5 Day Lake Naivasha Masai Mara Safari
5 Day Lake Naivasha Masai Mara Safari:
A 5 day Lake Naivasha Masai Mara safari costs USD 2,000 – 3,500 per person. One night at Naivasha, three nights in the Mara.
Why stop at Naivasha: Breaks up the drive. Nairobi to Naivasha is 2 hours on tarmac. Naivasha to the Mara is another 4-5 hours. Easier than doing 6 hours straight.
Naivasha activities: Boat ride among hippos. Walking safari on Crescent Island—no vehicle, you walk next to giraffes and zebras.
Mara time: Three nights gives you two full days plus arrival afternoon and departure morning. Enough to cover different areas of the reserve.
Park fees: Naivasha boat and island around USD 50. Masai Mara USD 100/day (January-June) or USD 200/day (July-December).
Included: 4 nights full board, private 4×4, driver-guide, all park fees, boat ride, Crescent Island walk.
Not included: Flights, tips, alcohol, balloon safari.
Optional add-on: Hell’s Gate National Park for cycling among wildlife.
What's Covered
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The Point of Naivasha
The drive from Nairobi to the Mara takes somewhere between five and six hours, and the last couple hours after Narok are on rough roads that kick up a fine silt dust—the kind that gets into camera bags and zippers. Some people do this drive straight through, do game drives for a few days, then do the whole drive again on the way back. By the end they’re tired of being in vehicles.
Naivasha is about two hours from Nairobi on good tarmac. Stopping there gives you a chance to do something other than sit in a car. You take a boat ride on the lake, maybe walk around Crescent Island, sleep at a lodge where zebras graze on the lawn, and then continue to the Mara the next morning when you’re not already road-weary.
Whether that’s worth the extra night’s cost and time is up to you. Some travelers just want to get to the Mara as quickly as possible and don’t care about the drive. That’s fine too.
Lake Naivasha
The boat rides go out among the hippos. You get closer than you’d think—the boat captains know where the pods hang out and they’ll drift right up to them. Fish eagles call from the shoreline, a sharp high sound that carries across the water.
Crescent Island is a sanctuary in the lake where there are no predators, so you can walk on foot among giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, and waterbuck. The waterbucks are territorial and have been known to charge if they feel challenged—the guides tell people to walk in single file and avoid direct eye contact with them.
One thing to know about the boat ride: you pay the boat captain for the transport, and you pay the Crescent Island sanctuary separately when you land on the island. There’s an official hut where you pay. If someone tries to collect both fees together before you reach the island, that’s not how it’s supposed to work.
If you’re staying at a lakefront lodge like Sopa or Enashipai, the staff will tell you not to walk to your room alone after dark. Hippos graze on land at night and they can be hidden in bushes along the paths. The lodges provide an escort—use it.
Hell's Gate
Some people add Hell’s Gate National Park on the Naivasha day. You can bike through it, which is unusual for a national park—giraffes and zebras around while you’re on a bicycle. There’s also a gorge you can hike.
What most tourists don’t know about is the Olkaria Geothermal Spa inside the park. It’s a naturally heated pool, turquoise, powered by the geothermal activity in the area. Bring your own towel and don’t wear silver jewelry in the water—the sulfur tarnishes it.
Adding Hell’s Gate takes half a day. It’s optional.
The Naivasha to Mara Drive
The drive from Naivasha to the Mara is about four to five hours. The road is paved until Narok, where a lot of people stop for a bathroom break. The Seasons Hotel in Narok has cleaner facilities than the standard roadside stops and fewer people trying to sell you things.
After Narok the road turns to gravel and dirt. The condition varies—sometimes it’s been graded recently and it’s fine, sometimes it’s rough. Dust is constant in dry season. A neck gaiter pulled up over your nose helps.
Which gate you enter the Mara through affects how much driving you do inside the park. Sekenani, Talek, and Oloololo serve different areas. If your camp is near Sekenani but you enter through Talek, you’re adding an hour of driving inside the reserve before you even reach your lodge. Ask which gate matches your accommodation.
The Mara
Three nights, which means two full days in the reserve plus a partial day on arrival and another partial day before departure. That’s enough time to cover different zones—the Mara River area for hippos and crocodiles, the open plains in the east where cheetahs hunt, the wooded areas where leopards rest in trees.
Lions are common throughout the reserve. Elephants and buffalo too. Rhinos are present but sightings are uncommon.
