How much does an 8 day Kenya safari cost?

This 8-day mid-range Kenya adventure safari starts from approximately US$2,380 per person in low season for a group of six sharing, rising to around US$4,445 per person in peak season (July–December) for two travellers. Price depends on group size, season, and accommodation.

Is 8 days enough for a Kenya safari?

Yes. Eight days gives you two full days in each major destination rather than rushing through — two days in Amboseli, one at Lake Naivasha, two at Lake Nakuru, and two full days of Big Five game drives in the Masai Mara, with a comfortable pace between each.

What parks does the 8 day Kenya adventure safari visit?

The route covers Amboseli National Park (2 nights), Lake Naivasha (1 night), Lake Nakuru National Park (2 nights), and the Masai Mara National Reserve (2 nights), returning to Nairobi on day 8.

What is the difference between this and Beyond The Plains' 7 day Kenya safari?

This 8-day itinerary visits the same four parks as our 7-Day Kenya Safari but adds a second full day at Lake Nakuru National Park, giving significantly more time for rhino tracking, flamingo viewing, and birdlife around the lake.

What is included in the 8 day Kenya adventure safari?

Included: airport meet and greet, 7 nights full-board accommodation, all park entry fees, a private 4x4 safari vehicle with pop-up roof, an English-speaking driver guide, daily bottled water, and all game drives in the itinerary. Excluded: international flights, tips, and drinks other than water.

Will I see the Big Five on this safari?

Lion, elephant, and buffalo are consistently seen across Amboseli and the Masai Mara. Leopard and rhino require more patience, but Lake Nakuru's dedicated rhino sanctuary and two full Masai Mara game-drive days give this itinerary a strong chance at all five.

8 Day Kenya Adventure Safari | Amboseli & Masai Mara

From US$2,380 per person

8 Day Kenya Adventure Safari: Big Five, Rift Valley Lakes & the Masai Mara

This 8-day Kenya adventure safari is a private, mid-range itinerary that adds an extra day to our classic Amboseli–Naivasha–Nakuru–Masai Mara circuit, giving you more time at each stop instead of covering the same ground faster. You'll track elephant herds beneath Mount Kilimanjaro in Amboseli National Park, take a boat safari among hippos on Lake Naivasha, spend two full days around the rhino sanctuary and flamingo-lined shores of Lake Nakuru National Park, and close with two full days of Big Five game drives in the Masai Mara National Reserve — Kenya's most famous Great Migration ecosystem.

Every game drive runs in a private 4x4 safari vehicle with a pop-up roof and a dedicated English-speaking driver guide — no shared departures, no group schedule set by anyone but you. Accommodation is full-board, mid-range lodges and tented camps throughout, and rates below adjust with group size and season.

Price FromUS$2,380 per person (6 sharing, low season)

Duration8 Days / 7 Nights

StyleMid-range lodges & tented camps

Group SizePrivate — 2 to 6+ travellers per vehicle

Parks VisitedAmboseli, Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara

Best Time to GoJune–October & January–February

Starts / EndsNairobi (JKIA)

Wildlife FocusBig Five, Great Migration, rhino sanctuary, flamingos

Want a shorter trip covering the same route? See our 7 Day Kenya Safari (one night less at Lake Nakuru). Or browse all African safari packages. Prefer a fully custom route? Get a free quote.

Itinerary at a Glance:

	DAY & ACTIVITY	LOCATION	ACCOMMODATION & MEAL PLAN
1	Arrival & Amboseli	AMBOSELI	AMBOSELI SOPA LODGE // FB
2	Full Day Amboseli	AMBOSELI	AMBOSELI SOPA LODGE // FB
3	Amboseli to Naivasha	NAIVASHA	NAIVASHA SIMBA LODGE // FB
4	Naivasha to Nakuru	NAKURU	NAKURU ZIWA BUSH LODGE // FB
5	Full Day Lake Nakuru	NAKURU	NAKURU ZIWA BUSH LODGE // FB
6	Nakuru to Masai Mara	MASAI MARA	ZEBRA PLAINS MARA CAMP // FB
7	Full Day Masai Mara	MASAI MARA	ZEBRA PLAINS MARA CAMP // FB
8	Masai Mara to Nairobi	NAIROBI	DEPARTURE

Itinerary

Day 1: Nairobi to Amboseli (204km, 4 hrs)

Your driver guide meets you at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for a short briefing before heading toward Amboseli National Park, passing through the Athi Plains where zebra and gazelle still roam close to the road. Inside the park, game drives stay on marked tracks — this concentrates sightings rather than scattering them, and gives a far better wildlife strike rate than open terrain would. Expect dusty, volcanic-soil roads typical of the dry season. Check in at Amboseli Sopa Lodge, have lunch, then head out for an evening game drive timed around sunset before dinner.

