Amboseli, Lake Naivasha and the Maasai Mara in a family-friendly seven-day circuit.
A classic Kenyan circuit for families, combining elephants beneath Kilimanjaro in Amboseli, a boat ride and cycling among zebra and giraffe at Lake Naivasha, and two nights in the Maasai Mara. Long drives are broken up with picnic stops, and each park offers something different for children, from hippo-spotting on the water to bush skills with Maasai guides.
You are met at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and transferred to your hotel. If your flight lands early, the afternoon is ideal for the Giraffe Centre, where children (and adults) can hand-feed Rothschild's giraffes from a raised platform.
After breakfast, travel from Nairobi to Amboseli (about 4 to 5 hours), with a picnic lunch or lunch stop on the way. You arrive at your lodge in time for lunch. An afternoon game drive across the open plains brings you close to Amboseli's famous elephant herds, with Mount Kilimanjaro rising behind them when the clouds lift.
Spend the day with some of Africa's best-studied elephant herds. Early light is the best time to see Kilimanjaro, and the swamps around Enkongo Narok draw hippo, buffalo and abundant birdlife.
After breakfast, travel from Amboseli to Lake Naivasha (about 6 to 7 hours via Nairobi), with a picnic lunch or lunch stop on the way. Check in to your lakeside lodge for lunch, then take an afternoon boat ride on the freshwater lake among hippos, fish eagles and pelicans, with time to walk on Crescent Island among grazing giraffe and zebra.
After breakfast, travel from Lake Naivasha to Maasai Mara (about 4 to 5 hours), with a picnic lunch or lunch stop on the way. You arrive at your camp in time for lunch, then head out on your first game drive across the open plains of the Maasai Mara, home to lion, cheetah, elephant, buffalo and vast herds of zebra and wildebeest. Dinner and a night of lion calls follow.
Children learn to read tracks and dung with your guide, try fire-making with Maasai hosts and spot birds with binoculars, followed by an afternoon game drive.
After breakfast, and one last morning game drive if time allows, you drive back to Nairobi (about 5 to 6 hours) with a lunch stop on the way. You are dropped at your hotel or at the airport; an evening flight home is recommended.
