Nairobi

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Full-Day Lake Nakuru National Park Private Tour from Nairobi

Badge of ExcellenceNairobi, Kenya

9 to 10 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

The flamingoes that gather at Lake Nakuru National Park are considered one of Africa’s greatest natural sights, but the area’s wildlife and scenery go far beyond the bright pink birds. This 11.5-hour, private guided tour from Nairobi offers ample time to explore the park, spot animals on morning and afternoon game drives, and see birds and hippos from a boat on Lake Naivasha.

11.5-hour, private wildlife trip from Nairobi
Visit two Great Rift Valley lakes
See birds and wildlife in their natural habitat
Travel by private car and boat
Fully narrated tour
Pickup and drop-off from Nairobi hotels
Private guide ensures a personal experience

What's Included

Private tour
Pickup and drop-off to your hotel or residence within Nairobi
Driver/guide
Live commentary on board

Entrance fees (USD $60 per person) paid using Visa Card till 31st Dec 2023. $100 from 1st Jan 2024
Boat ride in Lake Naivasha (USD $ 25 per person)
Food and drinks
Gratuities
Pickup and drop off to the airport at 20 USD.

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

06:00 AM

Pickup details

Any hotel within the city Private Apartments and Villa Note: Airport pick up to your hotel you will be charge an extra USD 20 (pay on arrival)

What To Expect

Get an early, 6:30am start with pickup at your Nairobi hotel, and enjoy views of the Great Rift Valley as you make the 3-hour drive to Lake Nakuru National Park in a private vehicle. Upon arrival, go deep into the park on a 3-hour game drive with your guide, who will offer commentary throughout the day. The forest and grassland around Lake Nakuru National Park are renowned for bird watching, and the reserve is also home to white rhinos, waterbucks, hippos, and a small population of rare, tree-climbing lions.

Break for lunch at Lake Nakuru Lodge restaurant; with advance notice, it’s also possible to arrange for a picnic lunch in the park. After lunch, continue through the Lake Nakuru National Park on an afternoon game drive—different animals come out to feed throughout the day. At 3pm, leave Lake Nakuru for Lake Naivasha, the highest-elevation lake in the Great Rift Valley.

Take in unobstructed views of the lake on a 1-hour boat ride (own expense), with stops to spot some of Navaisha’s vast bird population, watch eagles feeding, and see the hippos that wallow along the grassy shoreline. Return to shore for an early evening ride to Nairobi, then finish the tour with 6pm drop-off at your hotel.

Lake Nakuru

9 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included

Rift Valley Province

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Lake Naivasha

1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included

Makalia Waterfalls

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Please note that clients pay their own entrance at the gate using a VISA/AMEX or Mastercard. The rate is 60 USD per person
Near public transportation

Infant seats available
Most travelers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Katharine_T

An excellent day trip! We had a fantastic guide, easy pick up, beautiful drive through the valley, and managed to find a pride of lions feasting away on a kill! Highly recommend :) The lake is a beautiful place

Reviews

4.5

92 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 92 reviews

Excellent

Katharine_T, Mar 2024

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Hello, Thank you for your wonderful review. We're delighted to hear that you had an excellent day trip with us and that you enjoyed the beautiful drive through the valley. It's fantastic that you were able to witness a pride of lions during their feast and that you found the lake to be a beautiful place. Your recommendation means a lot to us, and we hope to welcome you back for more memorable experiences in the future. Regards Sylvia

Fantastic tours

jkybamberger, Sep 2023

Edgar was an excellent guide. Knowledgeable about a variety of topics - the area, animals. birds. Friendly and a skilled driver. The lake tour also had an excellent guide. Edward knew where to find the hippos and an extremely large variety of birds. I could spend a week learning from each of them.

