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Itineraries  /  Rift, Plains & the Reef
KE13 · Kenya · Bush & Beach

Rift, Plains & the Reef

Nairobi · Lake Naivasha · Lake Nakuru National Park · Masai Mara National Reserve · Diani Beach
Duration
9 Days · 8 Nights
The route
Nairobi · Lake Naivasha · Lake Nakuru National Park · Masai Mara National Reserve · Diani Beach
Style
Extended Bush & Beach
Best season
Year-round · crossings Jul–Oct
The route

8 nights, 4 distinct landscapes — extended bush & beach.

From the first transfer to the final morning, every stop earns its place — birdlife and a boat safari; rhino and flamingo; big cats and the migration; reef, sand and downtime.

Add a night in Nairobi before or after — a relaxed arrival or a buffer before your flight home. Just ask.

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What you're tracking

What you'll see

Lion
Lion
Mara prides, often with cubs in the grass.
Elephant
Elephant
Big-tusked herds on the Amboseli pans.
Leopard
Leopard
Draped along an acacia branch at dusk.
Rhino
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 → Naivasha

A freshwater pause

Hippos surface as the sun drops.

Drive from Nairobi to Lake Naivasha and take an evening boat among hippos, pelicans and fish eagles.

02Naivasha → 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.

03Nakuru → 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.

04Mara

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.

05Mara

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.

06Mara

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.

07Mara → Diani

Down to the coast

Warm water, white sand, the bush behind you.

Fly down to the coast into Diani on the Indian Ocean — the rest of the day is for the beach, the reef and doing very little.

08Diani

A day on the sand

Reef in the morning, hammock by noon.

Snorkel the marine park, swim, or simply move between sea and shade — the unwound close to a safari.

09Diani → home

Homeward from the coast

Salt on your skin, the bush behind you.

Transfer to Moi International in Mombasa for your flight home — or onward to the next chapter.

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 Elephants Leopard Lion Rhinos

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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