2-Day Masai Mara Escape
A weekend-length dash to the Mara for guests short on time: one afternoon and one full morning of game drives either side of a single night in camp.
3-Day Masai Mara Classic
Overview
This is the itinerary most guests end up choosing, and for a simple reason: with a full day sitting entirely inside the Mara, you get a morning drive, a midday break at camp through the hottest hours, and an afternoon drive, rather than compressing everything into the edges of two travel days. The extra day also gives us room to move if the wildlife isn't cooperating in one part of the reserve; we can shift areas rather than working the same square kilometre twice.
The route out and back is the same drive as the 2-Day Escape, but because it now brackets a full day rather than one, the driving feels far less like the point of the trip.
Day by day
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01
Nairobi to the Mara
We leave Nairobi in the early morning and drive southwest through Narok to the reserve, arriving by early afternoon and checking into camp for lunch. The afternoon is a game drive along the river tree lines and open plains near camp, the stretch of the day when cats that have been lying up through the heat start to move again.
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02
Full day in the Mara
This day is unstructured on purpose. We're out before sunrise for the morning drive, back at camp for lunch and a rest through the hot midday hours, then out again from mid-afternoon until the light goes. Where we drive depends on where the game has been the past few days, near the river for cat sightings, out onto the open plains if the migration herds are moving through, or toward the conservancies bordering the reserve for a quieter session.
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03
Morning drive and departure
A final early game drive before breakfast, then we pack up and start the drive back to Nairobi, timed to have you at your hotel or the airport by early evening.
What's included
Included
- Ground transport from and to Nairobi in a 4x4 safari vehicle with a pop-up roof
- Two nights full-board accommodation at a tented camp in or bordering the Mara
- Four game drives, led by an English-speaking driver-guide
- Masai Mara reserve entry fees
- All meals throughout: breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Bottled water in the vehicle throughout
- Soft drinks, juices, tea and coffee throughout
- Beer, wine and spirits throughout
Not included
- International and domestic flights
- Kenya e-Visa or entry permit fees
- Tips and gratuities for your guide and camp staff
- Items of a personal nature such as laundry and souvenirs
- Travel insurance
Best time to visit
Year-round, but late June through October is when the migration herds are most likely to be in or near the reserve, and January through March gives drier tracks and clear early light.
Common questions
What vehicle do we travel in?
A 4x4 safari Land Cruiser with a pop-up roof for standing game viewing. It may be shared with a small number of other guests on the same dates unless you request a private vehicle at booking, which we can usually arrange for a supplement.
Do I need to be fit for this trip?
No particular fitness is needed. You are seated in the vehicle for the drives, with the option to stand through the pop-up roof for photos; the only walking is between the vehicle and camp buildings, which are on level ground.
Is there a single supplement?
Yes, if you're travelling alone and want your own tent rather than sharing. The per-person rate above assumes two people sharing a tent; ask us for the single rate when you enquire and we'll quote it against the specific camp you've chosen.
What happens if it rains during a game drive?
The vehicle has a roof and side flaps that come down, so drives continue in light rain; heavier storms sometimes cut a drive short if tracks become impassable. Rain in the Mara tends to be short and localised rather than an all-day event, and it rarely stops a full day of driving.
Will we see the migration?
Only if it happens to be in the area during your dates, and we never promise otherwise. The migration is a seasonal movement rather than a fixed schedule, roughly July through October in most years, and even then a river crossing can happen at any hour or on any day within that window.
05Add-on experience
Hot air balloon safari
Over the Masai Mara
The Mara is where balloon safaris in Kenya started and it remains the classic flight: open plains, the river courses picked out by their tree lines, and game visible below in a way no vehicle can show you. Between roughly July and October, when the migration herds are in the reserve, the view from the basket takes in a scale of movement that is genuinely hard to grasp from the ground.
You are collected from camp in the dark and driven to the launch site, arriving while the crew are still inflating the envelope. Take-off is at first light, which is the whole point: the air is calmest then, and the low sun puts long shadows behind everything below you.
The flight runs roughly an hour, drifting with whatever wind there is rather than steering, so no two flights follow the same line. Height varies through the flight, from just above the treetops to a few hundred metres up.
Where the balloon lands, the ground crew are already setting up breakfast, cooked in the open and eaten at the landing site before you are driven back to camp. Most guests are back in time for the rest of the morning.
Worth knowing
- Flights go at dawn and are weather dependent. Wind or low cloud cancels them, and that call belongs to the pilot on the morning, not to us.
- Baskets are small and fill early in high season, so this is worth adding when you book the safari rather than deciding once you have arrived.
- It is a genuinely early start, normally a pre-dawn pickup from camp.
Who flies it
The flight itself is run by a licensed balloon operator with its own pilots and civil aviation approval, not by us. What we do is book your seats, make sure the pickup lines up with where you are staying and what your itinerary is doing the rest of that day, and sort it out with the operator if the weather moves your flight.
Add a balloon flightReady to book this safari?
Send us your travel dates and group size and we'll confirm availability for the 3-Day Masai Mara Classic within a day.
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