Kenya: Amboseli, Tsavo and the Diani Coast

1. Day 1: Arrive in Nairobi

   Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to your hotel in Nairobi

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Nairobi
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) at any time of day. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall and takes you to the 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 this close to 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: how the train legs work, how we seat the 4x4s so everyone has a window, what to wear in Mombasa Old Town, and why tomorrow starts early. Then we drive about half an hour into the city centre, past the matatu minibuses and office towers, for a welcome dinner at a local restaurant, a first taste of nyama choma, Kenya's grilled meat, with kachumbari salad, sukuma wiki greens and ugali. Pack tonight with the morning train in mind.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in central Nairobi, with transfers

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   

2. Day 2: By train to Emali, then Amboseli

   Nairobi Terminus by the Madaraka Express to Emali, then Kimana and Amboseli National Park

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Amboseli
   Day 2 details

   An early breakfast at about 6 am, then a short transfer to Nairobi Terminus at Syokimau for the 8 am Inter-County train on the Madaraka Express, the standard gauge line to the coast; this is the one start before 8 am that is not for wildlife. About an hour and a half later we step off at Emali, on the plains south-east of the city, where our own 4x4s and driver-guides are waiting; they drove down empty so you do not have to sit through the Mombasa Road traffic. From Emali it is about two hours south past Maasai grazing land and the farms around Kimana to Amboseli, with Kilimanjaro rising ahead if the cloud allows. Lunch is at our lodge. Amboseli is a small park, about 392 sq km, built around swamps fed by underground water from Kilimanjaro's snowmelt, and its elephants have been studied by researchers since the 1970s, so many families here are known by name. In the late afternoon, when the heat goes out of the day, we drive out to the swamps for the first game drive until the light fades.

   Included

   • Madaraka Express, Nairobi to Emali, first class
   • Lunch and dinner at the lodge
   • Late-afternoon game drive in Amboseli National Park, park fee included

   Free time: Early afternoon free at the lodge

   Activity: We leave the hotel at about 6.45 am for the 8 am train. If the timetable does not suit your date, we drive the whole way from Nairobi instead, about 4.5 hours with a stop, leaving after 8 am.

   

3. Day 3: A full day under Kilimanjaro

   A full day in Amboseli National Park

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Amboseli
   Day 3 details

   We leave the lodge at first light with coffee and a packed breakfast, because Kilimanjaro, just over the border in Tanzania, is usually clearest at dawn and often hides in cloud by late morning. The plan is to be by the swamps as the elephant families walk in from the dry plains to drink and feed, with the mountain behind them. Buffalo, hippos, zebras, wildebeest and many water birds share the swamps; lions, cheetahs and hyenas are possible, never promised. Mid-morning we climb Observation Hill for the view across the swamps and the dry lake bed, then return to the lodge for lunch and a free middle of the day. Those who want to stretch their legs can walk for about an hour and a half on community land outside the park with a Maasai guide, learning how herders and elephants share the grazing. In the late afternoon we drive out again, back by dark for dinner.

   Included

   • Dawn game drive in Amboseli
   • Observation Hill viewpoint
   • Late-afternoon game drive
   • Guided walk on community land with a Maasai guide
   • All meals at the lodge

   Optional experiences

   • Hot-air balloon flight at sunrise (price confirmed at booking)

   Easier option: Skip the dawn drive, sleep in and join the afternoon drive.

   More active option: Add the guided community walk at midday.

   Free time: Middle of the day free at the lodge

   Activity: The walk is about 1.5 hours on flat, dusty ground; the drives are about 4 hours each.

4. Day 4: Lava and springs in Tsavo West

   Amboseli to Kimana and the Chyulu gate, then the Shetani lava flow and Mzima Springs in Tsavo West

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Tsavo West
   Day 4 details

   After a last short drive by the swamps and breakfast, we head east past Kimana and enter Tsavo West National Park at the Chyulu gate, about three and a half hours of mostly gravel road with game viewing on the way. Tsavo West is rougher and greener than Amboseli, with volcanic cones and lava fields below the Chyulu Hills. We stop at the Shetani lava flow, a black field of jagged rock left by an eruption a few centuries ago, and walk a short way onto it with the guide. Late in the morning we reach Mzima Springs, where water filtered underground from the Chyulu Hills rises into clear pools. A path leads along the bank to an underwater hide where, with luck, you watch hippos and fish through the glass; crocodiles bask on the far side, so a ranger walks with us. Lunch is at our lodge, then the afternoon is free until a sunset drive near the lodge.

   Included

   • Short morning drive in Amboseli
   • Shetani lava flow
   • Mzima Springs and the underwater hide, with a ranger
   • Lunch and dinner at the lodge
   • Sunset game drive in Tsavo West, park fee included

   Easier option: Stay in the vehicle at the lava flow.

   Free time: Early afternoon free at the lodge

   Activity: About 3.5 hours on the road, mostly gravel. The Mzima path is about 1 km, uneven in places.

5. Day 5: Across the line to Tsavo East

   Tsavo West to the Tsavo River gate and Manyani, then Mudanda Rock in Tsavo East

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Tsavo East
   Day 5 details

   We drive out of Tsavo West after breakfast towards the Tsavo River, where the old railway bridge stands near the spot where two lions killed railway workers in 1898, a story your guide tells on the way. We cross the Mombasa Road and the railway at Manyani and enter Tsavo East, about four hours in all including game viewing, broken by a coffee stop. Tsavo East is flat, open and dry, and its elephants are often coated red from dust-bathing in the red earth. We stop at Mudanda Rock, a long ridge of rock above a natural water hole where elephants come to drink in the dry season, and stretch our legs on top. Lunch is at our lodge, a free hour by the pool, then the late-afternoon drive takes us towards the Aruba Dam, where the reservoir draws buffalo, elephants and antelope, and where lions and cheetahs are possible. Dinner is at the lodge.

