Essential East Africa
10 Days Starting in Nairobi and ending in Arusha
Visiting: Nairobi, Loita Hills Maasai Experience, Masai Mara National Reserve, Lake Victoria, Serengeti National Park, Karatu, Mto Wa Mbu, Arusha / Nairobi
Tour operator:
Tour code:
YGYE
Specialist Group:
18-30 Somethings
Guide Type:
Fully Guided
Group size:
1 - 22
Age range:
18-35 years
Tour operated in:
EnglishInterests:
Tour Overview
Got 10 days, an adventurous spirit and a desire to see as much of East Africa as you can? Then this is the trip for you! With multiple 4WD safaris in the Masai Mara National Park, the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park, you’ll have the best opportunities to spot the Big Five and all your bucket list wildlife! Stop at remote market towns, spend a night in a Maasai village and another night by the largest tropical lake in the world and soak up all the chances to chat with the locals and learn about their culture. This trip is like a crash course in what East Africa is all about!
Highlights
Itinerary
Day 1: Nairobi
Location: Nairobi
Accommodation: Hotel
Jambo! Welcome to Kenya. Your adventure begins with a welcome meeting at 6 pm tonight in Nairobi. If you arrive early, why not check out the National Museum of Kenya, the Karen Blixen Museum or the highly recommended Bomas of Kenya where traditional homesteads of some Kenyan tribes are displayed at an outdoor village. After your meeting tonight, maybe head out for an optional welcome dinner with your new fellow travellers.
Day 2: Loita Hills Maasai Experience
Location: Loita Hills Maasai Experience
Accommodation: Camping (with basic facilities)
Meals Included: breaksfast, lunch, dinner
Depart Nairobi this morning, stopping in Narok along the way for some food shopping. Today's drive crosses the Great Rift Valley – Africa's huge divide – to the remote region of Loita Hills. This is the home of the Maasai people and when you arrive, you’ll grab some lunch then visit the Maasai, known for their dazzling red dress and elaborate jewellery. Gain an insight into the culture and ancient ways of this proud East African community. A local elder will deliver a fascinating talk about the Maasai and what they're about. You'll also be shown around a traditional Maasai home and see where the resident cattle are kept.
Included Activities:
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Day 3: Masai Mara National Reserve
Location: Masai Mara National Reserve
Accommodation: Camping (with facilities)
Meals Included: breaksfast, lunch, dinner
Travel from Loita Hilla to Masai Mara today. The Masai Mara is one of the classic African experiences – wide open plains, perfect blue skies and some of the world's great wild animals. After setting up camp, sit down to some lunch. Then, it's time to jump aboard your 4WD vehicle and go for a game drive through the wilderness of the Mara.
Included Activities:
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Day 4: Masai Mara National Reserve
Location: Masai Mara National Reserve
Accommodation: Camping (with facilities)
Meals Included: breaksfast, lunch, dinner
Adventure into the reserve for a full day's 4WD game drive. You'll explore this diverse environment and most likely see a lots of different wildlife. An optional balloon ride over the Mara at sunrise is well worth considering. If you have pre-booked this activity, you’ll be picked up before dawn and driven to the launch site for a safety briefing from your pilot. Then, glide through the dawn, sometimes at tree height, which provides amazing photo opportunities. Sometimes you’ll ascend, getting an overview of the enormity of the plains and the early morning movements of the teeming herds. After landing, you'll be treated to a bush breakfast, then return to your campsite to meet up with your group. The rest of the day is free.
Included Activities:
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Optional Activities:
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Day 5: Lake Victoria
Location: Lake Victoria
Accommodation: Camping (with facilities)
Meals Included: breaksfast, lunch, dinner
Travel towards the Kenya-Tanzania border and to the shores of Lake Victoria. This is not only Africa's biggest lake – it's the largest tropical lake in the world. It shares its shores with Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. You'll arrive in the late afternoon, with time to chill out lakeside with a cold drink at sunset. Make the most of the ATM and local market to stock up for your next three days of wilderness adventures. You’ll be camping on the shores of the lake tonight, at one of its least visited campgrounds on the outskirts of a small town called Musoma, far from the tourist track.