Full day game viewing. Accommodation & meals: Amboseli Sopa Lodge or similar.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Mineral water provided — other drinks not included.
Day 2: Full Day Amboseli

An early start gives you the best chance of catching Mount Kilimanjaro clear of cloud cover, which usually burns off by mid-morning. Both morning and afternoon game drives work the wide salt pans and permanent swamps around Lake Amboseli, where sparse dry-season vegetation makes spotting wildlife easier than in denser parks. Expect large elephant herds, buffalo, Burchell's zebra, Masai giraffe, and a strong supporting cast of smaller antelope — waterbuck, klipspringer, Grant's gazelle, impala, topi, and duiker — alongside a wide range of resident and migratory bird species.

Full day game viewing. Accommodation & meals: Amboseli Sopa Lodge or similar.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Mineral water provided — other drinks not included.
Day 3: Amboseli to Lake Naivasha

After breakfast and a final game drive en route, the transfer to Lake Naivasha arrives in time for lunch. Check in at Lake Naivasha Simba Lodge, where wildlife moves freely across the grounds, then use the afternoon for optional excursions — this is the itinerary's deliberate breathing room after two intense wildlife days in Amboseli.

1-Hour Boat Ride: Included
A short boat trip brings you close to hippos resting among the reeds, plus a strong showing of birdlife including fish eagles and cormorants. The lakeshore is lined with buffalo, zebra, and giraffe.

Optional: Crescent Island Walking Safari (2–3 hrs) — from US$30 per person
A speedboat crossing lands you on Crescent Island, a private sanctuary with one of the highest animal densities per acre in Kenya. With no predators present, you walk on foot alongside giraffe, zebra, and gazelle at close range — a rare chance to be on the ground rather than in a vehicle.

Optional: Hell's Gate National Park (3–5 hrs) — from US$40 per person
Hell's Gate National Park is one of the few Kenyan parks where walking, cycling, and rock climbing are all permitted, thanks to dramatic gorges and geothermal scenery largely free of predators. Lake Naivasha itself is a shallow freshwater lake fringed by yellow-barked acacia forest, and ranks among Kenya's best birding sites.

Morning game viewing. Accommodation & meals: Lake Naivasha Simba Lodge.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Mineral water provided — other drinks not included.
Day 4: Naivasha to Lake Nakuru National Park

An early breakfast and departure gets you to Lake Nakuru National Park and checked in at Ziwa Bush Lodge in time for lunch, followed by an afternoon guided game drive with a packed lunch en route. The park is a fascinating mix of dazzling birdlife and traditional land-based safari wildlife, with a dedicated rhino sanctuary holding a substantial population of both white and black rhino, and the rare Rothschild's giraffe browsing the acacia forests. Expect lion, leopard, thousands of pink flamingos, hippo, waterbuck, hyena, baboon, and monkey moving through the shoreline and woodlands.

Afternoon game viewing. Accommodation & meals: Nakuru Ziwa Bush Lodge.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Mineral water provided — other drinks not included.
Day 5: Full Day Lake Nakuru National Park

A full day dedicated to Lake Nakuru — this is the extra day that sets this itinerary apart from our 7-day version. After an early breakfast, the day is spent working every corner of the park: a flamingo and birding circuit around the lake's edge with pelicans, kingfishers, and ostriches, a dedicated push through the rhino sanctuary, and a picnic lunch on the drive rather than a midday break. The game drive winds down in late afternoon before returning to Ziwa Bush Lodge for dinner.

Full day game viewing. Accommodation & meals: Nakuru Ziwa Bush Lodge.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Mineral water provided — other drinks not included.
Day 6: Nakuru to Masai Mara

After an early breakfast, the safari heads to the Masai Mara National Reserve. Arrive at Zebra Plains Mara Camp for a leisurely lunch, then head straight into an afternoon game drive — your driver guide will work to find more than just the Big Five, tracking lion, leopard, cheetah, rhino, elephant, and wildebeest across the plains. Return to camp for dinner and overnight.

Full day game viewing. Accommodation & meals: Masai Mara Zebra Plains Mara Camp or similar.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Mineral water provided — other drinks not included.
Day 7: Full Day Masai Mara

Wildlife is most active in the first few hours of daylight, so the day starts early with a 3–4 hour morning game drive focused on the Big Five — lion, buffalo, and elephant are consistently visible in good numbers, while leopard and rhino take more patience to track down. The rest of the day continues as a full-day game viewing circuit through the reserve, either as one continuous outing with a picnic lunch or split into a second afternoon session.

The Masai Mara forms the northern extension of Tanzania's Serengeti ecosystem and shares the same migratory herds — it's sometimes called the Kingdom of the Lions for its resident population of roughly 400 lions across the reserve and neighbouring conservancies. The wildebeest migration itself, often called the Seventh Wonder of the World, runs from late July to September, when the plains fill with grunting, moving herds and territorial fights become common.

Leopard and cheetah sightings are increasingly common here, alongside spotted hyena, jackal, bat-eared fox, and, with luck, the rare and nomadic African wild dog, which has begun denning in the area again after near-local extinction.

Full day game viewing. Accommodation & meals: Masai Mara Zebra Plains Mara Camp.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Mineral water provided — other drinks not included.

