5-Day Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha

You'll leave Nairobi after an early breakfast, driving out through the Great Rift Valley escarpment before the road descends onto the plains of the Maasai Mara. The drive takes around five to six hours, with a stop along the way to stretch your legs and take in the view over the valley floor. Your guide will point out the changing vegetation as you leave the highlands behind.

You'll arrive at Mara Sarova Tented Camp in time for lunch, followed by a first afternoon game drive as the light softens. This is often when the resident lion prides move out into the open, and you'll have a good chance of spotting elephant, giraffe and the large herds of plains game that give the Mara its reputation. You'll return to camp for dinner under canvas.

You'll set out early, while the air is still cool and the big cats are most active, heading out across the open grassland in search of lion and cheetah. Breakfast is taken back at camp mid-morning, after which you'll rest through the heat of the day before heading out again in the afternoon. Depending on the season, your guide will aim for the Mara River, where the wildebeest crossings take place and hippo pods gather in the deeper pools.

This full day allows time to cover more ground than a single drive would, moving between the open plains and the riverine woodland that fringes the Mara and Talek rivers. You'll look out for topi, Thomson's gazelle, buffalo and the resident hyena clans, with your guide adjusting the route through the day based on recent sightings. Dinner and overnight are again at Mara Sarova Tented Camp.

After an early breakfast you'll leave the Mara and begin the drive north to Lake Nakuru, a journey of around five hours that takes you back up onto the Rift Valley highlands and past small farming towns and tea plantations. The landscape changes noticeably from open savannah to greener, more cultivated country as you climb in altitude.

You'll arrive at Lake Nakuru National Park in the early afternoon and head straight into the park for a game drive before checking in. Lake Nakuru is a soda lake known for its rhino sanctuary, home to both black and white rhino, and you'll also look out for Rothschild's giraffe and the flamingos that gather along the shoreline depending on water levels. You'll overnight at Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, set on a rise above the lake.

You'll have a morning game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park before checking out, taking advantage of the cooler hours to look for the park's rhino population and the buffalo herds that graze the acacia woodland near the lake shore. The park's escarpment viewpoints give a good sense of the Rift Valley's scale before you move on.

The drive to Lake Naivasha is short, around two hours, dropping down through farmland to the freshwater lake. In the afternoon you'll take a boat trip on Lake Naivasha, gliding close to pods of hippo and the fish eagles that perch along the papyrus fringed shore. You'll overnight at Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge, set in gardens that attract giraffe and waterbuck grazing freely around the grounds.

You'll have a relaxed morning at Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge, with time for a final walk through the grounds where giraffe, zebra and waterbuck often graze close to the rooms. Breakfast is taken overlooking the lake, and there is time to pack at a comfortable pace before checking out.

The drive back to Nairobi takes around two hours, climbing away from the lake and back through the Rift Valley escarpment with a final view back over the valley floor. Your guide will drop you at your hotel or at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in time for onward flights, bringing the five day circuit through the Mara, Nakuru and Naivasha to a close.