Day 6: Serengeti National Park
Location: Serengeti National Park
Accommodation: Camping (with basic facilities)
Meals Included: breaksfast, lunch, dinner
Today, you’ll travel from Lake Victoria to the gate of Serengeti National Park on a smooth road. Stop for a picnic lunch at the entrance to the park, then enter the Serengeti and start your overland vehicle game drive on the way to your campsite. These plains – green after rain and brown and burnt in the dry season – are home to thousands of hoofed animals and fierce predators, so see how many you can spot! Your campsite is right in the action, within the park itself, so listen out for the sounds of nocturnal animals as you drift off to sleep tonight.
Included Activities:
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Day 7: Serengeti National Park
Location: Serengeti National Park
Accommodation: Camping (with basic facilities)
Meals Included: breaksfast, lunch, dinner
Start the day with an overland vehicle game drive at dawn. You’ll head out while the animals are at their most active, then head back to camp for brunch. After spending the warmer part of the day relaxing as the animals do, depart again in the afternoon for another adventure through the wild. You'll return in time for dinner. There's the option of an early-morning balloon ride here too, so if you didn't take one in the Mara, today's your chance!
Included Activities:
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Optional Activities:
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Day 8: Karatu
Location: Karatu
Accommodation: Camping (with facilities)
Meals Included: breaksfast, lunch, dinner
Rise and shine for a final chance to spot Serengeti wildlife as you make your way out of the park this morning. At Nabi gate, hop aboard a jeep and descend into Ngorongoro Crater. This gigantic, perfectly intact volcanic crater is home to some 30,000 animals. Among these are endangered black rhinos, lions, leopards, elephants, impalas, zebras and hippos. The crater floor is great for game viewing all year round and the photo-opportunities here are next level. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the crater before heading back out on safari all afternoon. After, travel on to Karatu town and arrive at camp for a freshly prepared dinner with your group.
Included Activities:
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Day 9: Mto Wa Mbu
Location: Mto Wa Mbu
Accommodation: Camping (with facilities)
Meals Included: breaksfast, lunch, dinner
Take it easy this morning with a relaxed breakfast at camp before setting off for Mto Wa Mbu with your group. You’ll have the rest of the day free to explore. Mto wa Mbu offers a snapshot of small-town East African life. You might consider joining a guided village walk or maybe take a bike ride around the farming areas, spotting milling machines, local homes and farmlands. Or, round up your fellow travellers to check out the craft market.
Optional Activities:
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Day 10: Arusha / Nairobi
Location: Arusha / Nairobi
Meals Included: breaksfast
Pack up camp after breakfast for the final leg of your journey to Arusha where your adventure comes to an end. A departure transfer can be booked at an additional expense, to either Kilimanjaro Airport (JRO) or Arusha Airport (ARK). Alternatively, you can continue to finish in Nairobi around 5 pm. If you need to organise additional accommodation, just speak to your booking agent ahead of time.
What's Included
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Accommodation
Hotel (1 night), Camping (with facilities) (6 nights), Camping (with basic facilities) (2 nights) -
Loita Hills - Maasai Village Visit
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Masai Mara National Reserve - Full Day 4WD Game Drive
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Serengeti National Park - Overland Vehicle Game Drive
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Ngorongoro Crater - 4WD Game Drive
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Meals
9 breakfasts, 8 lunches, 8 dinners
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Masai Mara National Reserve - Full Day 4WD Safari
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Ngorongoro Crater - 4WD Safari
What's Not Included
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International Travel
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Tipping and Gratuities
Transport
- Our trucks are purpose-built, self contained safari vehicles. Our fleet of vehicles varies depending on your group size, trip route and style. Your vehicle type may differ from those listed above. It is also important to note that our overland vehicles are not air-conditioned, but all vehicles have windows that can be opened to allow for fresh air. Each seat will have access to a power socket to charge your devices. This outlet will use a UK/Kenyan 3 pronged outlet.
