Masai Mara or Samburu?
The two parks side by side on what you will see, what you can do, what it costs, how you get there and the health picture, with the facts behind every rating.
Our verdict
The Masai Mara and Samburu answer different questions, and they share very few headline species. Pick the Mara for density and spectacle: lion, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hippo and spotted hyaena guaranteed, cheetah and leopard likely, and the river crossings from about July to October, at $200 a day from July to December or $100 from January to June. Expect company, with the biggest crowds in August. Pick Samburu for the five dry-country species the Mara cannot show at all, Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, beisa oryx, gerenuk and Somali ostrich, at $85 a day and with far less traffic around a sighting, though lion takes a few drives. In both, walks and night drives belong to the conservancies next door. They sit on opposite sides of Nairobi, so fly: Safarilink and Airkenya link Samburu with the Mara daily without a change at Wilson.
Best for big game Masai MaraBest for walking SamburuBest for self-drive SamburuBest for low budget SamburuBest for families Masai MaraBest for a first safari Masai Mara
Tap a row label to see the reasoning behind a rating.
| Compare | Masai Maraabout 1,510 km² (WDPA); 1,530 to 1,560 km² in the county plan | SamburuKenya |
|---|---|---|
| 5Jul to Oct; August busiest | 3Jun to Sep | |
5bestJul to Oct; August busiestLions: About 465 older than a year, 2024; Elephants: 2,702 in the ecosystem, June 2024; Resident cheetahs: 12 adults in 2024, 28 in 2023 | 3Jun to SepGrevy's zebra: 2,465 in Kenya, 2024-25 count; Share of the world total: 93% in this ecosystem, 2021; Reticulated giraffe: 20,901 worldwide, 2025 | |
| Elephant | Guaranteed | Guaranteed |
| Lion | Guaranteed | Fair chance |
| Leopard | Likely | Rare |
| Buffalo | Guaranteed | Not published |
| Wild dog | Rare | Rare |
| Cheetah | Likely | Rare |
| Hippo | Guaranteed | Not published |
| Giraffe | Guaranteed | Guaranteed |
Not published | Not published | |
| 3Self-drive | 4Self-drive | |
2The 2023 to 2032 management plan bans walking safaris anywhere in the reserve; guided walks are standard only in the conservancies outside it, at Kicheche's camps and on Angama's escarpment. | 3bestSamburu County prices a walking safari at KES 1,600 a day without publishing the rules, and the community conservancies run walking as a standard part of a stay. | |
2Night game drives are banned in the reserve and the Triangle; they run only in the conservancies, such as Kicheche Valley in Naboisho, and no conservancy publishes its own rules. | 2Night drives are not available inside the three reserves; they run only in the conservancies next door, Westgate, Kalama and Namunyak. | |
1No boat activity exists, swimming in rivers inside protected areas is illegal and the Mara and Talek rivers hold crocodiles and hippos; the Mara Bridge hippo pool walk was closed in September 2025. | 1The Ewaso Ng'iro holds Nile crocodiles in numbers and is a limit rather than an activity; no boat activity is listed. | |
3Tarmac runs all the way from Nairobi to Sekenani Gate, 228 km, and the Triangle admits any 4x4, but a June 2024 memo banned private vehicles for game drives on the Narok side, with 2026 enforcement unclear, and fuel inside is sold only at camps. | 4bestSelf-driving is allowed and no guide is required, on continuous A2 tarmac 320 to 350 km and 6 to 7 h from Nairobi, with a high-clearance 4x4 for the sandy tracks. | |
| $40cheapest bed | $25cheapest bed | |
$200International adult per day ({'name': 'Narok County Finance Act 2023 (No. 3 of 2023), First Schedule: Maasai Mara National Reserve Park Fees and Charges (read 6 Oct 2026)', 'url': 'https://narok.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Narok-County-Finance-Act-2023-UPL_compressed.pdf'}, 2026-10-06). | $85bestInternational adult per day ({'name': 'Samburu County Finance Act 2023 (No. 4 of 2023) and Isiolo County Finance Bill 2023, read directly', 'url': 'https://samburu.go.ke/'}, 2026-09-18). | |
$40Lowest listed rate per person per night across 78 places; 7 are budget tier. | $25bestLowest listed rate per person per night across 36 places; 12 are budget tier. | |
$700Median of 38 priced places; top end $2,708. | $30bestMedian of 5 priced places; top end $800. | |
