A 12-day journey through Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli, staying in comfortable tented camps and established safari lodges throughout. 11 nights on safari, priced on request.
Mara - Nakuru - Amboseli - Arusha - Tarangire - Ngorongoro - Serengeti - Manyara
About this safari
The route opens in Maasai Mara — big cats, open plains and the northern stage of the Great Migration — and works through 6 further destinations over 12 days. It crosses between Kenya and Tanzania; the final proposal will explain the border arrangements, vehicles and guiding. Accommodation is at the mid-range standard: comfortable tented camps and established safari lodges. The balance most travellers settle on — proper beds, en-suite bathrooms and well-run lodges in good positions, without the premium that the top end of the market commands. Like every safari in this catalogue, it is priced on request rather than sold at a published rate, because park fees, permits, group size and available accommodation all change the figure.
Day by day
Written out in full before you book, so you can see exactly how the days are paced and where each night is spent.
Day 1
The route is drafted from Nairobi. Citrus will set out the actual meeting arrangements and first transfer in writing. The road west out of Nairobi climbs the shoulder of the Rift Valley before dropping through Narok and onto the open country beyond, where cultivation gives way to grassland and the horizon widens. The last stretch is rougher going, but it is also where the safari properly begins — giraffe browsing beside the track, zebra scattering ahead of the vehicle, and the first raptors riding the thermals above the escarpment. The Mara rewards early starts. Leaving camp while the grass is still wet puts you out when lion are finishing the night's work and cheetah are looking for the high ground that lets them scan for gazelle. Your guide will work the riverine forest along the Mara and Talek rivers, where leopard rest through the day in the fig branches, then move out onto the open plains where topi stand sentinel on termite mounds and elephant families cross in single file. The suggested standard is mid-range. Citrus will confirm the property and contracted services in writing before booking.
Overnight: Maasai Mara
Day 2
The rhythm of a Mara day follows the animals rather than the clock. Dawn is the most productive window, when cats are still active and the light is low enough for photography. Later the plains settle into the heat and the emphasis shifts to elephant, buffalo and the birdlife along the water. By late afternoon the predators stir again, and the last hour before the gate closes is often the best of the day. Game drives cover genuinely different country within a short distance. The Musiara marsh draws elephant and buffalo to permanent water, the open grassland of the central plains is where cheetah have the room they need to run, and the broken ground towards the escarpment holds different prides again. Between sightings there is the sheer breadth of the place — grass running to the horizon under an enormous sky. The catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Maasai Mara
Day 3
The next section of the circuit moves on, the route crosses some of Kenya's most productive farmland before dropping towards the lake basin, and the contrast at the park gate is abrupt. One moment there is maize and small-holding, the next there is acacia woodland with waterbuck standing in it and pelican working the shallows a short distance away. Rhino are the reason to be here and the drive is planned around them, working the shoreline where the grazing is best. Along the way the birdlife is hard to ignore — great white pelican in rafts on the water, cormorant colonies in the drowned trees, and a strong raptor list including long-crested eagle and augur buzzard. Flamingo numbers vary enormously with the lake's chemistry and cannot be relied upon. A mid-range camp or lodge is proposed for this night, subject to availability and written confirmation.
Overnight: Lake Nakuru
Day 4
The route then continues onward, leaving the highlands, the drive heads into Maasai country and the wide, dusty flats that lead to Amboseli. This is the approach that makes the park make sense: you spend hours crossing dry ground before reaching the green heart of it, which is exactly the journey the elephants make between the swamps and the plains each day. The open, almost treeless terrain gives Amboseli long sightlines and makes it one of the best photographic parks in Kenya. Morning drives work the swamp edges where elephant, buffalo and hippo gather, while the dry lake bed shimmers and distorts in the heat further out. If the cloud lifts off Kilimanjaro — most likely in the first and last hour of daylight — the mountain dominates everything. This outline assumes a comfortable safari stay near the route. The exact property is proposed and confirmed during quotation.
Overnight: Amboseli
Day 5
Time in Amboseli is best spent at the edges of the day. The middle hours bring heat, glare and fine volcanic dust; the first and last hours bring low gold light, active animals and the best chance of a clear mountain. Your guide will plan around that, heading out early, returning to rest through the worst of the heat, and going out again as the light softens. A full day here divides between the permanent swamps, which hold water all year and concentrate game reliably, and the open plains where zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and gazelle spread out. Lion, cheetah and spotted hyena are present, though at lower densities than the Mara and requiring more patience. A short climb up Observation Hill gives the only elevated view in the park and makes sense of how the swamps sit in the landscape. The suggested standard is mid-range. Citrus will confirm the property and contracted services in writing before booking.
Overnight: Amboseli
Day 6
The next leg links the two destinations, today is largely a driving day, and a necessary one. The distance between the Kenyan parks and the Tanzanian northern circuit cannot be covered and enjoyed in a single push, so the night in Arusha breaks the journey, allows vehicle and guide handover, and means the circuit starts properly rested. Arusha marks a clear hinge in the journey, and the evening is generally given over to a proper meal and an early night. The mountain stands behind the town, the air is cooler than on the plains, and the briefing for the circuit ahead covers routes, park fees, timings and what to expect at each stop. The catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Arusha
Day 7
The itinerary continues by road, today's route brings you into baobab country. The drive from Arusha crosses cultivated land and Maasai rangeland before the park gate, and once inside the landscape settles into something unmistakable: huge, swollen-trunked trees scattered across open ground, with elephant moving between them towards the river. Tarangire is noticeably quieter than the Serengeti or the Crater, and that shows in the pace of a drive. Sightings are rarely crowded, your guide can take time over them, and the mix of open woodland and river valley means the terrain changes constantly. Buffalo, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, impala and waterbuck are all common along the way. A mid-range camp or lodge is proposed for this night, subject to availability and written confirmation.
