Kenya and Tanzania · 10 to 12 nights
The Masai Mara and the Serengeti on one private trip, with your own guide and 4x4 in each country, and one invoice in US dollars.
12 nights, Masai Mara and the Serengeti
From $9,550
per person, twin share, priced for February
10 nights, Amboseli and northern Tanzania
From $6,950
per person, twin share, priced for March
International flights are extra. Each price comes from a real quote we wrote and locked for two adults, converted at our current rate and rounded. Your own quote fixes yours in US dollars.
The trip at a glance
Most people who ask about Kenya and Tanzania together want the same thing: the big cats of the Masai Mara and the wide plains of the Serengeti, without choosing between them. It works well, as long as the border is planned rather than hoped for.
We run Kenya first and Tanzania second. Kenya starts the trip gently, and Tanzania gives it the longer, quieter finish: the Serengeti, the crater and Tarangire.
Prefer to compare first? Our guide to Kenya versus Tanzania sets the two side by side.
Day by day
Your Kenyan guide meets you at Jomo Kenyatta airport and drives you to Ole Sereni, a hotel on the edge of Nairobi National Park. It's a soft landing after the flight: dinner, a proper sleep and nothing else planned.
Night: Ole Sereni Hotel, NairobiA private 4x4 and driver-guide takes you north-west into the Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru National Park, a small park of lake shore, woodland and grassland known for its rhino, buffalo and Rothschild's giraffe, and for the birds on the water. You arrive in time for a first game drive.
Night: Lake Nakuru Sopa LodgeA second day in the park lets you work the early and late light on the lake shore either side of a rest at the lodge. Nobody is counting kilometers today.
Night: Lake Nakuru Sopa LodgeA short drive to Lake Naivasha breaks the road to the Mara. The resort's gardens run down to the water, so the afternoon is yours for birdlife and a long lunch.
Night: Lake Naivasha Sopa ResortAbout five hours by road, the longest drive of the Kenya leg, which is why the day has nothing else in it. We plan around it: an early start, a proper lunch stop, and a late-afternoon arrival at the lodge with time to unpack before dinner.
Night: Masai Mara Sopa LodgeDawn and late-afternoon game drives with the middle of the day at the lodge. The Mara is big-cat country: lion, cheetah and leopard, with elephant, buffalo and giraffe on the grasslands. In February the great herds are down in the southern Serengeti, so the Mara's resident game is the story today.
Night: Masai Mara Sopa Lodge
Light aircraft take you from the Mara to Migori. A short road crossing takes you over the border at Isebania, and a second flight lands on the southern Serengeti plains at Ndutu. The whole link takes about half a day, and the wait at the border is the one part we can't control. Your Tanzanian guide meets you at the airstrip, and the afternoon is a first game drive on the calving grounds.
Night: Africa Safari Ngorongoro NdutuFebruary is the heart of the calving season, when most of the year's wildebeest calves are born on the short-grass plains around Ndutu and the predators are never far away. Two full days with your guide to follow the herds, with the camp's lake shore and acacia woodland as a change of scene.
Nights: Africa Safari Ngorongoro Ndutu
After a morning drive, you leave Ndutu for Olduvai Gorge, where early human remains were found, and climb to the Karatu highlands. Ndutu to Karatu is about three and a half hours of rough track, longer if it has rained, so it is the only task of the day.
Night: Africa Safari KaratuDown the crater road at first light, before most vehicles, and out again by early afternoon. The crater is a half-day, with at most six hours on the floor, and one of the best places in Tanzania to look for black rhino. Then it's about forty minutes along the tar to Jungle Pearl on the Lake Manyara shore, for a slow afternoon.
Night: Jungle Pearl Resort, Lake Manyara
A full day in Tarangire National Park, a good hour and a half from the lodge, among baobabs and big elephant herds along the river. We keep it as its own day so it never gets squeezed.
Night: Jungle Pearl Resort, Lake ManyaraA slow breakfast, then the drive to Kilimanjaro airport timed to your flight. Your quote names each flight and the time we leave the lodge.
A shorter way
If twelve nights is more than you want, the same two countries fit into ten with Amboseli in place of the Mara. That is three nights in Kenya (Nairobi, then two at Amboseli Sopa Lodge with Kilimanjaro behind the elephants), a handover from your Kenyan guide to your Tanzanian one at the Namanga border, and seven nights in northern Tanzania: the foothills of Kilimanjaro, Lake Manyara and Tarangire, the Ngorongoro Crater and, in the calving months, the southern Serengeti at Ndutu.
It is priced from a real quote at $6,950 per person for March, twin share, with flights extra. Lodges include Amboseli Sopa Lodge and Kaliwa Lodge on Kilimanjaro’s forested slopes.
Where you stay
Nairobi · 1 night
Standard room · bed and breakfast
A modern airport hotel opposite Nairobi National Park, so you can watch game from the terrace minutes from the runway. A comfortable base for the first night.
Lake Nakuru · 2 nights
Standard room · full board
A 60-room mid-range lodge at Lake Nakuru, with meals included and the park on the doorstep.
Lake Naivasha · 1 night
Standard room · full board
An 84-room mid-range resort on the shore of Lake Naivasha, and a gentle break in the drive to the Mara.
Masai Mara · 2 nights
Standard room · full board
A 100-room mid-range lodge in the Masai Mara, with full board and your private vehicle waiting for the game drives.
Ndutu · 3 nights
Safari luxury glamping tent · full board
A tented camp where the Ngorongoro Conservation Area borders the Serengeti, right in the Ndutu calving-season country. Tents sit among open plains, with elephants, giraffes and antelope often close by.
Karatu · 1 night
Safari Comfort tent · full board
A hilltop lodge on the edge of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with bungalows and tents that each have a private balcony over the Northern Highlands and Lake Eyasi. A well-placed base for the crater.
Lake Manyara · 2 nights
Herb-garden-view room · full board
A mid-range resort on the Lake Manyara shore, our base for the crater afternoon and a full day in Tarangire.
What it costs
| Route | Nights | Where you go | Priced for | From, per person |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masai Mara and the Serengeti | 12 | Nairobi, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Masai Mara, Ndutu, Karatu and the crater, Lake Manyara and Tarangire | February | $9,550 |
| Amboseli and northern Tanzania | 10 | Nairobi, Amboseli, then Kilimanjaro’s foothills, Lake Manyara and Tarangire, the crater and Ndutu | March | $6,950 |
Per person, twin share, with international flights extra. Each figure is based on a real quote we wrote and locked for two adults, mid-range lodges and a private vehicle and guide throughout, converted at our current rate and rounded. Your own quote is built for your dates and fixed in US dollars.
Want to see how we build a price? What an African safari costs goes line by line.
When to go
January to March
The route on this page. Ndutu comes first in Tanzania and the crater on the way back, and the Mara is quieter than in the second half of the year.
July to October
The herds work the Mara River. The route changes: we base you in the northern Serengeti, and flying in reverse so you meet the herds fresh is often the better shape. Early July is early arrivals, and August to October is the reliable part.
November to December
Greener, quieter and cheaper, with the herds returning south. April is the month we steer people away from, because roads and camps close in the long rains.
Timing follows the rains, not the calendar, so we talk in seasons and odds. More in our guides to the Great Migration and the best time to visit Kenya.
Good to know
Tell us a little about your trip and the Kingse team will come back to you personally, usually the same day.
Email us or book a call
Samara looks after our guests from the US. Email her or book a call at a time that suits you, or message her on WhatsApp, and she'll come back to you the same day, US time.
Samara Imhoof
Bookings & Client Care