A carefully paced 12-day route through Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli, on a practical budget footing, without cutting the days spent in the field. 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 budget standard: value camps and simple lodges chosen for position rather than polish. This is the practical way to see the route: the same parks, the same guiding and the same game drives, with the savings taken on accommodation rather than on time in the field. 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
Nairobi is the working gateway for this itinerary, with the first day's timing to be agreed around the confirmed travel arrangements. Leaving the highlands behind, the descent into the Rift Valley opens onto a view that runs for fifty kilometres, with the floor spread out below and volcanic cones breaking the far skyline. Beyond Narok the tarmac thins and the country turns to rolling grass and scattered acacia, Maasai herders moving their cattle along the verges, until the reserve gate brings you into the ecosystem itself. A full day here usually divides itself naturally. The first hours go to the predators, tracking the prides your guide knows by territory and following whatever the night has left behind. Through the middle of the day the vehicle heads for shade near the river, where hippo crowd the deeper pools and crocodile lie out on the banks. The last light brings the plains alive again, with hunting cats moving and dust rising gold behind the herds. The catalogue suggests a value stay in this area. The exact property, room basis and meals remain subject to the written quotation.
Overnight: Maasai Mara
Day 2
Beyond the big cats, the reserve holds an extraordinary supporting cast. Bat-eared fox and black-backed jackal work the short grass, secretary birds stalk through it hunting snakes, and ground hornbill move in slow procession. Your guide will stop for these as readily as for lion, and they are often what people remember once the trip is over. 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. A practical camp is suggested for this night, with the confirmed property and services stated in the quotation.
Overnight: Maasai Mara
Day 3
Leaving the previous stop behind, leaving the grasslands behind, the day's driving heads for the Rift Valley floor and the compact park that surrounds Lake Nakuru. It is a shorter transfer than most on a Kenyan circuit, which leaves useful time for an afternoon game drive before the light goes — and the afternoon is when rhino most often move out onto the open lakeside flats. Time in the park is spent on a circuit that takes in the shoreline, the woodland and the viewpoints above. Defassa waterbuck are everywhere, buffalo graze in herds near the water, and lion are present though they often lie up in the acacia through the heat. The drowned trees standing in the risen water are a reminder of how much the lake has changed over the past decade. This planning outline places the night at a value property near the route. Availability and the final choice are confirmed before booking.
Overnight: Lake Nakuru
Day 4
The next section of the circuit moves on, the road south from Nairobi runs towards the Tanzanian border through increasingly dry country, and the last stretch across the Amboseli plains is dust-coloured and almost treeless. Then the landscape does something unexpected: out of that parched ground rise permanent green swamps, fed by meltwater filtering underground from Kilimanjaro, and elephants are standing in them. 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 simple and location-led. The quotation will name the property and specify what the stay includes.
Overnight: Amboseli
Day 5
Amboseli's elephants are the most closely studied in the world, monitored continuously since 1972, and the families here are relaxed around vehicles in a way that makes for exceptional viewing. Drives follow them between the swamps, where they feed belly-deep in water with cattle egret riding their backs, and the open plains they cross in long processions. Among them are some of the last genuinely big-tusked bulls left in East Africa. 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. The catalogue suggests a value stay in this area. The exact property, room basis and meals remain subject to the written quotation.
Overnight: Amboseli
Day 6
This travel day carries the route onward, returning to Arusha from the parks, the road climbs gradually back towards Mount Meru, past coffee estates and Maasai grazing land. The town itself sits at about 1,400 metres, green and temperate, and after days of dust and early starts a hot shower and a proper meal have obvious appeal. Time in Arusha is practical rather than scenic — vehicles are checked and restocked, guides are introduced or handed over, and the itinerary is talked through in detail. For anyone with a spare few hours, the coffee estates on Meru's lower slopes make an easy and genuinely interesting outing. A practical camp is suggested for this night, with the confirmed property and services stated in the quotation.
