Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Kenya: Lake Nakuru and the Masai Mara
8 days from Nairobi: two nights on Lake Naivasha with a day in Lake Nakuru National Park, three nights in a Masai Mara conservancy, and a flight back to Nairobi.
8 days · Round trip from Nairobi · up to 12 guests
Wildebeest climbing out of a river bank in the Maasai Mara Photo: Nina R from Africa, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maasai_Mara,_Kenya_(32792204257).jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 8 days, 7 nights
- Start and end
- Round trip from Nairobi
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Activity level
Easy
Little walking: a flat 1.5 to 2 hour walk on Crescent Island and an optional 2 hour bush walk in the conservancy, both easy to skip. The effort is early starts and long hours seated on rough, dusty tracks, plus one drive of about 4.5 to 5 hours on day 4. Starts before 8 am are only for wildlife: the Lake Nakuru gate at opening, dawn drives and the reserve day in the Mara. Altitudes run from about 1,500 m in the Mara to 1,880 m at Lake Naivasha.
- Meals included
- 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 6 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 1,200 (estimated price)
- Season
- January to March and June to October
Highlights
Why this trip
- A window seat for everyone: at most 6 guests in each 4x4, with a pop-up roof to stand and watch
- Three nights in a Masai Mara conservancy, with open-vehicle drives at dawn and dusk and a bush walk with Maasai guides
- A full day in the Masai Mara National Reserve, out to the Mara River, with the reserve fee included
- Black and white rhinos and Rothschild's giraffes on an early drive in Lake Nakuru National Park
- A boat among the hippos of Lake Naivasha, then a walk among giraffes and zebras on Crescent Island
- A light-aircraft flight back from the Mara instead of a five to six hour drive
- The Giraffe Centre and the Sheldrick elephant nursery in Nairobi, both included
What makes this trip different
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 1,200 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive in Nairobi
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to your hotel in Nairobi
- Welcome dinner
- Stay in Nairobi
- Drive about 1 h
Fly into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), south-east of the city centre, at any time of day. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall and takes you to your hotel; allow up to an hour, because Nairobi traffic can be slow. The city sits at about 1,700 m, so evenings are cool even though it lies just south of the equator. If you land early, rest after the long flight or take a taxi to the Nairobi National Museum on Museum Hill. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the week ahead: how the game drives work, how we seat the vehicles so everyone has a window, what to pack for the small plane on day 7, and what life is like at the camp.
Evening
Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner at a local restaurant, a first taste of nyama choma, Kenya's grilled meat, with sukuma wiki greens and ugali.
Included
- Pick-up at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
- Welcome briefing with your guide
- Welcome dinner
Free time: Free until the evening briefing
Down into the Rift Valley to Lake Naivasha
Nairobi to the Rift Valley escarpment, then Lake Naivasha and Crescent Island
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Lake Naivasha
- Drive about 2.5 h
Morning
After breakfast we leave Nairobi on the A104, climbing past the tea gardens and smallholder farms around Limuru until the road reaches the edge of the Rift Valley escarpment. We stop at a viewpoint where the valley floor opens out far below, with the cone of Mount Longonot, a dormant volcano, standing over the plain.
Afternoon
Then it is down the escarpment to Lake Naivasha, about two and a half hours in all, in time for lunch at our lodge on the shore. Naivasha is one of the few freshwater lakes in the Kenyan Rift, at about 1,880 m, and its margins are busy with hippos, pelicans, cormorants and African fish eagles. In the late afternoon, when the heat has gone out of the day, a local boatman takes us out on the lake to watch the hippos at a safe distance, then lands us on Crescent Island, a private sanctuary with no large predators, where you walk among giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and waterbuck with a local guide.
Evening
Dinner is at the lodge.
Included
- Rift Valley viewpoint on the escarpment
- Lunch and dinner at the lodge
- Boat trip on Lake Naivasha
- Guided walk on Crescent Island
Optional experiences
- Cycling through the gorge in Hell's Gate National Park, in place of the Crescent Island walk (price confirmed at booking)
Easier option: Stay on the boat and skip the Crescent Island walk.
More active option: Cycle and walk through Hell's Gate National Park, one of the few Kenyan parks where you may ride a bike among the animals, instead of the Crescent Island walk.
Free time: Early afternoon free at the lodge
Activity: The Crescent Island walk is about 1.5 to 2 hours on flat, open grass.
