A short private safari into the Maasai Mara, designed for travellers with limited time who still want a full experience of Kenya's finest reserve. Two nights in the Mara allow…
Trip Overview
A short private safari into the Maasai Mara, designed for travellers with limited time who still want a full experience of Kenya’s finest reserve. Two nights in the Mara allow for early morning and late afternoon game drives, when the reserve’s lion, cheetah and leopard are most active, with the option of a full day in the reserve between them.
What you're likely to see
Wildlife is wild and nothing is guaranteed, but these are the species this route is built around.
The Route
The Detail
Everything below is set out plainly so there are no surprises when you receive your quotation.
Maasai Mara
You'll be collected from your Nairobi hotel early and driven west across the Great Rift Valley escarpment, with a stop at one of the viewpoints for coffee and a first look at the valley floor some 600 metres below. The tarmac gives way to murram roads as you descend into Maasai country, reaching the Sentrim Mara Lodge in time for lunch, roughly five to six hours after leaving the city.
In the late afternoon you'll head out on your first game drive, as the reserve's grasslands cool and its resident lion prides begin to move. Your guide will work the drainage lines near camp, where topi, Thomson's gazelle and elephant are commonly seen, before returning to the lodge for dinner as the light fades over the escarpment.
Maasai Mara
You'll leave camp before sunrise for an early game drive, when temperatures are coolest and predators are still active from the night before. Your guide will head towards the open plains and the Mara River area, checking known territories for lion and cheetah, and scanning riverine trees for leopard. Breakfast is taken back at the lodge, or as a bush breakfast set up in the field if conditions allow.
After a break through the heat of midday, you'll head out again in the early afternoon for a second drive that runs through to sunset. This is the best window to reach the river crossing points, where hippo pods gather in the deeper pools and, depending on the season, wildebeest herds may be moving through. You'll return to the lodge after dark for dinner.
Maasai Mara
You'll have time for one last short game drive after an early breakfast, working the tracks close to camp before the morning heat sets in and animals move into cover. This is often a good window for general plains game and birdlife along the lodge's access roads, a final chance to fill in any sightings missed earlier in the trip.
By mid morning you'll begin the drive back towards Nairobi, retracing the route up through the Rift Valley escarpment, with a stop en route for lunch or a last viewpoint photograph. You'll arrive back in the city in the late afternoon, in time for an evening flight or your onward arrangements.
Accommodation Options
Drag or swipe to see every lodge
Dates, lodge upgrades, and extra nights are all flexible this is the starting itinerary, not the only one. Tell us roughly when you'd like to travel and we'll confirm availability within a day.
Gallery