A herd of oryx crossing dry grassland with the peaks of Mount Kenya on the skyline

Kenya · 10 days

Epic Wilderness Safari

Ten days across three of Kenya's best-run conservation areas. Kalama in the north, Lewa in the high country, then Mara North. Saruni Basecamp at either end, Sirikoi in the middle, one road transfer and one flight.

Duration: 10 days, 9 nights · 3 flights
Where: Kenya
Experiences: Road Safaris Flying Safaris
Board: All-inclusive
Price: FromUSD 9,075per adult sharing

At a glance

Where the nights go

333

9 nights across 3 places · 3 flights · All-inclusive. Drawn from the draft day-by-day below.

Overview

The shape of the journey

Three conservation areas, three different arguments for how to protect a landscape, and three nights in each. Kalama is community land in the arid north. Lewa is high country and the reason Kenya still has the rhino it does. Mara North is grass, cats and 30,000 acres of it.

NairobiKalama ConservancyLewaMara North

This is the long version of a Kenya safari and it does not rush. The transfer from Samburu to Lewa is by road on purpose: two hours, and the country between them is worth seeing at ground level. Saruni Basecamp runs the first and last legs; Sirikoi is the Lewa lodge.

Where you'll stay

The camps and hotels

Basecamp Samburu

An eco-built camp with 200,000 acres of private conservancy around it and the Samburu National Reserve within a morning's drive. Star beds for the clear nights, which is most of them.

Sirikoi

A lodge on Lewa looking over a wetland that does most of the work for you, with a pool, a kitchen garden, exclusive use of a vehicle, and Africa's most successful rhino sanctuary on the doorstep.

Saruni Mara or Saruni Wild

Either the forest lodge or the three-tent camp in Mara North, 30,000-odd acres bordering the reserve, with a Wellbeing Space and Maasai guides who know every valley in it.

Day by day

How the days run

A proposal, not a timetable. The routing, timings and inclusions are confirmed in writing before you pay anything.

Day 1Flight
Nairobi, then Kalama
Met at Jomo Kenyatta and driven to Wilson for the morning flight north, about an hour. Your guide meets you at the strip and either runs you to camp or turns the drive into an introduction to Kalama. An afternoon drive across the conservancy, and sundowners at the top of it.
Basecamp SamburuAll meals
Day 2
The Samburu Special Five
Into the national reserve early for the five northern species you have probably never seen: reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, beisa oryx, Somali ostrich and gerenuk. There are also the big elephant herds and the doum palms along the Ewaso Nyiro. Picnic lunch on the riverbank, a slow afternoon, and the star beds after dark.
Basecamp SamburuAll meals
Day 3
On foot, and in the rock
A morning walking safari, which is where the small things finally get a look in, and Samburu rock art in caves you would never find alone. An evening drive in Kalama ends with dinner in a dry riverbed, and dancing round the fire.
Basecamp SamburuAll meals
Day 4
South to Lewa
A road transfer after breakfast, roughly two hours depending on what stops you. The afternoon at Sirikoi is for the pool and the wetland below it, then an evening drive and a sundowner.
SirikoiAll meals
Day 5
Lewa, and the rhino
A morning drive across Lewa, with the wetland birdlife worth as much attention as the game. Time at the rhino sanctuary, where the hand-reared orphans are, and a walk on the Ngare Ndare forest canopy walkway with the glacial pools below it.
SirikoiAll meals
Day 6
A day you decide
Another drive, a guided walk, the spa, or the lodge and nothing else. It is the last full day on Lewa and there is no wrong way to spend it.
SirikoiAll meals
Day 7Flight
Fly to Mara North
The morning flight to the Mara, ninety minutes. Straight into a game drive with a picnic lunch under an acacia or beside the hippos, or on to the lodge for a rest and an exclusive afternoon drive in Mara North instead.
Saruni Mara or Saruni WildAll meals
Day 8
Cats at first light
Out early for the predators, back for lunch and a treatment at the Wellbeing Space. The afternoon drive runs into the golden hour, which is when the photographs happen, and an optional night drive follows dinner.
Saruni Mara or Saruni WildAll meals
Day 9
Kilileoni
A walk through the valleys with a vehicle in support, or a drive up Kilileoni, the highest point in the entire Serengeti–Mara ecosystem, and a view that explains the whole trip. A starlit bush dinner if the weather holds.
Saruni Mara or Saruni WildAll meals
Day 10Flight
Depart
Breakfast, then the rhino sanctuary on the way to the airstrip and the 11:00 flight to Nairobi. A Saruni Basecamp vehicle runs you to Jomo Kenyatta, with dinner in town first if the timings allow.
Breakfast

What's covered

Inclusions and exclusions

In line with the itinerary above. Your written quote is the version that counts.

Included

All-inclusive accommodation, full board with soft drinks, beers, house wines and non-luxury spirits
Full board at Sirikoi with soft drinks, beers, house wines and selected house spirits
Shared day and night game drives, guided bush walks, bush meals, sundowners and picnics
Exclusive use of a vehicle at Sirikoi, and rhino tracking and birdwatching on Lewa
All internal flights, transfers, airstrip transfers and airport assistance
Daily conservation fees, VAT and taxes, and Flying Doctors cover

Not included

International flights and travel, and visas
Champagne, premium spirits and cellar wines
Additional payable activities and extras
Telephone calls, gratuities and anything of a personal nature

Price & terms

What it costs

FromUSD 9,075per adult sharing

What this price covers

Rates are per person sharing unless the line above says otherwise.
Prices move with the season and with availability, and are held only once your quote is confirmed in writing.
The day-by-day above is a draft. Final routing, timings, inclusions and any park or permit fees are confirmed with your quote.

Before you go

Worth reading before this trip

The best time to visit Kenya, month by monthJanuary and February, then July to October, are the months we send most people.
Safari packing list for KenyaA working checklist for a week on safari in Kenya: the bag, the layers for a cold six o'clock start, optics, health and documents, with quantities for seven nights and what changes by season.
Kenya safari cost: where the money goesWhat you pay for on a Kenya safari, why two similar weeks can differ threefold, who sets the park fees, and how to get more from the same budget.
Practical facts by countryPlugs, currency, time zone, driving side, SIM, tipping and tap water.