10-Day Luxury Kenya Bush and Beach Safari

Drive Time: 5-6 hours · Meals: Lunch & Dinner

Morning pickup from your Nairobi hotel around 7:00 AM. Drive north through the central highlands with views of Mount Kenya when it’s clear. Pass through Nanyuki, then continue north as the scenery shifts from green farmland to drier scrubland and red soil.

Arrive at Ashnil Samburu Camp around midday. The camp sits right on the Ewaso Ng’iro River inside Buffalo Springs National Reserve, which connects to Samburu Reserve. Tented accommodation along the riverbank, you can watch elephants crossing from your tent. Check in, lunch overlooking the river, then first game drive at 4:00 PM.

The wildlife here is different from what you’ll see in the Mara. Reticulated giraffe have tighter patterns than the ones further south. Grevy’s zebra are bigger with narrower stripes and different proportions. Gerenuk stand on their back legs to reach leaves that other browsers can’t access. Beisa oryx with their straight horns. None of these appear outside this region. Lions and leopards work the riverine areas where there’s cover.

Dinner and overnight at Ashnil Samburu Camp.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Full day in Samburu and Buffalo Springs reserves, they’re adjoining and your guide works across both. Early morning drive along the river when it’s cooler and animals are active. Elephants cross back and forth between the banks. Crocodiles sun themselves on exposed rocks. Hippos in the deeper pools.

Samburu gets a fraction of the visitors that the Mara does. When you find lions or leopards, you’ll often be the only vehicle there for a while. The northern specialists stay interesting, watching gerenuk balance on their hind legs, or seeing how Grevy’s zebra interact differently than plains zebra.

Back to camp around 10:30 for late breakfast. Pool, shade, river views during the heat. Out again at 4:00 PM until dark. Birdlife is excellent for dry-country species, vulturine guineafowl are particularly striking with their blue feathers.

Dinner and overnight at Ashnil Samburu Camp.

Drive Time: 10-11 hours via Nairobi · Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Early breakfast and checkout, on the road by 7:00 AM. Long drive to the Masai Mara, route goes back through Nairobi (5-6 hours), then continues west to the Mara (about 5 more hours). Longest driving day of the safari but unavoidable, there’s no practical direct route between Samburu and the Mara.

Lunch stop in Nairobi or packed lunch depending on timing. Road is tarmac through Nairobi and most of the way to Narok, then rougher murram road into the reserve but manageable. Scenery opens into Maasai grazing land as you approach the reserve boundary.

Arrive at Sarova Mara Game Camp in the early evening. The camp sits in the main Masai Mara National Reserve with good access to the eastern sections. Tented accommodation with proper facilities. Settle in before dinner and get ready for the full days ahead.

Dinner and overnight at Sarova Mara Game Camp.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Three full days in the Mara with morning and afternoon drives. Early starts around 6:30 AM before it gets hot and while predators are still active. Lions are easy to find, the Mara has plenty of them. Leopards take more patience but show up regularly near the Mara River where there are big trees. Cheetahs use the open plains for hunting. Buffalo in big herds, elephants everywhere, rhinos around but less common.

If you’re visiting July through October, the migration will dominate everything. Over a million wildebeest plus zebra moving through from Tanzania. River crossings happen but they’re completely unpredictable, could see three in one morning or wait several days. Your guide maintains radio contact with other drivers and will get you there if activity starts building.

Outside those months, the resident wildlife is still excellent. Less crowded without the migration traffic too. The Mara River is worth extended time even without crossings, lots of hippos, big crocodiles, good birdlife along the water.

Hot air balloon safaris can be arranged if you book ahead, around $450 per person. They launch at dawn and finish with champagne breakfast in the bush. Worth doing if it fits your budget.

Three full days gives you proper time to explore different sections without rushing. By the third day you’re not checking boxes anymore, just enjoying being out there.

Dinner and overnight at Sarova Mara Game Camp.

Travel Time: Drive to Nairobi (5-6 hours), fly to Mombasa (1 hour), drive to Diani (1.5 hours) · Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Early morning game drive in the Mara, breakfast, then drive back to Nairobi. Arrive early afternoon and transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your flight to Mombasa. Afternoon flight lands at Moi International Airport, then road transfer south to Diani Beach.

Arrive at your beach property early evening. The Nomad Beach Resort is quite large, but it maintains high standards, beachfront location, good pool, spa facilities. It sits directly on the beach with white sand and swimming quality water.

Check in, settle into beach mode. Dinner at the property, Nomad Beach Resort has a restaurant.

Overnight at The Nomad Beach Resort.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Two full days at the beach. No schedule, no alarms. Diani has proper white sand and the reef offshore keeps the water calm and relatively clean. Swimming is actually good here, unlike some Kenyan beaches where the tide goes out too far or the water quality isn’t great.

Activities available if you want them: snorkeling trips to the reef, dhow sailing, kite surfing, stand-up paddleboarding. You can visit Shimba Hills National Reserve for forest elephants and rare sable antelope if you want one more wildlife fix. Wasini Island for dolphin watching. But most people after a week of early mornings and dusty roads just want to sit on the beach.

The resort has pools if you don’t feel like sand, plus spa treatments. Fresh seafood at the restaurant, the coast does excellent grilled fish and Swahili curries. Walk the beach, swim, read, sleep. Two days gives you time to actually relax rather than just one recovery day.

Overnight at The Nomad Beach Resort.

Drive Time: 1.5 hours to Mombasa Airport · Meals: Breakfast

Last morning at the beach depending on your flight time. Late breakfast, final swim, pack up. Transfer to Moi International Airport in Mombasa for your onward flight.

Most international flights leave from Nairobi, so you’ll likely connect through there. Afternoon Mombasa-Nairobi flights work with evening international departures. Alternatively some people fly out of Mombasa directly if their airline serves it, saves the extra hop back to Nairobi.