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Hello, We're thrilled to hear about your positive experience with Edgar and Edward as your guides. Their knowledge and expertise enhanced your trip, and we're delighted to have provided you with such a valuable experience. Thank you for choosing us. Regards Sylvia

Great experience

Rita_H, Aug 2023

Both game drive at Nakuru and boat ride at Navashu were exceptional. Excellent birding at both places.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Dear Rita, We're delighted you had an exceptional experience with our game drive at Nakuru and boat ride at Naivasha. It's wonderful that you enjoyed excellent birding in both locations. Thank you for sharing your feedback. Regards Sylvia

Balanced

Scott_H, Aug 2023

Definitely an abundance of God's beautiful creatures. The tour through the park seems closer to an original version of the untouched past.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Dear Scott, We're glad you appreciated the abundance of nature's beauty and felt a connection to the untouched past during your park tour. Thank you for the positive review, and sharing your experience with us. Regards Sylvia

Hello Rhinos!

Franck_K, Mar 2023

I greatly appreciated this first experience in Kenya with this tour of Nakuru National Park. Danson has been a nice and friendly guide in the park and knows everything about the wildlife.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Hello Franck, Thank you for writing us your review and leaving us with a 5 star rating. We are delighted that your first experience in Kenya was fantastic and that you had a memorable day on tour at Lake Nakuru National Park. We are also glad that you had a splendid time with our well knowledgeable guide Danson. Welcome again and we hope to conduct many more tours for you in the future. Regards, Sharon.

Great Trip with lots of wildlife, unrealistic itinerary

Madeleine_P, Feb 2023

This was a great tour overall Anthony was a great guide and made sure that we saw Lions in Nakuru national park. We also got to see a baby rhino with its parents, and lots of other animals. I was particularly excited to see the flamingoes in the lake. The vehicle was comfortable and in good repair. It was nice to see the animals through the pop up roof. The restaurant we were brought to for lunch was in Naivasha (so there was no afternoon game drive in Nakuru). The restaurant was just okay. I lived in Kenya for several years and this food would not be up to par for Kenyans. The Ugali was very hard, and considering this meal would cost no more than USD 5 in a typical Kenyan Restaurant (and that is on the higher end), it costed over USD 15 which is just overpriced for what it was. The restaurant was full of tour guides taking tourists there for lunch, so there is clearly and agreement. The restaurant is taking advantage of the fact that tourists often do not know what Kenyan food is meant to taste like. I would recommend the tour company chooses somewhere else to bring their clients to. Unfortunately, the day that we went, there was not a good view of the great rift valley, but that is not the tour guide's fault. Also keep in mind that the itinerary posted is impossible to do. We got a morning pick up from our accommodation and a morning game drive in Nakuru, lunch in Naivasha with a boat ride to see hippos. Then were going to head back to Nairobi but on the way I asked about the great rift valley view point because it was on the schedule. we never got to see the Makalia Waterfalls as was mentioned on the itinerary and would not have seen the Great Rift Valley viewpoint if I had not specifically asked. This part was disappointing. I think they need to revise the "what to expect" section on the viator website to account for the reality of the traffic and travel time. Overall this was a good experience and I would recommend it to friends who want to see the great rift valley province on a day trip from Nairobi.

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Hi Madeleine, Thank you for the excellent detailed review and the 5 star rating. We are glad that you had a wonderful experience on tour to Lake Nakuru. We will take note of the key pointers shared. We are delighted that you booked this tour with us and hope to serve you again in the near future. Regards, Sharon.

Amazing experience

Chandanie_A, Feb 2023

Watching a baby baboon riding on it's mother back then switching to nursing on her while she walks around and eat. It was my first time seeing pumbas. Watching the run around with their tails upwards looks funny 😁

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Hi Chandanie, Thank you for the great review and 5 star rating. We are delighted that you had a memorable experience seeing the baboons and pumbas. Looking forward to serving you in the near future. Regards, Sharon

Good safari

zhuolinh, Dec 2022

I had a good chance to see a lot of animals. The driver and guide had a lot experience and even can speak some Chinese.

Response from Host, Dec 2022

Hello Zhuolin, Thanks so much for dropping us such a good review with a 5 star rating. We are happy to hear you enjoyed your tour to Lake Nakuru National park with our guide. We have the best proffessional guides, they are able to speak multiple languages for conviniency to our clients. Our staffs always get out of their way to ensure that our clients get the best services they desire. We are looking forward to serving you again and many others in the near future. Regards, Faith

AAA choice

Theodoros_Y, Aug 2022

The tour was safe and easy, Paul (the driver) so professional and polite and of course we had the chance to admire lake's Nakuru amazing nature.

