12-Day Masai Mara to Coast Safari Itinerary

You’re met on arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and transferred to the Hilton Garden Inn, Nairobi, where you’re booked for one night on a bed & breakfast basis — a smooth start before the drive west begins at dawn tomorrow.

You depart at 7:30am, driving west out of Nairobi and down the Mai Mahiu escarpment into the Great Rift Valley — passing the old Catholic chapel built by Italian prisoners of war in 1942. Continuing west through Kenya’s agricultural heartland, you arrive at Zebra Plains Mara Camp in time for lunch and check-in.

The Masai Mara is one of the eight wonders of the world — home to the Big Five and the stage for the greatest wildlife migration on Earth. Between July and October, two million wildebeest pour across the Mara River from Tanzania’s Serengeti. An afternoon game drive follows. Dinner and overnight at Zebra Plains Mara Camp, full board.

A full day given over to the Mara — morning and afternoon game drives in pursuit of the Big Five across the reserve’s iconic grasslands. All meals and overnight at Zebra Plains Mara Camp, full board.

After breakfast in the Mara, you drive back through the Great Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge for lunch and check-in. The afternoon carries you into Lake Nakuru National Park — one of Kenya’s most famous wildlife sanctuaries, with a thriving rhino population, the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe, and extraordinary birdlife. Dinner and overnight at Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, full board.

After breakfast at Lake Nakuru, you drive into Nairobi for lunch before continuing south-east toward Amboseli National Park, arriving at Praro Amboseli Camp at the foot of Kilimanjaro as the afternoon light softens.

Amboseli covers 392 km² of semi-arid scrubland sustained by natural swamps fed by underground rivers flowing from Kilimanjaro itself. Recognised by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve, it is home to exceptionally large elephant herds and over 400 bird species. Dinner and overnight at Praro Amboseli Camp, half board.

A full day in Amboseli — morning and afternoon game drives with Kilimanjaro rising on the horizon throughout. All meals and overnight at Praro Amboseli Camp, full board.

After breakfast in Amboseli, you drive through the Chyulu Hills and across the extraordinary Shetani Lava Flow before arriving at Ngulia Safari Lodge in time for lunch. An afternoon game drive includes a stop at Mzima Springs — an ancient spring producing 258,000 litres of crystal-clear water per minute, home to hippos and crocodiles visible from an underwater glass viewing tank. Dinner and overnight at Ngulia Safari Lodge, full board.

After breakfast in Tsavo West, you drive across into Tsavo East, arriving at Voi Safari Lodge in time for lunch. An afternoon game drive carries you into one of East Africa’s most iconic safari environments — famous for its dust-red elephants, the Galana River, and the world’s longest lava flow, the 300 km-long Yatta Plateau. Dinner and overnight at Voi Safari Lodge, full board.

An early pre-dawn game drive through Tsavo East before returning to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast, you depart with all your luggage and drive to Mombasa, where you arrive at Severin Sea Lodge on the Indian Ocean coast, booked for three nights on a half board basis.

After the open plains and red dust of Tsavo, the coast arrives as a complete change of register — the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, white sand, and the slower rhythm of the Kenyan shoreline.

A free day at Severin Sea Lodge — the Indian Ocean at your door, the option of watersports, a boat trip, or a visit to the historic streets of Mombasa’s Old Town, one of East Africa’s most atmospheric urban landscapes. Half board.

Another day at leisure on the Kenyan coast — time to decompress, explore, or simply watch the dhows drift past on the Indian Ocean horizon. Half board.

After breakfast at Severin Sea Lodge, you’re transferred to Mombasa train station for the five-hour scenic rail journey back to Nairobi — watching the landscape transition from the coast through Tsavo’s dry wilderness back to the green outskirts of the capital — before your onward transfer to JKIA for your homebound flight.