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Samaka MaraSafari

Excursions

Day trips from Nairobi and the coast

A free morning, a layover, or a week on the beach — all of these fit around the rest of your plans.

You do not need a week to see something extraordinary in Kenya. Nairobi has a national park with black rhino inside the city boundary, an elephant orphanage that opens for an hour every morning, and a giraffe sanctuary where you can feed an endangered Rothschild's from a raised platform — all within an hour of most hotels.

On the coast, the options run from an afternoon in Mombasa's old town to a full day snorkelling a protected reef at Kisite, or two days inland in Tsavo among the red elephants. All of them include hotel pick-up and drop-off, so you can book them from your beach hotel the day before.

These run at short notice and for as few as two people. If you have a specific window — a long layover, a free Sunday, a spare afternoon before a flight — tell us and we will tell you honestly what fits.

Booking notes

  • Most day trips need a minimum of two people; single travellers can join a scheduled departure.
  • The Sheldrick elephant nursery opens to the public at 11:00 only, seven days a week.
  • Kisite marine park is often closed by rough seas in May, June and July.
  • Airport pick-up and drop-off can be added to any Nairobi excursion.

Popular combinations

  • Nairobi National Park in the morning, Sheldrick and the Giraffe Centre after.
  • Karen Blixen Museum, Kazuri beads and lunch at the Giraffe Centre.
  • Hell's Gate by bicycle followed by an afternoon boat trip on Lake Naivasha.
  • Two days in Tsavo East from any beach hotel between Mombasa and Watamu.

13 itineraries

Day trip

Excursion

Lake Nakuru Day Trip

Rhino, Rothschild's giraffe and the Rift Valley, there and back in a day

Lake Nakuru
From NairobiView itinerary
Day trip

Excursion

Shimba Hills Day Trip

Coastal rainforest, sable antelope and a waterfall you can swim under

Shimba Hills
From Diani or MombasaView itinerary
Day trip

Excursion

Mombasa City & Old Town Tour

Five hundred years of Swahili, Portuguese, Omani and British coastline

MombasaFort JesusOld Town
From Mombasa or DianiView itinerary
Day trip

Excursion

Mombasa Dhow Dinner Cruise

An evening on the old creek under a lateen sail

Tudor Creek, Mombasa
From Mombasa or DianiView itinerary
Day trip

Excursion

Wasini Island & Kisite Marine Park

Dolphins, coral gardens and a Swahili seafood lunch

Kisite-Mpunguti Marine ParkWasini IslandShimoni
From Diani or MombasaView itinerary
2 days · 1 night

Excursion

2 Days Ol Pejeta Conservancy

An overnight with the last two northern white rhino on earth

Ol Pejeta ConservancyNanyuki
From NairobiView itinerary
2 days · 1 night

Excursion

2 Days Tsavo East from the Coast

The shortest safari that is still worth doing from the beach

Tsavo East
From Mombasa or DianiView itinerary

Getting around

Transfers and the cross-border shuttle

Booked on their own or bolted onto a safari. Airport transfers run at any hour; the Arusha and Moshi shuttles leave Nairobi daily at 08:00 and pick up and drop off at hotels on both sides of the border.

  • Jomo Kenyatta International (NBO) ↔ your Nairobi hotel

    Met in arrivals with a name board, any hour.

    Saloon car, or a tour van for parties over four

  • Wilson Airport ↔ your Nairobi hotel

    For light-aircraft flights to the Mara, Samburu and the coast.

    Saloon car, or a tour van for parties over four

  • Nairobi → Arusha

    Daily departure at 08:00, hotel pick-up and drop-off at both ends.

    Shared 25-seat shuttle bus

  • Nairobi → Moshi

    Daily departure at 08:00 — the usual way in for a Kilimanjaro trek.

    Shared 25-seat shuttle bus

  • Kilimanjaro International (JRO) ↔ Arusha or Moshi

    Timed to your flight, including late arrivals.

    Saloon car or tour van

  • Arusha Airport ↔ your hotel

    For domestic hops to the Serengeti airstrips.

    Saloon car or tour van

A night either side of a transfer can be arranged too — we use a garden eco-camp on the edge of Nairobi and a small hotel in Arusha, both on half board.

None of these quite right?

Almost every trip we run started as one of these and ended up somewhere else. Send us your dates and we will rebuild it.

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