ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
11-Day Kenya Bush & Beach Safari

Kenya - Fly-in safari

11-Day Kenya Bush & Beach Safari

Duration
11 days
Countries
Kenya
Suited to
2-8 guests
Pricing
From USD 17,380

The journey

Updated on 23 August 2026

Kenya is the rare safari country that can hand you three completely different holidays in a row without a wasted day, and this route takes all three. It opens gently in Nairobi at House of Waine, an eleven-room house in leafy Karen, close enough to the Sheldrick elephant orphanage and the Giraffe Centre to fill an afternoon before you fly anywhere. Then the Mara. Angama sits on the Oloololo Escarpment with the whole Mara Triangle spread out three hundred metres below, and its tented suites are effectively glass boxes hung over that view. Three nights covers the plains game, the big cats and, between July and October, the migration herds. A flight north crosses to Lewa, the 62,000-acre conservancy that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and holds around eleven per cent of the world's Grevy's zebra alongside a serious black rhino population. Sirikoi, family-run and quietly excellent, is the address. The last leg drops to the coast at Medina Palms in Watamu, where the reef sits inside a marine national park. Three nights of dhows, snorkelling and doing nothing much at all.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Arrival in Karen

A driver meets you at Jomo Kenyatta and runs the 45 minutes out to Karen, where House of Waine sits in two acres of garden with the Ngong Hills behind it. Eleven rooms, no crowds, and a lawn that recovers you from the overnight flight. If you land early, the Sheldrick elephant orphanage is fifteen minutes away.

Stay 2

Nairobi to the Escarpment

The morning is yours for the Giraffe Centre or the Karen Blixen house before the short hop to Wilson Airport and the 45 minute flight west. Angama appears at the top of the escarpment, its suites all glass and canvas above a thousand square kilometres of plain. The first drive drops into the Mara Triangle for lion and elephant.

Stay 3

Into the Mara Triangle

A full day on the Triangle floor, the western third of the reserve where vehicle numbers are capped and nobody drives off-road. Guides work the Mara River line for hippo and crocodile, and in season the crossing points. Lunch is a picnic under a fig, and the drive climbs home as the escarpment goes gold behind the camp.

Stay 4

Cats and the Picnic Site

The morning goes after the Triangle's big cats, the resident lion prides and the cheetah that use the open ground near the Tanzanian border. Afterwards the camp will set up lunch at the spot where the Out of Africa picnic scene was filmed, on the escarpment edge. The afternoon is free for the photographic studio or the pool.

Stay 5

Across to Lewa

A morning drive, then the flight northeast across the Rift and around the shoulder of Mount Kenya to Lewa's airstrip, roughly two hours with a stop. Sirikoi's tents and cottages stand beside a spring-fed swamp where elephant come to drink. The afternoon drive introduces the conservancy's rhino and the reticulated giraffe of the north.

Stay 6

Rhino and Grevy's Zebra

Lewa's whole argument is on display today: black rhino browsing the thickets, white rhino out on the grass, and the narrow-striped Grevy's zebra that survive here in numbers found almost nowhere else. The afternoon offers a visit to the anti-poaching headquarters and the tracker dog unit, which is more moving than it sounds.

Stay 7

The Conservancy on Foot and Horseback

Lewa allows what the national reserves do not: walking with an armed Maasai guide, riding out among the plains game, and night drives after dinner. Take whichever suits. Between them, the swamp in front of camp does its own show, elephant families arriving through the afternoon while you sit still and watch.

Stay 8

North to the Ocean

The flight from Lewa to the coast crosses the whole country, dry north to green littoral, and lands at Malindi for the short run down to Watamu. Medina Palms opens onto a beach inside a marine national park, so the reef starts a few hundred metres out. The rest of the day is a swim and an early dinner.

Stay 9

The Marine Park

Watamu's reef has been protected since 1968 and it shows: a morning snorkelling trip runs over coral gardens thick with fish, turtles and, from November, the occasional whale shark passing offshore. The afternoon is for the pool, the spa, or a dhow out into Mida Creek to watch the tide turn the mangroves inside out.

