9-Day Luxury Fly-In Kenya Safari

Flight Time: 45 minutes · Meals: Lunch & Dinner

Morning pickup from your Nairobi hotel and transfer to Wilson Airport. Flight to Amboseli leaves around 9:00 or 10:00 AM. Short hop south with Kilimanjaro visible long before you land if it’s clear.

Touch down at Amboseli airstrip around 10:30 AM. Transfer to Ol Tukai Lodge takes about 5 minutes, it’s the only lodge actually inside the park itself. The location next to a permanent swamp means wildlife passes through constantly. Elephants, buffalo, zebra drinking and feeding right in front of the rooms.

Check in, lunch on the terrace overlooking the swamp, then first game drive at 4:00 PM. Amboseli is small at 392 square kilometers but everything concentrates around the water sources. Elephants are the main attraction, big tuskers, family groups, young bulls. Also plenty of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, different antelope species.

Dinner and overnight at Ol Tukai Lodge.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Full day in Amboseli. Early start around 6:30 AM when Kilimanjaro is usually visible. The mountain typically shows at dawn, then clouds form around the summit by mid-morning. Your guide will position you for the classic shot, elephants with the peak behind them.

Morning around the swamps watching elephant families interact. These animals are well-habituated, so you can get close. The research program here has tracked families since 1972, your guide often knows individuals by sight. Back to the lodge for lunch. The swamp remains active all day from the terrace, so you’re still watching wildlife during midday rest.

Afternoon drive at 4:00 PM. Observation Hill in the center of the park is worth climbing for views across the basin. Easy walk, decent perspective. Birdlife around the wetlands is good, pelicans, geese, herons, egrets. Cheetahs sometimes hunt on the dry lake bed. Lions take more work to find than in the Mara but they’re around.

Dinner and overnight at Ol Tukai Lodge.

Flight Time: 1 hour · Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Quick early drive if there’s time, otherwise just breakfast and pack up. Transfer to the airstrip for your flight to the Mara. Usually routes through Nairobi with a fuel stop, then continues west. Total time about an hour including the stop.

Land at Keekorok airstrip, the usual airstrip for Sarova Mara on the eastern side of the reserve. The transfer to camp takes about 30 minutes, with game viewing on the way.

Check in, lunch, then first Mara game drive around 4:00 PM. Wildlife density is immediately noticeable. Lions, elephants, buffalo spread across the grassland. The Mara River and its tributaries hold hippos and crocodiles year-round.

Dinner and overnight at Sarova Mara Camp.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Two full days in the Mara with morning and afternoon game drives. Early starts around 6:30 AM. Lions are almost guaranteed, the Mara has healthy populations. Leopards take more effort but sightings are regular near the Mara River where there’s tree cover. Cheetahs prefer the open plains for hunting. Buffalo in big herds, rhinos less common but present, elephants everywhere.

If you’re here July through October, the migration will dominate. Over a million wildebeest crossing from Tanzania. River crossings are dramatic when they happen but completely unpredictable, might see multiple crossings in a morning or wait days. Your guide stays in radio contact and will get you there if something’s building.

Outside those months, resident wildlife still delivers plenty. Actually less crowded without the migration rush.

Optional hot air balloon safari available if booked ahead (around $450 per person).

Dinner and overnight at Sarova Mara Camp.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Third full day covering different areas or revisiting productive spots. By now your guide knows what you’re interested in and will adjust accordingly. Want to find rhinos? He knows where they’ve been lately. Looking for cheetahs? He’ll focus on the open plains where they hunt.

The Mara River deserves extended time even without crossings, lots of hippos, big crocodiles, different bird species along the water. Worth an hour just sitting and watching interactions.

Between drives, time to relax at camp. Sarova Mara has a pool, spa and large public areas, with good food and attentive service.

Dinner and overnight at Sarova Mara Camp.

Flight Time: 1.5 hours · Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Early morning game drive, breakfast, then fly to Samburu. The routing usually goes via Nairobi with a connection. Total time about 1.5 hours including stops. Land at Kalama airstrip around midday.

Transfer to Samburu Intrepids Tented Camp takes about 15 minutes.

Check in, lunch by the spring where elephants come to drink, then first game drive at 4:00 PM. Drives work across both Kalama Conservancy and Samburu Reserve, you’re not limited to one or the other.

First afternoon focuses on the northern specialist species. Reticulated giraffe with distinctive geometric patterns. Grevy’s zebra, bigger with narrower stripes. Gerenuk standing on hind legs. Beisa oryx. None of these appear in southern Kenya. Lions and leopards along the Ewaso Ng’iro River.

Dinner and overnight at Samburu Intrepids Tented Camp.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Full day exploring Samburu Reserve and Kalama Conservancy. Early drive at 6:30 AM when it’s cooler and animals are active. The river is where everything happens, elephants crossing, crocodiles on banks, hippos in pools.

Samburu’s predators are healthy. Lions rest in riverine shade during heat. Leopards appear regularly in the big trees. Cheetahs work the open areas. Visitor numbers here are a fraction of the Mara, so sightings feel more private.

Back to camp mid-morning for breakfast. Pool, views from your tent, or just relax. Optional activities include guided walks in the conservancy or village visits. Afternoon drive from 4:00 PM. Night drives are permitted in the conservancy, good for leopards and nocturnal species.

Last evening in Samburu, with sundowners on a nearby hill.

Dinner and overnight at Samburu Intrepids Tented Camp.

Flight Time: 1 hour · Meals: Breakfast

Final early morning game drive before breakfast. Last chance for northern species at dawn. Return to camp around 9:00 AM, pack up, transfer to Kalama airstrip.

Flight to Nairobi lands at Wilson around noon. Transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for international connections or to a city hotel if staying over. Most international flights leave evening, timing works well with the morning flight from Samburu.