NAIROBI, SAMBURU, LAKE NAKURU, MASAI MARA, LAKE MANYARA, SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK, NGORONGORO CRATER
Take a walk on the wild side with this small-group Kenya and Tanzania tour! Begin your adventure in Nairobi, before venturing out to explore captivating scenery and spot exotic animals. Visit the home of Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa, and have the amazing opportunity to feed and admire giraffes. Then, witness exciting wildlife on safari in the Samburu National Reserve, Lake Nakuru National Park, and Masai Mara National Reserve. Game drives flourish with animals, both fierce and docile—from noble lions and fleet-footed cheetahs to strong, but peaceful elephants. At Lake Nakuru National Park, you’ll also find a rhino sanctuary and pink flamingos huddling around the lake. In Tanzania, you will have the chance to spot the tree-climbing lions in Lake Manyara, visit Serengeti National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the Great Migration takes place, and the extraordinary Ngorongoro Crater. Enjoy the chance to unwind with tranquil surroundings after adventurous game drives during the day.
Shorten Your Trip! Enjoy our 12-day Kenya Wildlife Safari tour visiting Kenya’s highlights from Nairobi to Lake Nakuru.
Itinerary at a Glance
2024 Tour Itinerary:
- 2 nights in Nairobi
- 2 nights Samburu – Buffalo Springs
- 2 nights in Lake Nakuru
- 3 nights in Masai Mara
- 1 night in Nairobi
- 1 night in Lake Manyara
- 2 nights in the Serengeti
- 1 night in Ngorongoro
Tour Highlights
- Safari game drives at all National Parks
- Afew Giraffe Centre to feed rare Rothschild's giraffes
- Sandstorm Kenya, family-owned leather goods maker
- VIsit home of Karen Blixen, famed author of "Out of Africa"
- Mt. Kenya
- Samburu–Buffalo Springs
- Nanyuki Weavers & Spinners, Women's Self-Help Project
- Lake Nakuru National Park
- Masai Mara National Reserve
- Masai Village
- Opportunity to see The Big 5
- Serengeti National Park
- Ngorongoro Crater
Your Tour Includes
- Optional round-trip airfare from the New York area (varies by departure) including taxes, fees & fuel surcharges
- Airfare taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges
- Accommodations at first class hotels & safari lodges
- 40 meals: 14 breakfasts, 13 lunches, 13 dinners
- Comprehensive sightseeing tours and game-viewing drives
- Guaranteed window seat and access to pop-up roof hatch, 4 X 4 Vehicles, maximum 6 guests per safari vehicle
- Experienced English-speaking safari driver-guide/game spotter
Passengers who purchase flights will depart 1 day before the tour starts and return 1 day after the tour ends.
Note: Flights may not be available on all departures.
You may have to book your own flights to the tour destination. If so, you are responsible for making your own way to the tour starting point, where you will meet your Tour Director. This is normally the first hotel in your itinerary.
You can find more details on the Before You Depart page.
Your exciting adventure to Kenya begins as you depart on your overnight flight to Nairobi.
Arrive in Nairobi today, Kenya's vibrant capital. You'll be escorted to your hotel. Relax at your hotel this afternoon before attending a welcome dinner.
Accommodations: Ole Sereni or similar
Meals: Dinner
Today, morning visit to Afew Giraffe Centre where you’ll admire and feed the gentle and rare Rothschild’s giraffes. Next, lunch at Karen Blixen Coffee Garden followed by a visit to the home of Karen Blixen, a coffee farmer and famed author of “Out of Africa”. The rest of the afternoon is at leisure.
Accommodations: Ole Sereni Hotel or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Over the next week venture into Kenya's most captivating wildlife sanctuaries, set amid the beauty of the surrounding wilderness. This morning depart northward to the Central Highlands where you cross the Equator as you approach majestic Mt. Kenya, a dormant volcano with a glittering cap of snow and ice. After a stop for lunch, continue your drive to Samburu National Reserve - Buffalo Springs in Kenya's semi-desert, rugged northern frontier. En route to your lodge enjoy your first game-viewing drive. Settle into your comfortable lodge in the heart of the reserve in time for dinner. Later continue to Samburu, arriving late afternoon.
