Author: Codolin Technologies
Many African tour and safari companies offer customizable Kenya safari packages. These can include guided tours, transport, accommodation, meals, and park fees. Choose from budget, mid-range, or luxury options, depending on your preferences.
When planning a safari, choosing the right operator can make or break your entire experience. While many African tour and safari companies offer customizable Kenya safari packages that bundle together essentials like transportation, guided tours, accommodations, meals, and park entry fees, it’s the details and expertise that truly set a great operator apart.
Here’s what you should consider while narrowing down your options:
Local Expertise & Guides
Look for companies that employ KPSGA-certified or highly experienced local guides. These experts not only know the best wildlife viewing spots but can also enrich your journey with deep insights into animal behavior, local ecology, and cultural context.
Accommodation Quality
Whether you prefer budget camps, mid-range lodges, or luxury tented stays, make sure your operator offers verified and well-reviewed properties. A reputable company will help you strike the right balance between comfort, location, and value.
Customization & Itinerary Design
The best operators don’t just offer fixed tours — they personalize your safari based on your interests, whether that’s photography, birdwatching, family travel, or honeymoon getaways. Ask if you can tweak the itinerary to include conservancies, walking safaris, or cultural visits.
Transparency & Inclusions
A trustworthy safari company should be clear about what’s included in the cost — like park fees, internal transfers, meals, and tips — to avoid hidden surprises later.
Sustainable & Ethical Tourism
Prioritize operators that support community-based tourism and conservation. Are they working with local Maasai communities? Are they committed to eco-friendly practices?
Taking the time to research and ask the right questions ensures your safari is not just memorable — but also meaningful, safe, and perfectly tailored to your expectations.
Final Tips for Your Safari
- Bring layers: Mornings are cool, afternoons warm
- Don’t forget binoculars and a camera with a good zoom lens
- Respect wildlife, distance, and park rules
Start planning today and immerse yourself in the magic of the Masai Mara in Kenya!
The Maasai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania are two of Africa’s most iconic safari destinations, and choosing between them depends on what kind of experience you’re looking for.
Wildlife & Game Viewing:
Both offer excellent game viewing, especially during the Great Migration (July to October in Mara; May to July in Serengeti). The Maasai Mara is more compact, making wildlife sightings easier and more concentrated, especially of the Big 5. In contrast, the Serengeti spans a vast area, giving you a sense of endless savannah and more remote, exclusive experiences.
Accessibility:
The Maasai Mara is easier to reach, especially from Nairobi with quick 45-minute flights to airstrips inside the park. The Serengeti requires more travel time and often multiple flights or long drives, especially if you land in Arusha or Kilimanjaro.
Accommodation & Costs:
Kenya’s Maasai Mara offers a wide range of accommodations—from luxury camps to mid-range lodges—making it more budget-flexible. The Serengeti leans slightly higher in cost, particularly in the more exclusive regions like the Grumeti or Ndutu areas.
Culture & Activities:
In the Mara, you’re more likely to combine your safari with cultural interactions with the Maasai people, village visits, and community-based tourism.
Choose Maasai Mara for easier access, concentrated wildlife, and shorter trips. Opt for Serengeti if you want a wilder, more expansive feel and are willing to invest more time and budget. Either way, you’re guaranteed a spectacular safari.
Here are the top experiences to include in your itinerary:
- Game Drives: Morning, evening and night drives with expert guides for optimal sightings
- Hot Air Balloon Safari: Float above the plains at sunrise for an aerial view of the herds
- Cultural Visits: Interact with the Maasai community, learn about their traditions, and visit local villages
- Photography Safaris: Capture dramatic wildlife moments in golden hour lighting, long stays to soak in the drama of the nature and wild
- Walking Safaris: In private conservancies surrounding the main reserve.
- Sundowners: Sip cocktails and bite on canapes in the wild as the African sun dips below the horizon — a golden-hour ritual.
- Horseback Safaris: Ride alongside giraffes and antelope for a thrilling, off-road safari experience. This experience is available in the neighboring conservancies of Maasai Mara.
- Bush Dining: Enjoy gourmet meals under the stars, surrounded by the sounds and scents of the savannah.
The Masai Mara is a year-round safari destination, but when you go can shape what you experience—from the awe-inspiring Great Migration to quiet moments with elusive predators. Here’s a breakdown of what each season offers:
July to October – The Peak Season & Great Migration
Best time to visit for:
- Witnessing the Great Migration and dramatic Mara River crossings
- Big Cat sightings (especially lions, cheetahs, and leopards)
- Excellent weather with clear skies and cool temperatures
What to Expect: This is the most popular and spectacular time to visit the Masai Mara. From mid-July to October, over 1.5 million wildebeest, along with zebras and gazelles, flood into the Mara from the Serengeti. The highlight is the Mara River crossings—heart-stopping scenes where wildebeests brave crocodile-filled waters in chaotic, dusty, high-stakes drama.
