BestCamp Safaris runs mobile tented camps, fly-camps, and walk-in bush camps across six real circuits: the Maasai Mara, Amboseli and the Chyulu Hills, Tsavo East and West, Samburu, Laikipia, and the Lake Nakuru/Naivasha stretch of the Rift Valley. The interactive map below shows the full picture of Kenya’s protected areas so you can see how our circuits sit against the wider country. Zoom in, switch on satellite or 3D terrain, and tap any boundary for size, drive time, and the wildlife it is known for.
The interactive map could not load on this connection.
You can still use the circuit guide and distance tables below, or open Kenya’s parks on Google Maps.
Not all camping is the same, and which style fits depends on the circuit and the season.
A full canvas camp, moved a handful of times a year to follow the wildlife and the seasons. Real beds, an en-suite bucket shower, a mess tent, and a campfire, set up on private ground rather than a fixed lodge plot. This is our standard style in the Maasai Mara and on the Lake Nakuru/Naivasha circuit.
A light, one or two-night satellite camp pitched away from a base camp, usually reached on foot or by vehicle at the end of a game drive. Simpler than a mobile tented camp, built for a single night under the stars in a spot a permanent camp could never reach. This is how we run Amboseli, the Chyulu Hills, and Tsavo.
No vehicle track to the site. Guests and gear go in on foot with the guiding team, and the camp is struck the same way. Slower, quieter, and genuinely remote, this is our style in Samburu and on the Laikipia plateau.
The map covers the whole country. The six write-ups below are the regions where we actually camp; the rest of the map is there for context when you are comparing circuits or planning a longer trip.
Our circuit. Kenya’s most famous reserve sits 270 km from Nairobi, about a 5 to 6 hour drive or a 45 minute flight from Wilson Airport. We run mobile tented camps here, moved with the migration and the season, inside the conservancies along the northern boundary rather than the main reserve itself.
Our circuit. Amboseli’s elephants stand in front of Kilimanjaro just 240 km from the capital, and it is where most of our fly-camps run. Tsavo East and West together cover more than 22,000 square km, the largest protected block in the country, camped as a bush-camping trail rather than a single stop. The Chyulu Hills sit between the two, one of Kenya’s least-visited wilderness areas and a fly-camp trek in its own right.
Our circuit. The closest full camping circuit out of Nairobi. Lake Nakuru is 163 km away with rhino and flamingo, and Lake Naivasha adds hippo and a walkable island. We run this as a mobile camping loop, an easy add-on to a longer Mara or Amboseli trip.
Our circuit. Highland plateau, working conservancies, and the country’s strongest rhino story, with Ol Pejeta protecting the last two northern white rhinos on earth. We run this as a walking and camping safari, on foot more than in a vehicle.
Our circuit. Drier, wilder, and quieter, camped as a walk-in bush camp. Samburu’s Special Five (Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, gerenuk, and beisa oryx) live nowhere else on this map.
Aberdare, Mount Kenya, and the coast from Shimba Hills to Diani are on the map for context. We do not currently run camping circuits in these regions.
The rows in bold are BestCamp’s six circuits. The rest of the table is here so you can see how a longer trip might connect to a circuit we run.
| Park / Reserve | Region | Size (km²) | From Nairobi | Drive | Signature wildlife | Best months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maasai Mara National Reserve | Southwest | 1,510 | 270 km | 5-6 hr | Big Five, wildebeest migration | Jul-Oct |
| Amboseli National Park | South | 392 | 240 km | 4 hr | Elephant, Kilimanjaro views | Jun-Oct, Jan-Feb |
| Tsavo East National Park | South | 13,747 | 325 km | 6-8 hr | Red-dust elephant, lion | Jun-Oct |
| Tsavo West National Park | South | 9,065 | 232 km | 4-6 hr | Black rhino, Mzima Springs | Jun-Aug |
| Lake Nakuru National Park | Rift Valley | 188 | 163 km | 2.5 hr | Rhino, flamingo, lion | Year-round |
| Lake Naivasha | Rift Valley | 150 (lake) | 90 km | 1.5-2 hr | Hippo, Crescent Island walks | Year-round |
| Hell’s Gate National Park | Rift Valley | 68 | 100 km | 2 hr | Gorge walks, cycling | Year-round |
| Lake Bogoria National Reserve | Rift Valley | 34 (lake) | 250 km | 5 hr | Flamingo, hot springs | Year-round |
| Aberdare National Park | Central | 767 | 100 km | 2.5 hr | Elephant, bongo, tree lodges | Jun-Oct, Jan-Feb |
| Mount Kenya National Park | Central | 715 | 180 km | 3.5-4 hr | Trekking, montane forest | Jan-Feb, Aug-Sep |
| Nairobi National Park | Central | 117 | 7 km | 30 min | Rhino, lion, city skyline | Year-round |
| Ol Pejeta Conservancy | Laikipia | 364 | 217 km | 4 hr | Last northern white rhinos, chimps | Year-round |
| Lewa Wildlife Conservancy | Laikipia | 250 | 250 km | 4 hr | Rhino, Grevy’s zebra | Year-round |
| Samburu National Reserve | North | 165 | 320 km | 6-7 hr | Special Five, elephant | Jun-Oct, Feb |
| Buffalo Springs National Reserve | North | 131 | 320 km | 6-7 hr | Grevy’s zebra, gerenuk | Jun-Oct |
| Shaba National Reserve | North | 239 | 325 km | 6-7 hr | Crocodile, oryx | Jun-Oct |
| Meru National Park | North | 870 | 350 km | 5-6 hr | Rhino sanctuary, Born Free country | Jun-Sep |
| Shimba Hills National Reserve | Coast | 193 | 33 km (Mombasa) | 1 hr | Sable antelope, Sheldrick Falls | Year-round |
| Watamu Marine National Park | Coast | ~10 | 140 km (Mombasa) | 2 hr | Coral reef, turtles | Oct-Apr |
| Diani Beach | Coast | 17 km coastline | 30 km (Mombasa) | 1 hr | White sand, reef diving | Year-round |
The shapes to the south and west of the map are not decoration. The Serengeti and the Mara are one ecosystem sharing a boundary, and some of our guests extend a Mara camping circuit across it.
