If you have ten days and one trip to Kenya in you, this is the itinerary our returning guests consistently rate highest: mountain first, safari after - effort, then reward.
Days 1-5: Mount Kenya, Sirimon up, Chogoria down
Arrive Nairobi, transfer to Nanyuki, and spend four nights crossing the mountain: Old Moses to Shipton's Camp, a 3 a.m. start for sunrise on Point Lenana (4,985 m), then descend past Lake Michaelson through the Gorges Valley - the most beautiful walking in Kenya. Your legs earn the next five days.
Day 6: rest and transfer
Hot shower, big lunch, and the scenic drive down the Rift Valley escarpment. Sleep early.
Days 7-9: the Maasai Mara
Three days of game drives: dawn light on the plains, lion prides between the acacias, and - in July-October - the migration's river crossings. Evening at a lodge or under canvas listening to hyena whoop somewhere out in the dark. This is the reward leg; you will understand why we sequence it second.
Day 10: Nairobi and home
Morning drive back, souvenir stop, airport drop. You land home with a summit and a safari in the same photo roll.
What it costs
Combined, from about $2,600 per person sharing (camping on the mountain, lodge in the Mara) - see the closely related 8-day mountain + Samburu combo at $1,640 or 7-day three-park lodge safari at $1,960, and ask us to build the 10-day version around your dates.
Photo: Byrdyak, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
