7-Days Off the Beaten Path Kenya Midrange Safari

We'll be leaving for a game drive in Samburu National Reserve after breakfast. When visiting the Northern Circuit in Kenya, Samburu National Reserve is a must-see. It's the best place to see native animals including African elephants, zebras, and giraffes from the Maasai tribe.

Accommodation: Ashnil Samburu Camp  

We'll spend the whole day discovering everything there is to see in this incredible wildlife preserve. Although the park is rarely visited, it might be a welcome mental break. Besides the "big 5" (elephant, lion, rhinoceros, leopard, and buffalo), it is also home to gerenuk, reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, Gravy zebra, Besia oryx, endangered wild dog, and pun nock tortoise. Vultures, kingfishers, marabous, bateleurs, guinea fowl, Somali ostriches, and many other avian and aquatic species have been spotted in the Ewaso Nyiro River.

Accommodation: Ashnil Samburu Camp

We will leave for Lake Nakuru National Park after breakfast. Lake Nakuru, the most well-known lake in the Rift Valley, is located south of Bogoria, on the other side of the equator. The flamingos have made this alkaline lake one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the Earth. There are now more than 40 black and more than 60 white rhinos living in a sanctuary in Lake Nakuru, but the flamingos have always been the major draw. There can be as many as two million flamingos in the area, creating a beautifully gorgeous deep pink strip along the lakeside. You will get there in time for lunch, and then go on a game drive in the afternoon.

Accommodation: Lake Nakuru Lodge

Your journey to Maasai Mara National Reserve begins bright and early tomorrow morning. It's still one of the few remaining areas on Earth where wildlife may exist largely undisturbed, in the same numbers that previously roamed Africa's plains and woodlands. A stunning yearly migration of tens of thousands of wildebeest, zebras, and their accompanying predators passes through the Mara each year, marking the northern extremity of the immense Serengeti ecosystem. You'll get there in time for lunch, and then spend the afternoon on a game drive.

Accommodation: Masai Mara Sopa Lodge  

Breakfast will be followed by a full day of game viewing with a picnic lunch. The black-manned lion is the most famous resident animal of the reserve, although there is a lot of other wildlife there too. One of the rare spots where you may go on a morning game drive and view all five members of the Big Five. Because of their extreme tameness, many cheetahs would seek shade from the sun directly under a car, and a few may even climb up onto the roof to survey their surroundings for potential prey. Around a hundred species of eagles, hawks, and falcons, six types of vultures, eight types of storks, four types of bustards (including the kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird in the world), and nine types of sunbirds have all been reported.

Extra tours recommended:

Hot air ballon safari Visit a Maasai village.

Accommodation: Masai Mara Sopa Lodge

Today, before your last game drive in the Mara, you will awake to the sights, sounds, and fragrances of the African bush. You will then leave for Nairobi late in the morning and arrive there around 5 o'clock in the afternoon.