Masai Mara

Currency

Park fees are payable by card and often quoted in dollars. Carry shillings for tips, curios and anything outside the camp. M-Pesa is how Kenya actually pays for things, and a visitor SIM makes small payments far easier.

ATMs & cards

Withdraw in Nairobi — Equity, KCB and Standard Chartered are reliable there. There are no machines inside the reserve and the nearest are in Narok, hours away. Tips for guides and camp staff are cash and add up.

Draw cash in Nairobi. Guide and camp staff tips are cash and add up. M-Pesa is how Kenya actually pays for things, and a visitor SIM makes small payments far easier.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

The wildlife rules exist because people have died ignoring them: stay in the vehicle unless the guide says otherwise, and never walk between tents after dark without an escort. Malaria prophylaxis is advised. Crime is not a concern inside the reserve; Nairobi, where you transit, is a different matter and worth taking a car rather than walking after dark.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

• Yellow fever certificate if arriving from a country where yellow fever is present — including via a long layover in one

Worth having

• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Tetanus up to date
• Malaria prophylaxis — the Mara is a malaria area, though Nairobi itself is not
• Rabies for longer stays
• Cholera for extended rural stays

Getting treated

Nairobi has the best hospitals in East Africa and they are genuinely good. In the Mara you are hours from any of them by road, so camps rely on the AMREF Flying Doctors air ambulance — check whether your camp holds cover, and whether your insurance does.

Malaria prophylaxis is strongly advised for the Mara. Do not drink the tap water. Altitude in Nairobi (1,795m) is mild but noticeable on the first day.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Meals are at your camp and included. In Nairobi, nyama choma is the meal to have, and Kenyan coffee is worth drinking where it is grown.

Getting around

• Safari vehicle with a driver-guide — how it is done, and the guide is most of what you are paying for
• Light aircraft from Nairobi Wilson — 45 min instead of six hours on a hard road
• Road transfer from Nairobi — 5-6h, the last stretch genuinely rough
• Balloon safari — dawn only, and the classic Mara experience
• Airport: Nairobi (NBO) internationally, then Wilson (WIL) for the light aircraft

Must-see

Things to do

• Time a visit for the river crossings between July and October
• Go up in a balloon at dawn and land for breakfast
• Spend a full day rather than two short drives — the cats move at the edges of the light
• Visit a Maasai community, arranged properly and paid fairly
• Look for rhino in the Mara Triangle, which is better managed than the main reserve

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Swahili

• HelloHabariha-BA-ree
• PleaseTafadhalita-fa-DHA-lee
• Thank youAsantea-SAN-teh
• Yes / NoNdiyo / Hapanan-DEE-yo / ha-PA-na
• Excuse meSamahanisa-ma-HA-nee
• How much is it?Bei gani?bay GA-nee
• The bill, pleaseBili tafadhaliBEE-lee
• No problemHakuna matataha-KOO-na ma-TA-ta

Jambo is the tourist greeting; habari is what locals actually say to each other. Using it changes how you are received.

Religion

Christian majority

Around 85% Christian with a Muslim minority concentrated on the coast, and traditional belief practised alongside. Sunday services are long and central.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Greet before anything else, and shake hands — asking a question without greeting first is rude
• Use the right hand for giving and receiving
• Ask, and expect to pay, before photographing Maasai people or their homes
• Learn jambo and asante; a little Swahili is warmly received

Don't

• Do not photograph government buildings, police or military installations
• Do not display cash or expensive equipment in Nairobi streets
• Do not haggle aggressively at a Maasai market — the margins are the community income
• Do not leave the vehicle on safari unless the guide says it is safe