8 days · Kenya & Tanzania · Budget
Eight days that combine Kenya's classic Maasai Mara and Lake Nakuru with Tanzania's Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, with the option to finish by flying on to Zanzibar.
Safari snapshot
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The route
Safari highlights
Day by day
The plan is a guide: timings may change with road and park conditions and your group's interests. Wildlife sightings can never be guaranteed.
Day 1
Nairobi → Maasai Mara
Depart Nairobi in the morning for the Maasai Mara via the Rift Valley escarpment, stopping in Narok for anything you need. Arrive in time for lunch at camp, followed by an orientation game drive. The Mara's expansive plains are home to zebra, elephant, rhino, lion and much more, and it is a highlight of any Kenya safari.
Day 2
Maasai Mara National Reserve
An optional balloon flight can be arranged at extra cost. After breakfast, leave at around 8am with picnic lunches for long game drives. The Mara has one of Africa's highest concentrations of wildlife. Following the river, you may reach points where migrating herds cross in season and where crocodiles and hippos live year-round. Lunch is a picnic beside a hippo pool.
Day 3
Maasai Mara → Lake Nakuru
After breakfast, visit a Maasai village for a cultural experience and to hear the community's stories (optional), then leave the reserve for Lake Nakuru. The road climbs out of the Mara and crosses the Rift Valley, passing farmland, escarpments and volcanic hills. The scenery of the Rift Valley along the way leaves a lasting impression. Dinner and overnight at your accommodation near the lake.
Day 4
Lake Nakuru → Nairobi → Arusha
Explore Lake Nakuru National Park, where flamingos can turn the lakeshore pink and over 400 bird species have been recorded. The park protects black and white rhino, giraffe browse among the trees and lions are sometimes seen resting in the branches. Afterwards, return to Nairobi and continue by shuttle to Arusha for the night. It is a long travel day that links Kenya's Rift Valley to northern Tanzania.
Day 5
Arusha → Serengeti
Depart Arusha in the morning for the Serengeti, with lunch on the way, climbing through the Ngorongoro highlands before descending onto the plains. Arrive in time for an afternoon game drive as the grassland opens up around you. The Serengeti is renowned for the migration of wildebeest and for its resident elephant, cheetah, lion, giraffe and birds, and the kopjes are favourite resting places for lions.
Day 6
Serengeti → Ngorongoro
After breakfast, take your final game drive in the Serengeti, watching for lion prides and the grazing herds of the plains. Then travel east to the Ngorongoro highlands with lunch on the way, arriving in the afternoon for the night in basic tents on the crater rim. Camping on the rim, with the caldera below and cool highland air, is a memorable part of this budget route.
Day 7
Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha
After breakfast, take a packed lunch and descend 600 metres into the Ngorongoro Crater for a game drive of up to six hours. The crater supports endangered black rhino, big cats, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo and elephant, and its steep walls make a dramatic backdrop. Later, climb out of the caldera and drive back to Arusha for the night on a bed-and-breakfast basis.
Day 8
Arusha → Zanzibar or Nairobi
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for a flight to Zanzibar, or to the shuttle bus for the return journey to Nairobi, depending on your plans. Zanzibar flights and accommodation are arranged separately, so tell your planner if you would like help adding time on the island. Either way, the safari ends here, after eight days linking the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater.
Recommended accommodation
Named properties are the ones used for this package. Nights listed by category are confirmed with your quotation, subject to availability.
Package accommodation
Budget camp · Maasai Mara · 2 nights
Package accommodation
Budget · Lake Nakuru · 1 night
Accommodation category
Arusha · 2 nights
Accommodation category
Budget · Serengeti · 1 night
Accommodation category
Budget · Ngorongoro · 1 night
What’s included
What’s not included
Your written quotation confirms the exact inclusions for your dates.
Flexible pricing
The final price depends on when and how you travel: season, group size, accommodation level and private or shared transport.
Pricing
Price on request
We quote this journey individually because travel dates, group size and accommodation availability change it significantly.
Made around you
Where operationally possible, a local planner can help adapt the journey without losing the route’s natural rhythm.
Optional experiences
Availability, location, age limits and extra costs are confirmed for your final itinerary.
Optional · extra cost · pre-arrangement required
Optional · extra cost
Optional · extra cost
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Read our reviews on SafariBookingsExternal review source
Read independent traveller feedback at its original source. Ratings and review totals remain on Tripadvisor, where they stay current.
Read our reviews on TripadvisorBefore you travel
The 8 Days Classic Combined Kenya & Tanzania Safari: Mara, Nakuru, Serengeti & Ngorongoro is quoted individually (price on request), because travel dates, group size and accommodation availability change the cost. Share your dates and a planner will send an exact quotation.
It starts in Nairobi and finishes in Arusha, Zanzibar or Nairobi. Your planner can advise on arrival and departure arrangements.
The package uses Miti Mingi Eco Camp, Buraha Zenoni. Other nights are listed as “overnight at the camp/lodge”: the specific property is confirmed with your quotation, subject to availability.
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