During this safari, you will travel from Nairobi to the Masai Mara National Reserve (also known as Maasai Mara) on day one and enjoy your first game drive in the afternoon. On the next day, you will enjoy full-day game drives and eat a picnic lunch at the Mara River in the company of crocodiles and hippos.
In the evening, you will visit a local Maasai village to learn about the local people and their culture with traditional dancing, storytelling by the chief, and a nature walk with a local guide. You will travel to Lake Nakuru on day three to see its incredible eco-system full of pink flamingoes. On the last day, you will return to Nairobi arriving in the afternoon.
Day 1: Nairobi - Masai Mara Game Reserve
You will be picked from your hotel at 8:30 a.m. to the start the journey going south along the dramatic Great Rift Valley to the Masai Mara National Reserve.
The reserve is an extension of Tanzania's Serengeti National Park and is also known as the seventh wonder of the world because of the great migration witnessed every year between June and September, when millions of wildebeests and zebras cross the Mara River from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya in search of food and water. The reserve is also famous for its wide variety of resident wildlife all year round.
After the lunch at Narok Town, you will arrive at the Masai Mara National Reserve in time for an afternoon game drive. During the drive, you may have a chance of seeing the big five as well as different varieties of birdlife and the best savannah vegetation in the world. This is a serene and vast country which offers breathtaking vistas and a panorama of vast rolling plains and rounded hills, intermittent groves of acacia woodlands, and dense thickets of scrub.
The Mara River and its tributaries, which are margined by luxuriant riverine forest, bisect the whole land. The famous Masai tribesmen live within the dispersal area of the game reserve and in every direction, there are seemingly endless herds of game animals. You will return to the camp or lodge for dinner and spend the night.
Day 2: Discover the Masai Mara Game Reserve
Today, you will go for a full-day drive to absorb the beauty and splendor of the Mara. In this country of breathtaking vistas, you will have the chance to see vast assemblages of plains game together with their associated predators. Mara has the largest population of lions to be found in Kenya. Other animals to be seen here include the buffalo, black rhino, hippopotamus, leopard, cheetah, common zebra, Coke's hartebeest, white-bearded gnu, oribi, warthog, and Thomson's and Grant's gazelles. The bird life of Mara is as profuse as its mammalian fauna.
Today, you will have a picnic lunch at the Mara River, where you can enjoy your food while watching crocodiles and hippos laze around in their natural habitat. This is a great way to take advantage of your time in the park and enjoy seeing the views below and all around you. After your lunch, you will continue your game drive in search for more wildlife.
You will be dropped off at the Masai Village at 5:00 p.m. for an opportunity to visit the Masai people to witness the singing and dancing that are part of their daily lives and sacred rituals. Upon arrival at the village, you will proceed for a nature walk with the Masai naturalist guide. During the walk, you will get to see herbs that are used as medication among the Masai.
Later, you will return to the village where a campfire will be lit. Entertainment from women, children, and men of the village will follow with a chance for you to join in their dancing. The chief will then give you stories of their culture and tradition and they will show you how the herbs seen during the nature walk are prepared and used. You will also have a glimpse into their homes and social structure.
Your dinner will be served at the village, followed by coffee and tea. You will then leave to return to the camp or lodge for the night. Tonight, you will have the option to sleep in an authentic Masai-style home with beds, which is located at the campsite (subject to availability).
Day 3: Masai Mara Game Reserve - Lake Nakuru National Park
After an early breakfast, you will depart towards the ornithological paradise, Lake Nakuru National Park, which supports a wide ecological diversity of flamingos and other water birds. Over 450 bird species have been recorded here.
You will arrive at around 12:30 p.m. and begin a game drive en-route until you arrive at the camp or lodge for check in and lunch. You will have some time to relax until 4:00 p.m. when you will head on for another game drive and nature walk along the lake shores. You will return back to the camp or lodge before the sunset.
Lake Nakuru is a shallow alkaline lake famous for its flamingo population estimated to be confirmed with more than a million, being referred to as the birds' paradise by bird watchers. There are no elephants in the park but the other big five can be spotted including tree climbing lions and the endangered white and the black rhinos. The rare Rothschild giraffe, cape buffaloes, waterbucks, gazelles, leopards, and primates can be spotted as well at the park.
Day 4: Lake Nakuru National Park - Nairobi
After the breakfast, you will proceed for a morning game and bird drive around the lake shores. Then, you will return back to the camp or lodge for a big buffet lunch before packing up and heading to Nairobi. You will stop at the Rift Valley viewpoint for some stunning photo opportunities. The Rift Valley runs 6,000 kilometers from the Red Sea into Mozambique and is up to 100 kilometers wide in places. After a chance to enjoy the spectacular view, you will continue your journey, arriving in Nairobi in the early afternoon.
Note: Please note that depending on circumstances outside the organizer's control, the order of this itinerary may be subject to change without notice.
