12-Day Kenya & Tanzania Mid-Range Lodge Safari Tour Prices & Itinerary
This 12-day mid-range lodge safari takes travelers through Kenya and Tanzania, exploring world-famous parks such as Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, and Amboseli. The itinerary combines game drives, cultural experiences, and scenic landscapes, including the Great Rift Valley and Mount Kilimanjaro. Travelers have opportunities to witness the Big Five, abundant wildlife, and spectacular natural events such as the wildebeest migration. Accommodation is in comfortable mid-range lodges and tented camps, with meals included. The safari begins in Nairobi and ends in Nairobi, with optional additional accommodation if needed.
Trip Highlights
- Spotting the Big Five: lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros
- Game drives in Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, Amboseli, and Lake Nakuru
- Observing the wildebeest migration in Masai Mara and Serengeti
- Bird watching at Lake Nakuru and Lake Manyara
- Walking safari, hiking, and biking at Hell’s Gate National Park
- Scenic landscapes: Mount Kilimanjaro, Great Rift Valley, crater floors
- Cultural visits to Masai villages (optional)
- Hot air balloon safari (optional, additional cost)
Itinerary
Your driver/guide will pick you from your hotel by 7:30am and then immediately depart for Lake Nakuru. You can expect to arrive by mid-morning.
Check-in at the guesthouse and have lunch. Later in the afternoon you will enjoy a game drive, after which you will return to the Lake Nakuru Merica Hotel (or similar) for dinner and your overnight stay.
- Main Destination: Lake Nakuru National Park (Kenya)
- Accommodation: Merica Hotel (https://www.mericahotel.com/) - Mid-range hotel located outside Lake Nakuru NP
- Meals & Drinks:All meals included
- Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Have breakfast and then head to Lake Bogoria. You will carry a packed lunch with you. Enjoy a guided nature walk on the shores of the lake, eat lunch, and then head to Lake Naivasha.
Overnight: Lake Naivasha Dove Nest Resort
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
- Main Destination: Lake Naivasha (Lake, Kenya)
- Accommodation: Dove Nest Lodge (https://www.dovenestlodge.com/) - Budget hotel located in or near Naivasha
- Meals & Drinks:All meals included
Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Have an early breakfast and then depart for Maasai Mara. You will arrive at the camp in time for lunch. After eating, you will relax before going on an afternoon game drive from 3:00-6:00pm.
The best time to visit Kenya is during the dry season (late June to October) as these are the best wildlife viewing months.
The wildebeest migration usually reaches the Maasai Mara in August and continues until October, at which point the animals begin to make their way back to the Serengeti in Tanzania.
If your intention is to watch the migration river crossing then July-September is the perfect time for you to travel to Kenya. The river crossing is at its peak during these months.
The rainy seasons are also good times to travel, as there are fewer visitors and you can admire the striking emerald vegetation.
Overnight: Osero Camp.
- Main Destination: Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya)
- Accommodation: Osero Camp (https://oserolodge.com/) - Mid-range tented camp located just outside Masai Mara NR
- Meals & Drinks:All meals included
- Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Spend the whole day on a game drive in search of the big five and the other wildlife that inhabits these beautiful savannah plains. You will eat a picnic lunch.
Other optional activities: hot air balloon ride, visit to a Masai village, guided nature walks.
Overnight: Osero Camp.
- Main Destination: Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya)
- Accommodation: Osero Camp (https://oserolodge.com/) - Mid-range tented camp located just outside Masai Mara NR
- Meals & Drinks:All meals included
- Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
and afternoon game drives will be offered.
An optional hot air balloon safari can be arranged at an extra cost of $450 USD per person.
The Mara offers wildlife in such variety and abundance that it is difficult to comprehend. Over 450 species of animals recorded here.
You will easily see lions, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, wildebeests, zebras, buffalo, warthogs, hyenas, jackals, wild dogs, buffalo, leopard, many kinds of antelopes, and elephants.
It is in the Mara that perhaps the most spectacular event of the natural world takes place: the annual migration of millions of wildebeest and zebra from the Serengeti (Tanzania) in search of water and pasture.
Following on their heels are the predators of the savannah: lion, cheetah, wild dog, jackal, hyena, and vultures.
- Main Destination: Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya)
- Accommodation: Osero Camp (https://oserolodge.com/) - Mid-range tented camp located just outside Masai Mara NR
- Meals & Drinks:All meals included
- Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Have breakfast and then enjoy a game drive until mid-morning. You will then depart for the Serengeti via the Isebania border. You will carry a packed lunch from the lodge so that you can eat on the way.
Enjoy a game drive as you enter the park and then drive to the campsite for dinner and your overnight stay.
Overnight: Serengeti Heritage Luxury Tented Camp.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
- Main Destination: Serengeti National Park (Tanzania)
- Accommodation: Serengeti Heritage Luxury Tented Camp (https://www.heritagecampsandlodges.com/) - Mid-range tented camp located inside Central Serengeti
- Meals & Drinks:All meals included
- Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Eat breakfast and then depart for a full-day game drive. Enjoy searching for wildlife in this vast savannah land. A picnic lunch will be served at mid-day.
