What is the best time to visit Masai Mara National Reserve?

What is the best time to visit Masai Mara National Reserve? The best time to go to Masai Mara National Reserve presents the best time when travelers conveniently travel and enjoy the Masai Maras Reserve activities without much difficulty. Most of the tourists or travelers have asked this common question of the best time to visit Masai Mara national reserve

This is one of the comment questions that we cannot overlook here at Africa adventure vacations and this is our responsibility to give you an appropriate response to this question.

This question has been common to visitors who have never traveled to Kenya particularly in Masai Mara national reserve and just would like to know the weather and probably when they can best do the safari activities in Masai Mara National Reserve.

Masai Mara is undeniably one of the best safari wildlife destinations on the African continent and it one of the forest reserves to be declared in the center of the East African rift valley.

The Reserve is characterized by the open savannah grassland within the semi-arid areas and it was occupied by the Masai people who left the areas to stay in the areas adjacent to the Masai Mara National Reserve.

Masai Mara National Reserve is run by the local community who are guided by the Narok town council and now the Trans-Mara council. I think Masai Mara is the biggest National reserve which is popular and is managed by the local people. This means that the local people take charge of all activities that do take place inside the National Reserve.

The national reserve got its name Masai Mara with respect to the Masai People that termed the Park Maa as the word that means looked from far.

There are a lot of the species within the reserve of which some of them are permanent residents while others are just visitors or call them migratory animals and birds. Most of the birds’ migration does happen during the rainy season in March and November.

March and November annually are best known as the months when birding safaris are always at their peak in Masai Mara national reserve and due to its close proximity to the migratory route of the European birds, Masai Mara National park becomes so perfect for the bird watchers. 

With no doubt, Masai Mar National Reserve is known as an excellent destination for game viewing all the year throughout however this doesn’t rule out that most of the travelers have kept asking the question of when is the best time to visit Masai Mara National Park.

The best time to visit a destination like Kenya particularly Masai Mara National Reserve is determined by several factors which may be natural related or tourist or traveler related. Most of the animals stay within the reserve and thus makes it a wonderful permanent destination for wildlife viewing.

What we consider when looking at the best time to Visit or go to Masai Mara national reserve?

Naturally, as we looked in our previous articles, Kenya has got two climatic seasons that are characterized by the rainy season and the wet season. These two seasons appear twice each in a year and you find that we have two rainy seasons in Kenya as well as two wet seasons which happens annually.

The first rainy season which is longer starts in March and goes to May and in terms of the tourism business in Masai Mara National Park, this is regarded as the low season or low peak. Despite the rains. People have been seen in the reserve enjoying the game drives and game viewing.

It is common that during the rainy season, the Masai Mara National reserve is less crowded and there are very few tourists traveling and this implies that visitors who don’t like crowded places can take an advantage of this time and go and enjoy these wonderful beautiful views of the Masai Mara National Reserve.

Another important aspect of the rain season is that it is easy to get accommodation costs at an affordable rate at a discount.

Visitors who enjoy birding life are hereby notified that May and November are the best days for them to come and enjoy the wonderful wildlife bird species in Masai Mara National Park. This is the best time or season for the bird’s bleeding and nesting period.

Although the rain reason presents the low season in Masai Mara National Reserve, it has been proved that most of the rains come during the night and evening hours meaning that you can still enjoy other park activities during the rest of the day when there are sunny days.

Visitors who are interested to visit the Masai Mara National Reserve during the rainy season are encouraged to do so with the use of the 4×4 safari vehicle handled by the experienced driver-guide.

Local operators are also good for organizing the Masai Mara National Reserve safaris during the dry season because for them they know some of the areas where to pass especially when some of their routes are slippery because of the rains.

The first rains come in the month of March to April and these are strong and sometimes during these months, some of the campsites within Masai Mara National Reserve close down.

Then other short rains are experienced in November here they are not strong and they are just briefly and in most case, they don’t affect the tourists.

Guest have so much love and interesting safaris during this time especially when they have booked their safaris with the local safari company which provides them with the packing list especially during the rainy season.

Adequate preparation is important for a successful full trip to Masai Mara National Reserve. Some of the things that you should include on your packing list include sunglasses, good waterproof hiking shoes, Rainy jackets, a hat, good camera with extra batteries among others. This will help you navigate the trails and endure the rain showers in Masai Mara National Reserve.

The other season of the year for you to visit Masai Mara National Reserve is the dry season and this is taken as the best time to go and visit Masai Mara National Park.

Like the wet or rainy season, the dry season is also divided into 2 periods the one that runs from June up to October and then the one that goes from December up to February.

During the dry season and in the above-mentioned months, Masai Mara National Reserve is more busy and interesting. Most of the animals can be seen and each animal comes out from the hideout especially in the morning and comes to look for food and eat. The early risers can be seen as they are chasing their prey.

During the dry season, Masai Mara National Reserve is easy and very accessible and the game viewing is excellent since the driver guide can reach all parts of the park and to the areas where most of the animals are located which cannot be accessed during the rainy season.

Still, during the dry season, animals concentrate on the permanent eater sources within the park and this presents the best opportunities for the visitors to see animals during this great time.

Animal viewing in Masai Mara National Reserve during the dry season is commonly done during the morning game drives. The dry season in Masai Mara National Reserve is the best time to visit it because this is the time also when the magical wildebeest migration happens on the annual basis.

The wildebeest migration is the largest animal movement or migration that has ever existed in the world. This occurs between Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya and the animals can be seen crossing over the river Mara indeed this is Magical.

If your intentions of Visiting Masai Mara National Reserve are to see the wildebeest migration then, there is no doubt that the best time for you to visit Masai Mara National Reserve for this particular activity is during the dry season.

The live-action of the Masai Mara wildebeest crossing the river Mara is best done in July and then later it continues to the months of October. You will enjoy millions of animals crossing the river and entering the new reserve to look for better pastures.

During the Dry season, the safaris game drives are so exciting however there might be some form of crowded places possessed by very many visitors visiting the park during these wonderful days.

So are you planning to visit Masai Mara National Reserve and your wondering when is the best time that you can travel away from you your home and visits this magical reserve in Kenya?

I hope this article has answered properly your queries and you can now say that the best time to visit Masai Mara National Reserve is during the dry season bit still the Reserve can be visited during the rainy season especially for the birders and even those for wildlife safaris provided they come up with the packing equipment and use the strong four-wheel-drive vehicles arranged and planed for them by the local tour operator like Africa Adventure Vacations.