12-Day Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Tarangire Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Nairobi → Masai Mara → Lake Nakuru → Amboseli → Arusha → Lake Manyara → Serengeti → Ngorongoro → Tarangire → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Masai Mara

   You leave Nairobi after breakfast and head for Masai Mara, descending the wall of the Great Rift Valley and passing through Narok and Maasai farming country. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem. Your guide works the area for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, buffalo and large herds of plains game, with sightings varying by season and conditions. 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. The evening is spent at your Masai Mara accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

2. Day 2

   Full-Day Masai Mara Safari

   The day is set aside for Masai Mara, with drives timed around the first and last hours of light. Your route takes in open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem, with your guide reading recent movement to decide where to spend time. 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. The evening returns you to your Masai Mara accommodation for dinner and overnight.

3. Day 3

   Masai Mara to Lake Nakuru

   After breakfast you leave Masai Mara and travel on toward Lake Nakuru, travelling through the Rift Valley floor and the farming towns of the Nakuru region. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into a Rift Valley soda lake ringed by yellow-barked acacia woodland and steep escarpment viewpoints. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes black and white rhino, Rothschild's giraffe, buffalo, waterbuck and dense birdlife. 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

   You leave Lake Nakuru after breakfast and head for Amboseli, travelling south past Kajiado and through Maasai rangeland toward the Tanzanian border country. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into open plains, dust flats and spring-fed swamps beneath the bulk of Kilimanjaro. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes 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. Dinner is served at your Amboseli camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

5. Day 5

   Full-Day Amboseli Safari

   The whole day is given to Amboseli, with an early start to make the most of the cooler morning hours. You travel through open plains, dust flats and spring-fed swamps beneath the bulk of Kilimanjaro, working the areas your guide judges most productive on the day. Sightings may include large elephant herds, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, and abundant water birds around the swamps, depending on season and conditions. The swamps stay green through dry months, drawing elephants and plains game into concentrated, highly photographable groups. 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. The evening returns you to your Amboseli accommodation for dinner and overnight.

6. Day 6

   Amboseli to Arusha

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Amboseli to 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. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Arusha.

7. Day 7

   Arusha to Lake Manyara

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Arusha bound for Lake Manyara, driving west from Arusha past Maasai settlements and the escarpment wall. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into groundwater forest, open floodplain and an alkaline lake beneath the Rift Valley escarpment. Your guide works the area for elephant, baboon troops, hippo, giraffe and large numbers of waterbirds including flamingo, with sightings varying by season and conditions. Manyara is known for its groundwater forest fed by springs at the base of the escarpment, and for lions that are sometimes seen resting in trees. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Lake Manyara.

8. Day 8

   Lake Manyara to Serengeti

   The morning starts in Lake Manyara, from where you continue overland to Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through 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.

9. Day 9

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Serengeti to Ngorongoro, 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. 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. Dinner is served at your Ngorongoro camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

10. Day 10

    Ngorongoro Crater to Tarangire

    After breakfast you leave Ngorongoro Crater and travel on toward Tarangire, driving south-west from Arusha through Maasai grazing country. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into rolling country of ancient baobabs, seasonal swamps and the year-round Tarangire River. This is good country in which to look for large elephant herds, zebra, wildebeest, eland and a notably rich birdlife. In the dry season the Tarangire River draws wildlife from a wide area, and the park is famous for its baobab-studded landscape. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Tarangire.

11. Day 11

    Full-Day Arusha Safari

    An unhurried full day in Arusha gives your guide room to follow whatever the morning turns up. 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. You return to your camp or lodge for dinner and a second night at Arusha.

12. Day 12

    Tarangire to Arusha

    Breakfast is taken before you set out from Tarangire 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. Arrival back is normally in the afternoon, with a drop-off at your hotel or the airport.