7-Day Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Nairobi → Lake Nakuru → Masai Mara → Serengeti → Ngorongoro → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Lake Nakuru

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Nairobi bound for Lake Nakuru, travelling through the Rift Valley floor and the farming towns of the Nakuru region. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across a Rift Valley soda lake ringed by yellow-barked acacia woodland and steep escarpment viewpoints. Your guide works the area for black and white rhino, Rothschild's giraffe, buffalo, waterbuck and dense birdlife, with sightings varying by season and conditions. 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. This is a joining departure, so the safari vehicle is shared with other guests. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Lake Nakuru.

2. Day 2

   Lake Nakuru to Masai Mara

   After breakfast you leave Lake Nakuru and travel on toward Masai 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. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes 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 and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Masai Mara.

3. Day 3

   Full-Day Masai Mara Safari

   A full day in Masai Mara allows you to explore well beyond the areas reached on a short visit. The drives cover open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem, moving between habitats as conditions change. There is the possibility of seeing lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, buffalo and large herds of plains game, though wild sightings are never guaranteed. 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. You return to your camp or lodge for dinner and a second night at Masai Mara.

4. Day 4

   Masai Mara to Serengeti

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Masai Mara bound for Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. Once you reach Serengeti there is time to check in before heading out among vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. 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

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   A full day in Serengeti allows you to explore well beyond the areas reached on a short visit. Your route takes in vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, with your guide reading recent movement to decide where to spend time. Keep watch for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra as you move between the different habitats. The scale of the plains rewards a full day, with time to work several areas rather than rushing between them. 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 again at your Serengeti camp or lodge.

6. Day 6

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Serengeti bound for 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. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. The evening is spent at your Ngorongoro accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

7. Day 7

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Ngorongoro Crater bound for 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. Arrival back is normally in the afternoon, with a drop-off at your hotel or the airport.