You may also decide to do an early morning game drive before breakfast. Return to the camp for breakfast and then rest before going on another game drive from 4-6:00pm.
Overnight: Serengeti Heritage Luxury Tented Camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
- Main Destination: Serengeti National Park (Tanzania)
- Accommodation: Serengeti Heritage Luxury Tented Camp (https://www.heritagecampsandlodges.com/) - Mid-range tented camp located inside Central Serengeti
- Meals & Drinks:All meals included
- Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
After breakfast you will go on a final game drive with a packed lunch in hand. You will then go on a game-drive en-route to the Ngorongoro Crater.
The Ngorongoro is a huge caldera (collapsed volcano) that boasts an 18km diameter width and walls as high as 600 meters.
With around 25,000 large animals, the crater is home to the densest mammalian population in Africa. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The many diverse habitats found on the fertile crater floor attract a variety of wildlife, including Africa's big five, elephant, monkey, hyena, jackal, herds of zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, and other antelope species.
Ngorongoro is also considered one of the best places to photograph the endangered black rhino.
Overnight: Ang'ata Ngorongoro Camp.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
- Main Destination: Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania)
- Accommodation: Ang'ata Ngorongoro Camp (https://www.angatacamps.com/ngorongoro) - Mid-range tented bush camp located on the crater rim of Ngorongoro Crater
- Meals & Drinks:All meals included
- Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
After breakfast, check out of the lodge with a packed picnic lunch in hand and depart for a tour of the crater floor, which is home to numerous plains game and the big five.
Spend the day within the crater and have lunch at one of the famous picnic spots in the park. Later you will depart for Lake Manyara.
Overnight: Lake Manyara Nsya Lodge.
- Main Destination: Lake Manyara National Park (Tanzania)
- Accommodation: Nsya Lodge (http://www.nsyalodge.com/) - Mid-range lodge located just outside Lake Manyara NP
- Meals & Drinks: All meals included
- Drinking water, (Other drinks not included)
After breakfast at the lodge, you will depart with picnic lunch boxes in hand for the Namanga border. Make your way through customs and immigration and then meet with our Kenya based tour guide to start your journey to Amboseli. You will have lunch en route.
Once at the park you will enjoy a game drive. Look out for large herds of elephants, lions, leopards, gazelles, wild dogs, and the magnificent view of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Overnight: Amboseli Kibo Tented Camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
- Main Destination: Amboseli National Park (Kenya)
- Accommodation: Kibo Safari Camp (https://kibosafaricamp.com/) - Mid-range tented camp located just outside Amboseli NP
- Meals & Drinks: All meals included
- Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Go on a game drive after breakfast. Return to the camp/lodge for lunch at 1:00pm and then relax by the pool. You will then go on an afternoon game drive until dusk.
This small park (392 sq. km) is the second most popular park in Kenya after Masai Mara, primarily due to the spectacular backdrop of Mt. Kilimanjaro on its southern boundary.
Amboseli means ‘the place of water’ in the Masai language. The park has an endless supply of water filtered through thousands of meters of volcanic rock from Mount Kilimanjaro.
Animal species found here include elephant, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, impala, and leopard. Birdlife found here include pelican, bee-eater, kingfisher, African fish eagle, and pygmy falcon.
Mount Kilimanjaro forms the backdrop of this game sanctuary and it is a sight to see and marvel at the nomadic, richly decorated Masai also entertain visitors with enchanting dances of ageless Africa.
Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the camp.
- Main Destination: Amboseli National Park (Kenya)
- Accommodation: Kiboko Luxury Camp (https://kibosafaricamp.com/) - Luxury tented camp located in or near Lake Naivasha
- Meals & Drinks: All meals included
- Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Have breakfast at the lodge and then check out for your drive back to Nairobi. You will arrive in time for lunch at Carnivore Restaurant. After lunch you will be dropped off at the hotel of your choice.
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Includes/Excludes
Cost Includes
- - Accommodation as outlined above.
- - All meals noted in the itinerary.
- - Each day generally includes Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner buffets consisting of both western and local dishes.
- - Transportation in standard game viewing safari vehicles complete with a pop-up roof for easy viewing and photography.
- - Every passenger guaranteed a window seat.
- - Your driver/guide speaks English and has in-depth knowledge of the flora, fauna, landscape, and culture.
- - A 4x 4 Safari van (Kenya) /4 x 4 Safari Land cruiser outfitted with two-way, long-range high-frequency radio communications equipment in Tanzania.
- - Each safari Vehicle carries safari accessories including wildlife books, binoculars for the guide, a first-aid kit, and a fire extinguisher.
- - Flying doctors (AMREF) insurance cover each client doing a safari with us just for emergencies
- - Park entrance fees and game drives as noted in the itinerary.
- - All government taxes, levies, 2 liters of bottled water during safari
- - Pick up from your Arusha hotel/Airport and drop off in your Arusha Hotel/Airport in good time for your outbound flight after the trip.
Cost Excludes
- - Domestic and international airfares and departures taxes.
- - Personal communications charges for telephone calls, faxes, email, etc.
- - Tips and gratuities for your driver/guide.
- - Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
- - Laundry services.
- - Between meal snacks, parks, attractions, and events not included in your itinerary
