Kenya Highlights Safari

After breakfast, drive north through the fertile central highlands to Nyeri — the gateway to the Aberdare Mountains. Arrive at Mountain Lodge for lunch — a unique treehouse-style lodge built directly over a floodlit waterhole and salt lick in the Aberdare forest. Spend the afternoon with the resident naturalist watching wildlife approach the waterhole: elephant herds, buffalo, bushbuck, giant forest hog and hyena are regular visitors. The lodge offers 24-hour viewing from comfortable observation decks. Dinner and overnight at Mountain Lodge Serena.

Breakfast at the lodge watching the waterhole at first light, then drive north through the dramatic landscape of Kenya's central rift to Samburu Game Reserve — one of the country's most wild and unspoilt wilderness areas. Arrive at Samburu Sopa Lodge in time for lunch. Afternoon game drive in the dry riverbeds and acacia scrubland of Samburu, famous for its rare Samburu Special Five: Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, Somali ostrich and gerenuk — all species found only in Kenya's arid north. Dinner and overnight at Samburu Sopa Lodge.

A full day in the dramatic landscape of Samburu Game Reserve — Kenya's most unspoilt wilderness area in the arid northern frontier zone. Morning and afternoon game drives through the riverine forest along the Ewaso Nyiro River, where crocodiles and hippos share the water with herds of elephant and buffalo coming to drink. Lions, cheetahs and leopards are regularly sighted hunting on the open scrubland. The extraordinary concentration of rare northern species — species you will see nowhere else on a Kenya safari — makes Samburu one of East Africa's most rewarding game reserves. All meals and overnight at Samburu Sopa Lodge.

Early breakfast then drive south back towards the central highlands and the Great Rift Valley. Stop at Nanyuki on the Equator for a brief visit — stand with one foot in each hemisphere and watch the Coriolis demonstration. Continue south to Lake Nakuru National Park, arriving in time for lunch at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge. Afternoon game drive in Lake Nakuru — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Ramsar wetland famous for its vast flamingo flocks that paint the lake shore pink, its thriving population of southern white rhino and critically endangered black rhino, lions, and leopards draped in the branches of the yellow fever acacia trees. Dinner and overnight at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge.

Early morning game drive in Lake Nakuru to catch the flamingos at their most spectacular before breakfast at the lodge. Collect picnic lunch and drive south and west through the Great Rift Valley escarpment with dramatic views across the valley floor. Game drive en route entering the Masai Mara ecosystem. Arrive at Masai Mara Sopa Lodge for dinner and overnight. The Mara is Kenya's most celebrated game reserve — 1,510 km² of open savannah and riverine forest that forms the northern extension of Tanzania's Serengeti ecosystem.

A full day in the legendary Masai Mara with morning and afternoon game drives. The Mara has the highest lion density in East Africa — resident prides hunt the open plains year-round. Between July and October, the famous wildebeest river crossings bring hundreds of thousands of animals plunging into the crocodile-filled Mara River in one of nature's greatest spectacles. Year-round, cheetah mothers with cubs hunt the grasslands, leopards rest in the riverine fig trees, and vast herds of elephant, buffalo, hippo and plains game fill the savannah. All meals and overnight at Masai Mara Sopa Lodge.

Early morning game drive in the Mara at dawn when the predators are still active from the night hunt and the light is perfect for photography. Return to the lodge for breakfast, then drive back to Nairobi arriving in time for lunch. Transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your onward international flight. This safari can be extended with any wildlife, cultural or beach experience — Zanzibar, the Kenyan coast, Lamu or a Kilimanjaro climb — through Routes Kilimanjaro.