Stay 10

Gede and Doing Nothing

The ruined Swahili town of Gede sits fifteen minutes inland, thirteenth-century coral-rag walls swallowed by forest and full of golden-rumped elephant shrews. Go early, then come back for the part of the holiday that involves lying still. Dinner is grilled seafood with your feet more or less in the sand.

Stay 11

Coast to Nairobi

A last swim before the transfer to Malindi and the flight back to Nairobi, connecting to evening international departures. Eleven days that took in a capital-city garden, an escarpment above the Mara, a rhino conservancy in the northern drylands and a protected reef, without a single long road transfer between them.

Safari highlights

  • One night easing in at House of Waine in Karen
  • Three nights at Angama Mara above the Mara Triangle
  • Black rhino and Grevy's zebra on Lewa Conservancy
  • Three nights at Sirikoi, one of Kenya's finest camps
  • Three nights on the Watamu reef at Medina Palms
  • Bush, conservancy and Indian Ocean in one routing

What is included

Included

  • 10 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Light-aircraft flights Wilson-Mara, Mara-Lewa and Lewa-Malindi
  • Road transfers in Nairobi, on Lewa and at the coast
  • All meals and house drinks at Angama Mara and Sirikoi
  • Bed and breakfast at House of Waine and Medina Palms
  • Twice-daily game drives in the Mara and on Lewa
  • Masai Mara reserve fees and Lewa conservancy fees
  • Emergency medical evacuation cover while on safari

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Kenya electronic travel authorisation and entry permits
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
  • Lunches and dinners in Nairobi and at the coast
  • Balloon safaris, diving and premium spirits
  • Gratuities for guides, drivers and lodge staff
  • Items of a personal nature and telephone calls

Frequently asked questions

How much does an 11-day Kenya bush and beach safari cost?

From USD 17,380 per person sharing, rising to about USD 19,780 in peak season. That covers ten nights across House of Waine, Angama Mara, Sirikoi and Medina Palms, full board with drinks at the two safari camps, all game drives, Mara reserve and Lewa conservancy fees, and the three internal light-aircraft flights. International flights to Africa are excluded and quoted separately.

When is the best time for this trip?

July to October puts the migration herds in the Mara and gives the coast its driest, calmest water, which is why it is peak on both legs. January to March is the quieter alternative: excellent resident game, hot clear coast weather and lower rates. Avoid the long rains in April and May, when several coast properties close and Mara black-cotton tracks turn difficult.

Why stay on the Oloololo Escarpment rather than in the reserve?

Height and quiet. Angama sits three hundred metres above the Mara Triangle, so the view runs to the horizon and the camp catches a breeze the valley floor never gets. Drives descend into the Triangle, the least-visited third of the Masai Mara, where vehicle numbers are capped and off-road driving is banned, so sightings stay orderly.

What makes Lewa worth including?

Lewa is a 62,000-acre conservancy and UNESCO World Heritage site that pioneered community conservation in northern Kenya. It protects a significant black and white rhino population and around eleven per cent of the world's remaining Grevy's zebra, and its bed numbers are tightly limited. Sightings are quiet, and your conservancy fees fund the anti-poaching and schools programmes directly.

Are international flights included?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded and booked separately, arriving at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport. Everything inside Kenya is included: the light-aircraft legs from Wilson Airport to the Mara, on to Lewa and down to the coast, plus all road transfers. Light aircraft enforce a 15 kg soft-bag limit per person.

Is Kenya a malaria area, and do I need a yellow fever certificate?

The Mara and the coast are malarial and prophylaxis is recommended for both; Nairobi and Lewa sit at higher altitude with lower risk. See a travel clinic about six weeks before departure. A yellow fever certificate is required only if you arrive from a country with transmission risk. All camps provide repellent and mosquito nets.