Overnight: Arusha
Day 7
The next leg links the two destinations, heading back towards Tarangire, the country dries out again after the highlands and the baobabs return to the skyline. In the dry months the park draws wildlife from a far wider area than its boundaries, because the river holds water when nothing around it does — which is exactly why it is such a productive stop. In the dry season Tarangire holds the largest elephant concentrations on the northern circuit, drawn from a huge surrounding area to the only permanent water for miles. Herds of several hundred gather along the riverbed, digging for water in the sand and moving between the baobabs in long files. It is the most reliable elephant viewing in Tanzania and the reason the park earns its place. This planning outline places the night at a value property near the route. Availability and the final choice are confirmed before booking.
Overnight: Tarangire
Day 8
The itinerary continues by road, the road climbs steeply out of the Rift Valley into the Ngorongoro highlands, through forest thick with wild olive and strung with lichen, and the air turns cold and damp. Then the trees break at the rim, and the crater is simply there below — twenty kilometres across, six hundred metres down, with its own weather moving across the floor. It is a genuinely arresting first view. The descent road drops six hundred metres to the floor, and the transition from cold, misty rim to warm open grassland takes about twenty minutes. Down there the crater feels less like a park than an enclosure — walls rising on every side, weather moving across in visible fronts, and animals concentrated at a density that takes some adjusting to. The suggested standard is simple and location-led. The quotation will name the property and specify what the stay includes.
Overnight: Ngorongoro
Day 9
This activity is a planning option and only forms part of the day when it appears in the written quotation. Leaving the previous stop behind, moving deeper into the Serengeti, the country shifts between short-grass plain, acacia woodland and granite kopjes rising out of the grass like islands. Your guide will use the drive itself as a game drive, and in the central Seronera area — productive year-round for resident wildlife — the sightings usually start coming quickly. The catalogue suggests a value stay in this area. The exact property, room basis and meals remain subject to the written quotation.
Overnight: Serengeti
Day 10
Between the large predators there is a great deal else. Bat-eared fox and serval hunt the short grass, secretary birds stride through it, and agama lizards blaze orange and blue on the kopjes. Your guide will stop as readily for a serval hunting in long grass as for a lion, and on a good day that is exactly the right call. 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. A practical camp is suggested for this night, with the confirmed property and services stated in the quotation.
Overnight: Serengeti
Day 11
The route then continues onward, the road to Manyara passes through Mto wa Mbu, a busy market town where the produce of several climates meets in one place, before reaching the park gate at the base of the escarpment. Inside, the transition is immediate: from roadside bustle into deep, shaded groundwater forest within a hundred metres. Manyara packs an unusual amount of variety into a small area. The drive begins in dense groundwater forest fed by springs at the base of the escarpment, where blue monkey and olive baboon move through the canopy and silvery-cheeked hornbill call overhead. It then opens into acacia woodland — the classic place to scan for lion resting in the branches — before reaching the floodplain and the lake shore. This planning outline places the night at a value property near the route. Availability and the final choice are confirmed before booking.
Overnight: Lake Manyara
Day 12
The final day's exact pace depends on the confirmed transfer and onward travel arrangements. Tree-climbing lion are what Manyara is known for, and the acacia woodland along the middle stretch of the park is where to look. The behaviour is real but opportunistic — the lions climb when it suits them — so it is best treated as a possibility rather than an expectation. The park's other strengths, particularly the forest and the birdlife, stand on their own. The town sits green and temperate beneath Mount Meru, and after days of dust it is a comfortable place to land. There is usually time to change money, pick up anything forgotten, and sit somewhere with a cold drink while your guide handles permits and paperwork for the days ahead. The planning route returns to Nairobi; the final drop-off and timing will be agreed around the confirmed onward arrangements.
Safari ends
Where you stay
Owner-approved budget property names are shown only where they apply to the route. Every other stop is described by its accommodation standard, with the exact property confirmed in your written quotation.
Recommended standard by stop
Maasai Mara: Miti Mingi Eco Camp · Lake Nakuru: Buraha Zenoni · Amboseli: Nyati Safari Camp · Arusha: Practical budget camp or lodge · Tarangire: Practical budget camp or lodge · Ngorongoro: Practical budget camp or lodge · Serengeti: Practical budget camp or lodge · Lake Manyara: Practical budget camp or lodge
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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