12-Day Best of Kenya Wildlife Safari

On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a Nkuringo Safaris representative will meet you at the arrivals hall and transfer you to your city hotel. The first evening is unscheduled — time to recover from the flight and prepare for the days ahead.

Accommodation: Fair Acres Boutique Hotel or The Emakoko Meal plan: Bed & Breakfast

An early departure from Nairobi takes you south towards the Tanzanian border and Amboseli National Park. The drive is around four hours and the views of Kilimanjaro — Africa’s highest mountain — begin appearing on the horizon well before you reach the park.

Amboseli is one of Africa’s great elephant parks. The Amboseli elephant population is one of the most studied on the continent, and large family herds are a near-certainty. Check in to the tented camp, have lunch, and head out for an afternoon game drive across the open floodplains.

Accommodation: Ol Tukai Lodge or Tulia Amboseli Lodge Meal plan: Full board

A full day in Amboseli, with morning and afternoon game drives separated by a picnic lunch in the park. The Kilimanjaro backdrop is at its clearest in the early morning before cloud builds — the classic Amboseli shot, tusked elephants against the snow-capped summit, is best captured at dawn.

Beyond elephants, Amboseli holds healthy populations of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, lion, hippo, and hyena. The park’s alkaline lakes attract large concentrations of waterbirds and flamingos. The afternoon drive pushes into the drier acacia woodland at the park’s edges, where lion and cheetah sightings are most reliable.

Accommodation: Ol Tukai Lodge or Tulia Amboseli Lodge Meal plan: Full board

After breakfast, drive north from Amboseli towards Ol Pejeta Conservancy in the foothills of Mount Kenya. The route takes most of the day, with a lunch stop along the way and views of Mount Kenya’s snowfields appearing as you approach. Arrive in the afternoon, check in, and head out for an evening game drive.

Ol Pejeta is the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa and the only place in the world where you can see the last two surviving northern white rhinos. It’s also the only Kenyan conservancy where chimpanzees live — housed in a dedicated sanctuary.

Accommodation: Sweetwaters Serena Camp or Ol Pejeta Bush Camp Meal plan: Full board

A full day in Ol Pejeta, with morning and afternoon game drives. The conservancy holds the largest black rhino population in East Africa, and dedicated rhino tracking brings you close to these rarely seen animals on foot or by vehicle. The northern white rhino enclosure, where the last two individuals on earth — both female — are under permanent guard, is one of the most poignant wildlife encounters in Africa.

The rest of the day delivers standard Kenyan game drive fare — elephant, buffalo, zebra, lion, giraffe, and abundant birdlife — plus the option of visiting the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, the only place in Kenya where you can see chimpanzees.

Accommodation: Sweetwaters Serena Camp or Ol Pejeta Bush Camp Meal plan: Full board

A morning drive takes you north from Ol Pejeta, through the Laikipia Plateau and into the semi-arid landscape of northern Kenya. The terrain changes dramatically — acacia scrubland replaces highland grassland, the air dries, and the light shifts. Arrive at Samburu in time to settle into your bush camp before an evening game drive along the Ewaso Nyiro River.

Samburu’s ecology is distinct from southern Kenya’s parks. The reserve sits at a lower altitude on the edge of Kenya’s arid north, creating conditions for species found almost nowhere else in the country.

Accommodation: Ashnil Samburu Camp or Samburu Sopa Lodge Meal plan: Full board

A full day exploring Samburu, with morning and afternoon game drives along the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River. Samburu is famous for its “Special Five” — the reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra, Beisa oryx, Somali ostrich, and gerenuk — endemic or near-endemic species adapted to the arid north that you won’t find in the Mara or Amboseli.

Alongside the Special Five, Samburu holds large elephant herds, resident lion prides, leopard (reliably sighted at dusk along the riverbank), and prolific raptors and colourful bird species including the lilac-breasted roller.

Accommodation: Ashnil Samburu Camp or Samburu Sopa Lodge Meal plan: Full board

A longer transfer day south from Samburu through the Great Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru National Park. The route passes through rural Kenya and delivers views of the Rift Valley escarpment — one of the most dramatic landscapes in East Africa. Arrive at Lake Nakuru, check in, and head out for an afternoon game drive.

Lake Nakuru is best known for its flamingo population — the alkaline lake’s shores can turn pink with hundreds of thousands of birds — and as one of Kenya’s most reliable parks for both black and white rhino sightings. Lion, leopard, cheetah, buffalo, giraffe, and waterbuck are also resident.

Accommodation: Lake Nakuru Lodge or The Cliff Meal plan: Full board

A morning transfer from Lake Nakuru west and south to the Masai Mara National Reserve — Kenya’s most celebrated wildlife destination. The road descends from the Rift Valley through tea country and rolling hills before opening onto the Mara’s vast, flat plains. Check in to the tented camp and go out for an afternoon game drive to get your bearings on the reserve.

The Masai Mara is contiguous with Tanzania’s Serengeti ecosystem — the same herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle that move through the Serengeti push north into the Mara between roughly July and October, when the Great Migration crossings of the Mara River take place.

Accommodation: Ashnil Mara Camp or Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp Meal plan: Full board

Two full days in the Masai Mara, with morning and afternoon game drives, a Maasai village visit, and the option of a hot air balloon safari at dawn (available at additional cost).

The Mara is one of the most reliably productive game drive destinations in Africa year-round — resident lion prides, leopard, cheetah, elephant, hippo, crocodile, buffalo, and the full range of East African antelope species. Between July and October, Great Migration crossings of the Mara River bring millions of wildebeest and zebra north from the Serengeti, with large crocodiles waiting in the river below — among the most dramatic wildlife spectacles on earth.

The Maasai village visit offers a genuine cultural counterpoint to the game drives — traditional homestead, warrior dances, beadwork, and an insight into the Maasai’s centuries-old coexistence with the wildlife on their land.

Accommodation: Ashnil Mara Camp or Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp Meal plan: Full board

The final morning allows for one last sunrise game drive before the transfer back to Nairobi. The return is available either by road (scenic drive through the Rift Valley, approximately 5–6 hours) or by small charter flight for a shorter journey with aerial views of the Mara plains and escarpment (available at additional cost — recommended for travellers with afternoon or evening international departures).

Accommodation: None unless requested Meal plan: As arranged