Kenya

All Five, First Time

An 8 day Big Five safari itinerary built for a first trip.

The route Nairobi → Amboseli → Laikipia → Maasai Mara conservancy

Day by day

The 8 day Big Five safari itinerary, day by day

An 8 day Big Five safari itinerary built for a first trip — Amboseli’s elephant herds beneath Kilimanjaro, rhino tracked on foot in Laikipia, and lion and leopard in a private Maasai Mara conservancy.

Nothing here is fixed — this is the shape we design most often. Tell us what to keep, stretch or swap, and your version arrives priced and complete.

Best time to go

Excellent year-round because every animal here is resident; June–October and January–February are the easiest viewing, and July–October adds the migration.

US travelers: check current entry requirements for each country on travel.state.gov — we also walk you through visas at booking.

Day 1

Nairobi

Arrive and settle into a garden house in Karen — giraffe at breakfast if you want it.

Days 2–3

Amboseli

Fly to the shadow of Kilimanjaro for the continent’s great elephant herds, plus buffalo and lion on the open pan.

Days 4–5

Laikipia

A Laikipia rhino conservancy where black and white rhino are tracked on foot with the rangers who protect them — the hardest of the five, handled properly.

Days 6–7

Maasai Mara conservancy

Private land for off-road big-cat viewing: lion prides, and the leopard sightings that reserves cannot promise. Night drives permitted.

Day 8

Home

Fly to Nairobi for your evening flight — or add four nights on Diani beach.

Where you could stay

Camps & lodges we love on this route

Three of the properties we reach for first on this journey — your final camps depend on your dates, style and budget.

Kitirua Conservancy, Amboseli

All lodging & meals

Every camp night, all meals and house drinks on safari.

Private guide & vehicle

Your own expert guide and 4x4 throughout — never shared.

Fees & flights within Africa

Park fees, light-aircraft hops and meet-and-greet on every leg.

One transparent quote

Priced to your camps, season and style — no set packages, no surprises.

Good to know

Questions about this journey

Nobody honest guarantees wildlife. What we can do is stack the odds: three ecosystems chosen for the two hard ones — rhino in a conservancy where they are tracked daily, leopard on private land where vehicles can go off-road. Most travelers on this route see all five, and many do it in the first four days.

Yes, because there is no wasted travel — each leg is a short flight and each stop earns its place. Adding two nights turns it into the most relaxed first safari we sell; adding four gets you Diani or Zanzibar.

From around six, yes. Laikipia and the Mara conservancies allow walking, riding and night drives that keep children engaged, and the family suites are properly built for four.

Make this journey yours.

Tell us when you want to go and how you'd bend this route — a specialist sends back your tailored, fully priced version within days. No pressure, ever.

Most of our travelers arrive the old-fashioned way — sent by someone who just came home.

Plan your safari