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Itineraries  /  Tuskers Rift Plains
KE09 · Kenya · Road Safaris

Tuskers Rift Plains

Amboseli National Park · Lake Naivasha · Lake Nakuru National Park · Masai Mara National Reserve · Nairobi
Duration
9 Days · 8 Nights
The route
Amboseli National Park · Lake Naivasha · Lake Nakuru National Park · Masai Mara National Reserve · Nairobi
Style
Extended Mara
Best season
Year-round · crossings Jul–Oct
Image — add in editor
What you're tracking

What you'll see

Lion
Mara prides, often with cubs in the grass.
Elephant
Big-tusked herds on the Amboseli pans.
Leopard
Draped along an acacia branch at dusk.
Rhino
Black and white rhino on Nakuru's lakeshore.
Buffalo
Buffalo
Herds grazing the floodplains in number.
Day by day

The journey, one day at a time

01Nairobi → Amboseli

South to Kilimanjaro's foot

The mountain shows itself by late afternoon.

Drive from Nairobi to Amboseli beneath Kilimanjaro, then take a first drive as the big-tusked herds move down to the swamps.

02Amboseli

A day among the herds

Tuskers on the pan, the peak behind.

Morning and evening drives for Amboseli's elephants, with the mountain as a backdrop whenever the cloud lifts.

03Amboseli → Naivasha

A freshwater pause

Hippos surface as the sun drops.

Continue by road to Lake Naivasha and take an evening boat among hippos, pelicans and fish eagles.

04Naivasha → Nakuru

To the lake of flamingos

A rim of pink along the shallows.

Continue by road to Lake Nakuru for an afternoon drive — rhino on the grassland and flamingo strung along the water.

05Nakuru → Mara

Into the Mara

The plains open and don't stop.

Continue by road into the Maasai Mara and head out on a first game drive as the light softens — plains game, elephant and the first cats on the way to camp.

06Mara

Full day on the plains

Cats before the heat, a sundowner to close.

Morning and afternoon drives with a Maasai guide, routed by where the predators are moving, with the long midday hours to rest at camp.

07Mara

Deeper into the reserve

A different corner, a different cast.

A full day further afield — river lines, kopjes and open grassland — with a picnic lunch out in the bush.

08Mara

Dawn from the air

A balloon at first light, breakfast in the grass.

Lift off over the waking plains and land to a bush breakfast, then an afternoon drive once the heat eases.

09Mara → Nairobi → home

Fly out

Wheels-up over the country you just crossed.

Drive back to Nairobi for your onward flight — or add the coast if you're not ready to leave.

When to travel

The season changes what you see.

Jul – Oct

The migration window

The wildebeest are in the Mara and the river crossings are on — the headline months, and the busiest. Book well ahead.

Nov – Jun

Resident game, green plains

The Big Five never leave. Fewer vehicles, lower rates, newborns in the grass and clean light for photography.

Wildlife you may see
Birds Elephant Leopard Lion Rhino

Make it yours.

Add nights, swap a park, extend to the coast — this route is a starting point, not a fixed menu. Tell us how you travel and we'll route the rest.

Field notes, now and then.

Where to go · When to go · Wildlife in season

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