- There are many early starts with long hours spent driving on rough roads on all African itineraries. While most people love the chance to watch the changing landscape and daily village life, feedback shows that long periods of inactivity does not appeal to all clients. We provide the approximate distance covered each day and how many hours this normally takes to drive so that you can choose the safari experience that is right for you.
- African conditions are extremely tough on vehicles. While we fastidiously maintain our vehicles at our workshops, you should not expect Africa to be your traditional touring experience. While it's certainly our aim to avoid them, it's important that you set off on your trip knowing that the occasional breakdown can happen and are best treated as part of the African adventure. Due to wet weather there may be times when we have to take an alternative route which will mean longer travel times.
Accommodation
- Accommodation on this trip is mainly in two-person canvas dome tents with camping mattresses supplied.
- The type and variety of accommodation are determined by conditions on each of our routes. Each route is different - on some, we use a mixture of campsites and wild camps; on others, we also use hotels. In Africa, it's not usually practical to camp when staying in towns and cities, so we use hotel accommodations and eat out in local restaurants.
- There may be the occasional night stop when we stay on the grounds of a hotel or at a campsite, which may also have rooms/cabins available. In this case, there may be a choice of camping or upgrading to a room. Rooms cost approximately USD 40-100 per room per night for a twin room and cannot be pre-booked. Standards of these rooms vary greatly, and we recommend viewing the room before purchasing the night's accommodation. The day-by-day itinerary advises when upgrades may be possible (subject to availability).
- Keep in mind that if we are staying in dormitory accommodation, you may have to share with other passengers or be split into same-sex rooms.
- Campsites do have facilities, but they usually aren't to the same standard you would find in Western countries. For example, the bathroom facilities can be very basic. Toilet paper is rarely provided, and shower facilities can be as simple as a hose pipe spurting out cold water. Wild camps have no facilities at all.
- At times, there may be spare tents in the vehicles. Unfortunately, these cannot be used without the purchase of a single supplement. This is to ensure the tents avoid wear and tear or are clean and ready for the customers arriving on the next section of the trip.
Included Activities
- Loita Hills - Maasai Village Visit
- Masai Mara National Reserve - Overland Vehicle Game drive
- Masai Mara National Reserve - Overland Vehicle Game drive
- Serengeti National Park - Overland Vehicle Game Drive
- Serengeti National Park - Overland Vehicle Game Drive
Important Information
- 1. A single supplement is available if you’d prefer not to share a room on this trip. The single supplement applies to all nights of your trip and is subject to availability. Please speak to your booking agent for further information.
- 2. This trip starts in Nairobi on Day 1 at 6pm. This allows time after the welcome meeting to explore. You have the choice on Day 10 of finishing your trip in Arusha or Nairobi. If you are continuing on to Nairobi, please do not book any flights until after 9pm this evening.
- 3. An optional sunrise balloon ride in the Masai Mara National Reserve and Serengeti National Park are possible on this itinerary. Please see Days 4 & 7 for full details of this activity. As the balloon only holds 16 people, places are limited and we recommend that you book in advance. Please inquire when booking your trip to book this optional activity.
Mode of Transport
- Our trucks are purpose-built, self contained safari vehicles. Our fleet of vehicles varies depending on your group size, trip route and style. Your vehicle type may differ from those listed above. It is also important to note that our overland vehicles are not air-conditioned, but all vehicles have windows that can be opened to allow for fresh air. Each seat will have access to a power socket to charge your devices. This outlet will use a UK/Kenyan 3 pronged outlet.
- There are many early starts with long hours spent driving on rough roads on all African itineraries. While most people love the chance to watch the changing landscape and daily village life, feedback shows that long periods of inactivity does not appeal to all clients. We provide the approximate distance covered each day and how many hours this normally takes to drive so that you can choose the safari experience that is right for you.
