Growing up, we spent countless evenings together watching National Geographic and Discovery Channel, completely mesmerized by the sweeping plains, the epic wildebeest migrations, and the powerful predators that call this place home. Those documentaries sparked a shared dream—a promise that one day, we would see it all in person. My dad and I have shared a deep fascination with the African wilderness for as long as I can remember
This trip to Masai Mara from India wasn’t just about visiting a new place; it was about living out a dream that had been brewing since childhood. Finally standing on those iconic plains felt like we were stepping into the scenes that had fascinated us for so long. Some dreams are worth the wait, and this one was definitely at the top of the list.
If you are like us, waiting to see Masai Mara but concerned about the budget – let us help you in making it happen. We have visited Kenya only to see Mara and can guide you how you can do it in the cheapest yet comfortable manner.
In case you have more budget and wish to see other parks in Kenya – there are many guides over the internet you can refer to.
Here we will solely focus on our experience and hacks to cover Mara (including flight and two full days landcruiser safari) in a budget as low as INR 75000 (around USD 900) per person for 5 nights (3 in Mara and 2 in Nairobi)
So let’s dive in…
Table of Contents
Best Time to Visit
MasaiMara from India, you can visit all year round, but there are significant differences in each seasons
1. The Great Migration (July to October)
Spectacular Wildlife Viewing: Witness the iconic Great Migration. Ideal Weather: Dry season makes wildlife spotting easier.
Crowds: High tourist numbers and busier parks. You can easily get “traffic jams” for a good sighting Higher Costs: Accommodations and tours are pricier. Entry Fee is $200 per person for 12 hours
2. Short Rains (November to December)
Lush Scenery: The landscape is vibrant and green. Fewer Tourists: Quieter parks with better deals.
Unpredictable Weather: Occasional rain can disrupt plans. But Entry Fee is $200 per person for 12 hours Wildlife Dispersal: Animals spread out, making sightings less frequent.
3. Long Rains (March to June first half)
Budget-Friendly: Lower prices for accommodations and tours. Entry Fee is $100 per person for 12 hours Abundant Birdlife: Excellent for bird watching.
Heavy Rains: Muddy roads and disrupted game drives. Less Wildlife Activity: Harder to spot animals due to dense vegetation.
4. Dry Seasons (Jan to Feb and June second half)
Good Weather: Pleasant and clear for game viewing. Entry Fee is $100 per person for 12 hours Baby Animals: Calving season offers adorable sightings (in Jan and Feb season)
Smaller Crowds, But Still Tourists: Less crowded, but still busy.
#TEETips: We choose June end to visit,primarily to avoid a $200 entry fee from July onwards. We have surely missed The Great Migration, but we picked two full days inside Mara and it was equally rewarding. Also we saved on increased accommodation costs from July onwards.
But if seeing migration is non-negotiable for you, choose August or end of July
VISA and Vaccination
Please note Kenya VISA is NOT FREE. You need to apply for an ETA (Electronic Travel Agreement) online through this website and it will cost around USD 35 per person
It may take upto 3 days to receive it in your email. Please keep your photo, air tickets, reservations and tour booking documents handy.
Also you need to get your Yellow Fever Vaccinations and Polio drops done at least before 10 days of your trip. Without this you may not be allowed to board the flight. We have been asked for the documents while coming back to India at Nairobi airport.
We have put up a video on how to get it in Bangalore, India !!
Flights to MasaiMara from India
While there are many flights to Nairobi from India, the two best budget options are Air India and Indigo. Air India direct flights are from Delhi and Indigo from Mumbai. We booked Air India from Bangalore to Nairobi via Delhi as it was coming out cheaper.
We paid around INR 26000 for a roundtrip per person
Please note Air India flights from Delhi to Nairobi – we had not so good experience. The food was good, service was good; but 90% of the entertainment systems were not working or even worse my seat was not having any degree of recline. But that is our personal experience, may be one off !!
Which national park
When you come to Kenya, I am sure you are looking for an opportunity to see big 5 (Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Buffalo and Leopard) plus Cheetah – hence Masaimara becomes the obvious choice. However before diving deep into Masaimara, let us tell you other park options you have in Kenya
Amboseli National Park
- Famous for: Large herds of elephants, views of Mount Kilimanjaro. Cheetah and Rhinos are almost none here
- Amboseli is best known for its stunning views of Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, and its large elephant populations. The park’s open plains and swamp areas attract diverse wildlife, making it a great spot for photography.
Tsavo National Parks (East and West)
- Famous for: Big elephants
- Tsavo is one of the largest national parks in the world and is divided into Tsavo East and Tsavo West. Tsavo East is known for its vast landscapes and red-colored elephants due to the reddish soil. Tsavo West is more mountainous and known for Mzima Springs, a series of natural springs.
Nairobi National Park
- Famous for: Proximity to Nairobi, black rhinos
- Located just a few kilometers from Nairobi’s city center, this park offers a unique combination of city skyline views and wildlife. It’s known for its successful rhinoceros sanctuary and the chance to see the Big Five close to an urban area.
