Cheetahs on termite mound with safari vehicle behind
Illuminated waterfront lodge reflecting in calm water at dusk, Hemingways Eden Residence, Nairobi, Kenya
Luxury safari tent with illuminated interior at dusk surrounded by bush vegetation, Hemingways Ol Seki Mara, Maasai Mara, Kenya
Canvas safari tent with wooden deck and furnishings, Sanctuary Crater Camp, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Illuminated safari camp tent beneath acacia tree at dusk, Olmara Serengeti, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Ivy-covered building with wooden doors and shaded garden pathway, Hemingways Eden Residence, Nairobi, Kenya
Pool deck with shade structure overlooking vast savanna landscape, Hemingways Ol Seki Mara, Maasai Mara, Kenya
Canvas tent accommodation beneath acacia tree savanna
Luxury safari tent nestled among tall acacia trees, Sanctuary Crater Camp, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Bedroom with canopy bed and warm evening lighting, Hemingways Eden Residence, Nairobi, Kenya
Twilight view of luxury lodge terrace with pool and dining area overlooking savanna, Hemingways Ol Seki Mara, Maasai Mara, Kenya
Illuminated safari camp tents on wooden deck at dusk, Olmara Serengeti, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Outdoor dining table set under acacia trees at dusk, Sanctuary Crater Camp, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

inspiration

kenya & tanzania: the mara to the crater

Private Safari
From $12,580 pp
2 guests
10 nights

trip highlights

  • In the Mara Naboisho Conservancy, vehicle numbers at any sighting are capped at four at most, and off-road driving and drives after dark are permitted.
  • The Soit le Motonyi plains of the eastern Serengeti hold lion, cheetah, leopard and serval, on ground closed to visitors for close to two decades.
  • Three of Olmara's tents carry stargazing platforms, reached by a gentle staircase, where a bed can be made up under the open sky.
  • The Ngorongoro Crater floor supports around 25,000 large animals, and is one of the more reliable places in Tanzania to see black rhino.
Scroll for the full itinerary
Cheetah with open mouth in tall grass, Olmara Serengeti, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

From Nairobi to the Crater Floor

This trip links four places across Kenya and Tanzania over ten nights. It opens in Nairobi, a highland capital where savannah runs up against the suburbs, then settles for four nights in the Maasai Mara’s Naboisho Conservancy, where the rules allow off-road driving and drives after dark. From there it crosses into Tanzania and the remote Soit le Motonyi plains of the eastern Serengeti, big-cat country kept quiet for years, before closing on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater.

You travel by a mix of light aircraft and 4×4, with unhurried game drives shaping the days and long, uninterrupted sightings the point in the conservancy and on the eastern plains. Each stay is a small tented camp or residence chosen for its ground and its guiding, from an art-led home in Nairobi to a rim camp that puts you among the first vehicles onto the crater floor.

plan your safari

Daily Itinerary Breakdown

Nairobi and an Art-Led Residence

Your first night is in Nairobi, a highland capital at around 1,795 metres where daytime temperatures sit between 18 and 26 degrees, a comfortable place to rest before hotter, lower country. Hemingways Eden is a nine-room art-led residence on the forested Karen-Langata edge, built in 1992 as a painter's family home and now full of original canvases, bronzes and hand-formed ceramics. It borders the Giraffe Sanctuary forest, indigenous woodland that shelters more than 200 species of bird.

The Mara's Naboisho Conservancy

From Nairobi you continue to the Mara Naboisho Conservancy for four nights. Conservancy rules cap the vehicles at any sighting to four at most and allow off-road driving, drives after dark and walking, and lion densities across Naboisho are high, so sightings of lion, leopard and cheetah hold through the year rather than clustering into one season. Between July and October wildebeest and zebra from the Serengeti reach the Mara. Ol Seki stands on a hilltop above the Isupukiai River Valley with 270-degree views; its rebuilt tents open to the plains, and giraffes, zebras and elephants use the waterhole below the deck.

Big Cats on the Eastern Serengeti

You cross into Tanzania and the remote Soit le Motonyi plains of the eastern Serengeti for three nights, big-cat country closed to visitors for close to two decades to protect its cheetahs. Vehicle numbers stay low and sightings run long and unhurried, with lion, cheetah, leopard and serval working the short grass and the acacia belts and rocky kopjes along the Ngare Nanyuki river valley. The camp puts its weight behind guiding, and a sighting runs as long as it needs. Olmara has eight tented suites within an ancient grove of acacias, three of them carrying stargazing platforms where a bed can be made up under the open sky.

The Ngorongoro Crater Rim and Floor

From the Serengeti you reach the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater for two nights, a collapsed volcanic caldera whose floor supports a resident community of around 25,000 large mammals. A stay is built around one early descent onto the floor, with a picnic breakfast and lunch carried down, putting you on the ground in first light before the traffic arrives; all of the Big Five can turn up within a single morning, the black rhino among them. At roughly 2,300 metres the evenings turn cold. Sanctuary Crater Camp has ten tented suites in acacia forest on the rim, close to the descent road, with closed 4x4s and a hot-water bottle in the bed at night.

