3-Day Masai Mara Jeep Safari from Nairobi with Big Five Game Drives

• Your tour guide will pick you up from your Nairobi hotel, residence, or Nairobi airport at 7:30 am to begin the safari. In your private 4 x 4 Jeep, you will journey to the world-famous Masai Mara National Reserve as the landscape grows increasingly dramatic on entering the Great Rift Valley escarpment.
• There will be stops along the way to refresh and take in the impressive features of the escarpment.
• You will then descend to the valley floor, exploring the scenic landscapes through Masai country and perhaps catching glimpses of colourful herdsmen along the way as you approach the reserve.
• You should arrive at Masai Mara at about lunchtime and enjoy lunch at your chosen accommodation.
• Afterward, get ready for the incredible expanse and stirring wildlife populations of this great reserve. One of the world's greatest ecosystems, it is unparalleled for its diversity of wildlife. Hunters and grazers, both large and small, fill the sweeping hills and savannahs of this beautiful park. Your first game drive will introduce you to the numbers and variety of wildlife you will experience during your three days in the park.

Spend the first of two nights in the park at your choice of safari lodge or tented camp.

• You will be up early to view the park's abundant wildlife, said to be the densest of any park in the region. This is a day of unlimited game drives over the golden fields and past the distinctive acacia trees that adorn these plains.
• Keep watch for Africa's Big Five - lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino. Birdlife is also abundant, and if you are here during the Great Migration season from July to October, prepare to witness the largest movement of animals on the planet. Made up primarily of wildebeest and zebra, the migrating herds cross into the park by the thousands at the Mara River, where hippos and waiting crocodiles can also be seen. The drama is inescapable as the streaming herds enter these lands in search of fresh grasses while predators lie in wait.
• To add more richness to your Masai Mara experience, you may enjoy an optional visit to one of the local villages, where you will meet the Maasai and see their lifestyle up close.
• Another optional activity is an early morning hot-air balloon ride over the reserve. Watch the park come to life below as the fields light up and the wildlife begins a new day on the savannah. It is a magnificent experience - just ask your driver-guide to arrange either or both activities.

Spend your second night in the park at your choice of accommodation.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

• On your last safari day, make the most of it with an early rise and game drive. By now, you should be checking off many animal sightings from your list, but there is always time for more. You are sure to have seen zebra and gazelle, but keep an eye out for cheetah moving through the bush, as well as jackal and hyena.
• Enjoy one final game drive as you exit the park and begin your journey back to Nairobi.
• Stop for lunch and continue driving back to the city. You should arrive in Nairobi in the late afternoon, where you will be dropped at your hotel, residence, or the airport. You may also continue onward to the Kenya coast at Mombasa or perhaps to the island of Zanzibar.

Tour ends.

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch.