From $780 per person sharing
Two nights on the Mara with a full day inside the reserve. A 3 day Masai Mara safari is the shortest trip that gives you a proper day in the park rather than a drive there and back.
A 3 day Masai Mara safari is the shortest road trip that gives you a real day in the reserve rather than a drive there and a drive back. Two nights on the Mara, a full day inside the park, and the best chance in Kenya of watching lion, cheetah and leopard within the same twenty-four hours.
The middle day is the trip. Many three-day itineraries spend it on two short drives either side of a long lunch. We take a packed breakfast and leave at first light, because the difference between seeing a kill and hearing about one is almost entirely a question of what time you left camp.
Day one. Nairobi to the reserve, about five to six hours with a stop at the Rift Valley viewpoint. The last stretch is rough road. Lunch at camp, then an afternoon game drive.
Day two. The full day, out at dawn with breakfast packed, working the plains while the cats are still moving and the river in season.
Day three. A final morning drive, then the road back, in Nairobi by mid-afternoon.
Full board at a camp or lodge near the reserve, Mara Sopa Lodge or similar, with a maximum of six guests in your vehicle so everyone has a window seat. Conservancy camps and higher comfort levels are quoted on request, and our guide to private camps in the Masai Mara explains what the extra money buys.
July to October for the migration, January and February for dry, clear game viewing, and April and May for green country at up to forty per cent less. The resident cats do not leave in the low season.
From $780 per person sharing, or KES 72,000 for Kenyan residents and citizens, with the reserve entry fee included. Every price on this page includes park entry fees, transport in a pop-top 4x4 with a guaranteed window seat, and a professional driver-guide who stays with you for the whole trip. Our guides are the same people year after year, which is why they know where the cats were yesterday. A dawn balloon flight over the plains can be added from $450 per person.
Short on time? The flying safari covers the same ground without the road. Want more than the Mara? The five-day circuit adds rhino and the Rift Valley lakes.
Send a booking request with your dates and we will come back with availability, a firm price and an honest view of the month you have picked. Nothing is charged on this website.
About five to six hours, with the last hour on rough road. Flying takes around 45 minutes from Wilson Airport.
It is the sensible minimum by road: one full day in the reserve plus two half days. Four or five days lets you follow the animals instead of a schedule.
This trip starts at $780 per person sharing with fees included. Our cost guide breaks down where the money goes and why quotes differ so widely.
Between July and October the herds are usually in the reserve. River crossings are unpredictable and nobody can promise one; more mornings at the river improve your chances.
3 days · 2 nights · lunch, dinner, breakfast included
Download this itinerary as a PDF Day 1 · Masai Mara National Reserve
Your guide meets you at your Nairobi hotel at 7.30am and you head out through Narok, stopping at the Rift Valley viewpoint on the escarpment. Lunch at camp on arrival, then an afternoon game drive from around 4pm until sunset. The light in the last hour is the best of the day and the plains empty of vehicles.
Day 2 · Masai Mara National Reserve
Out at dawn with a packed breakfast and back when you have had enough. A full day lets us cover the Mara triangle as well as the Talek side, which is not possible on a half day. In migration season we spend the morning at the river. Otherwise we work the marsh prides and the cheetah country on the open plains toward the Tanzanian border.
Day 3 · Nairobi
An early game drive on the way out of the reserve, then breakfast and the road home. Arrival in Nairobi is usually between 2pm and 4pm depending on traffic through Narok. We can drop you at your hotel or at the airport.
Tell us when you want to travel and who is coming. The price below is for your party, not a headline figure, and nothing is confirmed until we have spoken.
Written out in full so there is nothing waiting at the park gate.
Tell us roughly when. We will come back with dates, a firm price and an honest view on whether the month you picked is the right one.