Predator-prey action is at its peak, and wildlife density is staggering. The plains come alive with lion prides on the hunt, cheetahs sprinting after gazelles, and hyenas scavenging opportunistically. The weather is dry and pleasant, making game drives smooth and rewarding.
August and September are considered the prime months for witnessing the migration river crossings.
November to mid-December – Short Rains & Shoulder Season
Best time to visit for:
- Fewer tourists and peaceful game drives
- Beautiful green landscapes and dramatic skies for photography
- Great predator sightings
What to Expect: The short rains usually begin in November, bringing a fresh layer of green across the savannah. The migration herds start moving back south to the Serengeti, but resident wildlife remains abundant.
This season is ideal for travelers seeking a more intimate, less crowded experience, with plenty of big cats still around. The landscapes are lush, and the skies—often dotted with clouds—make for stunning photographic backdrops. While showers may occur, they’re usually brief and followed by sunshine
Mid-December to March – Green Season (Low Season)
Best time to visit for:
- Birdwatching (migratory species arrive)
- Calving season – witness new borns filling up the savannahs
- Budget-friendly travel and exclusive lodge deals
What to Expect: This is the calving season, when many herbivores give birth, especially in January and February. This draws in predators, creating high drama as young, vulnerable animals face survival challenges. It’s an incredible time to see lions and cheetahs with cubs, and predator interactions are frequent.
Although it’s considered the low season, game viewing remains excellent. The scenery is green and vibrant, and the crowds are minimal, allowing for quiet, immersive safaris.
April to June – Green Season
Best time to visit for:
- Photographers looking for moody skies and dramatic lighting
- Incredible rates at high-end camps and lodges
- Peaceful, uncrowded safari experiences
What to Expect: The long rains arrive, making some roads muddy and less accessible, but the park remains open. Wildlife is still present in good numbers, and the vegetation is lush. Birdlife is spectacular, and the landscape is painted in every shade of green.
This is not the best time for the Great Migration, but it can be magical for seasoned safari-goers, photographers, or those seeking seclusion. Some camps in conservancies may close temporarily, so it’s wise to check ahead.
The Masai Mara Migration, often hailed as the greatest wildlife spectacle on Earth, is part of the larger Great Migration—a continuous, circular journey of over 1.5 million wildebeest, along with hundreds of thousands of zebras, gazelles, and elands, across the vast plains of Tanzania’s Serengeti and Kenya’s Masai Mara.
The most dramatic and awe-inspiring phase of this migration takes place in the Masai Mara between July and October, when massive herds thunder northward from the Serengeti, drawn by the promise of greener pastures in the Mara’s fertile plains. This period is the prime time to witness the migration, especially the iconic Mara River crossings, where thousands of wildebeest plunge into crocodile-infested waters in a desperate dash for survival. These crossings are chaotic, breathtaking, and heart-pounding moments of raw nature that define the very essence of the African wilderness.
The timing of the crossings can never be predicted to the day, as it depends on rainfall patterns and grazing availability. However, mid-July, August and mid-September are often considered the best months to witness large-scale river crossings, especially near key points like the Talek River and the Mara River. Visitors may also observe intense predator action during this time, as lions, cheetahs, leopards, and hyenas lie in wait, capitalizing on the chaos.
Beyond the river crossings, the plains of the Masai Mara during migration season transform into a living sea of hooves and horns, stretching as far as the eye can see. This abundance of prey attracts an extraordinary concentration of predators, offering visitors unmatched opportunities to witness dramatic hunts, big cat interactions, and the circle of life in motion.
For those seeking to experience the migration away from the crowds, many of the private conservancies bordering the reserve, such as Olare Motorogi, Naboisho, and Mara North—offer exclusive front-row access to migration herds as they spill into conservancy lands. Here, guests can enjoy guided walking safaris, off-road game drives, and night drives, all while avoiding the larger tourist influx found in the central areas of the main reserve.
In essence, the Great Migration in the Masai Mara is not just an event—it’s an ancient rhythm of life, a testament to survival, instinct, and the awe-inspiring scale of the natural world. Whether it’s the thunder of hooves across golden grasslands or the silent standoff between predator and prey, witnessing it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that leaves an indelible mark on the soul.