Overnight: Tarangire
Day 8
Leaving the previous stop behind, the drive to the crater rim gains altitude quickly, and by the time you reach the top the air is cold enough for a jacket. The rim road runs along the edge with the caldera falling away on one side, and even before descending the scale of the place is obvious: this is a complete ecosystem held inside a single collapsed volcano. Ngorongoro is the most dependable place in East Africa to see black rhino, though they are usually out on the open floor at some distance and best appreciated through binoculars or a long lens. Around them the floor carries wildebeest, zebra, eland and both Grant's and Thomson's gazelle in permanent residence, with flamingo working the soda shallows of Lake Magadi. This outline assumes a comfortable safari stay near the route. The exact property is proposed and confirmed during quotation.
Overnight: Ngorongoro
Day 9
This activity is a planning option and only forms part of the day when it appears in the written quotation. The next section of the circuit moves on, the journey into the Serengeti is long, and it is a genuine part of the experience rather than dead time. You climb through the highlands, skirt the crater rim, cross the conservation area where Maasai herd cattle alongside wildlife, and then descend onto the plains where the herds are. Game viewing effectively begins as soon as you pass the gate. The suggested standard is mid-range. Citrus will confirm the property and contracted services in writing before booking.
Overnight: Serengeti
Day 10
The Serengeti's scale means different sectors feel like different parks. The central Seronera valley is reliable year-round for resident predators; the western corridor follows the Grumeti River through denser country; the north is hillier and holds the Mara River crossings in season; and the southern short-grass plains empty and fill with the herds. Where you drive depends entirely on the month. With a full day there is time to work an area rather than pass through it. Following a single pride through a morning, waiting out a cheetah that is clearly building towards a hunt, or simply sitting with a leopard until it moves — these are the things a compressed itinerary cannot do, and they are what people remember. The catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Serengeti
Day 11
This travel day carries the route onward, coming down from the highlands, the route drops towards the alkaline shallows of Lake Manyara with the escarpment wall running along the western side. It is a short transfer, which leaves time for a proper game drive through the forest and along the lake shore before the day closes. Birding at Manyara is exceptional, with over 400 recorded species across forest, floodplain and lake habitats. Within a single drive you can move from forest species like the crowned eagle and silvery-cheeked hornbill to thousands of flamingo and pelican working the shallows, with storks, spoonbills and waders along the shoreline between. A mid-range camp or lodge is proposed for this night, subject to availability and written confirmation.
Overnight: Lake Manyara
Day 12
Citrus will time the last day around the agreed end point and onward arrangements. The park's baboon troops are among the largest recorded anywhere, and watching a few hundred of them work through the forest floor is a spectacle in its own right. Elephant move through the trees with surprising quietness, hippo hold the pools near the lake, and the alkaline shallows draw flamingo and pelican in numbers that vary with the water level. Arusha is a working town rather than a destination, and the day is usually about logistics done well — a full briefing on the days ahead, checking the vehicle and equipment, and an early night before the circuit begins. The coffee estates on the lower slopes of Mount Meru welcome visitors, and nearby Arusha National Park offers colobus, giraffe and flamingo on the Momella Lakes for anyone with a spare half day. The final road section is planned towards Nairobi. Citrus will confirm the exact end point and time.
Safari ends
Where you stay
Comfortable safari lodges and tented camps are matched to the route and your dates. The exact properties are proposed and confirmed in your written quotation.
Recommended standard by stop
Maasai Mara: Comfortable safari lodge or tented camp · Lake Nakuru: Comfortable safari lodge or tented camp · Amboseli: Comfortable safari lodge or tented camp · Arusha: Comfortable safari lodge or tented camp · Tarangire: Comfortable safari lodge or tented camp · Ngorongoro: Comfortable safari lodge or tented camp · Serengeti: Comfortable safari lodge or tented camp · Lake Manyara: Comfortable safari lodge or tented camp
Your written quotation will allocate the nights and confirm each available property before booking.
These are planning examples, not confirmed inclusions for this package. Your written quotation will confirm exactly what is included.
The quotation will identify every separate cost before you confirm.
Where this safari goes
Kenya
Big cats, open plains and the northern stage of the Great Migration
ExploreKenya
A fenced rhino sanctuary around a Rift Valley soda lake
ExploreKenya
Great elephant families beneath Mount Kilimanjaro
ExploreTanzania
The northern circuit's starting line, beneath Mount Meru
ExploreTanzania
Baobabs, a life-giving river and the circuit's greatest elephant numbers
ExploreTanzania
A collapsed volcano holding its own complete ecosystem
ExploreTanzania
Endless plains and the engine of the Great Migration
ExploreTanzania
Groundwater forest beneath the Rift escarpment
ExploreBefore you ask
The catalogue sets the route and travel standard, but it does not publish a fixed price or a contracted inclusion list. Citrus will prepare a written quotation for your dates, party and rooming, showing the exact transfers, activities, accommodation, meals, fees and permits before you confirm.
No. Accommodation is proposed for your dates and confirmed in the written quotation before a booking is made. Where an approved budget property is named, it remains subject to availability and written confirmation.
No. Cloud and weather can obscure the mountain even when a route is timed well.
Ask Citrus to revise it. Any change to route, nights or transport must be reflected in the final itinerary and quotation.
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