East Africa Signature Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Nairobi → Amboseli → Maasai Mara → Isebania / Sirari Border → Serengeti → Ngorongoro Highlands → Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Amboseli

   The day opens in Nairobi with a morning departure for Amboseli, travelling south past Kajiado and through Maasai rangeland toward the Tanzanian border country. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into open plains, dust flats and spring-fed swamps beneath the bulk of Kilimanjaro. This is good country in which to look for large elephant herds, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, and abundant water birds around the swamps. 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. Your safari vehicle and guide are used by your party alone. The evening is spent at your Amboseli accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

2. Day 2

   Amboseli to Maasai Mara

   You leave Amboseli after breakfast and head for Maasai Mara, descending the wall of the Great Rift Valley and passing through Narok and Maasai farming country. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across 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. The evening is spent at your Maasai Mara accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

3. Day 3

   Amboseli to Maasai Mara

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Amboseli bound for Maasai Mara, descending the wall of the Great Rift Valley and passing through Narok and Maasai farming country. Once you reach Maasai 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. Dinner is served at your Maasai Mara camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

4. Day 4

   Isebania / Sirari Border to Serengeti

   After breakfast you leave Isebania / Sirari Border and travel on toward Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. The crossing involves border formalities on both sides and an operating-team handover between the Kenyan and Tanzanian crews. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes 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. Dinner is served at your Serengeti camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

5. Day 5

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro Highlands

   After breakfast you leave Serengeti and travel on toward Ngorongoro Highlands, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into a collapsed volcanic caldera roughly six hundred metres deep, with grassland, soda lake and fever-tree forest on its floor. Your guide works the area for lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen, with sightings varying by season and conditions. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Ngorongoro Highlands.

6. Day 6

   Maasai Mara to Serengeti

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Maasai Mara to Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. Your guide works the area for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, with sightings varying by season and conditions. 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 for dinner and an overnight stay at Serengeti.

7. Day 7

   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. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across 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. The evening is spent at your Arusha accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

8. Day 8

   Full-Day Arusha Safari

   The day is set aside for Arusha, with drives timed around the first and last hours of light. You travel through northern Tanzania's safari gateway town below the slopes of Mount Meru, working the areas your guide judges most productive on the day. Arusha is the staging point for the northern Tanzania circuit and where most safari briefings take place. Dinner and overnight are again at your Arusha camp or lodge.

9. Day 9

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro Highlands

   The morning starts in Serengeti, from where you continue overland to Ngorongoro Highlands, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into a collapsed volcanic caldera roughly six hundred metres deep, with grassland, soda lake and fever-tree forest on its floor. Your guide works the area for lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen, with sightings varying by season and conditions. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Ngorongoro Highlands.

10. Day 10

    Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

    The morning starts in Ngorongoro Crater, from where you continue overland 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. The day ends with a drop-off in Nairobi at your hotel or the airport.