Kenya & Tanzania Camping Safari
15 days, Nairobi to Arusha
Itinerary
Day 1Nairobi
Arrive at any time.
There are no planned activities until an evening welcome meeting.
Your Welcome Moment: Welcome Moment - Meet Your CEO and Group
Your opportunity to meet your CEO and fellow travellers, and learn more about your tour. Opt to join the group for a local meal afterwards. Don't forget to see the notice in the lobby (or ask reception) for the official time and place to meet up with the group.
Day 2Nairobi/Samburu National Reserve
Travel to Samburu National Reserve in time for an afternoon wildlife safari drive. Visit a Samburu village en route.
Depart Nairobi and drive north through the farmlands of the Kikuyu people, passing Mt Kenya, Africa's second highest mountain (5199m/17,060ft).
Just outside the national reserve, visit a local Samburu village. Similar in appearance to the Masai but less known, the Samburu are a proud warrior tribe. Watch traditional Samburu dancing, and learn about Samburu tribal life and customs. The walk within the village is run by Samburu tribesmen for the benefit of the community.
Continue to Samburu National Reserve, a wildlife haven to many species rarely found elsewhere.
Enjoy an afternoon wildlife safari drive in search of large elephant and big cat populations living within this wild part of Kenya.
Safari Vehicle
Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride.
Samburu Village Visit
Meet the locals in a traditional village in the Samburu area and learn more about their way of life. The Samburu people are related to but distinct from the Masai. They too are semi-nomadic who herd cattle, goat and occasionally camels. The men have more than one wife; each lives in her own hut within a family compound. Be sure to bring your camera and capture the beauty and colour of the layers of bead necklaces and bracelets, the red clay braids of the warriors, and the contrast of their bright cloth wraps against the African savanna.
Samburu National Reserve Wildlife Safari Drive
Head out into the wilds of Samburu National Reserve in search of elephants, lions, as well as some of the more unique animals found only in this northern region of Kenya.
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 3Samburu National Reserve
Spend a full day wildlife viewing in search of Samburu's special five.
A full day wildlife safari drive to spot a group of animals only seen north of the equator, such as the beisa oryx, Somali ostrich, Grevy's zebra, the majestic reticulated giraffe, and the long-necked gerenuk, a graceful antelope that stands upright on its hind legs to feed on tall bushes.
Samburu National Reserve Wildlife Safari Drive
Head out into the wilds of Samburu National Reserve in search of elephants, lions, as well as some of the more unique animals found only in this northern region of Kenya.
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 4Samburu National Reserve/Lake Nakuru National Park
Descend into the Great Rift Valley enjoying stunning views of the escarpment on the way.
Nakuru, meaning “dusty place” in the Maasai language, is a cheerful and vibrant agricultural town with a variety of colourful local markets.
Camp outside the town at the edge of Lake Nakuru National Park, the area’s principal highlight and best natural attraction. Time and weather permitting, there may be an opportunity to visit a local tea farm and see how the tea is grown, picked and produced.
Safari Vehicle
Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride.
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 5Lake Nakuru National Park
Embark on a safari within Lake Nakuru National Park, in search of the resident black rhino, buffalo, impala, and the elusive leopard.
Lake Nakuru Wildlife Safari Drive
Search for, buffalo, impalas, hyenas, and even lions and leopards on the wildlife safari drive in this renowned national park. Head to the shores of Lake Nakuru to see pelicans and cormorants. The park is also rich in other bird life, including grebes, white winged black terns, stilts, avocets, and ducks.
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 6Lake Nakuru National Park/Masai Mara
Travel to the Masai Mara National Reserve. Search for the Big Five on an afternoon wildlife safari drive.
Depart for the world-famous Masai Mara Game Reserve. With its vast open plains and distinctive flat-topped acacia trees, no visit to Kenya would be complete without a visit to this reserve.
Arrive in the afternoon and get settled at the permenant tented camp, the base for exploring the Mara.
Head into the reserve for an afternoon wildlife safari drive.
Safari Vehicle
Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride.
Maasai Mara Wildlife Safari Drive
Maasai Mara is one of the world’s top safari destinations, known for its abundance of big cats – cheetahs, leopards and lions – as well as the two million wildebeest, Thomson’s gazelles and zebra that migrate annually across the vast grasslands in search of water. Set off on safari with our driver/guide and keep your eyes and ears peeled for movement and memories. Watch elephants and giraffe grazing, photograph zebras and wildebeest and, with a little luck, you'll even spot animals feasting on a recent kill.
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 7Masai Mara
Enjoy a day of wildlife safari drives. Opt to take to the skies on a balloon safari.