Rhinos at Lake Nakuru
Lake Naivasha to Lake Nakuru National Park and back
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Lake Naivasha
- Drive about 3 h
Morning
We leave the lodge at about 6:30 am with a packed breakfast and drive about an hour and a half north through Gilgil to Lake Nakuru National Park, so we are inside soon after the gates open, when animals are active and the air is still cool. The park was fenced in the 1980s as a sanctuary for rhinos, and it is one of the most reliable places in Kenya to see both black and white rhinos. Rothschild's giraffes, buffalo, waterbuck and big troops of olive baboons are common; lions and leopards are possible but never promised. Flamingos are a different story: since the lake rose sharply in the 2010s their numbers have swung from very few to many, so we do not count on them.
Afternoon
We drive up to Baboon Cliff for the view over the whole lake, then sit down to lunch at a lodge inside the park. We are back at Naivasha by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day free by the water.
Included
- Morning game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, park fee included
- Baboon Cliff viewpoint
- Sit-down lunch inside the park
- Dinner at the lodge
Free time: Late afternoon free at the lodge
Activity: About 3 hours of road driving in all, plus about 4 hours of game driving inside the park.
Across Maasai country to the Mara
Lake Naivasha to Mai Mahiu and Narok, then a conservancy on the edge of the Masai Mara
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Masai Mara
- Drive about 4.5 h
Today is the longest drive of the trip, about 230 km and four and a half to five hours on the road, and we say so plainly. We drive it because our 4x4s and driver-guides need to be in the Mara for the full reserve day on day 6, and starting from Naivasha rather than Nairobi already shortens it. We break it up. We leave at about 8 am, cross the valley floor past Mai Mahiu and climb west to Narok, the market town of Maasai country, where we stop for coffee and a stretch after about two and a half hours. Beyond Narok the land opens into grazing country, with herders moving cattle and goats between bomas, and the last stretch to camp is on gravel and dirt tracks.
Afternoon
We reach our tented camp in a conservancy bordering the Masai Mara National Reserve in time for a late lunch. After a rest, the camp's Maasai guides take us out in open vehicles for the first drive, until the light goes.
Included
- Coffee stop in Narok
- Lunch and dinner at camp
- Late-afternoon game drive in the conservancy in an open vehicle with Maasai guides
- Conservancy fees
Activity: About 4.5 to 5 hours of driving, broken at Narok; the final stretch is bumpy.
A conservancy day: dawn, on foot and at dusk
A full day in the Mara conservancy
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Masai Mara
Morning
Coffee comes before dawn, and we are out on the first drive as the light comes up, when lions and hyenas are often still on the move. Conservancies are private land leased from Maasai families and set aside for wildlife, with a cap on vehicles at each sighting and rules that let guides leave the track to follow an animal, which the main reserve does not allow. We are back at camp for a late breakfast, then the middle of the day is yours: sleep, read on your veranda or watch the plains from the shade.
Afternoon
Before lunch, if you like, walk out with two Maasai guides for about two hours to read tracks, learn the plants herders use as medicine, and hear how cattle and wildlife share this land. After afternoon tea we head out again for the late drive and stop on a rise for a sundowner as the sun drops.
Evening
Some conservancies also allow night drives with a spotlight, which we offer as an option.
Included
- Dawn game drive in the conservancy
- Guided bush walk with Maasai guides
- Late-afternoon game drive with a sundowner
- All meals at camp
Optional experiences
- Night drive with a spotlight, where the conservancy allows it (price confirmed at booking)
- Hot-air balloon flight at sunrise with a bush breakfast (price confirmed at booking)
Easier option: Skip the dawn drive, sleep in and join the group for the bush walk or the afternoon drive.
More active option: Take the longer bush walk and add the night drive.
Free time: Middle of the day free at camp
Activity: The bush walk is about 2 hours at a slow pace on uneven ground.
A full day in the Masai Mara National Reserve
From the conservancy into the Masai Mara National Reserve and out to the Mara River
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Masai Mara
Today we switch to our own 4x4s with pop-up roofs and drive into the Masai Mara National Reserve for the whole day, with the reserve fee included.
Morning
We leave camp at about 6:30 am with breakfast packed, enter at the nearest gate and work west across open grassland towards the Mara River, stopping wherever something is worth waiting for. Every guest has a window, and the roof lifts so you can stand to watch and photograph. The river holds hippos and large Nile crocodiles all year. From about July to October in most years the great herds of wildebeest and zebra arrive from Tanzania's Serengeti, and some groups cross the river; when and where they cross changes daily and from year to year, so a crossing is a chance, not a promise. Outside those months the reserve still has its resident lions, elephants, buffalo, cheetahs and plains game.
