Per person, land only. Park fees included where noted.
Day 1: Nairobi to Lake Nakuru, roughly three hours down into the Rift Valley. Afternoon game drive in the park — this is a fenced sanctuary with a strong resident rhino population, both black and white, plus Rothschild’s giraffe. Flamingo numbers on the lake vary year to year with water levels, so we won’t promise them, but the rhino are reliable.
Day 2: Lake Nakuru to the Masai Mara, a long day on the road through the Rift Valley highlands and down onto the plains. Afternoon game drive on arrival.
Day 3: Full day in the Masai Mara — morning and afternoon game drives across the reserve, the best big-cat country on this circuit.
Day 4: Masai Mara back towards Nairobi and on to Amboseli — this is the longest driving day of the trip and we say so plainly rather than dressing it up. Arrive Amboseli in the evening.
Day 5: Full day in Amboseli. Elephant herds with Kilimanjaro as backdrop, best early and late in the day when the mountain is usually clear.
Day 6: Amboseli to the Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, between Tsavo East and Tsavo West. Afternoon game drive, evening viewing from the lodge over its floodlit waterhole.
Day 7: Morning at the sanctuary, then on to Tsavo East. Afternoon game drive along the Galana River and Lugard Falls, among the park’s red-dust elephant herds.
Day 8: Tsavo East to the coast — the drive down to Diani, arriving in time to see the ocean before dark.
Day 9: Diani Beach at leisure. Swim, snorkel the reef, or simply stop moving after eight days on the road. Departure or extension from here.
Be realistic about this trip: it is built on driving days, several of them long, and it is the most complete way to see inland Kenya by road without a single flight. If time matters more than budget, ask us about flying one or more of these legs instead — it costs more but converts a driving day into a game-viewing one.