Accommodations: Samburu Sopa Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Set in an extraordinary region along the Ewaso Ngiro River, Samburu–Buffalo Springs is home to some of Africa's rarest game species. The river's permanent waters abound with crocodile and hippo and attract plenty of wildlife including the Grevy's zebra, the long necked gerenuk antelope, the shy oryx beisa and the Somali ostrich. Leopard, cheetah and lion are also found in the reserve. A full day of game viewing starts with an early morning safari. This is when the animals are most active. Keep your camera ready, your game spotter will lead you in search of the animals and you'll have plenty of opportunities to photograph your sightings. Return to the lodge for breakfast and relax by the pool. This afternoon, venture out on additional game viewing.
Accommodations: Samburu Sopa Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Depart for Aberdare National Park, with steep forested ravines and open moorlands. En route, stop at the Samburu Water Project. See how the project's efforts to build a water well has transformed the community and see how the well serves as a community centre for the village. Arrive at Aberdare Country Club for lunch, followed by a transfer in the lodge vehicle to the Ark Lodge, built, as the name suggests, in the shape of an Ark. From specially built viewpoints you may watch the animals arriving at the floodlit waterhole and saltlicks throughout the evening and night.
Accommodations: The Ark or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
As you journey southwest today, stop at the impressive Nyahururu Falls and then travel along the magnificent Rift Valley to Lake Naivasha, arriving your lodge for late lunch. The afternoon is at leisure. Optional activities include a scenic boat ride or a visit to Crescent Island across the lake to view the rich wildlife and numerous bird species.
Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
This morning depart on a game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, one of Kenya’s finest rhino sanctuaries, and admire the flamingos and other abundant birds dancing along the lake’s shoreline. Enjoy a picnic lunch and later return to Lake Naivasha. Arrive at your lodge in the afternoon.
Accommodations: Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Today drive to the fabled Masai Mara National Reserve, rich with wildlife, birds, natural flora and stunning scenic beauty. The Masai Mara is the northern extension of Tanzania’s famous Serengeti Plains. It is Kenya’s premier place of seeing wildlife, and home to a thriving population of predators such as lion and cheetah, as well as hippo, crocodile, zebra, giraffe, elephant, wildebeest and impala. Arrive at your lodge, ideally located on the banks of the Talek River and surrounded by lush landscaped gardens. Enjoy a thrilling afternoon game-viewing drive in this photographer’s paradise.
Accommodations: Mara Sopa Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After a final early morning safari followed by a hearty breakfast, drive back to Nairobi arriving in the mid-afternoon. The balance of the day is at leisure.
Accommodations: Ole Sereni or similar
Meals: Breakfast
We'll fly this morning to Kilimanjaro Airport near Arusha, Tanzania. Upon arrival, we'll meet our Tanzania guide and drive through Tanzania's countryside to Lake Manyara. After checking into our lodge, the evening is at leisure.
Accommodations: Lake Manyara Serena Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
This morning, head to Lake Manyara National Park for a morning game drive. The park offers a rich diversity of scenery and wildlife including the famous tree-climbing lions. After lunch at the lodge, leaving Lake Manyara behind, the journey continues North West across the stunning hilly countryside of the highlands which is filled with wheat and coffee plantations, and then into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. From here lie the vast plains of the UNESCO-listed Serengeti National Park where you begin spotting wildlife as you approach the entrance gate. Complete the formalities and enter the park with game viewing en route to the lodge arriving for dinner.
Accommodations: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Today is filled with morning and afternoon game drives in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania's largest and most famous park. Serengeti is home to the Great Migration, the highest concentration of wildlife, and the opportunity to see the Big 5! The endless plains are a feast for your eyes as you will track big cats like lions, cheetahs, leopards, and other wildlife.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After an early breakfast, we'll depart for Ngorongoro with a picnic lunch. On arrival, we'll descend into the Ngorongoro Crater for an afternoon of game viewing. Ngorongoro Crater is a remnant of an ancient volcano peak and the world's largest unbroken caldera. On today’s excursion, our expert game driver/spotter will lead us on thrilling game-viewing drives by land rover to explore this unique phenomenon. It is sure to be one of the highlights of our trip to East Africa.
Accommodations: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Our tour comes to an end later today. Following breakfast, we'll travel by road to Arusha for lunch followed by a transfer to Kilimanjaro Airport. Here, we'll board our evening flight back to Nairobi. Travelers who purchased our air-inclusive package will connect with our overnight return flight back to the U.S.
