11 Days Nakuru, Maasai Mara, Serengeti & Tarangire Safari

Pick-up at 7 am from your Nairobi hotel or airport and drive to Lake Nakuru. Arrive mid-morning for a game drive before check-in. Lunch, then an afternoon game drive around the soda lake: flamingos in spectacular numbers, Rothschild giraffe, waterbuck, and the park's black and white rhino.

After breakfast, drive south to the Maasai Mara. Arrive for lunch and afternoon game drive from 3 pm across the golden grasslands. Cheetahs sprint through the open plains, leopards rest in the riverine trees, and the constant background roar of lions announces the heartbeat of the Mara ecosystem.

A full day in the Mara Reserve with picnic lunch by the Mara River. The Mara's open grasslands deliver the finest predator-viewing in Africa. Large lion prides control the Mara plains, cheetah families are ubiquitous in the open grassland, and leopards are reliably spotted in the fig trees. During migration season, rivers of wildebeest and zebra ford the Mara River in life-or-death crossings daily.

A second full day in the Mara with optional sunrise balloon flight over the Mara Triangle. Alternatively, enter the Mara North Conservancy for off-road driving and cultural access to Maasai communities. Optional: afternoon visit to a Maasai village.

After breakfast, drive south-west to Tanzania via the Isebania border. Carry a packed lunch. Enter the Serengeti from the north, the Lobo area, with a game drive en route to your lodge. Alternatively, fly direct from the Mara airstrip to arrive by early afternoon (optional extra: $658 pp).

The first of two full days exploring the Great Serengeti. The Serengeti's Central Serengeti is the Big Five heartland: lion prides rest under the kopjes, cheetahs hunt across the open Seronera plains, and leopards are frequently spotted along the Seronera River. Great herds of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle move through the woodland savannah in an endless procession.

A second full day in the Serengeti with morning and afternoon game drives, or one full-day circuit through a different zone of the park. Cover the southern Serengeti's calving grounds in January–March, or position in the Grumeti corridor for the northward migration in June. Optional: sunrise balloon flight over the plains with a champagne bush breakfast ($605 pp).

After breakfast, drive south-east to Ngorongoro, stopping at Olduvai Gorge en route for a guided tour of the site where Homo habilis and Homo erectus remains were discovered in the 1950s. Arrive on the crater rim and check in to the lodge perched above the caldera. Enjoy the views and lodge facilities.

Descend into the Ngorongoro Crater at dawn with picnic lunches. Spend the day inside the 260-sq-km caldera with its permanent population of 25,000 animals: black rhino, elephant, lion, cheetah, cape buffalo, hippo, flamingo-fringed Lake Magadi and over 500 bird species. Lunch at the crater floor picnic site, then ascend and drive to Tarangire.

Tarangire's ancient baobab trees tower over the Tarangire River: hippos, crocodiles, elephants and buffalos crowd the water's edge. The park's woodland savannah is spectacular in the dry season (July–October) when thousands of elephants concentrate around the permanent water. Leopards rest in the riverine canopy, lions stalk the herds at dawn, and wild dogs are occasionally sighted. Morning and afternoon game drives.

After breakfast, depart Tarangire for Arusha. Arrive for lunch before transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport or Arusha town. Optional bus or flight to Nairobi if your itinerary requires it. End of Saringi Tours services.