A carefully paced 5-day route through Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha, using value accommodation so that more of the budget goes into game viewing. 4 nights on safari, priced on request.
Maasai Mara - Lake Nakuru - Lake Naivasha
About this safari
The route opens in Maasai Mara — big cats, open plains and the northern stage of the Great Migration — and works through 2 further destinations over 5 days. It stays within Kenya; the final proposal will confirm transfer times and the balance between travel and game viewing. Accommodation is at the budget standard: value camps and simple lodges chosen for position rather than polish. This is the practical way to see the route: the same parks, the same guiding and the same game drives, with the savings taken on accommodation rather than on time in the field. Like every safari in this catalogue, it is priced on request rather than sold at a published rate, because park fees, permits, group size and contracted accommodation all change the figure.
Day by day
Written out in full before you book, so you can see exactly how the days are paced and where each night is spent.
Day 1
Nairobi is the working gateway for this itinerary, with the first day's timing to be agreed around the confirmed travel arrangements. The road west out of Nairobi climbs the shoulder of the Rift Valley before dropping through Narok and onto the open country beyond, where cultivation gives way to grassland and the horizon widens. The last stretch is rougher going, but it is also where the safari properly begins — giraffe browsing beside the track, zebra scattering ahead of the vehicle, and the first raptors riding the thermals above the escarpment. A full day here usually divides itself naturally. The first hours go to the predators, tracking the prides your guide knows by territory and following whatever the night has left behind. Through the middle of the day the vehicle heads for shade near the river, where hippo crowd the deeper pools and crocodile lie out on the banks. The last light brings the plains alive again, with hunting cats moving and dust rising gold behind the herds. The catalogue suggests a value stay in this area. The exact property, room basis and meals remain subject to the written quotation.
Overnight: Maasai Mara
Day 2
Beyond the big cats, the reserve holds an extraordinary supporting cast. Bat-eared fox and black-backed jackal work the short grass, secretary birds stalk through it hunting snakes, and ground hornbill move in slow procession. Your guide will stop for these as readily as for lion, and they are often what people remember once the trip is over. A full day here usually divides itself naturally. The first hours go to the predators, tracking the prides your guide knows by territory and following whatever the night has left behind. Through the middle of the day the vehicle heads for shade near the river, where hippo crowd the deeper pools and crocodile lie out on the banks. The last light brings the plains alive again, with hunting cats moving and dust rising gold behind the herds. A practical camp is suggested for this night, with the confirmed property and services stated in the quotation.
Overnight: Maasai Mara
Day 3
Leaving the previous stop behind, leaving the grasslands behind, the day's driving heads for the Rift Valley floor and the compact park that surrounds Lake Nakuru. It is a shorter transfer than most on a Kenyan circuit, which leaves useful time for an afternoon game drive before the light goes — and the afternoon is when rhino most often move out onto the open lakeside flats. Rhino are the reason to be here and the drive is planned around them, working the shoreline where the grazing is best. Along the way the birdlife is hard to ignore — great white pelican in rafts on the water, cormorant colonies in the drowned trees, and a strong raptor list including long-crested eagle and augur buzzard. Flamingo numbers vary enormously with the lake's chemistry and cannot be relied upon. This planning outline places the night at a value property near the route. Availability and the final choice are confirmed before booking.
Overnight: Lake Nakuru
Day 4
If this optional activity is included in your written quotation, a boat trip on the lake is the reason most itineraries stop here. Cutting the engine near a hippo pod brings you closer to these animals than any vehicle can, and the birdlife along the shoreline is extraordinary — fish eagle calling from the dead trees, pelican working the shallows in line, cormorant colonies packed onto drowned branches, and herons stalking the papyrus edge. Boat trips are normally an optional extra rather than an automatic inclusion. The next section of the circuit moves on, the road south from Nakuru runs along the Rift Valley floor with the escarpment rising on both sides, and Naivasha announces itself as a band of green — fever tree forest and flower farms crowding down to the only freshwater lake in the chain. The change from soda lake to fresh water is immediately visible in the vegetation and in the birds working the papyrus fringe. The suggested standard is simple and location-led. The quotation will name the property and specify what the stay includes.
Overnight: Lake Naivasha
Day 5
The last morning remains flexible until the departure point and timing are agreed. The freshwater setting makes this the most restful stop on most Rift Valley routes. Mornings are calmest on the lake and best for a boat trip; afternoons often bring wind across the water. Between activities there is little pressure to be anywhere, which after several days of dawn departures is usually welcome. Nairobi is the working end point, with the final transfer stated in the written proposal.
Safari ends
Where you stay
Accommodation below is the suggested standard for this package, taken from the Citrus catalogue. Where an entry describes a standard rather than a named property, we confirm the exact camp or lodge with your quotation. Named properties are suggestions and are substituted with comparable alternatives if they are unavailable for your dates.
Source catalogue listing
Miti Mingi + Buraha Zenoni + Leisure Apex
This is reproduced exactly from the catalogue. The written quotation will allocate nights and confirm each available property before booking.
These are planning examples, not confirmed inclusions for this package. Your written quotation will confirm exactly what is included.
The quotation will identify every separate cost before you confirm.
Where this safari goes
Before you ask
The catalogue sets the route and travel standard, but it does not publish a fixed price or a contracted inclusion list. Citrus will prepare a written quotation for your dates, party and rooming, showing the exact transfers, activities, accommodation, meals, fees and permits before you confirm.
No. It is suggested accommodation from the source catalogue. Availability and any proposed alternative are confirmed in the written quotation before a booking is made.
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Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and we will come back with availability, honest advice on timing and a written quotation for this route.