Lake Nakuru National Park
- Famous for: Flamingos, rhinos, boat safari
- Lake Nakuru is famous for its pink flamingos that line the shores of the lake. It’s also home to a large population of rhinos, making it a key sanctuary for these endangered animals.
Samburu National Reserve
- Famous for: Unique wildlife species, Samburu culture
- Situated in northern Kenya, Samburu is known for its unique species like the Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, and Somali ostrich. The reserve also offers insights into the culture of the Samburu people.
Out of all, Masai Mara has the highest chance of seeing wildlife including big five and cheetah.
Only thing is Rhinos are really rare.
We only did Masai Mara, but if you have more time and budget add Lake Nakuru. In case you have even more time and budget, add Amboseli
Below are the entry fees of different national parks. You can check latest fares here
Also for kids, entry fees are normally 50% or 60% of adults
National Park | January – June | July – December |
Maasai Mara National Reserve | USD 100 | USD 200 |
Amboseli National Park | USD 60 | USD 60 |
Tsavo East/West National Park | USD 50 | USd 50 |
Nairobi National Park | USd 43 | USD 43 |
Lake Nakuru National Park | USD 60 | USD 60 |
Samburu National Reserve | USD 70 | USD 70 |
How to choose the safari and accommodations
To visit Masaimara and even other parks of Kenya , we highly recommend booking tours in advance. You can read this if you are planning to use public transport to reach Masaimara and all arrangements of safari by yourself.
However if you are a first timer like us – best way is to get it booked from Nairobi to Nairobi
Now you can book with a tour operator in Nairobi who has tie up with camps or you can directly book with the camps. You can get a lot of options with ratings here
Below are our recommendations for budget options
- Baboon Budget Tours : Personally used. Jemimah helped us a lot in planning and the experience was decent. They have tie up with multiple camps in budget, semi luxury and luxury category. They also provide private and group safaris. Would recommend if you choose group safari – stick to their classic 2N3D tour to Mara. We had chosen 3N4D with two full days of Mara – but you may end up going to the same places as you will be tagged to a new group on your second day safari. However we got lucky and there was no place in any of the groups on our second safari day – hence we got a private safari !!
- Mara Enkajiang EcoCamp : We stayed here as it was booked as our budget stay by Baboon Budget Safari – you can book with the camp directly also. Just outside the gate of Mara (5 mins) and with all basic amenities and great stuff. You can check our video for the camp tour
- Lenchada tourist camp and Enchoro Wildlife camp – are also good budget options with many recommendations
If you have more budget you can choose from below:
Jumbo Mara Safari Lodge or tour operators like Monkey, SWB, Mario
While choosing a safari and accommodation in Mara, always keep in mind – you need to optimize your budget and experience on three parameters
If you want to do Mara on a budget and still want to have the best experiences – choose the Landcruiser-Group Tour-Stay Outside combination, if you have a bit more budget or more people traveling together then opt for a private tour.
Though safari vans are cheaper, would always recommend a land cruiser as it is more comfortable to spend the whole day and it can easily go off roading and reach places which is tough with a safari van
Other costs to keep in mind
Apart from Flights, VISA and Safari costs you should plan for below. Will provide how much we spent on each of them in the next section
SIM Card : You can get Safaricom SIMs right before the exit of the airport. Or if you have time you can get it from Nairobi. They are highly recommended and you can get network well inside Mara
Water: Surprisingly not many budget stays both in Nairobi and Mara provide you free drinking water. So you may like to purchase water, the best rates are normally at super markets and for large dispensers of 3lt or 5lt.
Tips: Though not mandatory, but advisable to provide some tips if you like the service of your guide in Masai mara or any other national park
Shopping : Recommend you do your shopping from Masai Village or the Masai market in Nairobi. Remember Masai market doesn’t take place in the same location everyday. Here is a great guide
Commute: Commuting within Nairobi and to and from airport you can use Uber or Bolt
Nairobi Sightseeing:
Though there are a lot of things to do in Nairobi, if you have one full day – we highly recommend taking this tour – which covers three iconic sights including Giraffe center, Nairobi national Park and Elephant Orphanage
If you want to visit only Nairobi national Park for half day, then we recommend this tour
Nairobi stays: There are few budget options we had shortlisted
Entire condo hosted by David – a bit out of main town, but very good price and looks lovely with good review
CONVENIENT apartment:S/B near JKIAIRPORT – We stayed here. Laura is a great host. This place is closer to the airport. So you need to take an Uber for going to the city – but you save on commuting to the airport.
