9-Day Luxury Kenya & Tanzania Safari: Maasai Mara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro

Day-by-day itinerary

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

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Maasai Mara

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Nairobi for the drive to 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. There is the possibility of seeing lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, buffalo and large herds of plains game, depending on movement and conditions on the day. 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 vehicle and driver-guide are private to your party throughout. Dinner is served at your Maasai Mara camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

2. Day 2

   Maasai Mara to Isebania / Sirari Border

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Maasai Mara to Isebania / Sirari Border. On arrival at Isebania / Sirari Border you check in and the remainder of the day is at a relaxed pace. 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

   You leave Isebania / Sirari Border after breakfast and head for 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. This is good country in which to look for 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. 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. This is good country in which to look for 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. The evening is spent at your the Serengeti accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

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. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through 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. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Ngorongoro Crater.

6. Day 6

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   The day opens in Ngorongoro Crater with a morning departure 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. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Arusha.

7. Day 7

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro Highlands

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Serengeti for the drive to Ngorongoro Highlands, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through 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 Highlands camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

8. Day 8

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. Once you reach Arusha there is time to check in before heading out among 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.

9. Day 9

   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. You return to your camp or lodge for dinner and a second night at Arusha.