11-Days in Untamed Africa and Coastal Adventures Tour

This itinerary has been designed with select regional flights due to the distances between destinations, allowing you to maximize your time in the bush and spend less time in transit.

For travelers who prefer not to fly on certain routes, there is also the option of taking Kenya’s scenic train journey between Nairobi and Mombasa. This rail experience offers a comfortable and memorable alternative, with the chance to enjoy changing landscapes along the way. For added comfort, VIP or Premium Class seating is an excellent choice, providing a more spacious and relaxed way to travel while keeping the journey itself part of the safari experience.

We are happy to tailor the logistics based on your travel style, comfort preferences, and schedule, ensuring that every part of your journey feels intentional and well considered.

Day 2: Flight to Maasai Mara

After breakfast, transfer to Wilson Airport for your scheduled light aircraft flight to the Maasai Mara. The journey itself is part of the experience, with sweeping views over Kenya’s changing landscapes before the golden plains of Ol Kinyei appear below. On arrival at the airstrip, the safari begins immediately. You will be met by your camp team and head straight into the conservancy, where wildlife sightings often begin before anyone has fully adjusted their camera settings.

Ol Kinyei Conservancy is a private, community-owned conservation area where tourism directly supports Maasai landowners and long-term wildlife protection. This model matters, and you feel it in the quality of the landscape, the exclusivity of the experience, and the absence of vehicle congestion. Your home will be an intimate, solar-powered camp that blends comfort with a strong conservation ethos.

After lunch and time to settle in, head out on your first game drive, then return for a bush sundowner as the day closes over the savanna. It is a strong opening to the Mara, and the Mara rarely believes in subtlety.

Later in the day, the experience shifts from wildlife viewing to cultural and ecological understanding. A guided walk with Maasai warriors offers a completely different perspective on the bush, one shaped by generations of observation, knowledge, and lived connection to the land.

You will also visit a local Maasai boma, where architecture, beadwork, tradition, and community life come together in meaningful ways.

Back at camp, the evening ends by the fire under a sky so full of stars it feels almost competitive.

After a final morning activity from at your camp, transfer within Ol Kinyei Conservancy to your next accommodation. Staying in two properties within the same conservancy is a deliberate design choice by Back to the Source Tours. It gives you a deeper sense of place, introduces a new vantage point across the same wildlife-rich ecosystem, and allows the Mara to reveal itself with greater depth rather than as a quick highlight reel.

The cottages offer a different atmosphere while preserving the same strong access to wildlife and the same high standard of guiding. From the elevated setting, the views across the savanna are expansive, and the quieter afternoon hours invite both rest and observation. Later, enjoy another game drive through the conservancy, with excellent chances to continue tracking the Big Five and to appreciate the smaller details that become visible once you stop rushing the experience. That, by the way, is where many great safaris finally get clever.

Your final full day in the Maasai Mara is designed to make the most of this extraordinary landscape. Guests who choose the optional hot air balloon safari will begin the day with one of East Africa’s most iconic experiences, drifting silently above the plains as wildlife moves below in the first light of morning. The balloon safari concludes with a champagne bush breakfast, a classic Mara moment for good reason.

For those remaining in camp, or after the balloon experience, the day continues with more time in the conservancy for game viewing, photography, and simply absorbing the rhythm of the place.

By now, Ol Kinyei is no longer just a destination on the itinerary. It is a landscape you have begun to understand. This evening, gather for a farewell dinner in the Mara and one final night under a vast East African sky, with the sounds of the bush providing the only soundtrack needed.

Day 6: Fly to Tsavo East

After breakfast and a final look across the Ol Kinyei plains, board your light aircraft for the next chapter of the journey, Tsavo. The transition is dramatic. The green grasslands of the Mara give way to volcanic formations, red earth, and a landscape of impressive scale that feels older, broader, and wilder in a completely different way. Few journeys in Kenya offer such a vivid contrast in such a short span of time.

On arrival, transfer to your unique safari lodge. This property is one of Kenya’s most distinctive safari lodges, built on stilts above active waterholes and natural salt licks that regularly attract large numbers of animals. From the viewing decks and underground bunker, wildlife encounters continue even when you are out of the vehicle. Elephant herds are frequent visitors, and on clear days Mount Kilimanjaro may appear on the horizon, which is the mountain’s way of reminding everyone who is in charge of the skyline.

After breakfast, transfer to the airstrip for your coastal flight to Mombasa. Once again, Kenya changes character beautifully. The interior’s dry plains gradually soften into coastal vegetation before the Indian Ocean appears in striking shades of blue. On arrival in Mombasa, continue south by road toward Diani Beach, taking in the rhythm of the coast, the ferry crossing, and the first unmistakable breath of warm ocean air.

Check in at Diani Beach Resort, where the next phase of the itinerary shifts from classic safari to tropical ease without losing momentum. Diani is celebrated for its long stretch of white sand, calm reef-protected waters, and nearby coastal forest that supports important wildlife, including the endangered Angolan colobus monkey. This evening, settle into the coast with a dhow sundowner experience, fresh sea air, and the kind of sunset that makes people suspicious the sky is trying too hard.

Today combines two excellent sides of coastal Kenya. In the morning, travel to Mombasa Old Town for a guided exploration of one of the Indian Ocean’s most historic trading centers. Here, Swahili, Arab, Indian, Persian, and European influences have shaped the architecture, cuisine, and character of the city over centuries. Narrow streets, carved wooden doors, spice-laced air, and the commanding presence of Fort Jesus create a setting that is rich in story and unmistakably East African.

After lunch, return to Diani Beach for an afternoon at leisure or with optional activities such as snorkeling, reef exploration, kite surfing, or a visit to the Colobus Conservation sanctuary. The contrast between Old Town and Diani works brilliantly. One gives you depth and history; the other gives you space, sea, and time to breathe. Back at the resort, enjoy dinner and another relaxed evening on Kenya’s southern coast.

Your final full day on the coast is intentionally flexible, allowing you to enjoy Diani at your preferred pace. Relax on the beach, swim in the warm Indian Ocean, enjoy resort amenities, or choose an optional excursion to Wasini Island and Kisite Marine National Park for dhow sailing and snorkeling among coral reefs, turtles, dolphins, and abundant marine life. It is an excellent finale for travelers who want one last adventure before departure.

Back at the resort, the afternoon is yours to slow down and enjoy the setting. Watch the changing tide, take a final walk along the beach, or simply appreciate the shift this itinerary has taken you through, from savanna to sanctuary to coastline. This evening, gather for a farewell dinner by the ocean with your fellow travelers. It is a fitting close to a journey that has delivered wildlife, culture, scenery, and serious memory-making without once losing its balance.

This safari is committed to sustainability, partnering with eco-friendly accommodations that prioritize responsible practices. Enjoy your stay in hotels that minimize plastic waste, embrace farm-to-table dining, and utilize solar energy for a greener footprint.

Experience the wonders of Africa while contributing to a sustainable future. Book your unforgettable adventure today and create memories that will last a lifetime.