7-Day Kenya Classic Safari

Karibu Kenya! On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, your Gip Adventure representative will be waiting in the arrivals hall to welcome you and help with your luggage. After a short briefing you are driven to your hotel in Nairobi to check in, freshen up and rest after your flight.

Depending on your arrival time, the rest of the day is yours to relax. In the evening your guide will run through the safari ahead, answer your questions and make sure you have everything you need for an early start tomorrow. Dinner and overnight in Nairobi.

After breakfast, leave Nairobi and drive south-east across the plains of Maasailand towards the Tanzanian border, a journey of around 4–5 hours. As you approach Amboseli, the flat-topped dome of Mount Kilimanjaro begins to dominate the horizon, its snows floating above the haze on a clear day.

Arrive in time for lunch at your lodge, then set out on an afternoon game drive. Amboseli's permanent swamps, fed by underground water from Kilimanjaro, draw large families of elephants, buffalo, hippos and a wealth of water birds, while lions, cheetahs and hyenas patrol the open plains. Dinner and overnight in Amboseli.

Enjoy an early-morning game drive as the elephant families move out of the woodland and across the plains towards the swamps, with Kilimanjaro rising above them in the soft dawn light. Look out for lions resting after the night's hunt, spotted hyenas, wildebeest, zebras, Grant's gazelles and the striking crowned crane.

Later in the day, visit a traditional Maasai village on the edge of the park. Your hosts will welcome you with song and dance, show you inside their homes and explain how cattle, family and the land shape their way of life. Return to the park for a final game drive before dinner and overnight in Amboseli.

After an early breakfast and a last look at Kilimanjaro, leave Amboseli and drive back north through Nairobi and down into the Great Rift Valley, a long but scenic journey of around 6–7 hours with a lunch stop along the way. As the road descends, the views over the valley floor, the volcanic cone of Mount Longonot and the shimmering waters of the lake are spectacular.

Arrive at Lake Naivasha in the afternoon. If time allows, take a stroll in the grounds of your lodge, where colobus monkeys, waterbuck and even giraffes are often seen, and listen for the cry of the African fish eagle over the water. Dinner and overnight at Lake Naivasha.

Start the morning with a boat safari on Lake Naivasha, gliding past hippos, pelicans and kingfishers, with African fish eagles calling from the treetops. Afterwards, drive south-west via Narok to the Masai Mara National Reserve, around 5 hours, arriving in time for a late lunch.

In the afternoon, set out on your first game drive in the Mara, where rolling golden plains, lone acacias and herds stretching to the horizon create the classic image of Africa. Lions, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes and buffalo are all frequently seen. 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.

Rise early for a last game drive in the Masai Mara as the sun comes up over the plains, then return to camp for breakfast. Afterwards, drive back to Nairobi, around 5–6 hours via Narok, with a lunch stop on the way.

On arrival in Nairobi you are transferred to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in time for your onward flight, or to a city hotel if you are staying longer. We hope you leave with wonderful memories and a heart full of Kenya. Safe travels.