Fly to Masai Mara – Don’t Drive (& Here’s Why)

When planning your trip to the Maasai Mara, you will be faced with an important question: should you drive or fly to get there.

Flying is the fastest and most comfortable way of getting to the Masai Mara Game Reserve. A flight takes 45 Minutes compared to 6 hours when traveling by road. In addition to this, a large section of the road to the Masai Mara is gravel which makes for a very rough and uncomfortable drive.

Lets do a pros and cons list of flying to the Masai Mara to help you make a more informed decision of whether you will be flying or driving there.

Pros and cons of flying to the Masai Mara

Pros

Flying to the Masai Mara has the following advantages:

1. Short Travel Time

You will get to the Maasai Mara in around 45 minutes as compared to the 6 hours that it will take of you travel by road. The savings in time can be really useful if your main goal is just to see the animals.

2. Greater levels of comfort

The road from Narok to the Masai Mara Game Reserve ( a 3 hour drive is very bumpy and rough. The roads are poorly maintained and the vehicle will be moving really slowly to avoid hitting the pot holes too hard.

The short ride means that you will not have to endure the heat, bumpy roads, and the general annoyances that would come from traveling by road.

3. Beautiful aerial views

The aerial view of the Rift Valley is breathtaking and you will get to see some remote villages that you will not see if you travel by road.

4. Good short tour of the Mara

On your way to your camp of hotel, you are likely to make stops on a number of airstrips to drop off other passengers. This will give you a lovely short tour of the Maasai Mara and allow you to have a good bearing of most for the park.

5. Fly to the coast

When flying from the Maasai Mara, you can chose to travel to the coast directly and this will also be a relatively short ride: about one hour. Compare this with the 6 hours it will take you to come back to Nairobi then another 6 hours to get to the coast by bus.

Cons

1. Flying to the Masai mara is Expensive

Flying to the Mara is obviously expensive than going by road. The average cost of a ticket one way to the Maasai Mara is $217 USD one way while one way drive will cost about $100USD.

2. You don’t interact with the locals

I think this is the biggest downside of travelling by air. A good driver/tour guide makes the whole safari richer and more interesting since they tell lots of stories and help explain some hidden gems You might not discover on your own along the journey.

3. Miss the view of the escarpment

You will miss the beautiful view or the escarpment and the breath taking view of the expansive Rift Valley. The road winding down to the bottom of the valley has a number of viewpoints and most tour operators stop for a few minutes for tourists to take photos.

Here is a photo of took when I was at the escarpment few years ago.

4. You will not be able to view the Kenyan countryside

Especially if you have a good driver who is engaged and willing to show you around,  you will get to see the beautiful countryside of Kenya the people who fly to the maasai mara don’t get to see. Sometimes the driver can take you on a detour that will allow you to see more of kenya than what you wouldn’t if you were driving yourself or taking a plane.

5. Slightly scary

flying on the small planes that frequent in masai mara route can be a bit scary since the plane is small and it will be a slightly bumpy ride because of the turbulence.

Pros and cons of driving to the Mara

Pros

1. Experience Kenya’s beautiful countryside

Kenya has some amazing views. On your drive to the Maasai Mara, you will drive through rolling hills beautifully carpeted by tea plantations. After that you will have the chance experience the magnificence of the great Rift valley from the escarpment vantage point. This is arguably one of the best views in Kenya and it still gives me wonderful memories when I think of it. The drive after this will comprise of lovely views of Savannah and open country.

There aren’t a lot of animals on this drive but the views alone make eye drive worthwhile.

2. Interact with Kenyan People

In addition to the views, driving to the Mara will allow you to interact with the Kenyan people. You will get to experience their kindness,  warmth and the beauty of their art in curio shops along the escarpment. Kenyans are generally friendly and expect a number to strike up a conversation with you.

Granted, you will not really interact with them extensively but I think you will enjoy your interactions.

3. Conversations with the tour guide

One of the best parts of driving to the Mara is interacting with the tour guide which doubles up as the Driver. Most of the tour guides I know personally are chatty and love giving Stories of the places you will be driving through. They will gladly share lovely s you with interesting  and the stories some of my foreign friends who went on safari told me

3. More Affordable

As mentioned above, the cost of going to the Maasai Mara by road is nearly half that of going by air.

4. Conversations with other passengers

The drive to the Mara is a long one and it will provide many opportunities for you and the rest of the passengers to interact and get to know each other.

This may not be a very big pro if you are taking the drive alone or are not in the mood to interact with other people.

Cons

Very bumpy roads

Half of journey will be on very tough road. It’s common for tour vans to get punctures or even break the suspension. This can be either really exciting or intimidating depending on how you look at it.

Either way, be prepared for quite an adventure and roads unlike what you have ever seen.

Long journey

The trip from Nairobi to the Mara is 6 hours long and not for the faint hearted. You would want to avoid this trip if you frequently get car sick or if you don’t like long car drives.

Possible delays due to road closures

The road from Mai Mahiu to Narok frequently gets closed by protesters who maybe riotous and these can sometimes cause delays that are as long as 6 hours.

Why driving there then flying back is the best option.

I would recommend that you drive to the Mara then fly back to Nairobi. Here are my reasons:

1. You will enjoy the best of both flying and driving to the Maasai Mara
2. You will only endure the bumpy road once. This is a big one for anyone who doesn’t like being in a car for very long.
3. You can fly to a different destination instead of returning to Nairobi.
4. The journey down to the Rift Valley is more enjoyable than the journey back out of it. This is because on your way down, you will be on the left side  of the road and this has better views than when you are driving up the right side.
5. It might be cheaper than flying both ways if you are lucky. This however is not normally the case.

Next best alternative

Your next best alternative is to fly both ways. You will miss the escarpment views but save more time and have a much more comfortable travel experience.