7-Day Amboseli, Lake Nakuru and Maasai Mara Safari

You'll be collected from your Nairobi hotel after breakfast for the drive south towards Amboseli National Park, a journey of around four to five hours on tarmac through the Athi plains before the road turns to dirt for the final stretch. Keep watch on the horizon as you approach the park, since on a clear day Mount Kilimanjaro's snow-capped peak appears across the border in Tanzania, dominating the skyline over Amboseli's flat, dusty terrain.

After checking in at Amboseli Sopa Lodge and having lunch, you'll head out for an afternoon game drive across the open plains and swamp edges. Amboseli is known for its large elephant herds, and you're likely to see several family groups moving between the marshes as the light softens towards evening, with Kilimanjaro often visible behind them.

You'll set off early for a morning game drive while the air is still cool and the animals most active, heading towards the swamps of Enkongo Narok and Longinye where elephants, buffalo and hippos gather to feed. Amboseli's flat, open terrain makes for excellent visibility, and your guide will point out giraffe, zebra and the various antelope species that share these plains, along with the chance of lion or cheetah moving between the grassland and scrub.

After returning to the lodge for lunch and a rest through the heat of the day, you'll go out again in the afternoon to explore a different section of the park, often towards Observation Hill for wide views over the swamps below. This is a good spot to watch elephants converge on the water as the day cools, with Kilimanjaro frequently clearing of cloud in the late afternoon light.

After an early breakfast you'll leave Amboseli and begin the drive back towards Nairobi, retracing the route across the plains before rejoining the main tarmac road. The journey takes around four to five hours depending on traffic as you approach the city, giving you a final look at the acacia scrub and Maasai settlements that line the route north.

On arrival in Nairobi you'll check in to the Ole Sereni Hotel, set on the edge of Nairobi National Park, where the remainder of the day is free. It's a convenient break between safari legs, with time to rest, do laundry, or simply relax by the pool before an early start the next morning towards the Maasai Mara.

You'll depart Nairobi after breakfast for the drive west into the Great Rift Valley and on to the Maasai Mara, a journey of around five to six hours that takes you through the escarpment near Limuru with sweeping views down into the valley floor, before the road turns onto dirt tracks through Maasai grazing land and rolling savanna as you near the reserve.

Once you reach the Maasai Mara you'll check in to Mara Sopa Lodge in time for lunch, and head out on an afternoon game drive across the surrounding plains. The Mara's open grassland supports large numbers of resident wildlife year round, and your guide will look for lion prides, herds of topi and impala, and the giraffe and elephant that move freely through this part of the reserve.

You'll leave the lodge early for a morning game drive across the Mara's open plains, when temperatures are cooler and predators are often still active from the night before. Your guide will search the grasslands and along the tree lines for lion and leopard, while herds of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle graze across the rolling terrain that makes the Mara one of Africa's most productive game-viewing areas.

After lunch back at the lodge, the afternoon drive heads towards a different area of the reserve, possibly the Talek or Ntiakitiak River areas, where hippo pods rest in the deeper pools and elephant herds come down to drink. If your visit coincides with the wildebeest migration between roughly July and October, this is also the season to look for river crossings along the Mara's main watercourses.

After a final early morning game drive in the Maasai Mara, you'll return to the lodge for breakfast before setting off on the drive to Lake Nakuru, a journey of around four to five hours that climbs back up through the Rift Valley escarpment and past small towns and farmland as you head north-east.

On arrival at Lake Nakuru National Park in the early afternoon you'll check in to Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, with time for a game drive around the lake shore before dusk. Nakuru is known for its dense flamingo populations that line the shallow, soda-rich waters, along with white rhino and buffalo that graze the surrounding grassland, and this is a good time of day to spot them against the changing light over the lake.

You'll have one more early morning game drive in Lake Nakuru before breakfast, taking in the shoreline and wooded areas around the park where rhino, buffalo and waterbuck are commonly seen, along with the flamingos that gather along the lake's edge depending on water levels. It's a quieter final drive, with time to look out for baboon troops and the euphorbia forest that lines parts of the park.

Afterwards you'll return to the lodge to check out, then begin the drive back to Nairobi, which takes around three to four hours through the Rift Valley and back up onto the highlands surrounding the city. You'll be dropped at your Nairobi hotel or taken directly to the airport, depending on your onward travel plans, bringing the safari to a close.