East Africa
Kenya
The Mara, the Rift Valley lakes and the country the word safari came from
01The country
Kenya is where the safari as most people picture it was invented, and the picture still holds. The Masai Mara is grassland running to the horizon with one of the highest concentrations of large predators anywhere on earth, and between July and October the wildebeest herds arrive from the Serengeti and start crossing the Mara River.
What travellers underestimate is how much sits outside the Mara. Amboseli puts big elephant herds in the foreground and Kilimanjaro across the whole southern skyline. Samburu, in the arid north, holds species you will not see further south — Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk. Laikipia's private conservancies are among the most important rhino strongholds on the continent.
The Rift Valley lakes add flamingos and rhino at Nakuru, and Mount Kenya adds a serious climb on the equator. The coast, at the end of it, is where a long safari usually stops moving.
- Region
- East Africa
- Capital
- Nairobi
- Gateway
- Jomo Kenyatta International (NBO)
- Known for
- The Mara, migration crossings, big cats
- Recommended stay
- 7 to 12 days
02Why Kenya
- 01
The Mara river crossings
From roughly July to October the migration is in the Mara and the herds are crossing. It is the most dramatic single event in African wildlife, and the Mara is the best place to watch it.
- 02
Predator density
The Mara ecosystem carries lion, cheetah, leopard, hyena and jackal at densities that make a multi-day stay produce sightings a shorter trip elsewhere would not.
- 03
Elephants under Kilimanjaro
Amboseli's swamps hold some of the largest surviving tuskers, with Africa's highest mountain filling the background. It is the most photographed composition on the continent for a reason.
- 04
Conservancies rather than crowds
The community conservancies bordering the Mara — Naboisho, Mara North and others — cap vehicle numbers, allow night drives and walking, and put the money directly into Maasai landowners' hands.
03What it is for
- Great Migration river crossings in the Masai Mara
- Big cat viewing across the Mara conservancies
- Hot air balloon over the plains at dawn
- Elephant herds and Kilimanjaro views at Amboseli
- Rhino tracking at Lewa and Ol Pejeta
- Samburu's dry-country species in the northern reserves
- Flamingos and rhino at Lake Nakuru
- Climbing Mount Kenya, or the beaches at Diani and Lamu
04Parks & regions
Masai Mara National Reserve
The northern extension of the Serengeti ecosystem, and Kenya's headline reserve. Open grassland, exceptional big cat density, and the Mara River crossings when the migration arrives from Tanzania.
The Mara conservancies
Naboisho, Mara North, Olare Motorogi and their neighbours border the reserve and run on leases from Maasai landowners. Fewer vehicles per sighting, plus night drives and walking safaris the reserve itself does not permit.
Amboseli National Park
Swamps fed by meltwater from Kilimanjaro, drawing large elephant herds into open ground beneath the mountain. Compact, and the best elephant viewing in the country.
Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba
Arid reserves along the Ewaso Ng'iro river in the north, holding species absent from the southern parks: Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, gerenuk and Somali ostrich.
Laikipia — Lewa, Ol Pejeta and the plateau
Private and community conservancies north of Mount Kenya that between them protect a substantial share of the country's black rhino, alongside wild dog, Grevy's zebra and the full range of plains game.
Lake Nakuru, Tsavo and Mount Kenya
Nakuru is a rhino sanctuary on an alkaline Rift lake known for its flamingos. Tsavo East and West cover vast red-earth wilderness on the Nairobi-Mombasa axis. Mount Kenya is Africa's second highest peak and a multi-day climb.
05When to go
The dry months concentrate wildlife around water and put the migration in the Mara. Green-season travel trades some visibility for space and calving.
- JanJan: best time to visit
- FebFeb: best time to visit
- MarMar: quieter
- AprApr: quieter
- MayMay: quieter
- JunJun: shoulder season
- JulJul: best time to visit
- AugAug: best time to visit
- SepSep: best time to visit
- OctOct: best time to visit
- NovNov: quieter
- DecDec: shoulder season
- The migration is generally in the Mara from around July to October, with river crossings through that window. Timing varies with the rains and cannot be guaranteed.
- The long rains fall roughly March to May, the short rains in November and December.
- The green season brings calving, migrant birds, lower rates and far fewer vehicles.
06Getting there
- From Kigali · Air
- Roughly 1.5 hours to Nairobi
- From Europe and the Middle East · Air
- Direct and one-stop routings to Nairobi (NBO)Nairobi is the region's busiest hub and the easiest place to start or end a multi-country trip.
- From Nairobi to the Mara · Light aircraft
- Roughly 45 minutesMost itineraries fly. By road it is 5 to 6 hours, with the last stretch rough.
- From Nairobi to Amboseli · Road or light aircraft
- About 4 hours driving, or 45 minutes flying
07Where to stay
- Camps inside the reserve or in a bordering conservancy save an hour of driving at each end of the day, which matters more in the Mara than almost anywhere.
- Conservancy camps are generally small, and their vehicle limits are the reason a sighting there feels different from the same sighting in the reserve.
- Nairobi has strong hotels for the arrival and departure nights, and Nairobi National Park is close enough to fill a spare morning.
08Planning it
Kenya on its own, or combined with Rwanda
Our published itineraries are Rwandan, because Rwanda is where we operate day to day. Kenya we build to order, routed around your dates and usually paired with a Rwandan leg — the two do different things and the borders are short hops.
The herds are usually in the Mara from around July to October, and crossings happen through that period. They are driven by rainfall rather than a calendar, so no operator can promise a crossing on a given date. What we can do is put you in the right part of the ecosystem for your dates and give you enough days there for the odds to work.
Plan Kenya
Build a trip through Kenya
Tell us roughly when you want to travel and what you want to see. We will come back with an itinerary built around it, not a package pulled off a shelf.