6-Day Amboseli, Lake Naivasha & Maasai Mara Package

About This 6-Day Kenya Safari Package

The Sopa Classic Kenya Safari is a private 6-day road safari from Nairobi. It covers three of Kenya’s best-known destinations in one trip:

• Amboseli National Park, for its elephant herds and views of Mount Kilimanjaro
• Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley, for hippos and over 400 bird species
• The Maasai Mara National Reserve, for lions, cheetahs, leopards and the Big Five

You stay at Sopa Lodges throughout, with all meals included. A professional driver guide takes you between parks in a 4WD safari vehicle with a pop-up roof for game viewing. On your final day, you have lunch at Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens in Nairobi before your flight home.

This is a classic first Kenya safari. It gives you mountain scenery, a lake and big cats in under a week, and it costs less than flying between parks. The Out Of Africa Experience is a Nairobi-based safari operator that has run private safaris since 2005, and we can adjust this itinerary to your dates, group size and interests.

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1: Drive from Nairobi to Amboseli National Park

Your driver guide meets you at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or picks you up from your Nairobi hotel or home. The drive to Amboseli National Park takes about 4–5 hours. You game drive on the way in, arriving in time for lunch at Amboseli Sopa Lodge. After lunch and a rest, go on an afternoon game drive until sunset.
Dinner and overnight: Amboseli Sopa Lodge

About Amboseli National Park: Amboseli lies at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain at 5,895 metres, just across the border in Tanzania. Snowmelt from the mountain feeds underground springs that fill Amboseli’s swamps and marshes, attracting large elephant herds and abundant birdlife all year. It is the best place in Kenya for the classic photo of an elephant or giraffe in front of snow-capped Kilimanjaro.

Day 2: Take a Sunrise Game Drive and Spend a Full Day in Amboseli

Set out before dawn on a game drive, when the mountain is most often clear of cloud and the animals are most active. Return to the lodge for breakfast and a relaxed late morning. After lunch, take an afternoon game drive to look for elephants, buffalo, giraffes, zebras, hyenas and, with luck, lions.
All meals and overnight: Amboseli Sopa Lodge

Day 3: Drive from Amboseli to Lake Naivasha and Take a Boat Ride

After breakfast, drive north through Nairobi to Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley. Check in at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort in time for lunch. In the afternoon, take a boat ride on the lake to see hippos up close and look for African fish eagles.
Dinner and overnight: Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort

About Lake Naivasha: Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley, and one of Kenya’s best places for birdwatching. More than 400 bird species have been recorded here. Cormorants breed here all year. Pelicans and spoonbills perch on dead acacia trees along the shore, and you will almost certainly see the African fish eagle.

Day 4: Drive from Lake Naivasha to the Maasai Mara and Take an Afternoon Game Drive

Leave at about 8:00 am for the Maasai Mara. The drive passes through Great Rift Valley escarpment scenery. You game drive on the way in and arrive at Maasai Mara Sopa Lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, take your first game drive in the Maasai Mara National Reserve to look for lions, cheetahs and other predators.
All meals and overnight: Maasai Mara Sopa Lodge

Day 5: Spend a Full Day in the Maasai Mara or Take an Optional Balloon Flight

After breakfast, set out on a game drive to see the Mara’s resident wildlife. If you’re lucky, you may see a hunt. Return to the lodge for lunch, then take an afternoon game drive to look for the Big Five: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and, rarely, rhino.

Optional: Maasai Mara hot air balloon safari (extra cost)
Get up before dawn for a sunrise hot air balloon flight over the Maasai Mara:

• Balloons usually take off at about 6:30 am, and you can watch the crew inflate them.
• The flight lasts about an hour, following the wind over the Mara plains, and gives you a bird’s-eye view of the wildlife below.
• After landing, you have a champagne bush breakfast on the plains and receive a flight certificate from your pilot.

If you choose the balloon flight, your evening game drive goes ahead as normal.
All meals and overnight: Maasai Mara Sopa Lodge

Day 6: Drive from the Maasai Mara to Nairobi and Have Lunch at Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens

After breakfast, drive back to Nairobi, which takes about 5–6 hours. On arrival, there’s time for last-minute shopping, then lunch at Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens. Afterwards, we take you to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your flight home, or drop you at your Nairobi hotel or home.