Rise early for a wildlife safari drive during the best time to spot wildlife and criss-cross the rolling hills of the African savannah. With a full day to explore the area, we can cover a lot of ground. With time, visit the Mara River area.
Opt to go for a balloon safari for a new perspective over the beautiful landscape.
If you have pre-booked a Masai Mara Balloon Safari, your flight will be in the morning. You will miss the morning wildlife safari drive with the group, but you will have spectacular views from above.
Maasai Mara Wildlife Safari Drive
Maasai Mara is one of the world’s top safari destinations, known for its abundance of big cats – cheetahs, leopards and lions – as well as the two million wildebeest, Thomson’s gazelles and zebra that migrate annually across the vast grasslands in search of water. Set off on safari with our driver/guide and keep your eyes and ears peeled for movement and memories. Watch elephants and giraffe grazing, photograph zebras and wildebeest and, with a little luck, you'll even spot animals feasting on a recent kill.
Optional Activities - Day 7 HideShow
Maasai Mara Balloon Safari
The adventure begins just before dawn and lasts an hour in the sky. Fly over the Mara River, plains, and forests of the Maasai Mara. Toast your return to earth with a champagne breakfast, cooked wherever you land.
Please note that single passengers can book on this activity, the balloon will require a minimum of two passengers to take flight. In the rare case that this minimum is not reached by the time of your flight, passengers will be refunded for this activity.
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 8Masai Mara/Nairobi
Morning wildlife safari drive in the Masai Mara National Reserve before departing for Nairobi.
Breathe in the fresh morning air as you enjoy the African sun as it rises over the savanna of the "Mara". Visit a watering hole while on a morning wildlife safari drive, a perfect time and place for wildlife photography. Return to Nairobi in the late afternoon.
Maasai Mara Wildlife Safari Drive
Maasai Mara is one of the world’s top safari destinations, known for its abundance of big cats – cheetahs, leopards and lions – as well as the two million wildebeest, Thomson’s gazelles and zebra that migrate annually across the vast grasslands in search of water. Set off on safari with our driver/guide and keep your eyes and ears peeled for movement and memories. Watch elephants and giraffe grazing, photograph zebras and wildebeest and, with a little luck, you'll even spot animals feasting on a recent kill.
Safari Vehicle
Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride.
Meals included:
Breakfast | LunchDay 9Nairobi/Arusha
Spend the day travelling to Tanzania.
Journey across the border into Tanzania, arriving in the picturesque town of Arusha in the afternoon. Spend some time exploring the town and its bustling markets, and have another night in the comfort of a hotel. Upon arrival into Arusha, you may be joined by other G Adventures travellers starting the Tanzania portion of the trip.
Shuttle
Move efficiently from point A to point B aboard this dependable ride.
Border Crossing (Kenya - Tanzania)
Ready for a little more ink in your passport? Grab your bags and get ready to check another country off your bucket list.
Meals included:
BreakfastDay 10Arusha/Mto wa Mbu
Experience the Mto wa Mbu village with a guided cultural walk and traditional lunch with a local family. View wildlife on a wildlife safari drive in Lake Manyara.
Travel to Mto wa Mbu village and take part in a cultural walk to learn about village life in the area. Meet the women who run the village tours and enjoy a delicious home made traditional lunch.
Spend the afternoon viewing wildlife in Lake Manyara National Park.
This area is truly stunning, as the western wall of the Rift Valley escarpment provides a gorgeous backdrop. Search for the phenomenal birdlife, tree-climbing lions, elephants, giraffes, and hippos.
The afternoon is spent wildlife viewing along the main road that winds through a lush cool forest overgrown with ficus trees covered with bromeliads.
7-Seat 4x4 Safari Vehicle
Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.
Your G for Good Moment: Mto wa Mbu Community Visit and Lunch
Take part in a cultural walk to learn about life in this East African town. Mto wa Mbu has attracted some 18,000 residents from 120 different tribes. During the two-hour tour, visit the community's local market, go right to the farmer's fields, see how huts are constructed, and meet artisans in their shops.
Afterwards, sit down with our new friends and enjoy a traditional lunch of meat and plantains.
Lake Manyara National Park Afternoon Safari Drive
This western wall of the Rift Valley escarpment is truly stunning. It provides a backdrop for your search for the park's phenomenal bird life (including raptors), tree-climbing lions, elephants, zebras, hippos, baboons, and buffalos. Look up and see some of the more than 400 species of birds, including pink flamingos, pelicans, cormorants, and storks.
Beyond wildlife, Lake Manyara NP is home to giant fig trees, acacia woodlands, mahogany trees, and grassy flood plains. The contrasts of this area are simply breathtaking; the open plains, huge escarpment, central alkaline lake, dense woodlands, and distant volcanic peaks coming together in an area best described by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I have seen in Africa.”