| Park | Country | Size (km²) | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serengeti National Park | Tanzania | 14,763 | Same migration ecosystem as the Mara, year-round plains game |
| Ngorongoro Conservation Area | Tanzania | 8,292 | The crater caldera, dense Big Five viewing |
| Kilimanjaro National Park | Tanzania | 1,688 | Africa’s highest peak, the backdrop to Amboseli |
| Tarangire National Park | Tanzania | 2,850 | Elephant herds and baobabs |
| Lake Manyara National Park | Tanzania | 330 | Tree-climbing lions, flamingos |
| Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | Uganda | 331 | Mountain gorilla trekking |
| Queen Elizabeth National Park | Uganda | 1,978 | Tree-climbing lions, Kazinga Channel boat safaris |
| Murchison Falls National Park | Uganda | 3,840 | The Nile squeezing through a 7 m gorge, big game |
| Destination | Distance | By road | By air (Wilson) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nairobi National Park | 7 km | 30 min | n/a |
| Lake Naivasha | 90 km | 1.5-2 hr | 20 min |
| Lake Nakuru National Park | 163 km | 2.5 hr | 25 min |
| Ol Pejeta Conservancy | 217 km | 4 hr | 45 min |
| Tsavo West National Park | 232 km | 4-6 hr | 50 min |
| Amboseli National Park | 240 km | 4 hr | 45 min |
| Lewa Wildlife Conservancy | 250 km | 4 hr | 45-60 min |
| Maasai Mara National Reserve | 270 km | 5-6 hr | 40-45 min |
| Samburu National Reserve | 320 km | 6-7 hr | 90 min |
| Tsavo East National Park (Voi gate) | 325 km | 6-8 hr | 60 min |
The map above shows where everything sits. The pages below zoom into one circuit at a time, each with its own interactive map.
Six real circuits: the Maasai Mara, Amboseli with the Chyulu Hills, Tsavo East and West, Samburu, Laikipia, and the Lake Nakuru/Naivasha stretch of the Rift Valley. The wider map above covers all of Kenya’s protected areas for planning context.
A mobile tented camp is a full canvas camp with real beds and an en-suite shower, moved a handful of times a year to follow the wildlife. A fly-camp is a lighter, one or two-night satellite camp pitched away from a base camp, usually reached on foot after a game drive.
Yes, when it is run by licensed guides who know the ground, which is how we run Samburu and Laikipia. No vehicle track to the site, guests and gear go in on foot with the guiding team, and camp routines are built around that terrain from the start.
About 270 km by road, which takes 5 to 6 hours depending on the Narok road and your final camp. Flights from Wilson Airport take 40 to 45 minutes and land on airstrips inside the reserve.
July to October is peak season and migration time in the Mara. January to February is a strong second window: dry, green, and quieter. Each circuit’s best months are listed in the table above.
Tell us which circuit caught your eye and how many days you have. We run real mobile camps, fly-camps, and walk-in bush camps across these six regions, and we will tell you honestly what fits.
Start Planning Your SafariPark and reserve boundaries © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under ODbL. Boundaries for Lake Nakuru, Aberdare, Nairobi NP, Hell’s Gate, Lake Bogoria, Shaba, Chyulu Hills, Meru, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara and Kibale from UNEP-WCMC and IUCN (2026), Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), Cambridge, UK. Available at protectedplanet.net. Basemap © OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Satellite imagery © Esri. Terrain tiles by Mapzen and AWS Open Data.