Great all day tour.

Kymberly_B, Feb 2022

This is a wonderful way to experience the Rift Valley and the feeling of a short safari. My guide Paul was knowledgeable and comfortable to be with the whole day. The drive allows you to feel the culture as you go thru small little towns along the way.

Response from Host, Feb 2022

Hello, What an amazing review and rating. . Thank you very much for trusting in us and it was our utmost pleasure to serve you. Nice to hear the driver Mr. Paul let you experience culture as you travelled . In future, we hope to have you again for more adventure. Thank you.

Great Day in the Great Rift Valley

Rebecca_C, Jan 2022

I had an amazing day out with Paul as my tour guide. This was a one of a kind (hopefully not once in a lifetime) experience that I will never forget. I did the tour by myself and felt completely comfortable and safe the whole time. The scenery was spectacular but what really had me gripped was learning about the area - both the the nature reserves, the valley itself and the communities within the valley. Paul was very knowledgeable on all these things and I had a wonderful day. I opted in for the boat tour based on comments here and 100% agree that this is a must. A truly fantastic experience all round. Many thanks to Paul, Joseph and all involved. (Just a note to take both cash and a credit card with you as different payment methods were required at different times - Paul did assist me with drawing cash where required in the middle of the day which I thought was really above and beyond).

Response from Host, Jan 2022

Thank you for taking your precious time to write us this wonderful review. It's a great pleasure to read that you had a stunning tour with our driver, Mr Paul and he did an excellent job. He is not only knowledgeable but also dedicated at his work and works very hard and smart to create wonderful memories for our clients. We welcome you to travel with us again in future as we explore other destinations.

Fun game drive !

TianXiang_L, Dec 2021

Our guide was Jimmy again (yay) - and he's very patient and fun to hang with - amazing driver (both on road and offorad!) - we enjoyed our game drive in this park. He was able to spot animals for us and explain to us a lot of things. We've been to Southern Africa before and on several other game drives, yet we were still able to learn a lot from Jimmy on this game drive! Thanks for the tour and would recommend to friends and family!

Response from Host, Dec 2021

Hello, Thank you for taking time to write us a review and the bubble rating. We are delighted to read that Jimmy once again did a great job. He is one of the industry's top professional and goes above and beyond to ensure our clients have a great time. Arguably, Lake Nakuru is Kenya's finest, with beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife such as Rhinos, zebras, antelopes and giraffes among others. We would like to have you in future for another tour.

Amazing park!!!!

AKM_H, Nov 2021

it was an excellent experience in our lifetime. The guide was too good and he showed us everything, he was a truly knowledgeable person and knew lot of about the park and also boating was amazing.

Response from Host, Nov 2021

Hi, Thank you for recommending us to our tripadvisor readers. We are glad to read that you had a wonderful tour with us and your guide made it memorable. Thank you for choosing us. We welcome you again to travel with us.

I had a fantastic day...

Koen_P, Nov 2021

I had a fantastic day visiting the lakes with guide Simba! He had a story to tell about every animal =)

Response from Host, Nov 2021

Hello, Thank you for the positive reviview. We are excited to read that Simba was very knowledgeble about all the animal. Indeed he is a great gem to this industry. Thank you. We look forward to havin you again so that you can enjoy other othere places. Asante.

Beautiful day

Jennifer_P, Jul 2021

Simba was amazing. It's a magical experience. Definitely recommend. You get to see a lot of wildlife.

Response from Host, Jul 2021

Hello. Thank you for leaving us this wonderful review. We are pleased to read that you an amazing tour with us and Simba did an excellent job. He is indeed one of the best in the industry and works hard to ensure our clients have the best experience. Thank you for recommending this tour to the readers. Lake Nakuru National Park does not only render you unlimited game drive opportunities but also spot variety of wild animals. We would like to have you again in future.

Big Animals and Lots of Birds

Jane_C, Feb 2020

The trip to Lake Nakuru National Park and Lake Naivasha was terrific. Paul was a great tour guide and made sure the tour was focusing on seeing things of interest to me. He was great at spotting animals and birds, he really knew the timing of what to do and when so that I was able to have a relaxing trip. We left quite early in the morning in order to see the early animals and it made a better more relaxed day. I would recommend going on this tour.

