Kenya & Tanzania — Big Five Lodge Safari

A full day in the Mara — morning and afternoon game drives covering the vast ecosystem. Track the Big Five with your expert guide, scanning the riverbanks for leopard and the open plains for the resident cheetah coalition. The Mara River offers year-round hippo and crocodile encounters.

This afternoon, visit the Maasai Mara Cultural Village for an authentic experience with Kenya's most iconic people — warrior dances, bead craft demonstrations and extraordinary hospitality in a traditional boma.

After a morning game drive and breakfast, drive southeast to Amboseli National Park — approximately 4 hours. En route, the landscape shifts from Mara grassland to Rift Valley acacia scrub, with Kilimanjaro growing ever larger on the horizon.

Arrive at Amboseli for lunch and an afternoon game drive. Amboseli is renowned for its enormous elephant bulls — photographed against the backdrop of Africa's highest peak, it is one of the continent's most iconic wildlife images.

After an early morning game drive at Amboseli, drive to the Namanga border crossing into Tanzania — a straightforward crossing that your Dawn Safaris team handles seamlessly. Continue to Lake Manyara National Park for afternoon game drives.

Lake Manyara is famous for its tree-climbing lions and vast flocks of flamingos on the alkaline lake shore. The canopy forest at the park entrance harbours baboon troops and spectacular birdlife. A remarkable introduction to Tanzania's parks.

Drive to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area — as you descend into the crater, the full scale of this extraordinary natural amphitheatre reveals itself. Over 25,000 animals live within the caldera walls year-round, making this the highest wildlife density on the continent.

A full-day crater game drive delivers encounters with lion, black rhino, cheetah, elephant, leopard, hyena and the famous black-maned Ngorongoro lions. The scenery — from the hippo pools to the soda lake flamingos — is simply stunning.

Drive into the Serengeti — Tanzania's most famous park and the home of the Great Migration. As you cross the plains, the sheer scale of the ecosystem becomes clear: a continuous carpet of short grass stretching to every horizon, dotted with acacia and teeming with wildlife.

Game drive through the central Seronera area — one of the richest wildlife zones in Africa with permanent leopard, lion and cheetah populations. The Seronera River attracts enormous numbers of animals year-round.

A full day in the Serengeti — morning and afternoon game drives across the vast central plains. Depending on the season, you may encounter the wildebeest migration herds, calving season in the south, or the dramatic river crossings in the north.

This evening, a final bush dinner under the infinite Serengeti sky — an unforgettable end to your East African adventure. The stars in the Serengeti, far from any city light, are simply extraordinary.

After a final morning game drive and breakfast, drive back to Kenya via the Isebania border crossing into Kisii and then on to Nairobi — approximately 8 hours. Arrive in Nairobi in the late afternoon or evening, in time for your onward flights.