Kenya Safari and Zanzibar Beach Holiday (9 to 12 Days)

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A Kenya safari and Zanzibar trip pairs Maasai Mara game drives with Zanzibar’s white sand beaches, giving you both a proper safari and a proper beach holiday in one single trip without needing 2 separate bookings or a second round of flights.

• FromUSD 1,950per person sharing, mid range, low season, 7 days
• Duration9 to 12 days, flexible
• StartsNairobi
• Best forTravelers wanting Big Five game viewing and a proper beach finish in one trip
• StylePrivate, any group size

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Rated 4.9 on Google from 47 reviews. Price confirmed in writing before you pay.

Title sponsor

Alumni Golf Challenge

We are the title sponsor this year.

Golf is part of who we are, so we put our name behind the Alumni Golf Challenge. Want more golf after the day? Tell us when you are free. We book your tee time at Karen, Muthaiga or Vipingo Ridge and sort the transfers and the stay.

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Most guests spend 3 to 4 days in the Mara, then fly to Zanzibar for 4 to 7 nights, since the flight connection between the 2 works cleanly through Nairobi and takes a manageable chunk out of the day rather than the whole day.

We run every Kenya safari and Zanzibar itinerary with a private driver guide in the Mara and a beach hotel booking handled on your behalf in Zanzibar. Prices below are a guide price per person sharing, confirmed in writing on WhatsApp before any deposit.

Highlights

• 3 to 4 days of Maasai Mara Big Five game drives
• 4 to 7 nights on Zanzibar’s beaches, Nungwi, Kendwa or Paje depending on your pick
• One clean flight connection through Nairobi between safari and beach
• Private driver guide for the whole Mara portion of your trip
• Beach hotel tiers from simple guesthouse to 5 star resort
• A genuinely varied trip, savannah wildlife and Indian Ocean beach in one holiday

Day by day plan

1. Day 1

   Arrive Nairobi

   Land in Nairobi and transfer to your hotel for the night, ready for an early start into the Maasai Mara the next morning.

2. Day 2 to 4

   Maasai Mara safari

   A drive into the Maasai Mara for 3 full days of game drives, morning and afternoon, covering resident lion, elephant, buffalo and, with good fortune, leopard and rhino. This is the wildlife heart of your Kenya safari and Zanzibar trip before the pace shifts entirely to beach time.

3. Day 5

   Mara to Zanzibar

   A drive or short flight back to Nairobi, connecting on to a direct flight to Zanzibar, landing by early to mid afternoon. Transfer to your beach hotel and settle in for the rest of the day.

4. Day 6 to 9

   Zanzibar at leisure

   4 free days at your beach hotel, with optional activities like a Stone Town tour, a spice farm visit, snorkelling at Mnemba Atoll or simply doing nothing beyond swim, eat and sleep.

5. Day 10

   Depart Zanzibar

   A flight from Zanzibar back through Nairobi or directly to your international connection, closing out your Kenya safari and Zanzibar holiday.

Kenya safari and Zanzibar, USD per person sharing

• Low season, Jan to Jun, rate shown; peak season, Jul to Oct and the festive period, adds roughly 15 to 25 percent.
• Rates include the Nairobi to Zanzibar flight, Mara park fees, driver guide and accommodation on the tier stated.
• International flights into and out of Nairobi are quoted separately and are not included in the figures above.

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How do I fly from the Maasai Mara to Zanzibar

Most Kenya safari and Zanzibar itineraries route through Nairobi, either a short domestic flight or a road transfer back from the Mara, followed by a direct flight to Zanzibar, roughly 2 hours in the air.

A handful of routings allow flying more directly from a Mara airstrip toward the coast with a connection, though Nairobi remains the simplest, most reliable option and the one we build into a standard Kenya safari and Zanzibar package. Our Kenya fly in safaris page covers the Mara airstrip options in more detail if you want to skip the road transfer entirely.

How many days should I spend in Zanzibar after a safari

4 to 7 nights is the sweet spot for most guests, enough time to properly unwind after several early morning game drives without the beach portion dragging on longer than your interest holds.

Shorter stays, 2 to 3 nights, feel rushed given the flight time involved to reach Zanzibar in the first place, so we generally do not recommend building a Kenya safari and Zanzibar trip around anything shorter than 4 nights on the beach, especially once you factor in a full travel day on each end of that beach stretch.

Is Zanzibar or Diani better after a Kenya safari

Zanzibar offers Stone Town’s history, spice farms and a distinct Swahili and Arab influenced culture alongside its beaches, genuinely different in character from mainland Kenya, which many guests specifically want after several days in the Mara.

Diani is simpler logistically, no international border crossing and a shorter flight from Nairobi and suits guests who want beach time without the extra planning a Zanzibar visa and separate currency require. See our Kenya safari and beach holiday page for the Diani focused version of this same idea.

How much does Kenya safari and Zanzibar cost

A Kenya safari and Zanzibar package starts from about USD 1,950 per person sharing for a 7 day trip at mid range level in low season, rising to around USD 4,300 for a 12 day luxury version in peak season.

The Nairobi to Zanzibar flight is included at every tier and international flights into and out of Nairobi are quoted separately since fares vary by origin city and change frequently.

