15-Day Kenya Road Trip: The Magical Kenya Wildlife Odyssey

Welcome to Kenya. After clearing immigration at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you are met by your Gip Adventure driver-guide and transferred to your hotel in Nairobi, the lively capital that serves as the gateway to East Africa's great safaris.

If you land early, ask us about a short afternoon visit to the Giraffe Centre or the Karen Blixen Museum at the foot of the Ngong Hills. Otherwise, settle in, enjoy dinner and a full safari briefing, and rest well before your journey into the wild begins. Overnight in Nairobi.

Leave Nairobi early and head north through the fertile farmland of the central highlands, passing the slopes of Mount Kenya and stopping to cross the equator at Nanyuki, where you can watch the famous water demonstration. The landscape then changes dramatically as you descend into the hot, dry country of the north, a total journey of around 5–6 hours.

Arrive in Samburu National Reserve in time for lunch and a short rest. In the late afternoon, set out on your first game drive along the palm-fringed Ewaso Ng'iro River, where elephants come to drink and bathe and crocodiles bask on the sandbanks. Dinner and overnight in Samburu.

Begin with an early game drive while the air is still cool, following the river in search of elephants, big cats and the rare northern species that make this reserve so special: the gerenuk standing on its hind legs to browse, the beisa oryx with its rapier horns and the boldly striped Grevy's zebra.

In the afternoon, visit a Samburu village near the reserve. The Samburu are close cousins of the Maasai, and their warriors, dressed in red cloth and bright beadwork, will share songs, dances and stories of a pastoral life tied to cattle, camels and the land. Return for a sunset game drive before dinner and overnight in Samburu.

After a final early-morning game drive in Samburu and breakfast at your lodge, drive south to Ol Pejeta Conservancy on the Laikipia plateau, a journey of around 3 hours with Mount Kenya growing ever larger ahead of you.

After lunch, enjoy an afternoon game drive across Ol Pejeta's open grassland and acacia woodland. The conservancy protects the largest population of black rhinos in East Africa, together with southern white rhinos, the full Big Five, Grevy's zebra and Jackson's hartebeest. Dinner and overnight at Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Spend a full day on the conservancy with morning and afternoon game drives. Visit the enclosure where the last two northern white rhinos on earth, both female, are guarded around the clock, and hear from the rangers about the extraordinary science and dedication being used to try to save their subspecies from extinction.

Later, stop at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, the only place in Kenya to see chimpanzees, before continuing across the plains in search of lions, cheetahs, elephants and the painted dogs that sometimes range across Laikipia. Return to your camp as the light fades over Mount Kenya. Dinner and overnight at Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Enjoy a final early game drive at Ol Pejeta, then return for breakfast before driving to Lake Nakuru National Park, around 4 hours. Along the way, stop at Thomson's Falls in Nyahururu, where the Ewaso Narok River tumbles over a 70 m drop, before the road winds down into the Rift Valley.

In the afternoon, explore Lake Nakuru on a game drive. Drive up to Baboon Cliff for a superb view over the lake and its pink fringe of flamingos, then search the grassland and woodland for rhinos, buffalo, lions and Rothschild's giraffes. Dinner and overnight at Lake Nakuru.

After an early-morning game drive in Lake Nakuru, when rhinos and lions are most active, return for breakfast and then drive south through the Rift Valley to Lake Naivasha, around 1–2 hours away.

In the afternoon, take a boat safari on Lake Naivasha, one of the few freshwater lakes in Kenya's Rift Valley. Glide past pods of hippos and papyrus beds, watch African fish eagles swoop to snatch fish from the surface, then land on Crescent Island for a guided walk among giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and waterbuck, with no large predators to worry about. Dinner and overnight at Lake Naivasha.

After breakfast, leave Lake Naivasha and drive across the floor of the Rift Valley and up through the Maasai town of Narok to the Masai Mara National Reserve, a journey of around 5 hours with views over the valley along the way.

