13 Day Best of East Africa Group Tour

Arguably one of the best places in the world to see Africa's iconic animals in the wild, East Africa, home to the world-famous Masai Mara and game-rich Ngorongoro Crater, is the stage on which the drama of the wildebeest migration plays out every year. Our scheduled, small group 13 Day Best of East Africa Tour takes you on safari in some of Kenya and Tanzania's most beautiful landscapes and connects you with an eclectic mix of East Africa's vibrant cultures.

13 Day Best of East Africa Tour Itinerary

Day 1

Nairobi

Your safari guide will meet you at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and assist you with the transfer to your overnight accommodation in Nairobi.

Overnight in Nairobi I Bed & Breakfast

Day 2

Nairobi — Amboseli National Park

After an early breakfast, you will go on a guided morning sightseeing tour of Nairobi. Highlights include visits to Nairobi's buzzing city centre, the parliament house, the Nairobi National Museum, a giraffe centre and the Karen Blixen Museum. After lunch, we head to Amboseli National Park.

Overnight in Amboseli I Full Board

Day 3

Amboseli National Park

Situated on the Tanzanian border northwest of Mount Kilimanjaro, Amboseli National Park is probably best known for its large concentration of elephants, often photographed with the majestic snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro in the background.

Amboseli's varied landscape — open savannahs, acacia woodlands, rocky thornbush and marshlands — is home to an abundance of wildlife, which grows in number in the dry season. On your game drives, keep an eye out for lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, cheetah, spotted hyena, Maasai giraffe, zebras, various antelope species and other East African plains game.

Overnight in Amboseli I Full Board

Day 4

Amboseli National Park — Lake Naivasha

After breakfast on the morning of Day 4, we leave Amboseli and head to Lake Naivasha. Part of the Great Rift Valley, the ancient freshwater lake is home to various iconic bird species such as African Kingfishers, Herons, Jacanas, Cormorants and Pelicans, as well as enormous pods of hippos. Set against the purple, volcanic complex backdrop of Ol Doinyo Eburru, Lake Naivasha is lined by thick, yellow-barked fever trees and zebra, buffalo, giraffe, hartebeest, waterbuck and other wildlife gather on the shoreline to graze.

Optional add-on: After lunch, you can explore Lake Naivasha on an hour-long guided boating excursion for US$50 per person. The unique boat safari experience takes in the beauty of the area and the wealth of wildlife that call Lake Naivasha home from a different perspective.

Overnight at Lake Naivasha I Full Board

Day 5

Lake Naivasha — Lake Nakuru National Park

After an early breakfast, we head down to Lake Nakuru National Park on the floor of the Great Rift Valley where we spend the morning on game drive. Famous for its enormous flocks of Greater and Lesser Flamingos and other waterbirds, Lake Nakuru National Park is home to other wildlife, including the Big Five. The park is one of the few fenced national parks in Kenya. That, together with the grassy floodplains that white rhinos favour and the thick acacia woodlands that black rhinos prefer, make Lake Nakuru National Park a haven for rhinos.

Overnight at Lake Nakuru I Full Board

Day 6

Lake Nakuru National Park — Masai Mara National Reserve

After breakfast on the morning of Day 6, we head to the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya's most famous safari destination. Apart from the Big Five, a remarkable variety of wildlife call the Masai Mara's endless savannah grasslands home.

Overnight in Masai Mara I Full Board

Day 7

Masai Mara National Reserve

Day 7 is spent on safari. On your morning and afternoon game drives, you can expect to encounter a wide range of game, including elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, cheetah, hyena, black-backed and side-striped jackal, giraffe, crocodile, hippo, Thompson's and Grant's gazelle, waterbuck, warthog, topi, eland, oribi, reedbuck, over 400 bird species and large numbers of wildebeest and zebra.

If the Masai Mara leg of your safari falls in August and September, you stand an excellent chance of witnessing part of the Great Wildebeest Migration where millions of wildebeest and zebra leave the parched plains of the Serengeti and flood into the Masai Mara in search of better grazing.