2Cheapest listed bed $40, 7 of 78 places in the budget tier, park fee $200 a day. | 4bestCheapest listed bed $25, 12 of 36 places in the budget tier, park fee $85 a day. | |
| $1,582camping | $1,008mid-range | |
$1,582Budget one: self-drive camping in the Mara Triangle | $854bestBudget one: self-drive camping in Samburu National Reserve | |
Not published | $1,008Budget two: the river crossing, where the double ticket bites | |
$5,020Budget two: a mid-range camp on the Talek, flying in | $3,698bestBudget three: fly in and sleep in a conservancy | |
| Keekoroknearest airport | Samburu airstrip (UAS)nearest airport | |
Keekorok, Ol Kiombo, Musiara and Mara Serena strips, 30 to 80 min from Nairobi Wilson; Nairobi 5 to 6 h by roadFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | Samburu airstrip (UAS), 1 to 1.5 h from Nairobi Wilson; Nairobi 6 to 7 h by roadFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | |
4x4 inside the reserveFrom the getting-there page. | 4x4 with high clearanceFrom the getting-there page. | |
| Jul to Oct; August busiestpeak game viewing | Jun to Seppeak game viewing | |
Jul to Oct; August busiestFrom the best-time page. | Jun to SepFrom the best-time page. | |
Open all year; long rains Mar to May, with camps closed in April and MayFrom the best-time page. | Open all year; long rains Mar and AprFrom the best-time page. | |
| High all yearmalaria | High, tablets advised (NaTHNaC)malaria | |
High all year, tablets advised (NaTHNaC)From the health page. | High, tablets advised (NaTHNaC)From the health page. | |
PresentA 2021 study trapped 1,167 tsetse at 10 sites in the reserve, with no human-disease trypanosomes found; a painful daytime bite, so wear neutral colours. | Not publishedThe guide could not establish whether tsetse are a factor in Samburu, Buffalo Springs or Shaba. | |
Not published | September, 32.4°C, 1 mm of rainMean daily maximum of the hottest month, from the health page. | |
Narok County Referral Hospital, about 87 km from Sekenani; serious cases flown to NairobiAir evacuation: AMREF Flying Doctors, up to USD 5,000 without cover. | Nairobi, 6 to 7 h by road or ±1 h by airAir evacuation: AMREF Flying Doctors, +254 20 699 2299. | |
| 5First safari | 3First safari | |
4bestChildren 8 and under enter free and many camps have family tents, Angama welcoming children of all ages; but malaria risk is high all year and the nearest public hospital is Narok, about 87 km from Sekenani, so serious cases are flown to Nairobi. | 3Soroi's two camps welcome children, Soroi Samburu Lodge with a children's adventure club, but malaria risk is high, serious care means Nairobi, 6 to 7 h by road, and the Dutch advice prefers flying. | |
5bestLion, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hippo, zebra and spotted hyaena are guaranteed in two or three days and cheetah and leopard likely, with three airlines flying daily from Nairobi Wilson in 30 to 80 minutes. | 3Elephant, Grevy's zebra and reticulated giraffe are guaranteed, but lion takes a few game drives and leopard luck; Safarilink and AirKenya fly daily from Nairobi Wilson. | |
2The Mara Conservancy recorded June 2025 sightings with more than 200 vehicles and August is the busiest month; conservancies set lower vehicle limits for those who stay outside the reserve. | 2Three small reserves, Buffalo Springs 131 km² and Shaba 239 km², where a drive is river work; Archer's Gate is by far the busiest entrance. |
Compare all of Kenya's parks on the comparison page. Samburu has its own guide at visitsamburu.com.
How the ratings work
- Big game is calculated from each park's sightings table on its wildlife page: guaranteed counts 3, likely 2, a fair chance 1, rare 0.5 and absent 0, across elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, wild dog, cheetah, hippo and giraffe, scaled so that 16 points is 5 out of 5.
- Birding follows the species count on the wildlife page. Low-budget safari follows the cheapest listed bed, the share of budget places and the daily park fee.
- Walking, night drives, water, self-drive, families, first safari and wilderness are our ratings, whole numbers from 1 to 5. Press "Why?" on any row to read the facts each one rests on, with the page they come from. Where a rule is not published we say so rather than guess.
- Prices are per person per night in US dollars as listed on the lodges pages, before park fees; the three-night totals come from each park's costs page and use the dated rates there. Fees are the international adult rate per day.