The Big Five & Beyond: 8-Day Authentic Camping Adventure

After breakfast, you will check out and travel south toward Ol Pejeta Conservancy, located between the rolling foothills of the Aberdare Range and the snow-capped summit of Mount Kenya. The drive offers impressive scenery as you transition from the arid north to the greener Laikipia plateau.

You are scheduled to arrive in time for lunch at Serena Sweetwaters Camp. After some time to relax and settle in, the afternoon is devoted to a game drive across the conservancy’s diverse habitats, known for both Big Five sightings and strong conservation initiatives.

Following dinner at camp, a guided night game drive takes place from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm. This after-dark excursion provides a completely different wildlife experience. Using spotlights, your guide will search for nocturnal species that are rarely seen during the day, such as aardvarks, white-tailed mongooses, zorillas, and possibly bat-eared foxes. Predators including lions tend to be more active at night, and there is also the chance of encountering the elusive leopard on the move.

Evenings in Laikipia can be cool, so warm clothing is recommended for the night drive.

Day 6: Lake Nakuru – Maasai Mara

After breakfast, you will check out and depart for the iconic Maasai Mara National Reserve. The journey takes you across the floor of the Great Rift Valley, with a scheduled stop at a panoramic viewpoint to admire the dramatic escarpments and capture photographs of this vast geological formation.

Continuing onward, there will be a brief pause in Narok Town, where you can experience a glimpse of local life, browse handcrafted souvenirs, and purchase fresh produce from the roadside markets.

Arrival at the reserve is planned in time for check-in and lunch at Entim Mara Camp, ideally located along the Mara River in the heart of the action.

In the afternoon, you will head out for your first game drive across the sweeping plains that have made the Maasai Mara world-renowned. The reserve supports an extraordinary concentration of wildlife, including zebras, wildebeests, gazelles, lions, cheetahs, leopards, and African wild dogs. The open savannah landscape provides excellent visibility, increasing your chances of remarkable sightings.

Return to camp in the evening for dinner and overnight stay immersed in the sounds of the African wilderness.

Have breakfast at 6:30 am and at 7 am, leave for a full day game viewing in the park. On this day, spend the full day exploring Maasai Mara in search of the big five, hippos and Nile crocodile. Thereafter, go for picnic lunch in park under a croton tree shade overlooking the vast landscape of the park. It is in the Mara that perhaps the most spectacular event of the natural world takes place: the great migration. This is the annual migration of millions of wildebeest and zebra from the Serengeti (in Tanzania) in search of water and pasture. Following on their heels are the predators of the savanna – lions, cheetahs, jackals, hyenas and vultures.

After a relaxed breakfast at your lodge or camp, your driver-guide will assist with check-out before beginning the return journey to Nairobi, the country’s dynamic capital.

En route, you will stop at a traditional Maasai village for a cultural visit. This experience offers insight into Maasai customs, daily life, traditional homesteads, and ceremonial practices. It also provides an opportunity to purchase handcrafted beadwork and other locally made souvenirs directly from community members.

Arrival in Nairobi is expected around lunchtime. Depending on your onward plans, you will either be transferred to your hotel in the city or dropped off at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your departing flight.