Choosing your Zanzibar beach base

Nungwi and Kendwa in the north offer the most reliable swimming conditions regardless of tide, plus a livelier choice of restaurants and beach bars. Paje and the south east coast suit guests wanting kitesurfing or a quieter, more laid back stretch of sand.

We match your Zanzibar base to what you actually want from the beach portion of your Kenya safari and Zanzibar trip rather than defaulting to a single generic recommendation. Our Kenya luxury safaris page has more on the higher end camp and hotel tiers if premium properties matter most to you on both legs.

What the Mara portion of this trip adds

3 to 4 full days in the Mara gives real depth to the safari side of a Kenya safari and Zanzibar itinerary, rather than a token single game drive tacked onto a beach holiday. Lion, elephant and buffalo are reliably seen, with leopard and rhino a real possibility given enough time.

See our 3 day Maasai Mara safari page for what this opening block looks like as a standalone trip if you want more detail on the safari portion specifically.

Stone Town and cultural add ons in Zanzibar

Stone Town, Zanzibar’s old quarter, is a UNESCO World Heritage site with narrow alleys, carved doors and a genuinely different feel from the beach resorts further north, worth at least a half day even for guests focused mainly on relaxing.

A spice farm tour, showing how cloves, vanilla and other spices that made Zanzibar historically famous are grown and harvested, is a popular half day add on that pairs naturally with a Stone Town visit on the same trip. Guests wanting more culture on the Kenya side too often add our Kenya cultural safaris experiences before flying out to the coast.

Best time of year for this itinerary

Jun to Oct and Jan to Mar are the driest windows in both the Mara and Zanzibar, making them the strongest overall choice for a combined Kenya safari and Zanzibar trip, with good game viewing and reliable beach weather on both ends.

Apr and May bring Zanzibar’s long rains, which can mean sudden downpours most afternoons, though the Mara itself often still offers decent game viewing in this quieter, considerably cheaper shoulder season if you are flexible on beach conditions and do not mind the occasional rainy stretch.

Entry requirements for both legs

Kenya requires an ETA for most visitors, applied for online before travel, while Zanzibar, part of Tanzania, has its own separate entry requirement, typically a visa on arrival or an online application depending on your nationality.

Check both requirements well ahead of a Kenya safari and Zanzibar trip, since they are handled by 2 different national systems even though the flight between them feels like a short domestic hop. Our is Kenya safe guide covers wider first time visitor questions worth reading alongside your visa research.

Packing for 2 very different climates

The Mara’s cooler mornings and evenings call for a warm layer alongside standard safari clothing, while Zanzibar’s tropical humidity needs lighter, breathable fabrics and reef safe sunscreen for the beach days.

See our packing checklist for the safari basics and pack a genuinely separate bag for the beach portion since the 2 climates do not overlap much on this route and one packing list rarely covers both halves well.

Extending or shortening your Kenya safari and Zanzibar itinerary

Some guests trim the Mara portion to 2 days to keep the overall trip closer to a week, while others extend Zanzibar to a full 10 nights for a genuinely long, unhurried beach finish.

Tell us your total time available and whether safari or beach matters more and we will adjust this Kenya safari and Zanzibar itinerary around that priority rather than fitting you into one fixed template rather than something built specifically around your own preferences. See our Zanzibar beach safari experience page for a related standalone itinerary.

How to book your Kenya safari and Zanzibar

Booking your Kenya safari and Zanzibar with us takes about five minutes of your time. The rest is our job. Here is exactly what happens, step by step, so there are no surprises along the way.

1. Send your dates. Message us on WhatsApp with your travel dates, how many people are coming and the ages of any children. Tell us if you have a budget in mind. We plan with it, not around it.
2. Get a written quote. We reply with a clear price per person, what it includes and what it does not. No hidden park fees and no vague extras. If a cheaper camp or a shorter route makes more sense, we say so.
3. Tweak it until it fits. Change a camp, add a night or swap a park. Ask as many questions as you like. Changes cost nothing until you confirm.
4. Confirm with a deposit. A deposit holds your vehicle, guide and rooms. You get a written confirmation with every detail and the date the balance is due.
5. Travel day. Your driver guide meets you at your hotel or the airport with a name board. You have their number and ours for the whole trip.

What every trip with us includes

Every Kenya safari and Zanzibar plan we put together comes with the basics done properly. You ride in a safari vehicle with a pop up roof, with a professional driver guide who knows the parks. Water is in the cooler box and park fees are sorted in advance so you do not stand in a queue at the gate.

We also stay reachable. If something changes on the road, a flat tyre, a closed route or a sudden storm, we sort it and keep you posted on WhatsApp.

Paying safely

We share payment details in writing only and every payment gets a receipt. The payment options and the balance date sit on your written quote, so nothing is left to memory or a phone call.

Why book with a Nairobi team

We live here. We drive these roads all year, we know which camps are honest about their photos and we know when a park is too busy to enjoy. That local knowledge is what turns a good Kenya safari and Zanzibar into a great one. Our Google rating sits at 4.9 from 47 reviews and we plan to keep it that way.

Ready when you are. Send us a message and we will put a plan together for you shortly.

Questions people ask

Official information: Zanzibar Commission for Tourism.

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