5 Days Masai Mara, Nakuru & Amboseli Big Five Explorer

This 5-day itinerary is Kenya’s classic Big Five circuit, visiting three parks chosen specifically to maximize your chances of seeing all five animals: the Masai Mara for density, Lake Nakuru for rhino, and Amboseli for elephant and scenery. Because this circuit also includes Lake Nakuru and Amboseli, the dry-season months work well for all three parks, minimizing the muddy access roads that can slow travel between them in the rains.

5 Days Masai Mara, Nakuru & Amboseli Big Five Explorer Itinerary

Day 1: Nairobi to Lake Nakuru

A drive through the Rift Valley brings you to Lake Nakuru National Park, with an afternoon game drive focused on the park’s black and white rhino population.

Day 2: Transfer to Masai Mara

This leg of the drive crosses some of the Rift Valley’s most dramatic scenery before reaching the Mara in the early afternoon, in time for a first game drive before sunset. This drive typically stops briefly at a Rift Valley viewpoint partway through, a popular photo spot overlooking the valley floor thousands of feet below.

Day 3: Full Day Masai Mara Game Drives

A full day of game drives across the reserve targets lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo among the Mara’s plains and riverine forest. This particular route tends to favor the reserve’s river crossings, where game concentrations are typically highest during the mid-morning hours.

Day 4: Transfer to Amboseli

A drive, typically routed via Nairobi, brings you to Amboseli National Park, with time to settle in and take in the first Kilimanjaro views. This same descent into the Rift Valley marks the transition point of the trip, with Nakuru’s forested park boundary giving way to the Mara’s open grassland ahead.

Day 5: Amboseli Game Drive & Return to Nairobi

A morning game drive among Amboseli’s elephant herds closes out the circuit before the transfer back to Nairobi. Because this drive precedes a transfer to another park, guides generally keep to a tighter loop near the lodge rather than covering the reserve’s full extent.

What’s Included

• Airport pickup and drop-off in Nairobi
• Private safari vehicle with pop-up roof and professional driver-guide
• Park, reserve and conservancy entrance fees
• Accommodation as specified, on a full-board basis unless otherwise stated
• Game drives as per the itinerary
• Bottled drinking water during game drives
• All applicable government taxes

What’s Excluded

• International flights
• Kenya visa or eTA fees
• Tips and gratuities for guides and lodge staff
• Personal travel and medical insurance
• Meals not specified as included in the itinerary
• Items of a personal nature (laundry, souvenirs, phone or internet charges)
• Optional activities not listed in the itinerary