Kenya: a short Masai Mara safari from Nairobi

1. Day 1: Fly from Nairobi to the Masai Mara

   Your Nairobi hotel or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Wilson Airport, then a light aircraft to a Mara airstrip and the camp

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Lunch and welcome dinner at camp
   • Stay in Masai Mara
   Day 1 details

   A driver collects you in the morning from your Nairobi hotel, or from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) if you land early, and takes you to Wilson Airport, Nairobi's airport for small planes; allow up to an hour in traffic. Your See Sight Tours guide meets the group there. The scheduled flight to the Mara takes about 45 minutes to an hour and a quarter, sometimes with a stop at another airstrip, and the Rift Valley passes below. Our driver-guides meet the plane, and the drive to camp is the first game drive. Lunch is at camp, then a rest in the heat of the day. At about 4 pm we go out on the first full drive in open-sided vehicles, at most 6 guests in each, so everyone sits on the outside. We stop to watch the sun go down and are back at camp after dark for a briefing on the days ahead and a welcome dinner.

   Included

   • Pick-up from your Nairobi hotel or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
   • Scheduled light-aircraft flight from Wilson Airport to the Masai Mara
   • Game drive from the airstrip to camp
   • Late-afternoon game drive in the conservancy
   • Welcome briefing and dinner

   Easier option: Rest at camp instead of the late-afternoon drive.

   Free time: Early afternoon free at camp

   Activity: Flight times are set by the airline and confirmed with your final itinerary.

   

2. Day 2: A full day in the Masai Mara National Reserve

   From the conservancy into the Masai Mara National Reserve and out to the Mara River

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Masai Mara
   Day 2 details

   We leave camp at about 6:30 am with breakfast packed and drive into the Masai Mara National Reserve for the whole day, with the reserve fee included. Early light is when lions and hyenas are most often still on the move, so we enter at the nearest gate and work west across open grassland towards the Mara River, stopping wherever something is worth waiting for. Breakfast is eaten in the vehicle or under a tree. The river holds hippos and large Nile crocodiles all year. From about July to October in most years the great herds of wildebeest and zebra arrive from Tanzania's Serengeti, and some groups cross the river; when and where they cross changes daily and from year to year, so a crossing is a chance, not a promise. Outside those months the reserve still has its resident lions, elephants, buffalo, cheetahs and plains game. Lunch is a picnic in the shade, and we are back at camp around sunset for dinner.

   Included

   • Full-day game drive in the Masai Mara National Reserve, reserve fee included
   • The Mara River and its hippo pools
   • Picnic lunch in the reserve
   • Dinner at camp

   Easier option: Return to camp at lunchtime in one vehicle, when enough guests prefer a half day.

   Activity: About 10 hours out in the vehicle on rough tracks, with stops to stretch at sightings and at lunch.

3. Day 3: Conservancy day: on foot, a Maasai village and a sundowner

   A full day in the Mara conservancy

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Masai Mara
   Day 3 details

   Coffee comes before dawn, and we are out on the first drive as the light comes up. Conservancies are private land leased from Maasai families and set aside for wildlife, with a cap on vehicles at each sighting and rules that let guides leave the track to follow an animal, which the main reserve does not allow. Back at camp for a late breakfast, you can walk out with Maasai guides for about an hour and a half to read tracks and learn which plants herders use as medicine, or stay in camp. Lunch, then the hottest hours are yours. In the mid-afternoon we visit a Maasai family homestead nearby, arranged through the conservancy with the community's agreement; our fee goes to the community, and we ask before taking photos. The late drive ends on a rise with a sundowner as the sun drops, then dinner at camp.

   Included

   • Dawn game drive in the conservancy
   • Guided bush walk with Maasai guides
   • Visit to a Maasai family homestead
   • Late-afternoon game drive with a sundowner
   • All meals at camp

   Optional experiences

   • Hot-air balloon flight at sunrise with a bush breakfast (price confirmed at booking)
   • Night drive with a spotlight, where the conservancy allows it (price confirmed at booking)

   Easier option: Skip the dawn drive and the walk, sleep in and join the group for the village visit and the sundowner.

   More active option: Take the balloon flight at sunrise, then the bush walk.

   Free time: Early afternoon free at camp

   Activity: The bush walk is about 1.5 hours at a slow pace on uneven ground; conservancies often set a minimum age for walks.

   

4. Day 4: A last drive and the flight back to Nairobi

   Mara airstrip to Wilson Airport by light aircraft, then Jomo Kenyatta International Airport or your Nairobi hotel

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 4 details

   One last drive at first light, when the cats are often still active and the plains are cool, then breakfast at camp and a short drive to the airstrip for the scheduled light-aircraft flight back to Wilson Airport in Nairobi, landing around midday; the exact time is set by the airline. From the air you get a last look at the plains and the Rift Valley escarpment. Your guide sees you through Wilson, and our driver takes you on to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, about 45 minutes to an hour away in traffic, or to a Nairobi hotel if you are staying on or joining another trip. Lunch is on your own; there are cafés at Wilson and at the international airport. If you have time before a late flight, the Giraffe Centre in Langata is close to Wilson Airport and can be added. Book an international flight leaving after about 5 pm.

   Included

   • Short game drive at first light
   • Scheduled light-aircraft flight from the Masai Mara to Wilson Airport, Nairobi
   • Drop-off at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) or a Nairobi hotel

   Optional experiences

   • Giraffe Centre, Langata, on the way from Wilson Airport (entry paid locally)

   Easier option: Skip the first-light drive and have a slow breakfast at camp.

   Activity: Book a flight home leaving after about 5 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: June to October is the long dry season: cool mornings, short grass and animals gathered near water, and in most years the wildebeest and zebra herds are in the Mara from about July to October. January to March is warm and dry, with resident game, young animals and fewer vehicles. April and May bring the long rains, when many camps close, so we do not run then. Open vehicles are cold at dawn in any month.

• Masai Mara3 nights