10-Day Kenya to Tanzania Safari

Depart Nairobi for Lake Nakuru National Park, arriving for an afternoon game drive among its rhino and flamingo-fringed shoreline.

The road drops down towards the lake with the whole basin laid out below. Flamingo numbers rise and fall with the water level, but the birdlife overall is consistently excellent, with well over four hundred species recorded.

Travel south-west to the Maasai Mara, arriving in time for an afternoon game drive across the reserve.

Mornings begin before sunrise, when the air is cold and the plains are at their most active. Your guide works the riverine forest along the Mara River for leopard, then out onto the short-grass plains where cheetah hunt in the open. Lion here live in large, well-studied prides and are seen on most days. Between July and October the wildebeest herds dominate everything, and your guide will position for a river crossing if the herds look ready.

A full day in the reserve, working the riverine forest and open plains for the resident big cats.

The reserve opens out as you enter, and the first drive is about getting your eye in: elephant families moving between thickets, giraffe browsing the acacia line, and the plains game that the predators follow. Your guide will read the ground for fresh tracks and set up the following morning around what is moving where.

A further full day in the Mara, timed around the migration or the resident game depending on season.

Mornings begin before sunrise, when the air is cold and the plains are at their most active. Your guide works the riverine forest along the Mara River for leopard, then out onto the short-grass plains where cheetah hunt in the open. Lion here live in large, well-studied prides and are seen on most days. Between July and October the wildebeest herds dominate everything, and your guide will position for a river crossing if the herds look ready.

Cross the border into Tanzania and the Serengeti, the same ecosystem continuing under a different name, with game viewing throughout.

Game viewing begins the moment you pass the gate, with the plains widening as you drive in. Your guide will track where the migration currently sits and shape the coming days around it, whether that means the southern calving grounds or the northern river crossings.

A full day in the Serengeti, working the Seronera valley and beyond for lion, leopard and cheetah.

The Seronera valley holds water year-round, which is why lion, leopard and cheetah are all resident here rather than seasonal. Days are spent working the kopjes, where lion lie up on the warm rock, and the river lines where leopard rest through the heat. The scale takes time to absorb: the plains genuinely run to the horizon in every direction.

A further day at your own pace, with the route shaped by where the game and any migration herds are found.

Game viewing begins the moment you pass the gate, with the plains widening as you drive in. Your guide will track where the migration currently sits and shape the coming days around it, whether that means the southern calving grounds or the northern river crossings.

Travel to the Ngorongoro Crater rim, with a stop at Olduvai Gorge, for an evening above the crater floor.

The descent onto the crater floor takes around twenty minutes down a steep track, and the change is immediate: twenty-five thousand large animals inside a caldera you can see across. Black rhino are the sighting most guests hope for, and the crater is among the most reliable places in Africa for them. Lion prides here are large and unbothered by vehicles, and the elephant bulls carry some of the heaviest tusks left on the continent.

A morning descent onto the crater floor for game viewing, then continue to Lake Manyara National Park for the final night.

A half day is usually enough to cover Manyara properly, and it sits neatly between Tarangire and the Ngorongoro highlands. The forest section at the entrance is worth taking slowly for its birdlife and primates.

A final morning at Manyara before the transfer to Arusha for your onward or international flight.

Today is largely a transfer day, and the drive itself is part of the experience: you will pass through farmland, small trading towns and changing country as the landscape shifts between regions. Your guide will stop where it is worth stopping, and there is no need to rush.