Masai Mara
Kenya
The same plains as the Serengeti, and the river the herds have to cross
Remote destinations — A fly-in of an hour from Nairobi, or six hours on a road that shakes the car apart
Photo by David Clode on Unsplash
Photos by Henrik Hansen, Henrik Hansen, Ahmed Galal and Ahmed Galal on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Kenya
July to October (migration), January to February (dry and green)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 190mm in Apr
Where it is
1.49°S, 35.14°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- 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
Masai Mara travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Kenya
ExpensivePark 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.
Avoid these
- relying on anything inside the reserve — there are no machines
Use these instead
- Equity
- KCB
- Standard Chartered (all in Nairobi)
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 all of Kenya
SafeThe 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.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (4 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Maasai Mara National Reserve — inside a fenced or guarded camp
Worth more attention
- Walking between tents at night without an escort, which every camp provides for a reason
- Getting out of the vehicle, at any distance, for any photograph
- Balloon and light-aircraft operators — check the licence
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Kenya visa rules
Travel authorisation requiredup to 90 days$30 plus processing
Kenya replaced its visa with an Electronic Travel Authorisation that every visitor needs, including nationalities that were previously visa-free. Apply at least three days ahead.
Other passports
Travel authorisation requiredup to 90 days$30 plus processing
The ETA applies to nearly every nationality.
How to get it: Apply at etakenya.go.ke with a passport scan, a photo, and your accommodation and return flight details. Only that domain is official.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Before you fly: travel authorisation
Kenya eTARequired
At least 72 hours before you fly.
Have these in front of you before you start:
- passport
- a passport photo
- flight number
- the full address of your first night
- your onward or return flight date
Use the official link above. Sites that charge a "service fee" to submit one of these for you are not the government, and they want the same passport details the real form does.
Health & emergencies all of Kenya
LimitedRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate if arriving from a country where yellow fever is present — including via a long layover in one
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
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. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodMeals 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
Car needed- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- LittleWorks here
- inDriveWorks here
Little the Kenyan one
- From the airport
- JKIA to central Nairobi KSh 1,500–2,500
- Against a taxi
- Much cheaper than a hotel car and the standard way to move in Nairobi.
A boda-boda motorbike is faster and cheaper and is also how most road injuries here happen.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Nairobi — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Kenya
Ookla publishes no mobile median for Kenya, so there is no figure here for what a phone gets.
Why these are Kenya's numbers and not Masai Mara's
Home broadband — Basic. Email, browsing and one video call if nothing else is running. Broadband here runs at 20% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Masai Mara, so these are medians for all of Kenya. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Kenya, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
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
4 more phrases
- 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
Where to stay in Masai Mara
No Holistay rentals in Masai Mara yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Masai Mara on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Jomo Kenyatta, Nairobi NBO
1hfrom the airport, roughly
An hour by light aircraft, or six on a road that shakes the car apart.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