Evening
Lunch is a picnic in the shade of a tree, and we are back at camp around sunset.
Included
- Full-day game drive in the Masai Mara National Reserve, reserve fee included
- The Mara River and its hippo pools
- Picnic lunch in the reserve
- Dinner at camp
Easier option: Return to camp at lunchtime in one vehicle, when enough guests prefer a half day.
Activity: A long day seated in the vehicle, about 10 to 11 hours with stops.
Fly back to Nairobi and the Giraffe Centre
Mara airstrip to Wilson Airport by light aircraft, then Langata in Nairobi
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Nairobi
- Drive about 1 h
Morning
One last short drive at first light, then breakfast and a transfer to the nearest airstrip for a scheduled light-aircraft flight back to Wilson Airport in Nairobi, about an hour in the air, sometimes with a stop at another Mara airstrip. Flying saves the five to six hour drive on the road we came in on and gives you a last look at the plains from above.
Evening
The planes take a soft bag of about 15 kg per person, so your main bag rides back in our vehicle, which makes the five to six hour road trip today and brings it to the hotel by the evening. After lunch in Karen we visit the Giraffe Centre in Langata, where the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife breeds Rothschild's giraffes, a rare subspecies, and you can feed them from a raised platform at head height. The rest of the afternoon is free: the Karen Blixen Museum, once the farmhouse of the author of Out of Africa, is a few minutes away. In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner.
Included
- Short game drive at first light
- Scheduled light-aircraft flight from the Masai Mara to Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Lunch in Karen
- Giraffe Centre, Langata
- Farewell dinner
Optional experiences
- Karen Blixen Museum
Free time: Late afternoon free
Activity: Flight times are set by the airline and confirmed with your final itinerary.
The elephant nursery and home
Nairobi to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust nursery, then Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
- Breakfast
- Drive about 1.5 h
Morning
A slow breakfast, then late in the morning we visit the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's elephant nursery inside Nairobi National Park for its one-hour public visit (currently 11 am to noon), when the keepers bring the orphaned baby elephants out for their milk feed and a mud bath and tell the story of how each one was rescued. Visits must be booked ahead, and we do that for you.
Evening
Afterwards there is time for lunch and a last look at the city, and a day room at the hotel to shower and repack before an evening flight. Your guide sees you to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, about 30 to 45 minutes away depending on traffic, and checks your flight before saying goodbye. To see the elephants, book a flight leaving after about 5 pm. If your flight is earlier, we take you straight to the airport after breakfast instead, and the visit is skipped.
Included
- Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant nursery public visit
- Day room at the hotel
- Drop-off at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
Easier option: For a flight before about 5 pm, go straight to the airport from the hotel.
Free time: Early afternoon free
Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 5 pm to see the elephant nursery.
- Nairobi1 night
- Lake Naivasha2 nights
- Masai Mara3 nights
- Nairobi1 night
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: June to October is the long dry season: cool mornings, short grass and animals gathered near water, and in most years the wildebeest and zebra herds are in the Mara from about July to October. January to March is warm and dry, with resident game, fewer vehicles and young animals. April and May bring the long rains, so we do not run then. Lake Nakuru's flamingo numbers swing widely from year to year since the lake rose.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- A first safari, with the Masai Mara at its centre
- Travellers who want a window seat and room to stand at every sighting
- People happy with early starts and a rest in the middle of the day
- Solo travellers who want company on safari without a crowd
Not for you if you want
- Anyone who must see a river crossing: it happens only in some months and is never certain
- Travellers who dislike early starts or long hours seated on rough tracks
- A beach holiday: this trip ends in Nairobi
- Families with young children: conservancy camps often set minimum ages for walks and open-vehicle drives
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
7 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Nairobi1 night
- Lake Naivasha2 nights
- Masai Mara3 nights
- Nairobi1 night
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 7 nights: 1 in Nairobi on arrival, 2 at a lodge on the shore of Lake Naivasha, 3 at a permanent tented camp with en-suite tents in a Masai Mara conservancy, 1 in Nairobi before you fly
- A day room in Nairobi on day 8 for evening flights
- Rooms shared, or your own for a supplement
Transport
- Pick-up and drop-off at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
- Our own 4x4 safari vehicles with a pop-up roof, at most 6 guests each, with licensed Kenyan driver-guides
- Open game-drive vehicles in the conservancy
- Scheduled light-aircraft flight from the Masai Mara to Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Boat on Lake Naivasha