Ed Charles photographing wildlife

Ed Charles, BBC Producer

Fitzroy are true specialists in accessing the wilderness. They know where to go and importantly, when to go there. Highly recommended.

Ed Charles

Bafta & Emmy award winning film producer of BBC’s Planet Earth 2 and A Perfect Planet

looking for inspiration?

Close-up portrait of a dark-furred primate looking directly at camera Modern hotel building lit at dusk with palm trees, Kigali Serena Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda Thatched-roof lodge nestled among trees with mountains beyond, Mount Gahinga Lodge, Mgahinga National Park, Uganda Outdoor dining setup beneath acacia trees and natural shade, Serian “The Original”, Maasai Mara, Kenya Guests viewing landscape from tent entrance at camp, Kitich Camp, Northern Kenya, Kenya Giraffes at manor house entrance during golden hour sunset, Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya Resort pool area at dusk with surrounding buildings and trees, Kigali Serena Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda Spacious bedroom with four-poster bed and fireplace, Mount Gahinga Lodge, Mgahinga National Park, Uganda Luxury safari tent bedroom with four-poster bed and seating, Serian “The Original”, Maasai Mara, Kenya Interior view of safari tent with open entrance and guests outside, Kitich Camp, Northern Kenya, Kenya Turquoise lap pool lined with loungers beneath stone archway, Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya Luxury bedroom with red headboard and balcony view, Kigali Serena Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda Guest observing gorilla in lush forest vegetation, Mount Gahinga Lodge, Mgahinga National Park, Uganda Safari tent interior with canopy bed and seating area, Serian “The Original”, Maasai Mara, Kenya

rwanda, uganda & kenya

gorillas to samburu

Twelve nights linking Rwanda's gorillas, the Maasai Mara conservancies and Kenya's Mathews Range forest walks.

  • Private Safari
  • From $18,320 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 12 nights
View Safari
Group of people standing on riverbank at sunrise with tents, Sarara Treehouses, Northern Kenya, Kenya Guests viewing landscape from tent entrance at camp, Kitich Camp, Northern Kenya, Kenya Herd of elephants walking through dusty savanna landscape Cape buffalo grazing in grassland during daytime Illuminated treehouse lodge reflected in water at night, Sarara Treehouses, Northern Kenya, Kenya Interior view of safari tent with open entrance and guests outside, Kitich Camp, Northern Kenya, Kenya Guest relaxing in infinity pool overlooking forested valley, Sarara Treehouses, Northern Kenya, Kenya Group walking through tall grass during guided forest activity, Kitich Camp, Northern Kenya, Kenya Safari lodge with thatched roof at sunset in mountains, Sarara Treehouses, Northern Kenya, Kenya Four giraffes walking through dense green vegetation Male lion with lioness in golden grassland at sunrise

kenya

fly camping in the northern forests

Seven nights walking the forests of Northern Kenya, from a fly camp to Kitich Camp and the canopy suites of Sarara Treehouses.

  • Private Safari
  • From $9,445 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 7 nights
View Safari
Guests dining with giraffes visible through large window, Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya Luxury lodge nestled among trees with manicured tropical gardens at dusk, Loldia House, Rift Valley Lakes, Kenya Illuminated safari camp tents at dusk with wooden decking and stretched canvas, Governors’ Camp, Maasai Mara, Kenya Canopy bed with cream drapes in spacious bedroom, Sheba’s Secret Garden, Nairobi, Kenya Giraffes at manor house entrance during golden hour sunset, Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya Turquoise lap pool lined with loungers beneath stone archway, Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya Wine being poured into glass with vineyard landscape at sunset, Loldia House, Rift Valley Lakes, Kenya Luxury safari tent with guests on riverside deck overlooking waterhole, Governors’ Camp, Maasai Mara, Kenya Bartender smiling behind wooden counter with ornate window, Sheba’s Secret Garden, Nairobi, Kenya Colonial mansion with giraffe viewing areas and surrounding woodland, Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya Woman bathing in turquoise lagoon beneath overhanging mangrove tree, Loldia House, Rift Valley Lakes, Kenya Riverside dinner table set with lanterns at dusk overlooking waterway, Governors’ Camp, Maasai Mara, Kenya Outdoor dining table set in manicured garden lawn, Sheba’s Secret Garden, Nairobi, Kenya

kenya

giraffes, naivasha and the mara

Nine nights in Kenya linking Giraffe Manor, Lake Naivasha's Loldia House and Governors' Camp on the Mara River.

  • Private Safari
  • From $7,900 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 9 nights
View Safari

rated five stars by our clients

Planning a journey together

our approach

remote, exclusive
& personal

Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.

Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.

Every journey starts with a conversation. We favour a direct, personal approach: understanding your vision before anything else.

Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape a journey that is both thoughtfully considered and expertly delivered.

Get in touch to start planning yours.

get in touch
destinations ideas & inspiration our process about us contact us