Four nights at Mara Plains Camp in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy and four at Singita Sasakwa in the Grumeti Reserve, with the border crossing handled for you on both sides.
The 9 Day Ultra Luxury Maasai Mara and Serengeti Safari is a 9 night journey across two private reserves either side of the Kenya and Tanzania border. Guests spend one night at Hemingways Nairobi, four nights at Mara Plains Camp in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy and four at Singita Sasakwa Lodge in the 350,000 acre Grumeti Reserve in the western Serengeti. Every flight, the cross border crossing with customs handled on both sides, all park and conservancy fees, the Great Plains Foundation contribution, the Singita wildlife fee and all meals and drinks on safari are inside the price. From USD 23,600 per person sharing in the low season and USD 37,700 in the peak.
Two private wildernesses, either side of a border, with nothing shared on either. Olare Motorogi is Maasai land leased by the camps, where vehicle numbers are capped and walking and night drives are permitted. The Grumeti Reserve is 350,000 private acres on the western corridor of the Serengeti, with a fraction of the traffic of the national park.
You fly between them. Our team handles the customs and immigration formalities on both sides, so the crossing is a short stop rather than a day lost at a land border, which is the single biggest reason guests book a cross border journey through a Kenyan operator rather than assembling it themselves.
Mara Plains includes a complimentary fourth night on a three night stay in the low season, and the Singita wildlife fee is inside the price rather than added at checkout.
Why we love this journey · the least crowded version of the Mara and the Serengeti that exists, on two properties that never share a sighting with a queue.
Capped vehicles on Olare Motorogi · Private Maasai land where the agreement limits how many cars can reach a sighting.
Night drives and walking · Both permitted on the conservancy, and neither possible inside the national reserve.
The border, handled · Customs and immigration on both sides managed by our team, so the crossing is a stop rather than a day.
350,000 private acres · The Grumeti Reserve on the western corridor, where the Migration passes through from roughly June.
An Edwardian manor on a ridge · Sasakwa, with a pool at every cottage, horses in the stables and one of Africa's great cellars.
A complimentary fourth night · Mara Plains gives the fourth night in the low season, and we build the journey around it.
Met at the aircraft door, fast tracked through immigration, and driven to Hemingways Nairobi in Karen.
Dinner, and an early night before the morning flight from Wilson Airport.
A morning flight from Wilson Airport into the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, and lunch at Mara Plains.
The first game drive runs into the evening, because the conservancy permits night drives.
Off road driving to a sighting, walking with an armed Maasai guide, and a night drive after dinner.
Vehicle numbers here are capped by agreement, which is the whole point of a conservancy.
Full days with your own guide and vehicle, and the option of a morning in the national reserve for the river crossings from July.
A bush breakfast on the way back, laid out while you were watching something else.
The fourth night at Mara Plains is the free one in the low season. Most guests use it for a long day towards the Mara River.
Or for nothing at all, which the camp is equally good at.
A flight south into Tanzania, with customs and immigration handled on both sides by our own team.
Into the Grumeti Reserve by early afternoon, and up the Sasakwa Hill to the manor.
The western corridor of the Serengeti, on a private reserve where the Migration passes through from roughly June.
Game drives, walking, and a vehicle density a fraction of the national park's.
Riding out with the stables, tennis, archery, the spa, or the cellar, which is one of the great ones in Africa.
Or a full day in the field, with a picnic somewhere on the plains.
Out at first light on the western corridor, and a bush lunch under a tree.
The last afternoon with the guide who has had you for four days, and who knows exactly what you have not yet seen.
A flight back to Nairobi, a day room in Karen if the international flight is late, and departure lounge access at Jomo Kenyatta.
Our team meets you at both ends, as they did on the way in.
Karen, Nairobi
A 45 suite boutique hotel in leafy Karen, with full butler service and the Ngong Hills beyond the lawn.
Hemingways sits between Nairobi National Park and the foot of the Ngong Hills, ten minutes from the giraffe at the Giraffe Centre and the orphaned elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and twenty from Wilson Airport where your safari flight leaves.
It is where almost every journey we plan begins and ends, because it is quiet, it is close to everything, and a guest landing at midnight is looked after properly.
Deluxe Suites with a private balcony, interconnecting suites for families, and a butler on every floor.
Olare Motorogi Conservancy, Kenya
A Great Plains camp of seven raised suites on the Ntiakitiak River, in one of the least crowded corners of the Mara ecosystem.
