8 Days Masai Mara and Samburu Safari: 2027 Complete Circuit & Prices

Days 1-3: Samburu

Every route drives up from Nairobi, 5 to 6 hours through Nanyuki and Isiolo. Do not drive past Isiolo after dark. The road has gotten better over the years but old habits.

If you are driving, there is a stop most tourists make at the Equator crossing near Nanyuki. Guy does a water demonstration, supposedly showing the Coriolis effect, water spinning different directions on each side of the line. It is fake. The physics does not work at that scale. But it is a USD 5 photo and the guy has been doing it for decades. Barney’s at Nanyuki Airstrip has good food and actual Wi-Fi if you need to send emails before going offline.

Samburu is hot. Mid-30s. The red dust is alkaline and gets in your throat. Keep your buff damp, dry cloth does not neutralize it. Locals call the result “safari cough.”

The reserve runs along the Ewaso Nyiro River. That is where everything happens. Elephants crossing. Crocs on banks. Reticulated giraffes drinking with their legs splayed awkwardly. The elephants here are more sensitive than Mara elephants. If you see one with its trunk S-shaped or hovering near the ground, it is scenting you. Good guides cut the engine 50 yards out and coast in. If yours does not, ask them to “punguza kelele”, reduce the noise.

Day 2 is when you hunt the Special Five. Reticulated giraffes, Grevy’s zebras (maybe 2,500 left, according to KWS), gerenuks, oryx, Somali ostriches. Between 10 and 11:30 when the wind picks up along the river, check the Doum palms. Leopards hide there, the wind masks their movement. Watch the Vulturine Guineafowl too. Bright blue birds. If they stop chattering and stare in one direction, something is there you cannot see yet. Red-billed Hornbills do the same thing, hopping nervously between branches, tracking movement in the scrub.

Day 3, maybe cross into Buffalo Springs. There is a volcanic swimming pool enclosed by walls, safe from crocs. But timing matters. Go between 10 and 3. Outside those hours elephants block the corridor and you will be stuck waiting. I have had clients trapped at the pool for an hour because a herd decided to drink.

One thing about Buffalo Springs: it is a different reserve. The Ewaso Nyiro River divides them, and Buffalo Springs is run by Isiolo County. Your Samburu permit does not cover it. If you cross the bridge to follow a leopard, that is USD 80 per adult extra. Check with your guide first.

Or try the Singing Wells if it is dry season. Warriors sing to cattle while digging for water. You cannot take photos, it is sacred, but you can record audio. Haunting sound. 99% of tourists miss it.

All three routes spend a full third night in Samburu, exploring deeper into the western sectors or crossing into Buffalo Springs.

Day 4: The Split

Route A (direct air transfer): take a final morning game drive in Samburu, then board a mid-morning bush flight from Samburu Airstrip to Nairobi Wilson, connecting to the afternoon flight to the Masai Mara (two flight sectors, about 3.5 to 4 hours in total). Both flights are included in your Route A price. You land on the Mara plains by 2:30 PM in time for a late-afternoon game drive. Driving direct takes 11 to 12 hours and arrives after the 6 PM gate closure, so we do not run it by road.

Route B (overland via Nakuru): depart Samburu after an early breakfast for a 4.5-hour drive to Lake Nakuru. Arrive for lunch and an afternoon game drive along the southern Nderit loop tracking black and white rhinos. Pelicans. Maybe flamingos. Overnight at Nakuru. On Day 5, after an early drive and breakfast, head south through Njoro and Mau Narok to Narok town, joining the tarmac C12 to Sekenani Gate (about 5 hours), in time for an afternoon game drive.

Route C (overland via Naivasha): depart Samburu after an early breakfast for a drive of about 6 hours down through Nyahururu and Gilgil to Lake Naivasha. Late afternoon boat ride, when the wind drops and the hippos start moving. Overnight at Naivasha, where the hippos graze on the lodge lawns after dark, so let the askari walk you to your room. On Day 5, a morning walk on Crescent Island, then south to Mai Mahiu, west on the B3 to Narok and the C12 to Sekenani Gate (about 4.5 hours), in time for an afternoon game drive.

Days 5-7 (Days 4-7 For Route A): The Mara

Pacing note: Route A starts Day 5 with a dawn drive across the Mara plains. For Routes B and C, Day 5 morning is your scenic transfer from Nakuru or Naivasha to the Mara via Narok, arriving around 2:30 PM for a 4:00 PM afternoon game drive. Your first Mara sunrise drive begins on Day 6.

First morning hits different. The landscape changed. Samburu’s red dust and doum palms are gone. Green grass to the horizon. Different light. And during migration season, the constant low grunt of wildebeest. It is like background static. You stop noticing until you leave.

Dawn drives start around 6. Lions still active from night hunts. Cheetahs looking for breakfast, they hunt early before it gets hot. If you are here July to October, the Mara River is the main event. Hippo pools. Crocodiles. And if luck cooperates, a crossing.

I say luck because crossings are unpredictable. Sometimes you wait eight hours and nothing happens. The herds mill around, drink water, wander off. Next day they pour across without warning. This is why Route A gives you four Mara nights instead of three, better odds.

You will see vehicles with “Do Not Follow” signs. Research vehicles. Private guides with off-road permits. Do not pressure your driver to follow. The fine is KES 100,000 and they will ask you to help pay.

Conservancy nights are different from reserve nights. Mara North, Naboisho, Olare Motorogi, these private conservancies have off-road driving, night drives, walking safaris. The main reserve does not allow any of that. None of the lodges in the tables above sit in a conservancy, but if you upgrade to one that does, use it. The night drives especially. Leopards hunt after dark. So do lions.

Day 6, some people do the balloon safari. 5 AM pickup. Float over the savanna at sunrise. Champagne breakfast after landing. About USD 550 / KES 71,500 extra. Worth doing once in your life. Maybe not worth repeating.

Photography tip that most guides will not tell you: if you are near a cheetah lying in grass, and nothing dangerous is within 20 meters, ask the driver to open the side door. Shoot from eye level instead of the roof. Makes the difference between National Geographic and tourist snap. I watched a photographer lose a USD 2,000 lens off the roof once because he did not use a beanbag. Bounced right off when we hit a pothole.

Speaking of which, bring your own empty beanbag. Lodges have them but they are usually leaked or damp. Buy rice at a duka in Narok and fill it yourself.

Day 8: Departure & Final Exit

How your final morning runs depends strictly on where you sleep on Day 7.

Inside the reserve (Mara Crossing Camp): your Day 7 park ticket covers your overnight stay. Take a 6:00 AM dawn game drive along the Mara River loops, return for breakfast, and make sure your vehicle clears the exit gate before 10:00 AM sharp. Exiting after 10:00 AM triggers an automatic penalty of another full day’s fee, USD 100 in low season or USD 200 in peak season.

Outside the reserve boundary (Crocodile Camp near Talek or Mara Sopa Lodge near Oloolaimutia): your Day 7 park entry permit expired when the gates closed at 6:00 PM last night. Enjoy a relaxed breakfast at camp before boarding your 4×4 Land Cruiser for the return journey to Nairobi. Entering the reserve for a morning drive needs an extra calendar-day gate ticket.

The drive back to Nairobi via Narok and the tarmac C12 takes about 5 to 6 hours.