The Mara Triangle is the western section across the river. It’s managed separately from the main reserve by a conservancy, which means stricter vehicle limits at sightings and fewer of those traffic jams you sometimes get when fifteen vehicles crowd around a lion. If your camp is near the Oloololo Gate, you access the Triangle. The main reserve and the Triangle have separate fees—you can’t always cross between them without paying again, so check whether your itinerary stays in one or the other.
July through October the wildebeest migration moves through. River crossings are what people come for, though they’re unpredictable and you can spend hours waiting at a crossing point that doesn’t happen.
It gets cold at night in the Mara—down to 10°C sometimes. Camps put hot water bottles in the beds during turndown. If one isn’t there when you get back from dinner, you can ask.
Balloon safari is available. USD 450-550. Early morning departure.
Short drive. Hour and a half. Ask your guide about the Nderit Gate instead of the main gate—it’s quieter, enters through a more scenic forest section, and avoids Nakuru town traffic that can kill the safari vibe.
Lake Nakuru is a rhino sanctuary. Both black and white rhinos. This is where you check “rhino” off the Big Five list. The park is small enough that rhino sightings are fairly reliable, though ask your driver about recent rhino zones for that specific week. Wind and rain shift where animals stay, and current-location knowledge helps a lot.
The smell of Nakuru is distinctive. Alkaline water, bird droppings, something sulfurous underneath.
The flamingos depend on water levels. The lake has been high recently, pushing them to other alkaline lakes. Some months you get thousands. Other months, a handful.
Makalia Falls: Most tourists stay on the lake shore looking for rhinos. But at the southern end, there’s a waterfall where you can get out of the vehicle and stretch. One of the few safe spots in a predator park.
Lion Hill vs Baboon Cliff: Lion Hill often has better light and fewer vehicles than the more famous Baboon Cliff.
Leopards rest in the fever trees here. Nakuru is actually decent for leopard sightings.
Stay: Lake Nakuru Sopa, Sarova Lion Hill, or Flamingo Hill Camp
Lodges
Naivasha: Lake Naivasha Sopa has wildlife on the grounds—good for photos without going anywhere. Enashipai is a nicer property with a spa. Sawela works fine if you’re just sleeping there and moving on.
Mara: Ashnil is consistent. Zebra Plains is good value with views. The conservancy camps in Mara North or Naboisho allow night drives and off-road driving but cost more.
The guide matters as much as the lodge. Guides who know animal behavior and communicate with other vehicles find more. If you care about this, ask about the guide’s experience before booking—how long they’ve worked the Mara, whether they do photography guiding, that kind of thing.
Clothing
Don’t wear dark blue or black in areas with tsetse flies. They’re attracted to those colors—they perceive them as animal hides. Even dark denim can make you a target. If you see blue and black fabric strips hanging from trees, those are insecticide traps.
Neutral colors—khaki, tan, olive—work better.
Money
Kenya uses M-Pesa for most transactions. If you want to buy something from a Maasai village or tip a specific person, they often prefer M-Pesa over USD because they can use it directly instead of exchanging it. Your guide can help you load a local SIM with some Kenyan shillings if you want that option.
For larger payments—lodges, park fees—USD is fine.
Costs
Season | Range |
Low (April-May) | USD 2,000 – 2,400 |
High (Jan-Mar, Nov-Dec) | USD 2,500 – 3,000 |
Peak (July-Oct) | USD 3,000 – 3,500 |
Park fees are higher July-December (USD 200/day vs USD 100/day for the Mara).
Park Fees
Naivasha boat and Crescent Island: Around USD 50 combined.
Masai Mara: USD 100 per adult per day January-June, USD 200 July-December. Three days means three fees.
Included
Private 4×4 Land Cruiser with driver-guide for all five days, four nights full board accommodation, all park fees, Naivasha boat ride and Crescent Island walk, bottled water.
Not included: international flights, Kenya eTA, alcohol at lodges, tips, balloon safari, Hell’s Gate if added.
Planning Notes
Leave Nairobi before early afternoon if driving. Arriving at the Mara after dark means missing the afternoon game drive.
If you’re flying out of Kenya on Day 5, book a late evening flight. Traffic from the Mara back to Nairobi is variable and delays happen.
If doing a fly-in version of this trip, small aircraft have strict baggage limits—15kg, soft bags only. Leave hard suitcases in Nairobi.
FAQs
Can I skip Naivasha?
Yes. Do a 4 day Mara trip and drive straight through.
Van or Land Cruiser?
Land Cruiser handles rough roads and mud better. Confirm any “4×4 van” is actually four-wheel drive—not all of them are.
Best time?
Migration July-October. Fewer crowds April-May but rain affects road conditions.
Written by Robert Ogema, safari consultant with over 10 years of experience. Edited by Sankale Ole Neboo.
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