8-Day East Africa Crossover Safari – Serengeti to Masai Mara

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to Tanzania – Arusha to Tarangire National Park

We shall meet and greet you with a warm handshake and chilled drinks right at the airport or your Arusha hotel, after the simple welcome chat, embark on the road transfer toward Tarangire, where elephants roam through towering baobabs and the river carves its lazy way through the dust.

An afternoon game drive kicks in, immediately upon your arrival in Tarangire. Look out for lion prides near the swamps and herds of zebra tracing old migration paths, leopards, antelopes and more. You’ve arrived—and it already feels like another world but, this is just the beginning.

Overnight Options (Tarangire):

• Budget: Zion Campsite
• Standard: Tarangire Simba Lodge
• Luxury: Lemala Mpingo Ridge

Day 2: Tarangire to Ngorongoro – Highland Horizon

After a final morning drive, you climb toward the green highlands of Ngorongoro. You’ll pass traditional Maasai villages and fog-kissed farmland. By afternoon, you’re perched on the rim of the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera, staring down into an ancient Eden.

A hot shower, a good meal, and stars so close you’ll feel like you can touch them.

Overnight Options (Ngorongoro rim/Karatu):

Budget: Simba Campsite

Standard: Country Lodge Karatu

Luxury: The Highlands by Asilia

Day 3: Into the Crater → Across the Plains

Wake up early—the crater doesn’t wait. You descend into Ngorongoro just after dawn. Lions stalk buffalo. Rhinos graze in silence. Flamingos ripple across the soda lake. It’s a world within a world.

After a picnic lunch by a hippo pool, you ascend and push on toward the Serengeti. By evening, you’re in the wildest heart of Tanzania, surrounded by movement, calls, and that feeling that anything—anything—could happen.

Overnight Options (Serengeti):

• Budget: Nyani Campsite
• Standard: Serengeti Kati Kati Camp
• Luxury: Four Seasons Safari Lodge or Dunia Camp

Day 4: Full Day Serengeti Safari – Lions, Cheetahs, Wildebeest

Today is a full deep-dive into the Serengeti. You’ll follow animal tracks across sweeping plains, visit hidden kopjes where leopards sleep, and track the thundering herds during migration season.

Want a hot air balloon ride at sunrise? Just ask—we’ll make it unforgettable (at a few extra costs).

Overnight:

• Budget: Nyani Campsite
• Standard: Serengeti Kati Kati Camp
• Luxury: Four Seasons Safari Lodge or Dunia Camp

Day 5: Serengeti → Masai Mara – Crossing Into Kenya

It’s not just a border crossing—it’s a rite of passage. Today you exit the Serengeti and drive toward Isebania. Once you cross into Kenya, the landscape opens again—same wild flow, new rhythm.

Your first Mara game drive introduces you to a different kind of drama. Same wildebeest, different predators. New smells, new skies. Africa, version two.

Overnight Options (Masai Mara):

• Budget: Miti Mingi Eco Camp
• Standard: Mara Sopa Lodge
• Luxury: Angama Mara or Entim Camp

Day 6: Full Day in the Masai Mara – River Crossings & Big Cats

You’re up before sunrise to catch the beautiful sightings of Masai Mara. Immediately after breakfast, depart for the predator hunt in the famed Masai mara. Enjoy the plains glowing like gold while not forgetting that today is your day for pure safari. Lions on the hunt. Hippos grunting in the Mara River. Cheetahs chasing gazelle in dust clouds.

With Serengeti Lion Safaris, we don’t rush. We wait, we watch, and we let nature write the script.

Overnight:

• Budget: Miti Mingi Eco Camp
• Standard: Mara Sopa Lodge
• Luxury: Angama Mara or Entim Camp

Day 7: Mara to Nakuru – Pink Lakes & Birdsong

After breakfast, you depart Masai Mara and start the drive through the Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru—a saltwater jewel known for rhinos, birdlife, and dreamy flamingo scenes. The game drive here is soft but still thrilling—black and white rhinos, tree-climbing lions, and quiet forests with colobus monkeys swinging overhead.

Overnight Options (Nakuru):

• Budget: CityMax Hotel
• Standard: Sarova Lion Hill Lodge
• Luxury: The Cliff – Lake Nakuru

Day 8: Nakuru Game Drive → Nairobi – Endings & Beginnings

Enjoy your final morning game drive in Kenya’s Lake Nakuru as you have the one last chance at special sightings. You have the options of choosing from the walking encounter or last game drive before you begin the journey to Nairobi. We’ll get you to your hotel or the airport in good time, with your bags full and your heart even fuller.

With Serengeti Lion Safaris, you’re not just visiting two countries. You’re walking two wild paths, stitched together by the stories you’ll now carry for life.