10-Day Best of Kenya & Tanzania: Vast Grasslands Safaris

Karibu Kenya! On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, your Gip Adventure representative meets you outside the arrivals hall and transfers you to your hotel in Nairobi. The drive takes 30–60 minutes depending on the city traffic.

The rest of the day is yours to rest after the flight. In the evening your guide joins you for a short briefing on the journey ahead, the vehicles, the border crossing into Tanzania and what to pack for each park, before a relaxed welcome dinner.

After breakfast you leave Nairobi and drive north-west, stopping at a viewpoint over the Great Rift Valley before descending to the valley floor and continuing through Narok, the last town before the Mara. The journey of about 270 km takes 5–6 hours, with the final stretch on rougher roads through Maasai country.

You arrive in time for lunch at your camp, then head out on an afternoon game drive across the golden, acacia-dotted plains of the Masai Mara National Reserve, looking for lion prides, elephants, giraffes and the reserve's famous cheetahs as the light softens towards sunset.

A full day in the Masai Mara, with a picnic lunch so you can follow the wildlife wherever it leads. The Mara is renowned for its big cats, and your guide knows the territories of the resident lion prides, cheetahs and leopards. Elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, hyenas and huge herds of plains game complete the picture.

Between July and October the Great Wildebeest Migration fills the reserve, and you may head to the Mara River in the hope of witnessing a dramatic crossing as the herds plunge past waiting crocodiles. At other times of year the resident wildlife is superb in its own right. An early-morning hot-air balloon flight or a visit to a Maasai village can be arranged as optional extras.

Enjoy a final early-morning game drive in the Masai Mara before breakfast, when the plains are cool and the predators are still active. Afterwards you pack up and drive back to Nairobi via Narok and the Great Rift Valley, arriving in the late afternoon.

The evening is free in Nairobi. Take a quiet dinner at your hotel and rest ahead of tomorrow's journey south towards Kilimanjaro.

Leave Nairobi after breakfast and drive south-east through the Kajiado plains, Maasai land of red earth and grazing cattle. The drive of about 240 km takes 4–5 hours, and on a clear day Kilimanjaro appears on the horizon well before you reach the park gate.

After lunch at your lodge, head out on an afternoon game drive in Amboseli National Park, famous for its big-tusked elephants. Families move between the swamps and the dusty plains, with the snow-capped summit of Africa's highest mountain floating above them as the evening light turns gold.

After an early-morning game drive and breakfast, leave Amboseli and drive to the border town of Namanga, about 1.5–2 hours away. Here you complete Kenyan exit and Tanzanian entry formalities at the one-stop border post, and meet your Tanzanian guide and 4x4 safari vehicle.

The road continues south for about two hours past Longido and the slopes of Mount Meru to Arusha, the safari capital of northern Tanzania. You arrive in the afternoon with time to relax at your lodge, surrounded by gardens and coffee farms, before dinner.

Set off early from Arusha on the road west past Mto wa Mbu and up the wall of the Great Rift Valley into the green Ngorongoro highlands. After a stop at the crater viewpoint, the road descends through Maasai country towards the vast Serengeti plains, with an optional stop at Olduvai Gorge on the way.

Entering the park at Naabi Hill Gate, you game drive across the short-grass plains towards Seronera in the Central Serengeti, watching for cheetahs, gazelles and lions on the kopjes. A picnic lunch is taken along the way, and you reach your lodge in the late afternoon. The full journey takes 7–8 hours including game viewing.

A full day of game drives in the Seronera area of the Central Serengeti, with a picnic lunch out on the plains. The Seronera River valley is one of the best places in Africa for big cats: lions lounge on the granite kopjes, leopards rest in the sausage trees along the river and cheetahs scan the short-grass plains for gazelles.

Depending on the season, the Great Migration may be passing nearby, with hundreds of thousands of wildebeests and zebras moving across the plains. Hippo pools, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes and topi complete a memorable day. An optional sunrise hot-air balloon safari can be arranged.

After a morning game drive across the Serengeti plains, you leave the park through Naabi Hill Gate and drive back up into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with the option of stopping at Olduvai Gorge on the way.

In the afternoon you reach the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, around 2,300 m above sea level. The air is cool and the views down into the caldera are breathtaking. Enjoy a quiet evening at your lodge on the rim, where it can be chilly after dark, so bring a warm layer.

Descend early into the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest unbroken volcanic caldera and one of the finest wildlife areas on earth. About 600 m below the rim, the crater floor is home to lions, elephants, buffaloes, hyenas, zebras, wildebeests and flamingos on Lake Magadi, and it is one of the best places in Tanzania to see the endangered black rhino.

After a picnic lunch by the hippo pool, you ascend the crater wall and drive back to Arusha, about 3–4 hours, where you can freshen up before your transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your evening flight home. Safari njema!