Arrive at your camp for lunch, then head out on an afternoon game drive. The Mara is one of the finest places in Africa for big cats, and your guide will be in touch with others to find the prides and coalitions that have been active nearby. Return at sunset for dinner and overnight in the Masai Mara.

Spend a full day exploring the Masai Mara with a picnic lunch, so you can travel further and stay out with the animals when the action unfolds. The reserve borders Tanzania's Serengeti and forms the northern part of the same great ecosystem, and from around July to October it hosts the Great Wildebeest Migration, when over a million wildebeest, zebras and gazelles graze its plains.

If the herds are here, your guide will head for the Mara River in the hope of witnessing a crossing, as wildebeest plunge into the water past waiting Nile crocodiles. At any time of year, the Mara is a Big Five haven, with lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants and buffalo all regularly seen. Dinner and overnight in the Masai Mara.

Head out at dawn, when the predators are most active and the light is soft and golden. Morning is the best time to find lions returning from the night's hunt, cheetahs scanning the plains from termite mounds and hyenas at a kill. Return to camp for breakfast or enjoy it out in the bush, then continue exploring until lunch.

In the afternoon, visit a Maasai village near the reserve. The Mara is named after the Maasai, who described the land as spotted for its scattered trees and cloud shadows. Meet the families, watch the warriors' famous jumping dance and learn how their way of life is intertwined with the land and its wildlife. Finish with a sunset game drive before dinner and overnight in the Masai Mara.

After a final game drive and breakfast, leave the Masai Mara and drive back to Nairobi, around 5–6 hours via Narok, with a stop at the Rift Valley viewpoint as you climb out of the valley.

Check in to your hotel in the afternoon and enjoy a relaxed evening in the capital. If you have the energy, ask us about dinner at one of Nairobi's well-known restaurants. Breaking the journey here makes tomorrow's drive south to Amboseli far more comfortable. Dinner and overnight in Nairobi.

Leave the city behind after breakfast and head south towards Amboseli National Park, a scenic drive of around 4–5 hours through Maasai country dotted with acacias and grazing cattle. You may stop at a roadside craft market along the way to stretch your legs.

After checking in and enjoying lunch, head out on your first game drive. Amboseli is one of the best places in Africa to watch elephants at close quarters, and the late-afternoon light, with Kilimanjaro rising behind the herds, is pure magic for photographers. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight in Amboseli.

Start early, when the air is clearest and Kilimanjaro most often reveals its snow-capped summit. Spend the day exploring Amboseli's varied habitats, from the dusty plains and acacia woodland to the lush swamps of Enkongo Narok and Longinye, where elephants wade belly-deep and pelicans and herons crowd the shallows.

Climb Observation Hill for a sweeping view over the swamps, the plains and the seasonal Lake Amboseli, an ideal spot to take in the scale of the park. After a picnic lunch or a midday break at your lodge, continue game viewing until sunset. Dinner and overnight in Amboseli.

After a final morning game drive in Amboseli, drive east towards Tsavo West National Park, a journey of around 2–3 hours past the green Chyulu Hills. You enter the land of the man-eaters, a rugged, volcanic wilderness of lava fields, rocky hills and red earth, with Kilimanjaro still visible on the horizon.

In the afternoon, visit Mzima Springs, where crystal-clear water filtered through the porous lava of the Chyulu Hills bubbles up into tranquil pools. From the underwater viewing chamber you can watch hippos walking along the bottom and shoals of fish drifting past, while crocodiles bask on the banks. Continue game viewing to your lodge for dinner and overnight in Tsavo West.

After a final early-morning game drive in Tsavo West, return to your lodge for breakfast and check out. Then begin the drive back to Nairobi, a journey of around 5–6 hours along the main highway, with a lunch stop on the way.

On arrival in Nairobi you are transferred to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in good time for your onward flight, or to a city hotel if you are staying on. We hope you leave Kenya with unforgettable memories of its wildlife and its people. Kwaheri and safe travels.