Best Kenya Safari Parks to Visit in 2024/2025

Masai Mara seems to be the perfect place to go for a safari. It is the best for the wildebeest migration within the months of August to October and it is worldwide known as one of the best national parks in the world. It is the only park in Kenya where you can spot all big five in a single day and experience wildlife encounters that will simply leave you speechless as well as the wildebeest migration experience.

Its wide-open plains provide an oasis-like sanctuary for an abundance of wildlife like elephant, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, hyena, and the Mara’s celebrated big cats: lion, leopard and cheetah. And, from about august to October every year, its savannah provides nourishment for wildebeest herds of epic proportions.

It’s the northern-most part of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, famous for the annual Wildebeest Migration. The landscape is dotted with thorn trees, Kopjes and craters, and the reserve is drained by its major rivers: the Sand, Talek and Mara Rivers.

The Mara River provides the chief obstacle for the wildebeest herds to cross at about mid-year but smaller break-away groups also cross the Talek and Sand Rivers. This is when the crocodiles feast on the crossing animals as well as the predators around the river banks waiting for the surviving ones for their meal.

Game drives take you out and into the Masai Mara to search for the iconic animals. Accompanied by some of the region’s top guides and rangers, experience unmatched game viewing in the park. You will head out on game drives in 4×4 vehicles suited to this environment for incredible game viewing.

A hot air balloon over the Masai Mara is possibly the most incredible way to see this fantastic ecosystem. Get a better perspective of the area and admire the Masai Mara’s beauty from the sky. Enjoy the forest and the rivers of the Masai Mara on this truly unique experience as you drift in the breeze. You get the opportunity to enjoy a champagne breakfast cooked where you land.

You can enjoy a visit to Masai Manyatta. This is a great place to visit if you’re interested in exploring the Maasai culture to experience traditions and customs that have remained as they are for centuries.

Amboseli is Kenya’s most popular safari destination after the Maasai Mara. The high tourist time comes within the dry season and arguably the best wildlife viewing as the animals congregate around the available water. However, this means contending with higher costs and visitor densities.

The two rainy seasons, the short rains from November to December and the long rains from March to May can make traversing the park and spotting wildlife tricky meaning the scenery is arguably at its most spectacular with the dampening of the dust.

Go for game drives in the morning or afternoon hours. It gives an opportunity to tourists to move all around the park and get to see the different kinds of species of animals and birds as they tend to hide out in the bushes and grasslands resting or due to the weather conditions more so on the sunny weather when they try to look for shade or in water.

Going on a game drive in Amboseli National Park is an incredible adventure that can be enjoyed throughout the day. However, the golden hours, from 6:30 am before sunrise to 11:30 am, offer a particularly magical time for wildlife viewing.  As the sun begins to rise, the park resident animals start to be very active and this is the best hours for photographing the wildlife.

Amboseli is a home to a variety of birds and animal species found in the wild which are beautiful to look at. It has got a number of wild animals from the widely known Elephants, Lions, Buffaloes, Leopards, Zebras, Cheetahs, wildebeests, Giraffes including a variety of bird life like the Falcons and Kingfisher, African fish Eagle, Grey crowned crane, African Jacana, the vulnerable Lesser Kestrel, the Kori bustard, Flamingos, Marabou stork among many more other bird species.

Filming and photography by researchers and documentaries from around the globe are one of the activities conducted since it holds large herds like elephants. It’s also referred to as the home to the “Big Five” referring to the most dangerous animals difficult to hunt on foot in the continent of Africa.

Hot air balloon adventures start very early in the morning when the winds are still calm, and as the balloon gently ascends, the magical scenery of Amboseli is uncovered. You will see herds of elephants roam freely in this park. You also get that opportunity to enjoy breakfast in the bush allowing to capture that morning sunrise while enjoying breakfast.

The Samburu National Reserve is a game reserve on the banks of the Ewaso Ng’iro river in Kenya. On the other side of the river is the Buffalo Springs National Reserve. The park is 165 km² in size and is situated 350 kilometres from Nairobi. It ranges in altitude from 800 to 1230 m above sea level located in Samburu County.

Samburu is home to the rare northern ‘special five’: Grevy zebra, Somali ostrich, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, and the beisa oryx. Large elephant herds, endangered wild dogs and big cats are also found in high densities here.

A camel ride is a fantastic alternative to the traditional game drive, where you can ride up close to Grevy’s zebra, ostrich, giraffe, observing animals and birds you might have otherwise missed. You can opt for a two-hour round trip with sun downers in between or go on a longer camel safari.

Take guided game drives, where you’ll be driven around in a 4WD safari vehicle or minibus to look for animals and birds. It may also be possible to leave the park to visit a local Samburu village community in the company of a local guide. The hot, dry months of January and February are the best for seeing wildlife. Bird life is at its most vibrant and spectacular in the wetter months of November to April.