Lake Nakuru · Maasai Mara
Kenya – The Six-Day Classic
The short way to the Mara, done properly. This is the essential Kenya — a rhino stop at Lake Nakuru on the drive in, then three unhurried nights in the Maasai Mara, the reserve everyone pictures when they think of safari. Six days, no filler: the big cats, the open plains, and enough time in the Mara to stop counting animals and start watching them.
- Length
- 6 days
- Regions
- 2
- Vehicle
- Private 4×4 Land Cruiser · window seat for every guest · max 6
- Game viewing
- National park / reserve
From $3,245 per person for two, or $2,540 per person when four share a vehicle.
per person for two. Land only, pp sharing, long-rains low season; migration months ~40–50% higher; flights, eTA, drinks, tips and optional activities extra; rate fixed at confirmed bookingDay by day
Day 1 — Arrive Nairobi
You’ll be met inside Jomo Kenyatta International with a Wesley Chapel Travel board — no hunting for a stranger in a crowd after a long flight — and driven the short way to the Tamarind Tree Hotel. The rest of the day is yours. Sleep, sit by the pool, or do nothing at all; the safari starts properly tomorrow and there’s no sense starting tired.
Overnight: Tamarind Tree Hotel · breakfast included
Day 2 — Nairobi to Lake Nakuru
An early start and a scenic drive northwest, down the wall of the Great Rift Valley with a viewpoint over the escarpment on the way. You’ll reach Lake Nakuru National Park and Sarova Lion Hill in time for lunch, then head out on an afternoon game drive. Nakuru is small, fenced and easy to work in a day, and it’s one of the real conservation successes in Kenya — home to both black and white rhino, which makes it one of the surest places in the country to see them. Alongside the rhino you’ll find Rothschild’s giraffe, lion, buffalo, waterbuck and, depending on the water levels and the season, the flamingos the lake is famous for. Dinner tonight looks out over the park.
Overnight: Sarova Lion Hill Lodge · lunch, dinner, breakfast
Day 3 — Lake Nakuru to the Maasai Mara
After breakfast, drive south to the Mara — the Kenya most people picture when they think of safari. You’ll reach Mara Maisha Camp in time for lunch and be out on a first afternoon game drive the same day. The camp sits just outside the reserve near the Talek gate, so mornings and afternoons are spent driving into the Mara for game viewing and returning to camp in between. The reserve delivers year-round: lion, elephant, buffalo, cheetah, leopard and antelope in enormous variety across open grassland that runs to the horizon.
Overnight: Mara Maisha Camp (deluxe room) · lunch, dinner, breakfast
Day 4 — Maasai Mara
A full day in the reserve, either as morning and afternoon drives or one long day out with a picnic lunch — your guide will read the conditions and the wildlife and plan accordingly. This is Big Five country, and the day is built around finding them and whatever else the Mara turns up.
Overnight: Mara Maisha Camp (deluxe room) · lunch, dinner, breakfast
Day 5 — Maasai Mara
A second full day, and the one that changes the trip. Two days in the Mara means you can work different parts of the reserve, sit with a single sighting instead of rushing to the next, and give the photography the time it actually needs. Predators one day, elephant herds and open plains the next — this is the day people remember.
Overnight: Mara Maisha Camp (deluxe room) · lunch, dinner, breakfast
Day 6 — Return to Nairobi
After breakfast you leave the Mara and drive back to Nairobi, arriving in the afternoon and transferring to Jomo Kenyatta International for your onward flight home.
(If your international flight leaves late in the evening, tell Milli — a day room at an airport hotel so you can shower and rest before a long flight is easy to arrange, and worth it.) Meal plan: Breakfast
Where you'll stay
Included
- All park and reserve entry fees, government taxes and levies
- Private 4×4 Land Cruiser with pop-up roof and English-speaking driver-guide throughout
- A window seat for every guest
- Full board while on safari (all meals as listed)
- Indian vegetarian and other dietary options at every lodge, confirmed before you travel
- Five nights' accommodation, including your arrival night in Nairobi
- Airport meet-and-greet and all transfers
- AMREF Flying Doctors emergency evacuation cover — airlift or road transfer to a Nairobi hospital
- Bottled water in the vehicle on every game drive
- 24-hour standby contact number
Not included
- International flights
- Kenya travel authorization (eTA) — US$30 per person
- Travel insurance — comprehensive cover is required, not optional
- Hospital and medical treatment costs (the evacuation is included; the treatment is not)
- Alcoholic and other drinks unless stated
- Tips and gratuities — about US$10 a day for your driver-guide is the local norm
- Optional experiences — balloon safari, Maasai village
- Snacks between meals, personal expenses, phone and internet
What we'd rather tell you now
Most of what goes wrong on a trip is an expectation nobody corrected in advance. So here's what this journey is not, before you spend anything.
- This is a reserve journey, not a conservancy one Lake Nakuru and your three Mara nights are inside national parks and reserves, under park rules: vehicles stay on the tracks, no night drives, fixed gate times. Conservancy properties can do all three; they also cost considerably more. We can build that instead if it matters to you.
- A driver-guide, not a private guide One professional English-speaking driver-guide drives, spots and explains, and is good at all three. What you don't get is a separate naturalist travelling alongside you; that's a different tier of trip at a different price.
- The Mara camp is just outside the reserve Mara Maisha sits about 4.5 km from the Talek gate, so each game drive begins with a short drive to the entrance rather than straight from your tent. The trade-off is a quieter setting; we'd rather you knew the drive-to-gate is part of the day.
- Drinks aren't included Meals are full board, but beverages — including water beyond what's in the vehicle — are charged to your room. Budget for it rather than be surprised at checkout.
- Evacuation is covered; treatment isn't AMREF Flying Doctors cover is included and will airlift or drive you to a Nairobi hospital if it's ever needed. What it does not cover is the hospital and treatment costs once you're there — which is why comprehensive travel insurance with medical and evacuation cover is a condition of travelling with us, and we'll ask to see it.
- The safari vehicle is not air-conditioned The pop-up roof is built for game viewing and the windows open, but there's no A/C — worth knowing for the warm days at Nakuru and in the Mara.
Plan this journey
Every price here is a starting point. Tell Milli your dates and who's traveling, and she'll come back with the exact trip and the exact number, in a written quote — not a brochure.
Plan your Journey →