Optional activities:

Guided nature walk — US$30 per person
A camp naturalist leads a walk through the surrounding bush covering local plant life, birds, and small mammals. Around 1.5 hours, with a longer 2.5-hour version reaching the Mara River.

Masai village visit — US$30 per person
A guided visit to a local Masai village, including a traditional beadwork demonstration you can keep as a souvenir. Photography is permitted throughout. Roughly 2 hours including transfers.

Hot air balloon safari — US$420 per person
A pre-dawn balloon launch drifts silently over the plains as the sun rises, followed by a champagne bush breakfast on landing — one of the few ways to see the Mara from above rather than from a vehicle. Roughly 1 hour, departing around 5:00am.
Day 8: Masai Mara to Nairobi — Departure (240km, 4–5 hrs)

After a relaxed breakfast and checkout, the return road transfer to Nairobi includes a brief morning game drive and a stop at the Great Rift Valley escarpment viewpoint. Arriving in Nairobi mid-afternoon, you'll be dropped at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your onward flight or at your overnight hotel. This closes out the safari.

Meal plan: Breakfast. Lunch & dinner not included. Mineral water provided — other drinks not included.

Rates Valid 2026 / 2027 — Mid-Range Accommodation

Type of Accommodation	Price Per Person Sharing — Varies by Group Size
F.I.T. Package — Standard Lodge (Mid-Range)				G.I.T. Package — Group Safaris
No. of Travellers	2 pax	4 pax	6 pax	10 pax	15 pax	20 pax	25 pax	30 pax
High Season: Jan–Mar	$4,130	$3,460	$3,155	$3,330	$3,285	$3,330	$3,355	$3,240
Low Season: Apr–Jun	$3,170	$2,580	$2,380	$2,460	$2,430	$2,460	$2,480	$2,380
Peak Season: Jul–Dec	$4,445	$3,775	$3,550	$3,640	$3,590	$3,640	$3,670	$3,550

Rates are per person sharing and subject to lodge availability at time of booking. Contact us for a current, itemised quote.

Tipping Guidelines:

Porterage: approx. US$10 per person
Restaurant servers: approx. US$10 per person
Driver guide: approx. US$50 per person

Included:

Airport transfers on arrival and departure, with meet-and-greet by our local representatives
7 nights full-board accommodation in the above-mentioned lodges or camps with private en-suite facilities
3 meals a day: B (buffet breakfast), L (lunch), D (dinner)
Bottled mineral water daily throughout the safari
Private transportation in a specially equipped 4x4 safari Land Cruiser with pop-up roof for game viewing and photography
Services of a professional English-speaking driver guide
Game drives, sightseeing, and excursions as described in the itinerary, inclusive of applicable entrance fees
All park entry fees, except those labelled as an optional tour or activity
Government taxes and levies where applicable

Excluded:

International air fares, airport taxes, and security-related fees unless mentioned here
Meals not described in the itinerary above
Accommodation in Nairobi before or after the safari
Tips and gratuities to driver guide, hotel/camp, and restaurant staff
Personal expenses: phone/internet use, laundry, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages other than water
Entry fees for any Nairobi attractions or activities outside the itinerary
Lake Naivasha excursions or any other optional tours not specifically listed above

8 Day Kenya Adventure Safari — Common Questions

How much does an 8 day Kenya safari cost?

This 8-day mid-range Kenya adventure safari starts from approximately US$2,380 per person in low season for a group of six sharing, rising to around US$4,445 per person in peak season (July–December) for two travellers. Price depends on group size, season, and accommodation.
Is 8 days enough for a Kenya safari?

Yes. Eight days gives you two full days in each major destination rather than rushing through — two days in Amboseli, one at Lake Naivasha, two at Lake Nakuru, and two full days of Big Five game drives in the Masai Mara, with a comfortable pace between each.
What parks does the 8 day Kenya adventure safari visit?

The route covers Amboseli National Park (2 nights), Lake Naivasha (1 night), Lake Nakuru National Park (2 nights), and the Masai Mara National Reserve (2 nights), returning to Nairobi on day 8.
What is the difference between this and Beyond The Plains' 7 day Kenya safari?

This 8-day itinerary visits the same four parks as our 7 Day Kenya Safari but adds a second full day at Lake Nakuru National Park, giving significantly more time for rhino tracking, flamingo viewing, and birdlife around the lake.
What is included in the 8 day Kenya adventure safari?

Included: airport meet and greet, 7 nights full-board accommodation, all park entry fees, a private 4x4 safari vehicle with pop-up roof, an English-speaking driver guide, daily bottled water, and all game drives in the itinerary. Excluded: international flights, tips, and drinks other than water.
Will I see the Big Five on this safari?

Lion, elephant, and buffalo are consistently seen across Amboseli and the Masai Mara. Leopard and rhino require more patience, but Lake Nakuru's dedicated rhino sanctuary and two full Masai Mara game-drive days give this itinerary a strong chance at all five.