Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli in 6 days, with well-run mid-range lodges and camps at every stop. 5 nights on safari, priced on request.
Maasai Mara - Lake Nakuru - Amboseli
About this safari
The route opens in Maasai Mara — big cats, open plains and the northern stage of the Great Migration — and works through 2 further destinations over 6 days. It stays within Kenya; the final proposal will confirm transfer times and the balance between travel and game viewing. 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. Today's route runs towards Kenya's most famous reserve, and the change in country is gradual but unmistakable. Farmland gives way to grazing land, grazing land to open savannah, and the flat-topped acacias that define the Mara begin to appear on the ridgelines. Your guide will usually raise the roof before the gate, because plains game gather along the boundary and the first sightings often come early. 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. A mid-range camp or lodge is proposed for this night, subject to availability and written confirmation.
Overnight: Maasai Mara
Day 2
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. 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. This outline assumes a comfortable safari stay near the route. The exact property is proposed and confirmed during quotation.
Overnight: Maasai Mara
Day 3
The next section of the circuit moves on, the road north from the Rift Valley floor climbs towards Nakuru town, and the park gate sits close enough to the main highway that the transition from traffic to wildlife happens within minutes. Inside the fence the country changes immediately — yellow-barked acacia along the shoreline, euphorbia forest climbing the eastern slopes, and the pale sheet of the lake spread out below. Nakuru is small enough to cover thoroughly, and that is its advantage. The lakeside circuit is where white rhino graze the open flats, usually in loose groups and often close to the track. Black rhino are browsers and stay in thicker cover, so seeing them takes more luck. Rothschild's giraffe — distinguishable by their clean white lower legs — were introduced here and are now easy to find among the acacias. The suggested standard is mid-range. Citrus will confirm the property and contracted services in writing before booking.
Overnight: Lake Nakuru
Day 4
The route then continues onward, today's drive crosses the dry Kajiado rangelands where Maasai herders move cattle across open country and dust devils spin up off the flats. It is hot, bright driving, and it sets up the contrast that defines Amboseli — a parched landscape holding permanent water at its centre, with Africa's highest mountain filling the southern horizon whenever the cloud lifts. 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 comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Amboseli
Day 5
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. 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. A mid-range camp or lodge is proposed for this night, subject to availability and written confirmation.
Overnight: Amboseli
Day 6
Citrus will time the last day around the agreed end point and onward arrangements. The elephants are usually moving towards the swamps as you make your way to the gate, crossing the open flats in long single files with calves tucked in among the adults. It is a fitting last image of a park defined by them, and the dust they raise hangs gold in the early light behind the vehicle. 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
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.
Before 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.
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