What Masai Mara costs
A Mara safari is paid per day and per person, and €173 entry in season is the biggest line on every bill, two thirds of a lean one — from a group tent to a lodge with a flight, the difference is who sits in the vehicle, not what is seen.
- Lean
- about USD 200–300 a day per person
- Comfortable
- about USD 400–600 a day per person
- Expensive
- USD 800 and more a day
The Mara is not paid as a trip but as a meter: entry per person per day, vehicle per day, tent per night, tips per day. Three days in August with a group and tents come to around nine hundred dollars a head; the same three days in February six hundred, because entry is half. A lodge with a flight and a private vehicle is three to five times more — for the same lions.
The figures below are per person per day, in dollars because that is how it is charged, for three days in the Mara with two driving days from Nairobi in the price. Everything is a range; August and Christmas are the top edge, February and June the bottom.
Where the money actually goes
At the gate and on the vehicle. Entry of €173 a day in season is fixed and the same for a tent and a lodge; three days are six hundred dollars a head before a single night. The vehicle with guide is shared — six on a group safari pay forty or so dollars a day each, two on a private one a hundred and fifty. Accommodation is what varies most and affects least what is seen: the lions are the same from a forty-dollar tent and a five-hundred-dollar lodge.
Three bills for three days
- A group safari from Nairobi, tents, August — about USD 900 a head: entry 600, vehicle and tent 250, tips 50. The same in February: about 600.
- A tented camp with a bathroom, a vehicle for four, August — about USD 1,500–1,800 a head: entry 600, vehicle 300, camp 600, tips 80.
- A conservancy lodge, a private vehicle, a flight, August — USD 2,500–4,000 a head: entry and conservancy fee, a flight from €173 each way, and a lodge that carries most of the bill on its own.
Where you save without losing anything
On the date above all: the same safari before 1 July costs a third less on entry alone. On the vehicle — a group of six shares the same guide as two. On the flight, because five hours from Nairobi runs through the Rift Valley and has a viewpoint. You do not economise on the guide: the difference between one who listens to the radio and one who does not is a leopard seen or not seen for the same six hundred dollars of entry.
The same comparison for 143 places: hostel, hotel, getting into town and a day pass. Travel costs →
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What does a Masai Mara safari cost?
Per person per day: a group safari with tents USD 200–300 all in, a tented camp with a bathroom 400–600, a lodge 800 and more. Three days in August with a group are about USD 900, the same three days in February about 600 — the difference is entry.
Is reserve entry included in the price?
It depends, and you ask in writing before paying. Entry is €173 per person per day from July to December and €86 from January to June; cheaper tours leave it as a supplement at the gate, which for three days in August is six hundred dollars.
How much do you tip on safari?
Guide and driver ten to twenty dollars a day per vehicle, camp staff five to ten a day — in the box or in person. Not in the price and counted in advance, in new dollars, because nobody here takes old series.
Ready for Masai Mara?
Where to next
The best time to visit Masai Mara
→The Masai Mara has two seasons that differ in one thing: from July to October the wildebeest cross the river…
Nairobi · 108 km
→A savanna with lions and rhinos seven kilometres from the centre of a capital — and a city that for most people is just the night before the safari
How well does Masai Mara suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
Leave your email and we'll let you know when a new destination or story goes up.