Olare Motorogi is private land leased from Maasai landowners, and the agreement caps vehicle numbers at a level the national reserve cannot match. Off road driving, walking and night drives are all permitted here, and none of them are inside the reserve.
The camp itself is seven suites, which means the whole property holds fourteen guests. Great Plains guiding, Swarovski optics in every vehicle, and a conservation model that pays the landowners directly.
Rates include a Great Plains Foundation contribution, which funds the conservancy leases the wildlife depends on.
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Grumeti Reserve, western Serengeti
Nine cottages and a manor house on the Sasakwa Hill, looking out over the whole western corridor of the Serengeti.
Sasakwa was built to look like an Edwardian manor and it works, from the library and the billiard room to the tennis court and the stables. Every cottage has its own heated pool and a view that runs for forty miles.
The Grumeti Reserve is 350,000 private acres on the western corridor, where the Migration passes through from roughly June, and where the vehicle density is a fraction of the national park.
A Singita wildlife fee is charged per guest per night and funds anti poaching, community and habitat work on the reserve. It is inside the price on this journey.
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Naboisho Conservancy, Kenya
A Great Plains camp of five raised suites on a seasonal riverbed in Naboisho, one of the least visited conservancies in the Mara ecosystem.
Mara Nyika sits in the Naboisho Conservancy, which holds among the highest lion densities in Africa and a fraction of the vehicles of the national reserve. The camp is five suites, which is smaller again than Mara Plains.
It is the same Great Plains guiding, the same conservation model and the same rate, in a different conservancy. Which one we recommend depends on your dates, on where the cats are, and on what is available.
Mara Nyika and Mara Plains are quoted at the same rate on these journeys, so the choice is about conservancy and availability rather than budget.
Enquire About This JourneyThis journey runs on request rather than on fixed departure dates. You choose the dates, we hold the camps. What changes is the season you travel in, and each band below is priced from our contracted 2027 rates for that window.
| Travel Window | Season & Availability | From | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
11 January to 14 June and 1 November to 19 December 2027 Low season |
Good availability | USD 23,600 to 28,550per person sharing | Get a Quote |
15 June to 31 October 2027, and 20 December 2027 to 4 January 2028 Peak season |
Book 9 to 12 months ahead | USD 37,700 to 39,500per person sharing | Get a Quote |
Mara Plains includes a complimentary fourth night on a three night stay in the low season windows above.
On this 9 day ultra luxury Kenya and Tanzania safari, from USD 23,600 per person sharing in the low season and from USD 37,700 in the peak, with four nights at Mara Plains Camp and four at Singita Sasakwa Lodge. Every flight, the cross border crossing, all park and conservancy fees, the Singita wildlife fee and all meals and drinks are inside the price.
A conservation levy charged per guest per night at Singita properties, which funds the anti poaching, community and habitat work on the Grumeti Reserve. On this journey it is inside the price rather than added at checkout.
You fly. Our team handles the customs and immigration formalities on both sides, so the crossing is a short stop rather than a day lost at a land border. It is the single biggest reason guests book a cross border safari through a Kenyan operator rather than assembling it themselves.
It is different. Grumeti is 350,000 private acres on the western corridor, with a fraction of the vehicles, off road driving and walking, and the Migration passing through from roughly June. The national park has the greater concentration of animals year round and the northern crossings. For a guest who values privacy above all, Grumeti wins.
Yes, at the same rate. Mara Nyika is the sister Great Plains camp in the Naboisho Conservancy, five suites rather than seven, with among the highest lion densities in Africa. Which one we recommend depends on your dates, on where the cats are, and on availability.
June to October for the Migration through the western corridor and the Mara, which is the peak season here. January to March and November are quieter and considerably better value, and the complimentary fourth night at Mara Plains applies in those windows.
Per person sharing. The range within each season reflects your travel dates, and single travellers are quoted separately with the supplement shown rather than hidden.
Every internal flight including the cross border flight, the border formalities handled on both sides, all park and conservancy fees, the Great Plains Foundation contribution and the Singita wildlife fee, all meals and all drinks on safari, twice daily game drives with a private guide and a private vehicle, Rescue.co medical evacuation cover, airport meet and assist and departure lounge access.
Share a few details and your Safari Advisor will reply within 24 hours with dates, availability and a costing built around you.
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