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Masai Mara Safari: 3-Day Private Tour with Game Drives

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1/8

Duration3d

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Private safari adventure from Nairobi to Masai Mara with wildlife, Maasai encounters and lodge nights

You’ll cross Kenya’s Great Rift Valley on your way to Masai Mara for three days of wildlife game drives with an experienced guide. Watch lions hunt at dusk, meet Maasai locals near their village and share stories over dinner at your lodge each night. The feeling of those open plains stays with you long after—maybe that’s what makes this safari special.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Travel Nairobi to Masai Mara

Pick up at 7:00 AM
Drive through Great Rift Valley
Stop at Great Rift Valley viewpoint
Bathroom stop in Narok town
Arrive Masai Mara for lunch
Afternoon game drive for lions
Dinner and overnight at Mara Simba Lodge

Day 2 — Full day game drive in Masai Mara

Breakfast at lodge
Full-day game drive with packed lunch
Spot Big Five and other wildlife
Dinner and overnight at Mara Simba Lodge

Day 3 — Return from Masai Mara to Nairobi

Breakfast at lodge
Drive back to Nairobi
Drop off at hotel or airport

The Experience

I didn’t expect the road out of Nairobi to feel so endless — or to laugh so much before we even saw an animal. Our driver-guide, Daniel, kept pointing out things I’d have missed: kids herding goats in bright shukas, the way the Rift Valley just drops away beneath you. At the viewpoint stop, everyone spilled out for photos but I just stood there for a minute, wind in my face, trying to take it in. The escarpment almost glows in that early light. We stopped in Narok for coffee and bathrooms (and a weirdly good mandazi), then bumped along until suddenly we were rolling into the Masai Mara National Reserve right around lunchtime — dusty and kind of giddy.

The first game drive was honestly overwhelming. I thought spotting a lion would be rare but Daniel had this sixth sense — he’d pull over and say “look there” and sure enough, there’d be a tail flicking in the grass. We saw elephants too, close enough that you could hear them pulling at branches. There’s this smell — not bad exactly, just wild and earthy — that hangs in the air when you’re out on those plains. Lunch was back at Mara Simba Lodge (I still crave their chapati) and then more driving until sunset painted everything gold. I slept like a rock that night.

The second day was all about the long game drive — packed lunch boxes, lots of dust, windows down half the time because it felt wrong not to let that air in. We watched buffalo move through mud pools and once had to stop because zebras just wouldn’t move off the track (Daniel joked they were unionized). At one point we met some Maasai men near the edge of the reserve; they showed us how they make fire from sticks — I tried it and failed spectacularly but they laughed with me anyway. By late afternoon I was sunburned and tired but couldn’t stop grinning.

Leaving was quiet. Breakfast at the lodge felt slower than before, maybe because nobody wanted to go back yet. On our way out we passed by a Maasai market — colors everywhere, beadwork laid out on blankets. I bought a bracelet from a woman named Naserian who told me it meant “peace” (I hope she wasn’t just being polite). Back in Nairobi by late afternoon, everything felt louder somehow. Still thinking about those wide open skies.

What’s included

Your trip includes hotel pickup in Nairobi, all transportation by private 4x4 Land Cruiser with an experienced driver-guide who really knows where to look for wildlife, entry fees for every park visit along with bottled water each day—and breakfasts, lunches and dinners at Mara Simba Lodge before returning back to Nairobi late afternoon on day three.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportInfant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by Explorer Kenya Tours and Travel Limited