6-Day Masai Mara & Amboseli Safari: 2026 Routes & Prices

Day-by-Day: Route A (Mara + Amboseli Only)

This is the flying version with 3 nights Mara and 2 nights Amboseli. Road version follows the same sequence but replaces the Day 4 flight with an 7-8 hour drive.

Day 1: Nairobi to Masai Mara

Catch the 7:30 AM flight from Wilson Airport. Land at your Mara airstrip around 8:15 AM.

The camp’s open-sided Land Cruiser meets you at the runway. In October 2025, I picked up guests at Olkiombo and we found a leopard in a sausage tree before we even left the airstrip perimeter. That’s not typical—but it’s possible. The airstrip areas are wildlife zones, not sterile transit points.

Check in. Lunch. The heat peaks around 1-2 PM. Most guests rest.

Afternoon drive from 3:30 PM. Your guide uses this first session to map the territory—where are the pride territories, which areas have good grass, what other vehicles have found today. This reconnaissance pays off over the next two days.

Overnight: Masai Mara

Day 2: Full Day in Masai Mara

This is why you came.

Morning drive leaves at 6:15 AM. The Mara’s lion prides are most active in the first two hours of light. Cheetahs hunt early. Your guide has overnight intel from camp watchmen who heard roaring—they know roughly where the males are.

Return for breakfast around 9:30 AM. Rest through midday.

Afternoon drive from 3:30-6:30 PM. If yesterday’s reconnaissance paid off, today you’re following up on specific animals—the lioness who was stalking zebra, the leopard your guide thinks will descend from her tree around 5 PM.

Overnight: Masai Mara

Day 3: Full Day in Masai Mara

Optional: Balloon safari this morning. Launches at 6 AM, lands around 8 AM with champagne breakfast in the bush. You’ll miss the morning game drive but gain an aerial perspective that’s worth it for some travelers.

Without the balloon: standard morning and afternoon drives. By Day 3, your guide knows which areas are producing and which are quiet. This is when the deep exploration happens—areas farther from camp, less-visited sections of the reserve.

During migration season (July-October), Day 3 might focus entirely on river crossings. Your guide positions you at likely crossing points based on herd movements. But crossings are unpredictable. In September 2025, I waited with guests at the Mara River lookout for 4 hours. Nothing. We gave up for lunch. The crossing happened 20 minutes after we left. That’s the reality—you can only be in position and hope.

Overnight: Masai Mara

Day 4: Masai Mara to Amboseli

Morning drive from 6:15-9:30 AM. Final Mara time. Your guide knows what you still want to see—this drive focuses on filling gaps.

The 10 AM exit rule (Narok County side): You must exit the reserve by 10 AM on departure day or pay another full day’s park fee. For flying guests, the airstrip counts as your exit point, giving you slightly more time.

Mara Triangle note: If your camp is in the Triangle (managed by Mara Conservancy rather than Narok County), the ticketing system works differently—closer to 24-hour validity in some cases. Confirm with your camp directly.

Catch the late morning flight to Amboseli. Flight time is 45-60 minutes depending on routing.

Confirm your routing: Some Mara-to-Amboseli flights go direct. Others route through Wilson Airport in Nairobi, adding 90 minutes. This affects your arrival time and whether you get a full afternoon drive in Amboseli. Ask specifically when booking through Masaimara.co.ke.

Land at Amboseli Airstrip around midday. Check in. Lunch.

Afternoon drive from 3:30 PM. The landscape shift is immediate. Amboseli is drier, dustier, more sparse than the Mara’s rolling grasslands. It can look harsh—almost barren in dry months. The payoff is elephants. Large family groups against the backdrop of Kilimanjaro when the mountain cooperates.

Overnight: Amboseli

Day 5: Full Day in Amboseli

Your guide knows this is Kilimanjaro day.

Early departure—5:45 AM if your lodge allows. The mountain is most likely clear before 8 AM. January-March tends to offer the best odds; in our experience, maybe 7 out of 10 mornings you’ll get some view. July-August is tougher—cloud builds earlier and stays.

Drive toward Observation Hill (Noomotio) for the combined swamp-and-mountain view. The elephants are already moving. Family groups heading from acacia groves toward the springs. The volcanic dust rises when they walk—fine grey powder that smells mineral and alkaline, like wet concrete curing.

Mid-morning back at the lodge. The mountain typically clouds over by 10 AM.

Afternoon drive from 3:30 PM. Different focus now—the Enkongo Narok swamp, hippos, buffalo, maybe the Amboseli lion prides. Watch for Long-toed Lapwings walking on lily pads—one of the few places you can photograph “the bird that walks on water” with Africa’s highest mountain behind it.

Overnight: Amboseli

Day 6: Amboseli to Nairobi

If Kilimanjaro didn’t show yesterday: Request an early drive. The mountain sometimes appears for 15-20 minutes around 6:30 AM then disappears.

Final morning drive until 8-9 AM. Amboseli is managed by KWS, not county government, so the exit timing is more flexible than the Mara.

Pack up. Depart for Nairobi.

Flying: Catch the 11 AM flight to Wilson. Arrive around 11:45 AM.

Driving: Leave by 9 AM to reach Nairobi around 1-2 PM. Factor in Athi River traffic if traveling on weekday afternoons.