Journey Inspiration

From the Mara to the Indian Ocean

Elephants below Kilimanjaro, the plains of the Mara, then nothing to do but the tide.
Two lionesses on a mound in open grassland

Where

Kenya

Possible duration

9 to 12 days

Best time

June to October, January to February

It may suit

First safaris, couples and families.

The idea

Two of Kenya’s great wildlife areas, then the coast. It is the journey many people picture when they think of East Africa, and it is easy to make your own.

This is an example of what we can create, not a fixed itinerary. The places, the length and the kind of stay all change with the traveller.

How it might unfold

The shape of the journey.

We show the shape of a journey rather than a day by day list. The detail comes once we know you.

Amboseli

Two or three nights. Fly or drive from Nairobi. Large elephant herds, open plains and Kilimanjaro above them when the cloud lifts in the morning.

Maasai Mara

Three or four nights. Game drives morning and afternoon, with the Migration in the reserve between July and October. A stop at Lake Elmentaita or Lake Nakuru on the way is an easy addition.

The coast

Three to five nights. Diani or Watamu, by air or by the train from Nairobi to Mombasa. White sand, the reef and time to do very little.

Make it yours

Ways this journey often changes.

Add Samburu or Laikipia for wildlife you will not see in the south. Continue from the Mara into the Serengeti. Finish in Zanzibar or Mauritius instead. The same route works simply or with more privacy and space.

Where it goes

The destinations in this journey.

Kenya

The Mara, Amboseli, Samburu, Laikipia and the coast

More to consider

Other journeys.

A baobab tree against an orange sky in Kruger National Park
South Africa
9 to 12 days
Cape Town and Robben Island, wine country, then the bush.
Murchison Falls on the Nile, seen from the river
Uganda
7 to 10 days
Mountain gorillas in Bwindi, Murchison Falls and the source of the Nile at Jinja.
Two elephants sparring in tall grass with the herd behind them
Tanzania
10 to 14 days
The northern parks and the crater, then Stone Town and the beaches of the Spice Island.