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group for the whole trip, with Kenyan driver-guides, the camp's Maasai guides in the conservancy and a local guide on Crescent Island
Activities
- Rift Valley viewpoint on the escarpment
- Boat trip on Lake Naivasha and a guided walk on Crescent Island
- Lake Nakuru National Park game drive and Baboon Cliff, park fee included
- Three nights in a Masai Mara conservancy: conservancy fees, dawn and late-afternoon drives in open vehicles, a guided bush walk and a sundowner
- Full day in the Masai Mara National Reserve, reserve fee included
- Giraffe Centre, Nairobi
- Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant nursery, Nairobi
Meals
- 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches and 7 dinners
- Welcome dinner and farewell dinner in Nairobi
- Full board at the Naivasha lodge and the Mara camp
- Drinking water in the vehicles
Not included
- International flights to and from Nairobi
- Kenya Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA)
- Travel insurance, which should include medical evacuation
- Vaccinations and malaria tablets
- Lunch on day 8
- Drinks, except water in the vehicles
- Tips for driver-guides, camp staff and local guides
- Optional activities: hot-air balloon flight, night drive, Hell's Gate cycling, Karen Blixen Museum
- Laundry and personal expenses
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 1,200 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
Prices in these answers apply from Jan 1, 2027. Black Friday offer: 15% off the small-group price for requests received by Dec 1, 2026. From CAD 5,115 per person. Dec 2 to Dec 31: from CAD 5,535. From Jan 1, 2027: from CAD 6,015.
What does the price include?
Seven nights in a Nairobi hotel, a Lake Naivasha lodge and a Mara tented camp, 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches and 7 dinners, airport transfers, our own 4x4s with driver-guides, the flight back from the Mara, your See Sight Tours guide, and every park, reserve and conservancy fee, plus the Naivasha boat, Crescent Island, the Giraffe Centre and the Sheldrick elephant nursery.
How many people are in the group, and will I get a window seat?
Yes, every guest gets a window. The small group runs with 7 to 12 guests, and we put at most 6 in each 4x4, so a full group uses two vehicles. Each has a pop-up roof, so you can stand to watch and photograph at every sighting.
Who leads the safari?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group from the first evening to the airport. Licensed Kenyan driver-guides drive our 4x4s, the camp's Maasai guides lead the conservancy drives and the bush walk, and a local guide walks you round Crescent Island.
When is the wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara?
In most years the herds are in the Mara from about July to October, but the timing shifts with the rains and river crossings are never certain, even in August. From January to March and in June you see the resident lions, elephants, cheetahs and plains game, with fewer vehicles. We tell you what your month usually brings before you book.
Why stay in a conservancy instead of inside the reserve?
Conservancies border the reserve on land leased from Maasai families. They limit how many vehicles gather at a sighting, let guides drive off the track, and allow walks and sometimes night drives, none of which the reserve permits. We still spend a full day inside the reserve, with its fee included.
How long are the drives?
Most days have under three hours of road driving. Day 4, from Lake Naivasha to the Mara, is the long one: about 230 km and four and a half to five hours, broken by a coffee stop in Narok. We fly back from the Mara to Nairobi on day 7 rather than repeat a longer drive.
How fit do I need to be?
Not very. Walking is limited to a flat walk on Crescent Island and an optional two-hour bush walk. The effort is early starts, around 6 am, but only on game-drive days, and long hours seated on bumpy, dusty tracks. You can skip a dawn drive and rest at camp instead.
I am travelling solo. What does a room of my own cost?
A room or tent of your own is from CAD 1,200 more than the shared price, shown before you book with no surprise later. Solo travellers are seated, fed and guided exactly like everyone else, and the window-seat rule applies to you too.
When is the best time to go?
June to October is the long dry season, with cool mornings, short grass and, from about July, the migration herds. January to March is warm and dry with resident wildlife and fewer vehicles. We do not run in April and May, the long rains, when many Mara camps close.
How does booking work?
Pick a start date and send a request to book; we confirm your place within 24 hours, and no payment is taken when you request. The small group starts from CAD 6,015 per person sharing, taxes included. Prices are indicative until we confirm your dates.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Yes. The trip also runs as a private safari for your party only, on a date you choose, from CAD 10,825 per person sharing. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask us from the dates section and we will quote the same lodges, camp and driver-guides.
Do I need a visa for Kenya?
Most visitors, including Canadians, need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA), applied for online before you fly. It replaced the old visa on arrival. Apply in good time, and check with a travel clinic about yellow fever and malaria advice for the Mara and the Rift Valley.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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