Are you thinking of visiting Kenya during the Great Migration? If so, you’re truly making an incredible choice – the Migration is a sight you’ll never forget.
Timing-wise, I would definitely recommend that you try to travel in August but if it needs to be July – then late July / early August would be preferable for the Masai Mara in Kenya. For the first half of July at least, the main herds of wildebeest tend to still be in the northern Serengeti in Tanzania – so August is a much safer bet for the Mara. Thinking about it, late July / early August brings a wonderful opportunity to witness a river crossing i.e. witness the herds of wildebeest crossing the Mara River from the Serengeti into the Mara ….
There are a number of airlines who fly to Kenya – the main ones being the national carrier, Kenya Airways, and also BA and Virgin. In all honesty, Kenya Airways are very inconsistent in their service delivery but cost-wise, they do generally offer the cheapest fares in both economy and business class. I would however, much prefer to recommend BA or Virgin …and with both of these carriers, you obviously have the choice of World Traveller / Premium Economy as well as Economy and Business Class whereas with Kenya Airways, it’s a straight choice between economy or business. BA generally only offer a day time service to Nairobi i.e. leave Heathrow in the morning and fly throughout the day, arriving in Nairobi in the late evening – so this necessitates a night in Nairobi before flying to the Masai Mara the following morning – so my recommendation would to be look at Virgin – who offer an overnight service – so you could depart Heathrow in the evening, arrive Nairobi the following morning – and connect with a flight into the Mara. You need to transfer from the international terminal in Nairobi to the domestic terminal (known as Wilson airport) about a 30 minute drive away (we organise this transfer) – and you then fly on a small plane to one of the airstrips in the Mara reserve. One small point to note – it is preferable to travel with ‘soft’ bags (as opposed to hard suitcases) – as ‘soft’ luggage is much easier to fit in to the small planes …..there’s generally a luggage allowance of around 15 – 20 kgs per person when going on safari.
Return next Monday for part 2!