Response from Host, Feb 2020

Hello Jane, Thank you for taking time to write us a wonderful review. We are delighted to read that you tour to Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha was great and Paul contributed to this. He is dedicated in his job with a vast knowledge of the parks' flora and fauna. Lake Nakuru is indeed a wildlife haven due to its abundance in wildlife and to culminate the experience is a boat ride in Lake Naivasha. We would like to have you again in future as we explore other destinations.

great experience

Tomasz, Feb 2020

Fantastic experience with Albart as my guide. The company was easy to reach and accommodating my requests. The game drive was timely, comfortable and safe. Highly recommended.

Response from Host, Feb 2020

Hello Tomas, Thank you for taking time to write us a review and commending our driver guide, Albert and our back office staff. We are accessible 24/7 with prompt responses to our clients inquiries to make trip planning so easy and seamless. We would like to have you again in future.

Nakuru Lake is Amazing, Viator service as well.

Amir_S, Jan 2020

At Friday 19:00 I order the trip for Saturday early morning. the driver was wait to me in the hotel before 6 AM. He was very friendly all over the day and explain me about the animals at the park, help me to take the best pictures, take me to nice place for Lunch.... I back to the hotel at the night happy from every minute of the day! Nakuru Park is Amazing! to see 20 giraffes walking in the savanna was more than any of my dream about what is Safari. I want to thanks the Albert Koi that was my driver and tour guide for very nice and interesting day.

Response from Host, Jan 2020

Hello, Thank you for writing us this wonderful review and the sentiments on Albert, i will pass these great words to him. He is indeed the company's gem and goes above and beyond to create a memorable experience for our clients. Nakuru is a must visit destinations, with picturesque landscape and wildlife diversity. We welcome you to travel with us again in future.

Beautiful wildlife! — Lake Nakuru National Park full day tour with excellent driver&guide

Naoko_S, Aug 2019

The tour I signed up for was a solo tour with Peter. Peter was friendly and informative, and he was also an expert driver and guide. He answered all of my questions about Kenya, which included not only about animals but also about culture, language, music and so on. On the exciting game drive at Lake Nakuru, we had a chance to see many amazing animals such as zebras, impalas, gazelles, giraffes, lion & lioness, baboons, warthog, turtle, buffalos, waterbucks, kori bastard, flamingos, secretary bird, and rhinos. We were able to be close enough to take photos of a lion when it was yawning. Despite reports indicating otherwise, we saw plenty of flamingoes, pelicans, and many other birds. In the afternoon, we joined an 1-hour boat ride at Lake Naivasha. We saw hippos, fish eagles, and more species of animals. We enjoyed fresh fish fritter for lunch by the lake. Overall it was a fantastic day trip and a cool experience to see wild animals just being themselves. I truly enjoyed a perfect wilderness tour, and I highly recommend it. Nack Purchase, NY

Response from Host, Dec 2019

Hello Nack, Thank you for taking time to write us a review. We are delighted to read that you had an amazing tour with us and Peter did an excellent job. He is indeed one of the industry's top professional. Arguably, Lake Nakuru is Kenya's finest, with abundant wildlife and beautiful scenery. We are happy to read that you were able to see variety of wildlife and even take pictures. To cap this experience is boat ride at Lake Naivasha. We would like to have you again in future to explore other destinations in Kenya!

Guess what Lake Nakuru doesnt have many flamingoes anymore so.....

classycanuck2507, Nov 2018

Disappointed.Awful bumpy hours long ride only to hear that the lake has very few flamingoes compared to my last visit where there were10,000.the boat ride was a total rip off .the spot fir lunch was a great spot but the food was marginal

Response from Host, Dec 2019

Hello, Thank you for leaving us a review about your experience. We appreciate our clients feedback. Unfortunately, our roads are quite bumpy and we are hoping that the government will look into this. Concerning the few flamingos at Lake Nakuru, unfortunately, El Nino years has caused many of the birds to head over to nearby Lake Bogoria due to the alkaline levels in the water changing because of excess rain. We invite you to have another tour with us in future, and turn your experience.