The best time to visit the Maasai Mara
Month by month, and what each one actually gets you.
The honest answer is that there is no bad month in the Maasai Mara. There are months that suit different things, and a great deal of nonsense written about the rest.
July to October: the herds are here
This is what most people mean by "the migration". Somewhere between one and two million wildebeest and zebra are in the Mara ecosystem, having come north from the Serengeti, and the river crossings that everybody has seen photographs of happen in this window.
What nobody tells you: a crossing is not scheduled. Herds gather at the river and wait — sometimes for twenty minutes, sometimes for two days. Guests who see one usually saw it because they were willing to sit at the river for three hours with a packed lunch. If a crossing is the reason you are coming, budget four nights minimum and say so when you book, because it changes where we put you.
It is also the most expensive and the busiest time. Camps are full by January for the following August.
November to December: the short rains, and hardly anyone
Short, heavy afternoon downpours that clear within an hour, and a landscape that turns green within days. Rates drop by a third or more, the crowds are gone, and the resident game — lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe — is exactly where it always is. The herds have gone south, which matters only if the migration is your reason for coming.
This is our own favourite time to be in the Mara, and it is the month we recommend most often to people coming back for a second trip.
January to March: dry, green and quiet
The rain has finished, the grass is still green from it, and the days are clear. Big cats are easy to find because the grass is short. February is calving season in the southern Serengeti, which is a Tanzania trip rather than a Mara one — but if you are combining, this is the month.
April and May: the long rains
The only genuinely difficult window. Roads become slow, some camps close, and photography is harder in flat light. Rates are at their lowest of the year and the Mara is beautiful in a way it is not at any other time. We will book it if you ask, and we will tell you plainly what you are trading.
So which month?
If you want the crossings: late July to early October. If you want value and space: November, or January to March. If you want the best light for photography: the green months, without question. If you have children and a fixed school holiday, we will build around the date you have rather than talk you into a different one.
