Einstein 01
Crossings and Escarpment
Mara Triangle crossings from the escarpment, balanced with low-density conservancy nights.
8 days
Kenya
from USD 13,860
Open
Kenya
The reserve holds the crossings. The conservancies hold everything else: off-road driving, night drives, walking, and five vehicles at a sighting instead of forty.
-0.0236, 37.9062
Kenya's real advantage is structural. Around the Masai Mara National Reserve sits a ring of private conservancies, Mara North, Olare Motorogi, Naboisho and others, leased directly from Maasai landowners and run with a hard cap on bed numbers. That cap is the product. It buys you off-road access to a sighting, night drives that the reserve forbids, guided walking, and a genuine chance of being the only vehicle at a leopard.
The honest trade-off is that the great river crossings happen in the reserve and in the Mara Triangle, not in the conservancies. Most of our Kenya itineraries therefore split: conservancy nights for the quality of the game viewing, reserve days in season for the crossings.
Where we take you.
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Masai Mara Reserve
-1.5833, 35.0000
The Kenyan half of the Serengeti ecosystem. The Mara Triangle in the west, under a separate and better-run management, is where the crossing points sit below the Oloololo escarpment.
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Mara conservancies
-1.3000, 35.1500
Mara North, Olare Motorogi and Naboisho. Low bed density, off-road driving, night drives and walking safaris, all forbidden inside the reserve itself.
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Amboseli
-2.6527, 37.2606
Large tusker elephants against Kilimanjaro, on the clear mornings when the mountain shows at all.
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Lake Nakuru
-0.3667, 36.0833
Rift Valley soda lake, white and black rhino, Rothschild's giraffe and flamingo when the water level suits them.
7 journeys through Kenya.
Single-country routes and the cross-border circuits that pass through here.
02
Three Conservancies
No national reserve at all. Capped beds, night drives, walking, and cats to yourself.
9 days
Kenya
from USD 15,320
Open
03
Rhino Country to Samburu
Laikipia's rhino conservancies, then the Ewaso Ng'iro and Samburu's northern specialists.
10 days
Kenya
from USD 14,690
Open
04
Elephants and Dhow Sails
Kilimanjaro elephants, the Chyulu lava country, flamingo lakes, and a Lamu dhow finish.
12 days
Kenya
from USD 17,410
Open
05
Four Borders, One Rift
Bwindi, the Virungas, Laikipia, the Mara and the Serengeti in one continuous arc.
20 days
Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania
from USD 38,940
Open
06
Primates and Predators
Kibale chimpanzees and Bwindi gorillas, then Mara conservancies with no other vehicles.
12 days
Uganda, Kenya
from USD 18,940
Open
07
River, Plain, Ocean
Mara Triangle crossings, Kogatende crossings, then the dust washed off in the Indian Ocean.
15 days
Kenya, Tanzania
from USD 24,180
Open
Planning Kenya
Prices and rules here were checked against the park authorities in August 2026. We reconfirm every figure before it goes on a quotation.
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Is the Masai Mara or a conservancy better?
For river crossings, the reserve and the Mara Triangle, because that is where the crossing points are. For everything else, a conservancy. Conservancies cap bed numbers, permit off-road driving to reach a sighting, allow night drives and guided walking, and cap vehicles at any one sighting to five under a published code of conduct. We usually split an itinerary across both rather than choosing.
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How much is Maasai Mara entry in 2026?
USD 100 per non-resident adult per day from 1 January to 30 June 2026, and USD 200 from 1 July to 31 December. Children aged 9 to 17 pay USD 50 year round and under-8s are free. The ticket runs 6am to 6pm and does not carry overnight, whatever time you enter. The Mara Triangle charges the same tariff and is cashless, paid online before arrival. Since the 2024 restructure there is no longer a discount for sleeping inside the reserve.
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What does a Mara conservancy fee cover?
It is a nightly per-person conservation fee, currently around USD 130 in Mara North, Olare Motorogi and Naboisho, paid to the Maasai landowners who lease their land to the conservancy. It is separate from national reserve entry. It funds the lease payments that keep the land unfenced and ungrazed. It is included in the prices we quote, and it is the reason conservancy nights cost more than reserve nights.
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Is Kenya or Tanzania better for the migration?
They are the same herd and the same river. Kenya's Mara side is cheaper to reach, has shorter internal flights and better conservancies. Tanzania's Kogatende side has fewer vehicles at crossings and a much larger wilderness behind it. From mid-August to mid-September the herds are split across the river, which is the only time you can genuinely watch crossings from both banks on one trip.
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Do I need a visa for Kenya?
Yes. An electronic travel authorisation costs USD 30, applied for online at least seven days ahead. There is no visa on arrival. Citizens of African Union states are exempt, other than Libya and Somalia. If you are combining Kenya with Uganda and Rwanda, the East Africa Tourist Visa at USD 100 covers all three, though guidance is inconsistent on whether Kenya-first entrants also need the eTA, so we route those trips through Uganda or Rwanda first.
Start with a month.
Tell us when you can travel and we will tell you honestly whether Kenya is the right country for those dates, or whether one of the others would serve you better.