8 Day Ngorongoro, Serengeti & Masai Mara Safari

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 – Arusha to Ngorongoro Highlands

Your Serengeti and Maasai mara safari begins with a quiet pick-up from your Arusha or Moshi hotel immediately after a meet and greet. You then drive through the road curves upward into the green ridges of the Ngorongoro Highlands. It’s cool here, higher, gentler than you expected. You’ll check into a charming lodge near the crater rim, settle in with tea and a warm meal, and breathe in the fresh highland air.

Tomorrow, the real show begins.

Accommodation:
Camping: Simba A Campsite
Budget: Rhino Lodge
Standard: Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge
Luxury: Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

Day 2 – Ngorongoro Crater Game Drive, Transfer to Serengeti

You’re up early for a descent into the world’s largest intact caldera. Here, the wildlife is dense giving you easiest sighting of lions lounging near the road, elephants slowly crossing your path, hyenas sniffing for trouble, and, if the day is right, a rare black rhino minding its own business near the lake.

After your crater picnic, you begin the drive westward. The land flattens. Then stretches. And then, like a slow reveal, the Serengeti begins.

You arrive in time for a sunset game drive. It’s different here—bigger, wilder, quieter.

Accommodation:
Camping: Seronera Campsite
Budget: Into Wild Africa (Central)
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp (Central)
Luxury: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Day 3 – Serengeti National Park: Full-Day Game Drive

You wake up with the sun and the sound of hooves and ready for today’s encounter which is about range. Your guide takes you deep into central Serengeti, where cats roam and herds drift like tides.

You’ll stop where movement happens. Lions? Always a chance. Cheetahs? Sometimes. A leopard in a tree? You’d better look up.

Lunch is under a tree, shared with birdsong and an eye on distant movement.

Accommodation:
Camping: Seronera Campsite
Budget: Into Wild Africa (Central)
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp (Central)
Luxury: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Day 4 – Serengeti National Park: Northern Region

You head north today, following the migration route (if in season). The landscape shifts—rockier hills, greener riverbanks, and less crowd.

This is where you catch the real drama if the wildebeest are crossing the Mara River. Crocodiles lurk, chaos erupts, and every crossing is a breath-holding gamble.

Even if you miss the crossing, the north has its own magic—rolling kopjes, quiet plains, and predators in waiting.

Accommodation:
Camping: Lobo Campsite
Budget: Into Wild Africa (North)
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp (North)
Luxury: Sayari Camp

Day 5 – Serengeti to Masai Mara (Isebania Border Crossing)

Today’s a travel day—but it’s no less wild. You exit Serengeti via the western corridor and cross into Kenya at the Isebania border. Your documents are managed smoothly by your Serengeti Lion Safaris team. No stress. No confusion.

Once in Kenya, your new guide picks you up and you drive into the famed Masai Mara. The light is soft as you arrive, and the landscape feels strangely familiar—but it hums with a different energy.

Accommodation:
Camping: Mara Springs Campsite
Budget: Jambo Mara Safari Lodge
Standard: Mara Eden Safari Camp
Luxury: Entim Mara Camp

Day 6 – Masai Mara National Reserve: Big Cats & Crossings

This is classic safari territory with undeniable experiences and rolling grasslands. Big skies, massive wilderness sightings, and cats. Lots of them.

Masai Mara has one of the highest lion densities in Africa. Today, you’ll likely spot multiple prides. You’ll watch cheetahs in the hunt. And, if the herds are crossing, prepare to witness raw, pulsing nature at the Mara River.

Your guide knows this land like his own back yard. Every hour is a scene.

Accommodation:
Camping: Mara Springs Campsite
Budget: Jambo Mara Safari Lodge
Standard: Mara Eden Safari Camp
Luxury: Entim Mara Camp

Day 7 – Masai Mara: Sunrise Drive & Maasai Visit

You’re out before dawn when the morning light is honey-colored, and the predators are still active. It’s the best time to see them—yawning, stretching, returning from the hunt.

After breakfast back at camp, you visit a local Maasai village. It’s not a show—it’s an exchange. You’ll talk, dance, listen, and learn.

Later, you can relax at camp or go for an evening game drive. Either way, your last night in the Mara is meant for long talks under open skies.

Accommodation:
Camping: Mara Springs Campsite
Budget: Jambo Mara Safari Lodge
Standard: Mara Eden Safari Camp
Luxury: Entim Mara Camp

Day 8 – Masai Mara to Nairobi (or flight out)

Your final drive winds out of the reserve. You’ll stop for lunch along the way, and arrive in Nairobi by late afternoon.

Or, if you prefer, we’ll organize a bush flight from the Mara straight to Nairobi’s Wilson Airport. Either way, your safari ends with more than photos. You leave with dust on your shoes, wild in your heart, and a part of Africa that never really lets go.

Accommodation:
Camping: N/A
Budget: Drop-off in Nairobi hotel or airport
Standard: Drop-off in Nairobi hotel or airport
Luxury: Flight from Ol Kiombo to Nairobi Wilson, transfer to hotel or airport