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 11Lake Manyara National Park/Serengeti National Park
Visit an authentic Maasai village and the G Adventures-supported Clean Cookstove Project en route to the Serengeti.
Drive through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and on to Serengeti National Park. En route marvel at the sheer vastness of this territory, and spot the multitude of animal and birdlife while cruising through this acacia-accented savanna.
7-Seat 4x4 Safari Vehicle
Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.
Your G for Good Moment: Clean Cookstove Project Visit
Visit a Maasai village in the Monduli District and witness the benefits of the G Adventures-supported Clean Cookstove Project. In Tanzania, 95% of people rely on cooking with wood and coal. Women and girls spend hours walking to collect wood every day (making them vulnerable to assault and unable to use their time to go to school). Indoor smoke from open-fire stoves causes cancer, emphysema, pneumonia, blindness, and burns. Take a guided tour of these villages and meet the women that have been trained as stove engineers, visit bomas (traditional homes), and observe (or get your hands dirty) by helping the Stove Team build a stove in a home. See the beneficial impact of the clean-burning stoves on the health and daily lives of the Maasai villagers, especially the women.
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 12Serengeti National Park
Rise early for a morning wildlife safari drive, returning in time for lunch. Continue the search for the Big Five in the afternoon while taking in the vastness of the Serengeti plains.
If you have pre-booked a Serengeti Balloon Safari, your flight will be in the morning. You will miss the morning wildlife safari drive with the group, but you will have spectacular views from above.
Serengeti National Park Safari
This is the reason you came to Africa. Charge your camera, grab your binoculars, and set out on safari. Your eagle-eyed driver will keep an eye out for wildlife – buffaloes, elephants, lions, wildebeests, zebras, and more. Tanzania’s Serengeti tends to be less crowded than some of Kenya’s reserves, so enjoy the scenery, the vast expanse of the grasslands, the play of light and shadow, and the up-close look at wild Africa.
Optional Activities - Day 12 HideShow
Serengeti Balloon Safari
Spirited aloft in a hot-air balloon, view the wildlife and terrain of the Serengeti that only the birds see. Enjoy a champagne breakfast and keep that shutter-finger good and limber—you’ll be using it plenty over the course of your hour in the air.
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 13Serengeti National Park/Ngorongoro
Take a morning wildlife safari drive in the Serengeti before getting a spectacular view of the Ngorongoro Crater from its rim.
Enjoy one last morning wildlife safari drive to see the animal kingdom come to life in this incredible expanse of grassland savanna.
After, journey to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, famous for Africa's best wildlife viewing. The vistas from the Ngorongoro Crater rim are stunning, and there is an ever-present abundance of wildlife, due to the permanent water supply on the crater floor.
Arrive at the campsite on the crater rim in the evening.
Please note that due to the high-altitude location of our camp, temperatures can drop at night. We recommend bringing extra layers to wear during the evening and following morning.
Serengeti National Park Safari
This is the reason you came to Africa. Charge your camera, grab your binoculars, and set out on safari. Your eagle-eyed driver will keep an eye out for wildlife – buffaloes, elephants, lions, wildebeests, zebras, and more. Tanzania’s Serengeti tends to be less crowded than some of Kenya’s reserves, so enjoy the scenery, the vast expanse of the grasslands, the play of light and shadow, and the up-close look at wild Africa.
7-Seat 4x4 Safari Vehicle
Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.
Meals included:
Breakfast | Lunch | DinnerDay 14Ngorongoro/Arusha
Head out for a morning wildlife safari drive in the Ngorongoro Crater.
Embark on a early morning crater tour. The rich pasture and permanent water of the Crater floor supports a resident population of more than 20,000 to 25,000 large mammals.
After this fabulous experience within the crater, head back to Arusha.
Ngorongoro Crater Wildlife Safari Drive
Set the alarm and prepare for an early start to see the wonders of the Ngorongoro Crater. Here you’ll see Maasai herdsmen in the morning mist. Your driver/guide will take you down into the crater and to all the best spots to view wildlife. Spot zebra, gazelles, buffaloes, and warthogs. The swamp and forest are home to hippos, rhinos, elephants, baboons, and monkeys. Keep your eyes peeled and camera ready to capture a pride of lions or a lone leopard walking along the crater floor.
7-Seat 4x4 Safari Vehicle
Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.
Meals included:
Breakfast | LunchDay 15Arusha
Depart at any time.
Departure Day
Not ready to leave? Your CEO can help with travel arrangements to extend your adventure.