   Included

   • Tsavo River and the railway bridge
   • Mudanda Rock
   • Lunch and dinner at the lodge
   • Late-afternoon game drive to the Aruba Dam, park fee included

   Easier option: Stay at the lodge pool and skip the afternoon drive.

   Free time: An hour free after lunch

   Activity: About 4 hours on the road, broken by a coffee stop and Mudanda Rock.

   

6. Day 6: First light in Tsavo, then the train to the coast

   Tsavo East to Voi station, the Madaraka Express to Mombasa Terminus, then Diani Beach

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Diani Beach
   Day 6 details

   A last drive in Tsavo East at first light, when animals are moving and the air is cool, then breakfast back at the lodge and a short drive to Voi station. Here we say goodbye to our 4x4 driver-guides and board the Inter-County train on the Madaraka Express that stops at Voi around midday, about two to two and a half hours across the bush and down to the coastal plain, with a packed lunch in the carriage. Watch from the window as the dry scrub turns to coconut palms and green farms. At Mombasa Terminus in Miritini a minibus meets us for the drive south on the Dongo Kundu bypass to Diani Beach, about an hour and a half, arriving at about 4.30 to 5 pm. Diani runs for about 17 km of white sand on the Indian Ocean, sheltered by a coral reef. There is time for a swim before dinner at the hotel, and the evening is free to walk the beach.

   Included

   • Early game drive in Tsavo East
   • Madaraka Express, Voi to Mombasa, first class
   • Transfer to Diani Beach
   • Dinner at the hotel

   Easier option: Skip the early drive and have a slow breakfast at the lodge.

   Free time: Evening free on the beach

   Activity: We take the Inter-County service that leaves Nairobi at 8 am and reaches Voi around midday; the afternoon express would get us to Diani after dark. Times are set by Kenya Railways and confirmed with your final itinerary.

7. Day 7: Diani: the kaya forest and the beach

   Diani Beach and the Kaya Kinondo forest

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Diani Beach
   Day 7 details

   Early in the morning, before the heat, a guide from the local Digo community walks us through Kaya Kinondo, one of the Mijikenda kaya forests, a community-run site on this coast. For about an hour and a half we follow narrow paths under the trees, hear how the kaya was a fortified village and is still a place of prayer, and learn which plants are used as medicine. Visitors wear a cloth wrap, lent at the gate, and the elders' rules are explained before we enter. Then the day is yours. Swim inside the reef, read in the shade, or choose an option: a half day in Shimba Hills National Reserve, the only place in Kenya with sable antelope, with a walk to Sheldrick Falls; a dhow and snorkelling day at Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park; or the Colobus Conservation centre in Diani. Lunch is on your own. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Guided walk in the Kaya Kinondo sacred forest
   • Farewell dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Shimba Hills National Reserve half day with the Sheldrick Falls walk (price confirmed at booking)
   • Dhow and snorkelling day at Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park (price confirmed at booking)
   • Colobus Conservation visit, Diani

   Easier option: Skip the forest walk and stay at the beach.

   More active option: Take the Shimba Hills half day and walk down to Sheldrick Falls and back, about 2 hours with a ranger.

   Free time: Late morning and afternoon free

   Activity: The kaya walk is about 1.5 hours on flat forest paths; shoulders and knees covered.

   

8. Day 8: Mombasa Old Town and home

   Diani Beach by the Likoni ferry to Mombasa Old Town, then Moi International Airport

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 8 details

   After breakfast we check out and drive north to the Likoni ferry, the short crossing onto Mombasa Island, and on to Fort Jesus, about an hour and a half in all. The fort was built by the Portuguese in the 1590s, fought over by Omani Arabs and later used by the British as a prison, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We go in near opening time with a local guide, before the tour buses, then walk into the Old Town for about two hours: carved Swahili doors, the old harbour where dhows once tied up, the Mandhry Mosque and the spice and fruit stalls near the market. Lunch is at a Swahili restaurant in the Old Town, with biryani, coconut fish or pilau. Then your guide sees you to Moi International Airport (MBA), about 30 minutes away, and checks your flight before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 4 pm; for an earlier flight we go straight to the airport.

   Included

   • Fort Jesus, entry included, with a local guide
   • Guided walk in Mombasa Old Town
   • Lunch in the Old Town
   • Drop-off at Moi International Airport (MBA)

   Easier option: Visit Fort Jesus only and wait in a café while the group walks the Old Town.

   Activity: Book a flight out of Mombasa leaving after about 4 pm to see the Old Town.

Wildlife and weather: June to October is the long dry season inland: cool mornings, thin grass and elephants concentrated around the Amboseli swamps and Tsavo's waterholes, with the coast warm and breezy. January to March is hotter and dry, with clear Kilimanjaro mornings more likely and the sea calm for snorkelling. April and May bring the long rains inland and the coast stays wet into June, so we do not run then.

• Nairobi1 night
• Amboseli2 nights
• Tsavo West1 night
• Tsavo East1 night
• Diani Beach2 nights