Best of Kenya Vacation Program

The International Volunteer Travel Best of Kenya Program in Kenya combines international volunteer placement with exciting beach experience, tours of Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa and 4-days of jungle safari featuring world famous Maasai Mara game reserve and Lake Nakuru national Park.
In Mombasa, international volunteers and overseas interns will have time to simply relax at the beach, swim, snorkel and tour the city of Mombasa.
The pace of life in this Indian Ocean beach town of Kenya is slow and relaxed -- ideal for recreation and recuperation. Mombasa is a historical and cosmopolitan city with architectural design that depicts the influence of its diverse population of Africans, Middle easterners, Indians and Europeans.
Maasai Mara and lake Nakuru Parks are home to more than 450 species of birds and thousands of wild animals including rhino, buffalo, impala, waterbuck, lion, elephant, giraffe, Africa Buffalo, zebra, cheetah and leopard and the famous migrating wildebeests.

This page provides information about the Best of Kenya Adventure option. For information about our other Kenya Adventure options, please click here.

A Typical schedule of our International Volunteer Best of Kenya Adventure Program is provided below: 

Day 1: Arrival and pick up from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, in Nairobi, Kenya and transfer to host family home Day 2: Morning: registration and start of orientation. About 4 hours lecture at the home of your host. Topics covered during orientation lecture will include East African culture, history, customs, politics, geography, and necessary health precautions, and various other topics, such as the diversity of Kenyan life. Afternoon is free for exploring rural Kenyan life and getting to know your host family. Day 3-6: Kenya Wilderness Safari: (4 Days) The program begins with a tour of the world famous Maasai Mara game reserve and Lake Nakuru national park, a special internationally protected bird and white rhino sanctuary in the Great Rift Valley. Day 3-4: Maasai Mara: Depart Nairobi in the morning. Have Picnic lunch en route to Maasai Mara Game Reserve in the Kenya Southern Rift Valley. Spend the afternoon and the next day on game drives in Maasai Mara. This Great Rift Valley reserve is home to thousands of wild animals including rhino, buffalo, impala, waterbuck, lion, elephant, giraffe, Africa Buffalo, zebra, cheetah and leopard. It is also seasonal home to the wildebeest migration. Dinner and overnight at the campsite Day 5: Maasai Mara/Nakuru: Morning game drives in Maasai Mara Leave Maasai Mara proceed to Lake Nakuru in the Central Rift Valley of Kenya. Dinner and overnight in a simple hotel Day 6 Nakuru - Nairobi: After breakfast proceed for a game drive in this pristine Kenya Rift Valley national park with 450 bird species including the lesser and greater flamingo, more than 56 animal species including elephant, leopard, cheetah, rhino, hippo, lion, buffalo, Hyena, fox, water buck, impala, jackal etc and various species of bats. The park has about 550 species of plants and several animal viewpoints. Depart for Nairobi after game drive arriving Nairobi in the afternoon. Program and Kenya safari evaluation. Day 7: Free, rest. Day 8-13: Mombasa Beach Vacation Trip (6 days) Day 8: Travel to Mombasa: International volunteers and interns travel to Mombasa will by evening bus or train arriving Mombasa early morning the 9th day. Day 9: Mombasa - Arrival, meet, pickup. International volunteers and interns abroad in Kenya transfer to hotel about 30 minutes away from the city. Ideally, accommodation will be in a conventional hotel rooms or in makuti (coconut palm) thatched beach rooms with conventional hotel amenities including. Community room will have satellite television, telephone, mini-bar and restaurant serving local and international cuisine. Hotel facilities include swimming pool and guest laundry service. Some hotels will have diving school and tennis courts. If you arrive early you will have the day to yourself to relax, enjoy the beach and have fun or to take a personal tour of the city of Mombasa. Dinner and overnight at hotel. Day 10: Tour of Mombasa City. After breakfast international volunteers and interns abroad in Kenya proceed on a full day city tour of Mombasa. The tour will take you to Mombasa Old Town and Fort Jesus, Kilindini Old Port, Akamba and Marikit markets. You will be fascinated by the unique architectural design of Fort Jesus constructed by the Portuguese in 1593 to protect them from enemies. Walk through the grid of narrow winding streets lined with houses built to coastal Swahili and Indian designs that is Mombasa Old Town. You will also visit the Akamba Handicraft market and see artists carve various crafts as you watch. You will also visit Marikit market and an Indian Temple. Time permitting volunteers abroad and overseas interns in Kenya will tour Haller Park, named after the Swiss agronomist Rene Haller whose vision transformed a huge abandoned cement quarry into a spectacular 7 sq km nature and animal sanctuary. Breakfast, dinner and overnight at your hotel. Day 11: Beach Relaxation:  The entire day is free for international volunteers and interns abroad in Kenya to do what they like best. Simply relax, and enjoy the beach at the hotel, swim in the blue waters of Indian Ocean, or take a private excursion for wind surfing, scuba diving, water skiing, snorkeling, deep-sea fishing or goggling. Breakfast, dinner and overnight at your hotel. Day 12: Bush Tour: Early after breakfast international volunteers and interns abroad in Kenya start out on a half-day “bush tour”. Depart for Kilifi with stopover at a sisal plantation. Visit a village of the local Miji-Kenda people, have fun and interact with the local community as you observe their way of life. Thereafter drive back to Mombasa arriving late afternoon. Breakfast, dinner and overnight at your hotel. Day 13: Mombasa- Departure: After breakfast, international volunteers and interns abroad in Kenya transfer to Mombasa. International volunteers and interns spend the free day in Mombasa – leisure and meals at own cost. In the evening transfer to Nairobi. Day 14: Free, Program Evaluation. Day 15: Departure (those staying for 2 weeks); the rest proceed to volunteer Kenya placement.

This schedule is subject to change by the country coordinator. This program requires a minimum signup time of 2 weeks.

Please read the special highlights and requirements for Kenya safari, beach holiday and adventure programs, including how to combine adventure with internship abroad or volunteer Kenya programs - click here. 

Submit an Application

To submit an application, click here. To read more about how to apply to the International Volunteer Travel program, click here. To contact us, click here.

Questions and Other Information

To access more information on any aspect of our East African programs in Kenya please click on any link on the left or top links bars. For answers to your questions not provided on the link pages, please go to the page on Frequently Asked Questions.