- African conditions are extremely tough on vehicles. While we fastidiously maintain our vehicles at our workshops, you should not expect Africa to be your traditional touring experience. While it's certainly our aim to avoid them, it's important that you set off on your trip knowing that the occasional breakdown can happen and are best treated as part of the African adventure. Due to wet weather there may be times when we have to take an alternative route which will mean longer travel times.
Accommodation
- Accommodation on this trip is mainly in two-person canvas dome tents with camping mattresses supplied.
- The type and variety of accommodation is determined by conditions on each of our routes. Each route is different - on some we use a mixture of campsites and wild camps; on others we also use hotels. In Africa it's not usually practical to camp when staying in towns and cities so we use hotel accommodation and eat out in local restaurants.
- There may be the occasional night stop, when we stay in the grounds of a hotel or at a campsite which may also have rooms/cabins available. In this case there may be a choice of camping or upgrading to a room. Rooms cost approximately USD60-120 per room per night for a twin room and cannot be pre-booked. Standards of these rooms vary greatly and we recommend viewing the room before purchasing the nights accommodation. The day by day itinerary advises when upgrades may be possible (subject to availability).
- Keep in mind that if we are staying in dormitory accommodation, you may have to share with other passengers or be split into same sex rooms.
- Campsites do have facilities but they usually aren't to the same standard you would find in western countries. For example the bathroom facilities can be very basic. There is rarely toilet paper provided and shower facilities can be as simple as a hose pipe spurting out cold water. Wild camps have no facilities at all.
- At times there may be spare tents in the vehicles. Unfortunately these cannot be used without purchase of a single supplement. This is to ensure the tents avoid wear and tear, or are clean and ready for the customers arriving on the next section of the trip.
Check out our Q&As
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Is this trip right for you
In Loita Hills, you'll be staying in a secure bush camp with basic facilities, cold showers and no wi-fi.
Camping in the Serengeti means, well, camping in the Serengeti. No barriers between you and mother nature means there's no fence between you and the animals. We take safety seriously and your leader will brief you in detail on how to set up camp so as to deter animals from entering the camp.
This is an overland trip. That means you’ll be travelling with a group in a purpose-built vehicle, visiting remote communities, setting up your own tent, occasionally roughing it in the bush with no facilities, and getting the best possible views of the ‘Big Five’. While the trucks don’t have air conditioning, they do have sliding windows which let in the breeze and make it even easier to take spectacular snaps of the local wildlife. The drive days can be long, but it’s as much about the journey as the destination, and half the fun is the camaraderie. For more info on this style of travel, see our Africa overland page at https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/africa/overland. -
What policies are in place for Covid-19?
Please contact us for latest COVID-19 policies
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How long has the tour company been trading?
Intrepid Travel has been taking travellers around the world for over 30 years
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Will the accommodation included meet local health and safety regulations?
Yes
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What Ethical Travel credentials does the tour company have?
Since 2002, The Intrepid Foundation has supported over 130 organisations across the world. We’re creating positive impact through the joy of travel, community and connection.
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Do you operate a “single share” option and how does it work?
Over 50% of traveller travel solo with Intrepid. You can choose to share a room with another solo travelle of the same sex for no additional charge, or choose to pay a single supplement if you’d like your own room. Please request this when booking, and we will secure you a single supplement wherever possible. Please note, if you are booking a last-minute trip, it may be harder for us to secure a single room
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Free Date Changes
Intrepid Travel allows you to make 10 free date changes, as long as the change is made at least 56 days before the start of the tour.
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Transfer as credit to Future Tours
Intrepid Travel allows you to transfer existing payments to a future tour to avoid cancellation fees if you can't travel and inform intrepid travel, 56 days before departure.
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Low Deposit
Intrepid Travel requires a minimum deposit of 400 USD per person or the full booking value, whichever is less, with the final balance not due until 56 days before departure.
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Cancellation Policy
We don't charge a cancellation fee, here is a summary of intrepid travel charges.
Up to 56 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of deposit.
At 55 days before tour starts: Forfeit 30% of booking price.
At 30 days before tour starts: Forfeit 60% of booking price.
At 14 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of booking price.
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Terms and Conditions