8-Day Kenya & Tanzania Family Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

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

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Maasai Mara

   After breakfast you leave Nairobi and travel on toward Maasai 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. 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. Transport and game drives are shared with other travellers on this joining departure. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Maasai Mara.

2. Day 2

   Maasai Mara to Isebania / Sirari Border

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Maasai Mara for the drive to Isebania / Sirari Border. You arrive at Isebania / Sirari Border, check in and have time to settle before the next stage of the journey. The crossing involves border formalities on both sides and an operating-team handover between the Kenyan and Tanzanian crews. The evening is spent at your Isebania / Sirari Border accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

3. Day 3

   Isebania / Sirari Border to Serengeti

   The morning starts in Isebania / Sirari Border, from where you continue overland 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. 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.

4. Day 4

   Cross to the Serengeti

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Cross to the Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. Once you reach the 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. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at the Serengeti.

5. Day 5

   Ngorongoro Highlands to Ngorongoro Crater

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Ngorongoro Highlands to Ngorongoro Crater, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Once you reach Ngorongoro Crater there is time to check in before heading out among 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. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Ngorongoro Crater.

6. Day 6

   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. 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. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Arusha.

7. Day 7

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro Highlands

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Serengeti bound for 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. Look for lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen as the light softens through the afternoon. 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 Highlands accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

8. Day 8

   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. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive 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. The day ends with a drop-off in Nairobi at your hotel or the airport.