The Best of Kenya & Tanzania: Great Migration & Big Game Safari

Day 1 UK to Nairobi, Kenya

After taking your VIP door-to-door travel service to the airport, fly to Nairobi arriving late this evening.

Transfer to the 4-star Hotel Eka (3Q) for an overnight stay.

Day 2 Nairobi to Amboseli National Park

After an early start, depart for Amboseli National Park (150 miles, four hours). Crowned by Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, Amboseli is one of Kenya's most popular safari destinations. It’s also one of the best places in Africa to watch large herds of elephant up close.

Stay for two nights at the 4-star Kilima Safari Camp (3Q) or similar. The camp is located just outside the park and boasts impressive views of Mount Kilimanjaro in neighbouring Tanzania. After lunch join an orientation to game viewing, then set out on your first game drive. B, L, D

Day 3 Amboseli National Park

Start early this morning for a game drive as the sun rises.

The park’s wildlife is usually most active in the early morning, so you’ll have the best chance of spotting wildlife. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991, the parks unique ecosystem of dry lake beds and swamps supports an enviable collection of animals, including over 400 species of bird, Cape buffalo, impala, East African lion, cheetah, spotted hyena and Masai giraffes as well as the free-roaming herds of elephant for which the park has become famous.

Return to the camp for breakfast, then enjoy some free time to relax before a presentation: Understanding the Tribes of Kenya and Tanzania, focusing on the Maasai. Enjoy more time at leisure this afternoon, then head back into the park to observe the behaviour and learn the habits of the wildlife on another game drive. B, L, D

Day 4 Amboseli National Park to Ngorongoro Highlands, Tanzania

After breakfast, journey through the national park towards the Tanzanian border.

Keep your cameras ready for wildlife sightings such as buffalo, zebra, and the elusive gerenuk antelope. Cross the border and continue between the peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, stopping for lunch in bustling Arusha. Continue across the rift valley passing by numerous plantations of local crops peppered with the majestic baobab tree, an icon of the African continent which lies at the heart of many traditional African remedies and folklore.

In the late afternoon we climb the Manyara escarpment to reach the northern highlands (210 miles, six hours). The extinct volcano of Ol Deani has gentle slopes and is a prominent feature of the landscape. Vast and extensive fields covers the slopes of the volcano and the lands around Karatu town. Coffee was a main crop grown for export, and a few large farms that remained in private hands still cultivate the cash crop on the hills and small valleys outside of town.

Stay two nights at the 4-star Ngorongoro Farm House (3Q). B, L, D

Day 5 Ngorongoro Highlands

Today visit the vast, volcanic Ngorongoro Crater, a rich fertile landscape often called ‘Africa’s Eden’.

The 115 square miles are home to a remarkable concentration of wildlife due to the enclosed nature of the crater. Drive over the rim and descend the slope to spend the morning observing wildlife on the crater floor. There’s a good chance of seeing the Big 5 here, and it’s also one of the best places to see the endangered black rhino and black-maned male lion.

Look forward to an adventurous picnic lunch in the reserve, then continue to watch for cheetah, hyena, warthog and more through the afternoon. B, L, D

Day 6 Ngorongoro Highlands to Serengeti National Park

Depart early after breakfast and head north to the Serengeti National Park, via Olduvai Gorge (109 miles, six hours).

One of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world, UNESCO-listed Olduvai Gorge holds the earliest evidence of the existence of human ancestors. Numerous fossilised bones and stone tools found in the area date back millions of years, leading to the site’s international recognition as the ‘Cradle of Mankind’. Continue to the Serengeti National Park, stopping for a picnic lunch en route.

Spend two nights at the Naona Moru Camp (4Q) in the reserve. The camp is perfectly located to give you unrivalled access to the Serengeti and the seasonal flow of the Great Migration. B, L, D

Day 7 Serengeti National Park

Spend the day exploring what is arguably Tanzania’s best park on game drives.

Here grassland plains stretch as far as the eye can see, and the massive annual migration sees over two million wildebeest and zebra seeking green pastures. June and July provide peak viewing while the wildebeest calving season plays out in February. The reserve is renowned for its predators with sightings of big cats common in the sparse scrub, whilst herds of buffalo, elephant, giraffe, eland, topi, kongoni, impala and gazelle are year-round residents of the park. B, L, D

Day 8 Serengeti National Park to Lake Victoria

Journey through the Western Corridor of the Serengeti heading to Speke Bay on Lake Victoria (157 miles, four hours and 30 minutes). The search by Europeans for the source of the River Nile led to the sighting of the lake by explorer John Hanning Speke in 1858, who named it after the British monarch.

Stay overnight on the shores of Africa’s largest lake at the Serenity on the Lake Resort (3Q). Spend the afternoon at leisure, perhaps taking the opportunity to go birdwatching in the grounds. Over 250 species of bird have been recorded here, including the African fish eagle, sunbirds, weavers and coucal. B, L, D

Day 9 Lake Victoria to Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Prepare for a long but rewarding day as you journey through local villages back over the border to Kenya, and into the Maasai Mara National Reserve (193 miles, six hours). Your guide will alert you to wildlife sightings en route, and you’ll stop for a picnic lunch during the journey.

Spend the next two nights at the 4-star Fig Tree Camp (3Q). B, L, D

Day 10 Maasai Mara National Reserve

The Maasai Mara National Reserve is the epitome of African landscapes, where vast expanses of grasslands dotted with acacia trees stretch, seemingly to the ends of the earth.

The reserve is home to predators including cheetahs, leopards, and hyena, and has the highest lion density in the world. Plus, from June to October, the millions of migrating wildebeest, zebra and antelopes pour into the reserve, making it Kenya’s flagship park. Join an early morning game drive, heading to the river in search of wallowing hippo, crocodiles and birdlife. You may even see herds of wildebeest attempting the dangerous crossing.

Enjoy time at leisure at the camp and then head out again, this time in search of the critically endangered black rhino. The population in the reserve has been decimated by poachers, and now between 25-30 individuals remain. B, L, D

Day 11 Maasai Mara National Reserve to Nairobi

Today make the return journey to Nairobi (182 miles, six hours and 15 minutes), enjoying lunch in a local restaurant on arrival. Next, visit the Giraffe Centre, an education centre which teaches children about their country’s wildlife and environment, focusing in particular on the endangered Rothschild giraffe. Meet the giraffes currently in the centre’s breeding and reintroduction programme – you may even get the chance to feed them!

Continue to the 4-star Hotel Eka (3Q) for an overnight stay. B, L

Day 12 Nairobi to UK

This morning you’ll travel to Nairobi National Park to visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s orphanage.

The charity rescues elephants and rhino orphaned as a result of habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict, and provides specialist care to rehabilitate the animals, eventually returning them to the wild. Look forward to seeing the baby elephants receive a milk feed and mud bath, whilst learning about the conservation efforts of the project. Stop for lunch at a local restaurant before returning to the hotel, where you’ll have use of your room for the remainder of the afternoon.

Depart for the airport this evening for your return overnight flight to the UK. B, L

Day 13 UK

Arrive in the UK for your included VIP door-to-door travel service home.