6-Day Kenya Big Five Safari: Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli

You'll leave Nairobi early, heading west across the Rift Valley escarpment before the road drops toward Narok and on to the Mara, a drive of around five to six hours. Your guide will point out the changing landscape as farmland gives way to open grassland, with the Mau escarpment rising to the north.

Arriving at Enkorok Mara Camp in time for a late lunch, you'll head straight out on an afternoon game drive as the light softens. This first taste of the Mara often turns up lion prides resting in the long grass, herds of topi and Thomson's gazelle, and giraffe browsing on acacia along the reserve boundary. You'll return to camp for dinner under canvas.

You'll set off before breakfast while the air is still cool, when lion and cheetah are most likely to be moving and hunting. Your guide will work the open plains and drainage lines toward the Mara River, watching for hippo pods in the deeper pools and, depending on season, crocodile lying up on the banks. You'll return to camp mid-morning for a full breakfast.

After resting through the heat of the day, you'll head out again in the afternoon, tracking herds of wildebeest, zebra and buffalo across the short grass plains. Your guide will also look for the resident elephant breeding herds that move through the riverine woodland. Dinner and overnight are again at Enkorok Mara Camp.

After an early breakfast you'll leave the Mara and climb back onto the Rift Valley floor, a drive of roughly five to six hours that passes through farmland and small Kalenjin and Kikuyu townships before reaching Nakuru. Your guide will stop where the escarpment gives sweeping views over the valley floor.

On arrival at Lake Nakuru National Park in the afternoon, you'll head straight into the park for a game drive along the lake shore. Lake Nakuru is known for its dense flamingo flocks working the alkaline shallows, and for both black and white rhino grazing the surrounding grassland. You'll settle in for the night at Ziwa Bush Lodge, just outside the park gate.

You'll have a final short game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park after breakfast, with a good chance of spotting rhino, buffalo and waterbuck along the acacia woodland edging the lake, before setting off south. The drive to Amboseli is long, around seven to eight hours, routing back through Nairobi and then out past Kajiado toward the Tanzanian border area.

As you approach Amboseli in the late afternoon, the flat plains open out and, cloud cover permitting, Kilimanjaro's snow-capped summit appears across the border in Tanzania. You'll check in to Amboseli Sopa Lodge in time to settle in before dinner, with the mountain often visible from the lodge grounds at dusk.

You'll head out early for a game drive across Amboseli's dry lake bed and swamps, where large elephant herds gather to feed and drink through the morning. Your guide will position the vehicle for views of the herds moving against Kilimanjaro's backdrop, which is usually clearest before mid-morning cloud builds around the peak.

After a break at the lodge through the heat of the day, you'll go out again in the afternoon toward the marshy areas near Enkongo Narok and Longinye swamps, good ground for buffalo, hippo and a wide range of water birds. Lion and cheetah also move through this open country. You'll return to Amboseli Sopa Lodge for dinner and a final night in the park.

You'll have one last look at the plains over an early breakfast, with elephant often still visible near the lodge waterhole, before setting off for Nairobi. The drive takes around four hours, crossing open Maasai grazing land and climbing gradually back toward the city.

Depending on your flight time, you'll be dropped at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport or taken to Ole Sereni Hotel to freshen up and rest before departure. Your guide will confirm the exact route and timing based on your onward flight, bringing this six-day introduction to Kenya's Big Five country to a close.