- +254 722 510 431 | +254 733 556 555
- info@safarisandbeyond.com
- Gigiri Drive, Off UN Avenue, Kenya
- +254 722 510 431 | +254 733 556 555
- info@safarisandbeyond.com
- Gigiri Drive, Off UN Avenue, Kenya
When to Visit Masai Mara National Reserve
Planning the perfect trip to the Masai Mara starts with making an informed decision about the best time to visit. Nestled within the greater Mara Triangle, this world-renowned reserve offers more than just iconic wildlife sightings—it’s an immersive experience that brings you face-to-face with nature at its most raw and beautiful. No wonder it’s often called the modern-day eighth wonder of the world.
Year-Round Game Viewing
Masai Mara offers consistent game viewing all year thanks to its rich variety of resident wildlife. Its vast open plains and woodlands are teeming with life, ensuring that no matter when you visit, you’re guaranteed unforgettable wildlife encounters.
The Great Wildebeest Migration
If witnessing the Great Migration is on your bucket list, the best time to visit is between June and November. This awe-inspiring spectacle depends heavily on rainfall patterns, making exact timings unpredictable. River crossings, especially at the Mara River, typically occur between July and October but can vary from year to year—and even day to day.
As the short rains fall in November, the herds begin their journey back to the southern Serengeti for calving season. This transition overlaps with the Mara’s own birthing season, where animals like cows, goats, and sheep also give birth between December and January. With ample surface water, this is also a prime time for predators to raise their young—offering incredible photographic opportunities for visitors.
Birdwatcher’s Paradise
Masai Mara boasts over 450 recorded bird species, making it one of Africa’s top birding destinations. Its rich birdlife thrives across a mosaic of habitats including open savannahs, woodlands, riverbanks, rocky landscapes, and the dramatic Great Rift Valley escarpments. Seasonal weather changes influence breeding and other key behaviors, adding an extra layer of excitement for avid birders.
This is an approximate calendar, as it is greatly influenced by how early or late the rains in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem begin.
Diverse herds making up to over two million wildebeest, zebra and antelope are freely roaming in unfenced Serengeti National Park. This happens to be their grazing ground with movements down south back from the north-east region into Southern Serengeti, Lake Ndutu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There are resident wildebeests that stay in Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.The Serengeti is not fenced, so the herds are free to move where they can find grazing.
The calving season happen between January to March with lots of wobbly young being hunted by predators and is a reel heartbreak season. Easily spot the Serengeti lion, brown hyena, leopard and even wild dog taking advantage of vulnerable calves.
The favourable grazing grounds of the Southern Serengeti, Ndutu and Ngorongoro conservancy mean huge the herds remain in the far south. This is the mating season.
By the month of July when migration takes place, female are usually pregnant by the time they enter, Talek and Grumeti Rivers, making their feat even more incredible.
Heards still held up in Serengeti and feeding grounds are beginning to be exhausted. The last calves are born.
The great northern trek towards Masai Mara begins. They are now in the central or even western Serengeti.
Huge herds are easily spotted in this central and western Serengeti, and water as an important resource is getting exhausted due to drought. Dry spells begin to bite. Real need to begin migrating towards the Mara River.
The exit from Serengeti has begun.
The herds have reached the western Serengeti and are entering Northern Serengeti and Masai Mara crossing the Mara river where there is abundant food in the grazing grounds. During these crossings, you experience the huge Nile crocodiles pouncing on the determined herbivores crossing to hunt for grazing land.
As we cannot predict the actual time for the migration, make a Mara Reservation for a lodge, villa or hotel one year in advance. This cuts down on travel time to lookout points. The wildebeest do have historical crossing areas and you may spend days staked out in the hope of seeing the action.
The survivors are celebrating feasting in the northern Serengeti and into into Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. The reserve is open to members of the public. For a comprehensive and exclusive luxury experience, head for the private conservancies that border the reserve.
The herds break up into smaller groups while they remain in the northern Serengeti and the rest experience war stories in the Mara. The Serengeti-Mara, or the Mara-Serengeti, ecosystem is one system that has just been artificially divided by humans in the two neighboring countries of Kenya and Tanzania. They, however, do not require passports to cross the two countries. The herds will be spread out, making the most of water and food.
The real action is in Masai Mara, a smaller reserve compared to the vast Serengeti hence very concentrated number of migrations. This becomes the best location to catch the phenomenon. There are lot of other visitors from around the world hence Mara Conservancies remain less crowded. You be able to witness the Migration by crossing to the inside of the park during the day and you will be directly contribute to the Maasai communities who have lived and helped with conservation for thousands of years.
In a normal year – the short rains have begun, propelling the wildebeest to leave the now denuded grasslands of the Masai Mara and back into the rejuvenated Serengeti. Bear in mind that the rain can be late or early, which is also unpredictable.
The migration season is relatively wet and cold. Your travel costume should include a pair of trousers, closed shoes that can cope with mud and a fleece or waterproof jacket.
The wildebeest have now entered the North and Eastern – Lobo area of Serengeti, as well as the southern Serengeti. Calving begins again, the predators have swung into action and the cycle of life begins all over again.