The Maasai Mara is Kenya’s best-known reserve, and flying in is the easiest way to reach it from the coast. Instead of a two day drive each way, you take a short flight from Mombasa and are on your first game drive the same afternoon. This gives you two full days in the Mara instead of losing most of your trip on the road. If you’re staying in Malindi or Diani, we arrange your road transfer to Mombasa airport to connect with the flight.
We pick you up from your hotel and transfer you to Moi International Airport in Mombasa for your scheduled flight to the Mara, which takes around one to two hours depending on the route and any stops. On arrival at the airstrip, usually around midday, your driver-guide meets you and takes you to your lodge for lunch. After a short rest, you head out at 16:00 for your first game drive, watching for lion, elephant and the Mara’s large resident herds of zebra and wildebeest. You return to the lodge by 18:30 for dinner and an overnight stay.
A morning game drive from 06:30 covers the reserve while it’s cool and animals are most active, with a stop near the Mara River, where hippos and crocodiles gather. You return to the lodge for breakfast and a late morning rest. After lunch, an afternoon game drive from 16:00 explores a different part of the reserve, with a good chance of spotting cheetah on the open plains. If you’re visiting between July and October, this is also when the Great Migration crosses the Mara River, and your guide will look for river crossing activity during both drives. Dinner and overnight at your lodge.
After breakfast at 07:00, there’s a final game drive on the way to the airstrip, giving you one more chance at anything you haven’t yet seen. You fly back to Mombasa around midday, and we transfer you back to your hotel in Malindi or Diani in the afternoon.
Safari rates change with the season, number of travellers and available accommodation.
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