3-Day Tsavo East, Tsavo West and Diani Beach Safari

Your guide collects you from your Mombasa or Diani hotel in the early morning for the drive inland to Tsavo East, roughly four to five hours depending on traffic through Mariakani and Voi. The landscape changes quickly from coastal palm groves to the flat-topped acacia country and red volcanic soil that gives Tsavo its distinctive colour. You'll enter through Voi Gate in time for lunch at Sentrim Tsavo.

In the afternoon you'll head out on your first game drive, tracking the Voi River area where elephants coat themselves in the park's characteristic red dust. Tsavo East's open plains make for good visibility, and you may pick up buffalo, giraffe and lion in the grasslands before returning to camp as the light softens toward dusk.

An early game drive covers more of Tsavo East's eastern section before breakfast, with a chance of spotting the park's dry-country species around the Aruba Dam, where waterbirds and elephant herds often gather at the water's edge. After breakfast you'll check out and drive to Tsavo West via Mtito Andei, roughly two hours, crossing from the flat red plains into more volcanic, hilly terrain studded with lava outcrops.

Once settled at Kilaguni Serena, with its wide views toward Mount Kilimanjaro on a clear day, you'll head out for an afternoon drive that takes in Mzima Springs, where hippos and crocodiles can be watched from an underwater viewing chamber, and a stop at Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, a fenced sanctuary set up to protect Tsavo's black rhino population from poaching.

You'll take a final early morning game drive through Tsavo West's rugged terrain, covering ground around the Ngulia Hills and Rhino Sanctuary while the temperature is still cool and animals are more active. This is your last opportunity to look for lion, buffalo and the black rhino the sanctuary was created to protect, before returning to Kilaguni Serena for breakfast.

After checking out, you'll begin the drive back toward the coast, roughly four to five hours through Voi and Mariakani, watching the landscape shift from volcanic hills back to palm-lined lowlands. Your guide drops you at your Diani Beach hotel by late afternoon, marking the end of the safari and the start of any beach time you have planned.