5-Day Ol Pejeta, Lake Nakuru & Masai Mara Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Nairobi → Ol Pejeta → Lake Nakuru → Masai Mara → Nairobi

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Ol Pejeta Conservancy

   You leave Nairobi after breakfast and head for Ol Pejeta Conservancy, climbing through the central highlands past Nyeri and Nanyuki on the shoulder of Mount Kenya. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across open Laikipia plains and whistling-thorn country with Mount Kenya on the eastern skyline. This is good country in which to look for black and white rhino, elephant, lion, buffalo and Jackson's hartebeest. Ol Pejeta is a working conservancy with a significant rhino conservation programme, and it also runs a chimpanzee sanctuary that takes in rescued animals. Your safari vehicle and guide are used by your party alone. Dinner is served at your Ol Pejeta Conservancy camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

2. Day 2

   Ol Pejeta to Lake Nakuru

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Ol Pejeta bound for Lake Nakuru, travelling through the Rift Valley floor and the farming towns of the Nakuru region. Once you reach Lake Nakuru there is time to check in before heading out among 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. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Lake Nakuru.

3. Day 3

   Lake Nakuru to Masai Mara

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Lake Nakuru for the drive to 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. Look for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, buffalo and large herds of plains game as the light softens through the afternoon. 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 for dinner and an overnight stay at Masai Mara.

4. Day 4

   Full-Day Masai Mara Safari

   Today is spent entirely in Masai Mara, beginning with a game drive shortly after first light. You travel through open savanna grassland, acacia stands and the rolling country of the greater Mara ecosystem, working the areas your guide judges most productive on the day. 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. The evening returns you to your Masai Mara accommodation for dinner and overnight.

5. Day 5

   Masai Mara to Nairobi

   You leave Masai Mara after breakfast and head for Nairobi, returning through the highland approaches to the city. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through Kenya's highland capital and the usual start and end point for road safaris. Nairobi is the arrival and departure hub for most Kenyan safari itineraries. The day ends with a drop-off in Nairobi at your hotel or the airport.