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Masai Mara in December

December is two months in one. The first three weeks are wet, green and quiet, at mid-season lodge rates; from about 20 December the festive peak arrives and prices climb back to their July to October level for the last fortnight of the year.

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December is green season in the Masai Mara: 25.8°C days, the coolest of the year, 14.8°C nights and about 117 mm of rain on 16 days in the model, the wettest month. It is quiet and good value at lodges until about 20 December, then the festive peak takes rates back to their highest, Governors' Camp at $998 per person from 21 December. The park fee is $200 a day until it halves on 1 January.

Masai Mara weather in December: the wettest month in the model

The model puts December at 25.8°C by day, the coolest afternoons of the year, 14.8°C at night and about 117 mm of rain over 16 days, the highest of any month. It is an approximate figure, and the two model runs disagree by about 25 mm; the gauges record more than either.

Expect storms, green plains and soft tracks. A 4x4 is essential and drifts should be checked with the gate after heavy rain.

Green plains and resident game

There is no migration in December, but the Mara's residents stay: the 2024 lion survey counted about 465 lions older than a year across the reserve and conservancies, and elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hyaena and the resident wildebeest are all here. Migrant birds from the northern winter are present.

The year closes with the rain totals. The Mara Conservancy's gauge in the Triangle measured 1,280.11 mm in 2025, which it described as continuing the above-average rainfall of the past few years.

Quiet until about 20 December, then the festive peak

Each lodge starts its festive season on a slightly different day. Kicheche moves to its $995 peak rate on 20 December 2026, Asilia's Rekero to $1,450 the same day, and Governors' Camp from $623 to $998 on 21 December. Angama's 2027 group rates stop on 22 December and exclude the festive weeks from 23 December. Safarilink's high season starts on 16 December.

The park fee is $200 per non-resident adult per day until 31 December and drops to $100 on 1 January. A stay that runs over New Year saves on the fee for every day after the 1st.

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