10 Days Kenya & Tanzania Budget Camping Combined Safari

Overview

Highlights

• ✦Both sides of the great migration (Mara & Serengeti)
• ✦Five iconic East African parks in 10 days
• ✦Sleep in twin tents at public campsites with shared ablutions
• ✦Camp-cooked meals throughout
• ✦Cross-border at Isebania
• ✦Maximum 6 guests per safari Land Cruiser

Day-by-day itinerary

1. 1

   Arrive Nairobi

   JKIA → Nairobi

   Welcome to Kenya. Your driver-guide meets you at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with a Family Holiday Safaris name board and transfers you to your Nairobi hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure. In the evening, your guide returns for a briefing on the safari ahead. Welcome dinner and overnight in Nairobi.

   Meals: D · Stay: Wildebeest Eco Camp or budget Nairobi hotel

2. 2

   Nairobi → Maasai Mara

   Nairobi → Mara

   A long morning game drive at Nakuru, then the four-hour transfer south through Maasai country to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. After lunch at your camp, an afternoon Mara game drive among Africa's densest concentration of big cats. From July to October, the wildebeest migration is on these plains. Dinner around the campfire and overnight.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Mara public campsite (Riverside)

3. 3

   Mara — full day

   Maasai Mara

   A full Mara day with morning and afternoon game drives — leopards in the riverine forest, lion prides on the open savanna, elephant herds at the Mara River, and (in season) wildebeest crossings of the Mara River with crocodiles waiting below. Optional sunrise hot-air balloon safari and bush breakfast.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Same as Day 2

4. 4

   Mara — second full day

   Maasai Mara

   A full Mara day with morning and afternoon game drives — leopards in the riverine forest, lion prides on the open savanna, elephant herds at the Mara River, and (in season) wildebeest crossings of the Mara River with crocodiles waiting below. Optional sunrise hot-air balloon safari and bush breakfast.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Same as Day 2

5. 5

   Mara → Serengeti via Isebania

   Mara → Serengeti

   An early breakfast and morning game drive in the Mara, then transfer to the Tanzania border at Isebania (or by scheduled bush flight if upgrading). Border formalities take about an hour; your Tanzania driver-guide meets you on the far side. Continue to a northern Serengeti camp for the late afternoon game drive — same migration, different country. Dinner and overnight on the Serengeti side.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Seronera public campsite

6. 6

   Serengeti — full day

   Serengeti

   A full day in the Serengeti with morning and afternoon game drives. Pre-dawn coffee, then out by 6am for the diamond hours when the big cats are still hunting — leopards descend from sausage trees, cheetah scan the plains for Thomson's gazelle, and lion prides finish overnight kills. The Seronera Valley is the Serengeti's permanent water source and supports year-round wildlife concentrations. Return to camp around 11am for a late breakfast, swim and rest. The afternoon drive heads further afield — perhaps north to the Grumeti woodlands, south toward the Maswa side, or east toward the Banagi Hills — depending on where the migration is and what your guide is tracking. Sundowners on the bonnet of the Land Cruiser as the African sun melts into the horizon.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Same as Day 5

7. 7

   Serengeti → Ngorongoro rim

   Serengeti → Ngorongoro

   After breakfast and a morning Serengeti game drive en route, climb back up the escarpment to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Lunch at your lodge perched on the crater rim, with vertiginous views into the world's largest unbroken volcanic caldera — 19 kilometers wide, 600 meters deep. Afternoon at leisure to enjoy the lodge facilities and acclimatize to the cooler high-altitude air. Optional walking tour to a Maasai village inside the conservation area — uniquely, the Maasai still live and graze cattle within Ngorongoro alongside the wildlife. Sundowners on the rim as the crater fills with mist below you. Dinner and overnight at your crater rim lodge — the night cold and crisp at 2,400 meters elevation.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Simba public campsite

8. 8

   Ngorongoro Crater → Lake Manyara

   Ngorongoro → Manyara

   A pre-dawn breakfast and an early descent into the Ngorongoro Crater — Africa's Eden. The crater floor supports one of the highest concentrations of large mammals on Earth: lion prides, the densest population of spotted hyena anywhere, an estimated 30 black rhino, vast herds of wildebeest and zebra, hippo pools, flamingos on Lake Magadi, eland, gazelle, and Cape buffalo. The crater is a self-contained ecosystem and the wildlife rarely leaves. Spend the entire day on game drive, with a picnic lunch at the Ngoitokitok Springs hippo pool. Late afternoon, climb back up the crater wall to your lodge for dinner. For most travelers, the crater day is the single most memorable of any Tanzania safari.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Manyara public campsite (Twiga)

9. 9

   Manyara → Tarangire

   Manyara → Tarangire

   An early breakfast precedes a final morning game drive in Tarangire when the elephant herds are at the river. Mid-morning, depart for the short drive northwest to Lake Manyara National Park. After lunch at your Manyara lodge perched on the rim of the Rift Valley escarpment, descend into the park for an afternoon game drive. Manyara is small — 330 square kilometers — but extraordinarily diverse: groundwater forest of giant fig and mahogany, acacia woodland, open floodplain, alkaline lake. Look for the famous tree-climbing lions draped in the limbs of acacia, hippo pods at the lake edge, large troops of olive baboons, and over 400 bird species including pink flamingos and yellow-billed storks. Dinner with sunset views over the lake.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Tarangire public campsite

10. 10

    Tarangire → Arusha → JRO

    Tarangire → JRO

    An optional morning game drive on the crater rim or Lake Manyara if time permits, then descend to Karatu for a coffee-plantation visit en route. Continue across the Manyara escarpment and back to Arusha, arriving mid-afternoon. Drop-off at your Arusha hotel, Kilimanjaro International for international flights, or transfer onward to a Zanzibar flight. Hot lunch en route. End of safari — and we hope the start of a long love affair with Tanzania.

    Meals: B, L · Stay: N/A (departure)

What to bring

• • Lightweight neutral-color clothing (khaki, olive, beige)
• • Warm fleece for cool early morning game drives
• • Sun hat and sunglasses with UV protection
• • High-SPF sunscreen and lip balm
• • Insect repellent (DEET)
• • Comfortable walking shoes and sandals
• • Swimsuit for lodge pools
• • Binoculars (8x42 ideal for safari)
• • Camera with telephoto lens (200mm+)
• • Spare batteries, memory cards, power bank
• • Refillable water bottle
• • Anti-malarial prophylaxis (consult your doctor)
• • Yellow-fever certificate (required if arriving from yellow-fever zones)
• • Sleeping bag liner (recommended)
• • Quick-dry towel
• • Headlamp

Frequently asked questions