Khweza Bed and Breakfast – this one is in Nairobi downtown -had fairly good reviews and pocket friendly
Our Itinerary for MasaiMara from India
We spent total 5 nights in Kenya
Day 1: Landed in Nairobi in the evening. We got a complimentary pick up from our tour providers Baboon Budget Tours. Ensure to get your SIM and currency converted as in Nairobi you will need Kenyan Shilling. USD works in Mara
Stay: CONVENIENT apartment:S/B near JKIAIRPORT
Food : We carried a few ready-to-eat and purchased some bread butter and eggs from the nearby stores. There is a grocery store right at the gate of the apartment and few more within 100 meters. We also purchased water
Day 2: We got picked up from our stay by Baboon Budget Tours. Did some paperwork and final payment at their office and headed straight to Mara. It took 6 hours to reach our camp Mara Enkajiang EcoCamp.
Enroute we stopped at the viewpoint of Great Rift valley national park and at a gas station where we purchased some more water and snacks
We skipped the evening safari as we didn’t want to pay $100 park entry fee for 2 hours of game-drive in the evening, instead we paid for one day extra in the camp and did 2 full days of game drive
In the evening, we went for a cultural tour to Masai village (cost for this is not included in tour package)
Stay: Mara Enkajiang EcoCamp.
Food : Included in the stay. Lunch and Dinner
Day 3: Our first full day game drive in Mara. Had our breakfast at 6 am and left for the park at 6:30 am. Park gate opens at 7 am. Early morning in Mara is one of the most beautiful scenes. Our landcruiser was equipped with bottled waters, charging point and obviously open roof
We saw a lot of animals, including lioness, elephant, hippo, giraffe, zebra
Got to walk along the Mara river and see a large number of crocodiles and hippos resting. It is the same place where the migration happens between July to October
We also went to Tanzania border and finally back to camp at 5 pm
Stay: Mara Enkajiang EcoCamp.
Food : Included in the stay. Breakfast and Dinner. Packed lunch is served in the park where you get a break for an hour.
Day 4: Our second full day game drive in Mara. Had our early breakfast at 6 am and left for the park. Today we got really lucky as it was our second full day and we were supposed to tag along with a group for whom it will be the first day. However since there was no such group available to accommodate us, we got a private safari with only two of us in it.
We just can’t forget this day – saw a Cheetah chasing and carrying her kill, a bunch of lion and lioness taking afternoon nap, leopard having meal on top of a tree, giraffe crossing against the vast grassland of Mara as backdrop, group of wild buffalos staring at us
Best was, just after the lunch – we spotted a Cheetah resting under a bush. And ours was the only jeep there
We had a proper bush lunch under a huge tree in the open lands of Mara !!
Stay: Mara Enkajiang EcoCamp.
Food : Included in the stay. Breakfast and Dinner. Packed lunch in the safari
Day 5: After breakfast started our drive towards Nairobi- reached Nairobi by 3:30 pm
A quick stop for lunch and a bio break on the way. At the bio break stop, we did some shopping. The store had huge collections and it was so hard to not to buy anything from there 
Stay: CONVENIENT apartment:S/B near JKIAIRPORT
Food : Purchased some bread, butter, egg and noodles – cooked at the AirBnB
Day 6 : Our last day in Kenya.
After a late start, we had our breakfast and checked out.
Our host Laura was kind enough to keep our bags for few hours in the apartment
Took an Uber to visit downtown – walked around the crowded streets and important buildings of Nairobi. Saw some insanely colorful buses (Matatu, as they call )
Spent some time in Uhuru Park and finally back to the apartment to collect our bag and left for airport to catch our evening flight to India
How much did we spend
Below is how much we spent for two people for the above itinerary
Could we have done our safari in Maasai Mara even cheaper
Now you can do it even cheaper by choosing the classic 2N3D package for Masai Mara which includes one afternoon and one full day Safari. That was costing us around 750 USD instead of USD 900 we paid for 3N4D. Like mentioned above, we skipped the evening safari and opt for two full days. So some extra cost for staying, food and commute. Mara entry fees remained the same – as we entered twice only (same as 2N3D plan).
So overall you can reduce another INR 12000 (USD 150) for two people
Also, though we don’t recommend it, if you choose Van instead of LandCruisers then you can further reduce 25 USD per person So for 2 people , you can reduce INR 4000 (USD 50) further.
So at the bare minimum, if you want to do a 2N3D tour to Mara and comeback – consider spending around INR 1,35,000 for two people.
Few other options you can choose from, if you want to include other parks
- 2N MasaiMara, 2 N Amboseli and 5th day drop to Nairobi – USD 630 per person
- 2N Masai Mara, 1 N Lake Nakuru, 1N Lake Navisha and back to Nairobi on 5th day – USD 650 per person
The above is the quote we got from Baboon Budge Safari.
Remember all the costs mentioned here are for group tours-budget camp-landcruiser vehicle-Jan to June season combination
Closing thoughts
At the end, we just want to highlight how rewarding and soul fulfilling that trip to Mara was. If you are also like us dreaming of visiting the elusive landscape of Africa and open savannah from your childhood – with all means just go for it. You don’t need a lot of money like we showed. You can easily tick off Mara from your bucketlist without waiting for accumulating hefty amount
Want us to help you plan your trip? We would love to !!
Click here to read in details and reach out.
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