Masai Mara Safaris

July to October is the best time for the Great Migration river crossings, with August and September the most reliable, though it’s also the busiest and most expensive period.

For excellent game viewing without the crowds or the peak pricing, look at January to February or June, and for the best value and the greenest landscapes, March to May or November to December.

Resident wildlife is in the Mara all year, including lion, cheetah, leopard, elephant, buffalo and hippo, so the migration is an addition rather than the whole show. Plenty of our clients travel outside the crossing months and see more animals with fewer vehicles around them.

Group departures cost meaningfully less and are what most of our travellers choose, sharing a vehicle with a small number of other people, which works well for solo travellers and couples.

Private safaris suit groups, families, photographers, and anyone who wants control over how long the vehicle sits at a sighting, which on a Mara game drive matters more than people expect, since the difference between a good sighting and a great one is often just staying another twenty minutes. Both run the same routes with the same guides, so tell us who’s travelling and we’ll say which we’d suggest.

The Masai Mara National Reserve is the main protected area, managed by Narok County, with the western Mara Triangle sector run separately by the Mara Conservancy.

Around the reserve sit a number of private conservancies with far lower vehicle densities, and they permit things the reserve doesn’t, including night drives and off-road game viewing, though they cost more and sometimes considerably more.

For most travellers the reserve delivers everything they came for and it’s where the river crossings happen. If you’ve been on safari before and want fewer vehicles at your sightings, the conservancies are worth the premium, and we’re happy to price both.

Good news first: park fees are included in the price on most of our Masai Mara tours, so in most cases there’s nothing extra to budget for or pay at the gate. Your itinerary always states exactly what’s included, so it’s worth a quick check when you book. The details below are for transparency, and are useful if you’re travelling independently.

Reported 2026 rates for non-resident adults are around approx. USD 100 per day in low season, January to June, and around approx. USD 200 per day in peak season, July to December, with children aged 9 to 17 paying roughly half and under 8s entering free.

Two things about the Mara differ from most parks and catch people out. The ticket is valid for 12 hours, 06:00 to 18:00, and doesn’t carry over to the next day, so if you arrive mid-afternoon and stay two nights you may end up paying for three days, which is worth planning your arrival time around. And no cash is accepted at the gates, with payment by card or M-Pesa only, which regularly catches self-drivers out.

Fees are set by Narok County and do change, so confirm the current rate with us at the time of booking.

The Masai Mara lies in southwestern Kenya, in Narok County, on the border with Tanzania, and forms the northern extension of the Serengeti ecosystem, so it’s the same grasslands and the same animals in a different country.

The border between the two is political rather than ecological and the animals move freely across it, which is exactly what makes the migration possible. The reserve sits around 230 kilometres from Nairobi, roughly five hours by road on tarmac to Sekenani Gate, and light aircraft from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport reach the reserve’s airstrips in under an hour.

https://www.detourafrica.com/tour/14-day-tanzania-and-kenya-highlights-accommodated/Yes, and it’s one of the most popular trips we arrange, since the two are the same ecosystem split by a border and the migration moves between them.

There’s no tourist border crossing directly between the Mara and the Serengeti, so the practical route runs via Nairobi and Arusha or by air.

Here are a few of our most popular trips that combine both Masai Mara and Serengeti:

15 Day Ultimate Kenya & Serengeti Adventure Tour

13 Day Kenya & Tanzania Adventure Tour

14 Day Tanzania and Kenya Safari Tour

Both are correct, and you’ll see them used interchangeably.

Maasai is the spelling that matches how the Maasai people write their own name in the Maa language, and it’s the form used by Narok County and in most official Kenyan usage. Masai is the older anglicised version, dating from the colonial era, and it’s still widely used across the travel industry, particularly in the UK and Europe. It also survives in names like the Masai giraffe.

The “Mara” part comes from the Maa word meaning “spotted” or “dappled,” a reference to the landscape itself: flat plains broken up by acacia trees, scrub and drifting cloud shadows.

In short, neither spelling is wrong, and both refer to the same place: the Maasai Mara National Reserve in south-western Kenya, bordering the Serengeti in Tanzania.

Only if you’re arriving from a country with yellow fever transmission risk, so travelling directly from the UK, US, Australia or Germany you won’t need a certificate.

If your route includes a stopover in a listed country the rules can apply, and some airlines and border officials interpret transit strictly, so check before you fly if you’re routing through West or Central Africa or parts of South America. Tell us your routing and we’ll point out anything worth checking.

Three days is the practical minimum, giving you two nights and drives on two full days, while four days is more comfortable and worth it in migration season when you want more chances at a crossing.

No. Drone use in Kenyan national parks and reserves requires authorisation from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and isn’t permitted for general tourist use, so don’t bring one expecting to fly it.