Narok County charges non-resident adults USD 200 per day from July to December and USD 100 from January to June. Over three days in the reserve, two people save USD 600 on fees alone, and many camps price lower in the same months.

You stay in a private conservancy on the edge of the reserve rather than inside it. That matters for two reasons. Conservancies limit vehicles, so a cheetah is not surrounded by twenty cars. And conservancies allow walking safaris and night drives, which the national reserve does not.

January to March is usually dry and quiet. April to June brings the long rains, the lowest rates and the greenest plains. Rain tends to fall in afternoon bursts rather than all day, but some roads become slow, which is one reason we plan this trip as a fly-in.

Day by day

  1. Day 1

    Scheduled flight from Wilson Airport to a Mara airstrip (about 45 minutes, against five to six hours by road). Lunch at camp, afternoon game drive.

  2. Day 2

    Full day in the reserve with a picnic lunch, private vehicle, no fixed timetable. Night drive in the conservancy.

  3. Day 3

    Morning walking safari with a Maasai guide in the conservancy, afternoon drive, sundowner on a ridge.

  4. Day 4

    Early drive, breakfast, flight back to Nairobi by midday.

What the trip price covers

  • Return scheduled flights Nairobi to the Mara
  • Private vehicle and guide
  • Conservancy camp with meals and activities
  • Reserve fees at the January to June rate, as quoted

International flights, visas and the Kenya eTA, travel insurance, tips and drinks are not included unless your quote says so.

Worth knowing

  • Reserve tickets run for 12 hours from 6 am, and staying longer adds another day’s fee. Your guide plans drives around this.
  • Want the crossings instead? We plan July to October Mara trips too, priced at the peak fee and booked six to twelve months ahead.

Who checks the operator

We do, before we recommend them. This trip is run, contracted and invoiced by a tour operator licensed by Kenya’s Tourism Regulatory Authority. Your planning fee pays for the plan and the checks; we take nothing from the operator.

  • Tourism Regulatory Authority licence, checked against the regulator’s own records
  • NTSA tourist service licence for the vehicles you ride in
  • Public liability insurance in date, with a copy on file
  • Guide qualifications and, for walking and riding, the camp’s safety procedures
  • Recent client references we can contact
  • For halal trips, each camp’s confirmation in writing