14 days Highlights Kenya and Tanzania
This safari offers you the highlights of Kenya and Tanzania and can be booked with overnight stays in lodges or at campsites and budgetaccommodation. If you book a private safari you can combine both within the program. Just try the lodges, canvas luxury tented camps and budget camps to experience an African safari to the fullest! A popular safari because this trip allows you to see the highlights of Kenya and Northern Tanzania.
Day 1: Nairobi>Mara 9.30 Departure from Nairobi to Masai Mara. Picnic lunch en route in Narok. ( or at arrival depended from the timing and the kind of safari you booked, luxury or budget. On arrival with a gamedrive enroute to the camp/lodge for check in. After a short rest and if there is enough time, we will do a game drive in search of the heavy maned lions, leopard, cheetah, buffalo and other game. Return to the camp/lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Mara. After breakfast an early morning game drive. In the early morning, the wild animals like the big cats have just woken up and hunted for prey. This is often the right time to watch a lion catch prey. However, it is also a matter of luck. After the game drive we return to the camp/lodge for lunch. After lunch we do another game drive. Dinner and overnight at the camp/lodge.
Day 3: Mara. A full day filled with game drives, optional a walk or a visit to a Masai village in between meals. The Masai village is within walking distance of the campsite in the Mara. The Masai live in a manyata where the houses are built of mud and cow pies. Dried by the sun it forms a very hard mass that protects against rain and wild animals. There is a musty smell in the huts because the hut is almost completely closed except for the entrance. Cooking, heating and living are done here in a very limited space, which is also shared with the goats and chickens. A visit to the Masai village is not included and costs about USD 10 per person. Dinner and overnight at the camp/lodge.
Day 4: Mara>Nakuru. After breakfast departure to Lake Nakuru National Park, picnic lunch en route, arrival in Nakuru late afternoon. Here we check into a budget hotel outside the park. The cook prepares dinner and we eat it in the hotel restaurant. If you have booked a lodge safari, you will spend the night in Lake Nakuru lodge. We don’t do a game drive until the next day.
Day 5: Nakuru>Samburu. After breakfast drive to Nakuru National Park for an early morning game drive. This park is known for the millions of flamingos and rich in other bird species. Also present is a rhinoceros sanctuary and of course there are other wildlife. Upon arrival we disembark to walk to the lake that offers a magnificent view with the millions of pink flamingos. After lunch we leave for Samburu. Arrival late afternoon. Dinner and overnight at the camp/lodge.
Day 6: Samburu > After breakfast to the park for an early morning game drive. Return to the camp/lodge for lunch. In the afternoon another game drive. Dinner and overnight at the camp/lodge. Samburu is known for its Roth shield giraffes, these have different spots than the Masai giraffes. Also known is the Grevy zebra that has a different stripe pattern than the other zebras that can be seen in the other parks. The Grevy zebra is only found in Samburu. Furthermore, this park has elephants, lions, and other felines.
Day 7: Samburu>Mount Kenya. An early morning game drive in Samburu. After breakfast departure to Mount Kenya. This mountain has a height of 5199 m and has already been climbed by many tourists as an aperitif for the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro. Mount Kenya has an animal kingdom of elephants.
Day 8: Mount Kenya>Nairobi After breakfast you leave for Nairobi arriving in time for lunch, dinner and overnight in a budget hotel or if you have booked a lodge safari, a mid-range hotel.
Day 9: Nairobi>Arusha>Lake Manyara Today you will travel to Tanzania by shuttle bus which will pick you up from your hotel at approximately 8.00 am. The drive to Arusha takes approximately 5 hours on tarmac roads and allows the traveler to see Kenya as it really is. Beautiful plains, little to sparsely populated by the tribes that live in these areas. A sanitary stop along the way. At the border, documents such as passport and visa are checked and sometimes the suitcases are subjected to an examination. If you do not have a visa, you can request this at customs and you will receive a sticker in your passport. Lunch on arrival, then head to Lake Manyara for your first game drive in Tanzania. Lake Manyara is a small park but very beautiful because of the greenery, the dozens of monkeys that provide entertainment. But best known for the lions that climb in the trees. Unfortunately, not every traveler is lucky enough to see this, but pay attention! Picnic lunch, dinner and overnight at camp/lodge. The camping site in Lake Manyara is located outside the park.
Day 10: Lake Manyara>Serengeti. After breakfast, depart for Serengeti National Park, game drive en route, dinner and overnight at the camping site or lodge. Serengeti is a well-known name, famous for e.g. discovery channel where Serengeti regularly appears in nature documentaries, often in combination with the Masai Mara. The Symphony of the Serengeti, of which many have heard. Hugo van Lawick was the director, a very famous nature film maker who was married for ten years to Jane Goodall (known for the chimpanzees).
Day 11: Serengeti > Full day in the park with picnic lunch, dinner and overnight at Seronera camp or a lodge.
Day 12: Serengeti>Ngorongoro Crater. After breakfast game drive, then return to camp/lodge for lunch. After lunch departure to Ngorongoro Crater for dinner and overnight at Simba camp/or your lodge. The Ngorongoro is a crater that has a depth of about 700 meters. Rivers and springs feed a swamp and soda lake. For the rest, the landscape varies from dry open grassland to scrub zones and deciduous forest. Here live lions, elephants (only the bulls) birds, hippos, moose, cheetahs, hyenas, gazelles, wildebeest, zebras, buffalo and meerkats. Because the crater is not that big, there is a good chance that you will see the big five here. At the top of the crater where the camping site is located it can get quite cold so be dressed for that in the nights! The lodges of Tanzania hotels and lodges and the Sopa lodges offer a magnificent view over the crater.
Day 13: Ngorongoro Crater>Tarangire: After breakfast drive to the crater with a picnic lunch to descend to 2000 feet for a crater tour. Once inside the crater, you can do nothing but admire this natural phenomenon in all its splendor. An incredible silence far away from civilization…. Picnic lunch in the park, late afternoon on the way to Tarangire for dinner and overnight in a budget hotel/lodge.
Day 14: Tarangire>Arusha. After breakfast with a picnic lunch set off for a final game drive in Tarangire. Picnic lunch in the park. Tarangire has swampy savannas interspersed with acacias and large baboba trees. Here you will find elephants, lions, giraffes, impalas, waterbuck, but the dangerous python snake also feels comfortable here! Tarangire is known for its large herds of elephants that can entertain you for hours bathing in the Tarangire River. Late afternoon return to Arusha end of a magical safari! This safari can be booked as a camping safari where you and others (small groups max 6 in Kenya and 4 or 5 in Tanzania depending on the size of the land cruiser) can participate, stay overnight and have meals in budget accommodation and camping pitches. Lodge safari can be booked as a private safari, price depends on the number of travelers and the choice of accommodations. Contact us without any obligation.