Masai Mara & Lake Nakuru Safari

You will be picked from your accommodation at 8:30 am for journey south along the floor of the dramatic Great Rift Valley to Masai Mara National Reserve – an extension of Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. This area is known as the Seventh Wonder of the World because of the Great Migration that takes place every year between June and September. Millions of wildebeests and zebras cross Mara River from Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya in search of food and water. The park is also famous for its wide variety of resident wildlife all year round.

After lunch at Narok Town, you will arrive at the Masai Mara National Reserve in time for an afternoon game drive. You may get to see the Big Five, different varieties of birdlife, and the best savannah vegetation in the world. This is serene, vast country of breath-taking vistas, a panorama of vast rolling plains and rounded hills, and intermittent groves of acacia woodlands and dense thickets of scrub. The Mara River and its tributaries, which are lined by thick river forest, bisect the whole land. The famous Masai tribesmen live within the game reserve, and in every direction, there are seemingly endless herds of game animals.

You will spend your day absorbing the beauty and splendor of the Mara. In this country of breathtaking vistas, view its vast assemblages of plains game together with their associated predators.

Mara has the largest population of lions to be found in Kenya. Other animals you may see include 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.

You will have a picnic lunch at the Mara River 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 lunch, you will continue your game drive in search for more wildlife.

You will be dropped off at the Masai Village at 5:00 pm 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 go for a nature walk with a Masai naturalist guide and see herbs that are used as medication among the Masai.

Once you return to the village, a campfire will be lit and there will be entertainment from the men, women, and children of the village with a chance for you to join in their dancing. The chief will then share stories of their culture and tradition, and you will see how the herbs seen during the nature walk are prepared and used. You will also have a glimpse into their homes and social structure. Dinner will be served at the village followed by coffee and tea.

 Optional: Tonight, you will have the option to choose to sleep in an authentic Masai-style home with beds, located at the campsite. (Subject to availability.)  

You will depart after an early breakfast for the ornithological paradise of Lake Nakuru National Park. It 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 pm to check in and have lunch. Relax till 4:00 pm, then you will head out for another game drive and nature walk along the lake shores, returning to your accommodation before sunset.

Lake Nakuru is a shallow alkaline lake famous for its flamingo population estimated to be more than a million. Bird watchers refer to the lake as the Birds Paradise. There are no elephants in the park, but you may spot other animals including tree-climbing lions, the white and the black rhinos, which are endangered species in Kenya, the rare Rothschild Giraffe, Cape buffaloes, Waterbucks, Gazelles, Leopard, primates, and more.

After breakfast, you’ll go out for a morning game/bird drive around the lake shores. You’ll return to your accommodation for a big buffet lunch then pack up and head to Nairobi, stopping 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 photo opportunity at the viewpoint and a chance to enjoy the spectacular view, we head to Nairobi, arriving early afternoon.