24 Sep 2025 - 30 Sep 2025 (7 days)
USD3,950 - Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Rockjumper Tour Leader TBC
Pricing notes : *prices are estimated and dates may change*
Tour price (Per person): USD3,950 * GBP3,154 * EUR3,802 * AUD6,343
Single Supplement: USD750 * GBP599 * EUR722 * AUD1,204
Flight costs: USD650 * GBP519 * EUR626 * AUD1,044
Embark on a thrilling 7-day safari adventure in Kenya's Maasai Mara, focusing on the region's iconic big cats. Begin your journey in Nairobi before flying to the renowned Maasai Mara National Reserve. Stay in a beautiful camp along the Mara River, surrounded by diverse wildlife. Enjoy daily game drives, a hot-air balloon safari, and the opportunity to witness the Great Wildebeest Migration, lion prides, elusive leopards, and sprinting cheetahs. This tour offers unparalleled wildlife photography opportunities and the chance to experience the majestic African landscape in style and comfort.
Exceptional birdwatching opportunities as well with numerous eagles and other raptors such as Martial, Tawny, Bateleur, Gabar, and Dark Chanting Goshawk, and others such as Black-bellied and Kori Bustard, and numerous species of hornbills, flycatchers, shrikes, and waterbirds.
Large lion prides, Leopard, Cheetah, incredible Wildebeest migration as they cross the Mara River, Spotted Hyena, Black-backed Jackal, Nile Crocodile, Hippo, African Elephant, African Buffalo, Olive Baboon, Banded and Egyptian Mongooses, Plain’s Zebra, Warthog, Topi, Coke’s Hartebeest, Thomson’s & Grant’s Gazelle’s, Impala, Eland (the world’s largest antelope) and Giraffe.
Explore the vast grasslands, riverine forests, and acacia woodlands of the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Expect warm days and cool nights with temperatures ranging from 12-28°C (54-82°F), typical of Kenya’s dry season in September.
6 and 1 Local Wildlife Guide
The tour maintains a moderate pace with daily game drives, ensuring ample time for wildlife observation and relaxation.
Stay in luxurious riverbank camps offering comfort and proximity to wildlife.
Hot Air Balloon Safari.
Capture stunning images of diverse wildlife, dramatic landscapes, and big cat interactions.
This was one of the best five of the 53 guided birding tours I have taken! Paul Josop is not only a truly excellent local guide who knows African birds and their calls phenomenally well, but is also extremely pleasant to deal with, polite, supportive of all levels of participant birding skills and very thoughtful. Paul also has an infectious sense of humor: We all laughed a lot on this tour! He loves to teach participants the finer points of the biology of the animals and plants encountered on a tour; he also managed group dynamics very well. It is clear that Paul enjoys guiding and he is very focused on getting all of the tour participants onto every bird species we encountered: He is living proof of my dictum that ""A good local guide is a thing of joy"". Our two local guide/drivers, Roger in Tanzania and Edson in Kenya, were also excellent: They dealt very well with severely pot-holed African roads and erratic African drivers and traffic; they also pointed out very many birds and big game as we bounced through the national parks, reserves and paved roads, all filled with aggressive opposing traffic! They have my highest recommendation. However, I do urge the local tour operator, Tanzania Birding and Beyond, to have their Land Cruiser passenger seats rebuilt - they were singularly uncomfortable on our long drives. This Rockjumper tour has my highest recommendation for all levels of participants' birding skills.
Paul Josop is a top notch and amazing tour leader - at all times he was knowledgeable, patient, attentive and engaging. We loved the trip and feel that much of its success was because of Paul's excellent guiding skills. We feel very fortunate to have experienced all that we did.
This trip far exceeded my expectations. Our guide, Greg de Klerk, was excellent in every way. He took the time to actually teach us about bird and animal behavior. When other tour vehicles were speeding away, we got to sit and really learn. Also our driver, Martin, was superb -- an excellent driver who navigated the rutted roads with great skill, but also proved himself to be an excellent spotter and birder. Greg and Martin made a wonderful team. The selection of game reserves that we visited on this trip was perfect, especially for me as a first-timer. I felt I got an excellent overview of the Kenyan countryside. Our accommodations were all comfortable, but some were better than others. I loved the Wildebeest Eco-Lodge in Nairobi -- a wonderful introduction to the country. Castle Forest felt magical, and even the annoyance of having only one plug per room did not dampen my enthusiasm. The Sopa Lodge at Sambura was comfortable and the staff were very accommodating; I just wish the doors and windows had been a bit tighter to keep out a startling array of large critters (crickets, spiders, and something very large with lots of legs), none of which appeared at any other location. The Lodge at Lake Nakuru was a treat and very unexpected. But I loved the low-key atmosphere of the Pride Inn at Masai Mara -- a lovely location, and again the staff were wonderful. I thought the food offered at the buffets in all our lodges was excellent overall. Thank you for a wonderful experience. I can't wait to go back.
Heinz Ortmann was charming and funny, outstanding on the birds and other animals, and excellent in dealing with the logistics. I would be very happy to travel with Heinz again.
Greg de Klerk was a wonderful leader. He knew exactly how to lead this relaxed tour. He always made sure that the needs of everyone in group were being met. He also demonstrated incredible knowledge of both the birds and the animals. I would go anywhere with him on another related tour.
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