Overnight in Masai Mara I Full Board

Day 8

Masai Mara National Reserve — Lake Victoria

Day 8 sees the end of your adventures in Kenya and the first leg of the Tanzanian part of your 13 Day Best Of East Africa Group Tour. After breakfast, your Kenyan safari guide will drive you to the Isebania Border and bid you farewell. You will be welcomed by your Tanzanian safari guide and continue your journey to Lake Victoria.

Three times the size of Wales, Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake and the source of the longest branch of the Nile River and the White Nile. The lake has a shoreline measuring 3,440 kilometres long, and its waters are rich in fishlife which sustains the local communities that inhabit over 3,000 islets.

Overnight at Lake Victoria I Full Board

Day 9

Lake Victoria — Serengeti National Park

The morning of Day 9 is spent exploring Lake Victoria on water or foot. There are a number of optional add-on activities (not included in the price of this tour) you can book with us in advance, such as a Lake Victoria boating or canoeing excursion with local villagers and a Lake Victoria cultural experience and fisherman village walking tour with a local guide.

At midday, we convene at our Lake Victoria accommodation for an early lunch and make our way to Serengeti National Park. Our first Serengeti game-viewing experience begins the moment we enter the park on the western side and cross through the famous wildlife-rich Western Corridor to the Seronera in Central Serengeti.

Overnight in Central Serengeti I Full Board

Day 10

Serengeti National Park

Game drives in Tanzania's largest national park are the order of the day on Day 10. As we explore the vast open plains, occasionally interrupted by granite outcrops and scattered acacia woodlands here and there, look out for the predators and plains game that call Serengeti home.

Most famous for the Great Migration, the annual migration of over a million wildebeest, Serengeti National Park with its breathtaking scenery and prolific game is a spectacular place to visit any time of the year. With over 70 mammal species, including huge populations of lions and other predators and over 500 bird species, the Serengeti is a safari-goers paradise.

Overnight in Central Serengeti I Full Board

Day 11

Serengeti National Park — Ngorongoro Crater

After breakfast, we spend another morning on safari in Serengeti, stopping for a picnic lunch before heading to the Ngorongoro Highlands. En route, optional pre-booked, add-on activities (not included in the price of this tour) are available, such as a cultural tour of a Maasai village and a visit to the prehistoric archaeological site of Olduvai Gorge. You will arrive late afternoon at your accommodation at Lake Magadi in the southwest of Ngorongoro Crater.

Overnight at Ngorongoro Crater I Full Board

Day 12

Ngorongoro Crater — Lake Manyara

After breakfast, we descend 2,200 feet to the Ngorongoro Crater floor for a six-hour game drive. One of Africa's most popular safari destinations, Ngorongoro Crater is a collapsed volcano about 260 square kilometres in size that boasts a diverse range of habitats.

The crater's montane forests, grasslands, acacia forests, soda lake and swamps provide refuge for an enormous range of birds and animals, including the Big Five and large herds of wildebeest and zebra. The dense concentration of animals means you're likely to see a wide variety of wildlife in a short period of time.

After our game drive, we head to Lake Manyara, a shallow soda lake flanked by a steep rift escarpment to the west, the Ngorongoro Highlights to the north and undulating plains to the east and southeast.

Overnight at Lake Manyara I Full Board

Day 13

Lake Manyara — Arusha

The final day of your 13 Day Best of East Africa Group Tour is spent exploring the vibrant African village of Mto Wa Mbu and the areas surrounding Lake Manyara on foot. Home to about 120 tribes, Mto Wa Mbu is a lively melting pot that hums with a colourful blend of languages, cultures and traditions. We spend the morning in the company of a local guide visiting the market, a banana beer brewery, a school and a church and interacting with local farmers, artisans and craftsmen before preparing an authentic, home-cooked meal for lunch in the home of the host family.