Accommodations: Ole Sereni Hotel Lodge or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Explore savings of up to $800 per person to dream destinations! Book by Mar. 29th.
Prices listed as “with flights” below include round-trip
airfare from one or more airports in the USA.
Travelers may choose to purchase the tour only,
and arrange their own arrival in destination.
Please note this may change your tour start date.
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$7,599
$7,099 |
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$9,199 |
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$8,299
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From
$7,899 |
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Rates are per person based on double occupancy.
Single supplement applies when not sharing a room. Select a
date above to see the rates for that specific departure.
For more information on this tour, please
contact us here
or call us during business hours (Monday-Friday from 9:00 am - 5:30 pm Eastern)
at 1.800.337.7773.
Reservations and Payments
Reservations can be made online or by phone
(1.800.337.7773)
and will be confirmed upon receipt of your non-refundable,
non-transferable deposit, which must be received at the
time of reservation.
Deposits are $300 per person.
Full payment is due 125 days prior to departure. Space and prices subject to availability.
Please see the
smarTours Terms and Conditions for complete
booking information.
Optional Tours
Customize your trip with these optional tours.
Enhance your trip with our recommended optional tours.
Indicated optional tours are available to pre-book
when you reserve your trip and can be added to your
reservation up to final payment. This is the best option
to guarantee your spot on your preferred optional tour!
Optional tours require a minimum number of participants.
Optional tours are non-refundable unless they do not operate.
Some optional tours can be purchased in-destination and
may cost extra. The payment methods and currency
information to purchase tours in-destination will be
provided on final documentation.
Take to the sky over herds of wildlife in the Masai Mara game reserve, flying in a hot air balloon. The balloon can soar over the most inaccessible and undisturbed parts of the reserve and offers a bird’s eye view of the plains below. At the conclusion of your incredible flight, you’ll be treated to a champagne breakfast in the bush. Before returning to your lodge, your balloon pilot will present you with a Balloon Flight Certificate. This is certain to become a once-in-a-lifetime experience you will remember long after returning from Kenya! (Please be advised that flight may not operate if weather conditions are not suitable for balloon flying).
Note: Participants must be of reasonable fitness and not appropriate for women who are pregnant or people with osteoporosis, etc. You must be at least 4'6' in height and passengers over 265 lbs must book 2 seats.
AVAILABLE TO PRE-BOOK!
Featured Accommodations
2.5.4 Ole Sereni - Airport Hotel, Nairobi, Mombasa Road, Nairobi, Kenya
Website
Samburu National ReserveKenya
Website
Lake Nakuru National Park. 165 Km from Nairobi.
Website
C14, Keekorok, Oloolaimutia Valley
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
Website
Lake Manyara National Park
Mto Wa Mbu Escarpment, Northern Tanzania
Website
Serengeti National Park Serengeti District, Tanzania
Website
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Website
What to Expect
Max Group Size: 17 travelers
Activity Level: Level 1
Expect most included touring to require walking and standing periods up to 3 hours at a time (up to 2 times per day) on easy terrain with some light stairs. Learn More
Pacing Level: Moderate
Expect full-day tours most days with some limited free time at specific sites, for meals, and/or in the evenings. You can expect several early mornings and/or long travel days by bus (don’t worry—there are always comfort stops!), and you may expect to stay in most accommodations for 2+ nights (with limited 1-night stays). Learn More
Additional Entry Requirements for U.S. Passport Holders
A valid passport is required for international tours. There are entry requirements for U.S. passport holders. Please visit our Passports & Visas page to learn more about any required actions, next steps, and additional costs.
Travel point to point in safari vehicles and on bumpy and uneven roads. Safari vehicles have high ground clearance and require agility to embark and disembark. As this is a driving program, the average safari drives are 4-5 hours long per day. Generally, the drives depart in the morning and arrive at the next destination for lunch, before continuing on the afternoon game drive. The Driver-Guides may suggest switching to full-day game drives to maximize game viewing.
On safari, many lodges are powered by generators or solar panels. These are often turned off during parts of the day and night to reduce noise and fuel consumption.
For more detailed information about this tour and destination, visit
our Before You Depart section.