Historic roots 

Kenya is the home of the modern photographic safari and contains some iconic safari locations. 

           Rich wildlife 

The wildlife in some parts of Kenya is prolific and very accessible, including elephants, lions and leopards. 

          Scenic diversity  

A safari in Kenya can combine rich savannas, stunning mountain ranges, impressive volcanic landscapes  and atmospheric deserts. 

          High quality lodges   

Kenya has a decent selection of high quality lodges, many of which are in excellent private conservancies. 

          Easy access 

Nairobi is one of the best connected cities in Africa, making Kenya easy and relatively cheap to access. 

         Strong combos 

It is very easy to add extensions like safari in Tanzania, gorilla tracking in Uganda and tropical beaches in Zanzibar. 

            3 to 6 nights 

For shorter trips, it is more than possible to fly into Nairobi and connect out to the Maasai Mara for as few as 3 to 6 nights, something that we often do for guests who are visiting the capital on business. 

           7 to 12 nights  

Most of our guests tend to deploy 7 to 14 nights on safari in Kenya. At the shorter end, it can be best to focus on one area, perhaps combining a couple of camps in the Maasai Mara. At the longer end, it is possible to also include diverse safari areas including Amboseli, Samburu, Laikipia and Mathew’s Range. 

             15 to 28 nights 

For longer trips of 15 to 28 nights, the most popular extensions include further safari in Tanzania (Maasai Mara is a small part of the Serengeti ecosystem over the border), gorilla and chimpanzee tracking in Rwanda or Uganda and tropical beaches on the Kenyan Coast, Zanzibar or even the Seychelles.

The cost of safari in Kenya

Safari in Kenya ranges from relatively pricey to eye-watering expensive.

USD 500 to 2500 per person per night

We are more than happy to work across this range of prices. The only important thing is that we help you find the very best safari to suit your budget.

The two dominant price factors are the length of time that you spend on safari and the specific lodges that you choose to include in your trip. Deploying more time in town, rural and beach locations can bring the total cost down dramatically.

If you have a higher budget, we will help you determine which camps do actually deliver elevated levels of service and experience. We will also highlight other subtle ways in which your trip can be elevated to another level, including the use of whole camp bookings, private guides and vehicles, helicopter explorations of remote areas etc.

If you have a medium budget, the best ways to keep a lid on costs are to travel out of high season and to carefully choose lower cost lodges.  You can also reduce the number of core safari nights and deploy time in lower cost beach, town and rural locations. We will help you understand where to trim and where to splash in order to achieve the best overall experience.

If you have a lower budget, then we can always look at other fundamentally less pricey safari countries.

Serengeti

The Maasai Mara represents only about 12% of the Serengeti ecosystwith the land borders closed, it takes a little but of jiggery-pokery to combine the two smoothly.em, the remainder lies over the border in Tanzania.  

Zanzibar

Whilst Kenya has its own tropical beaches, the allure of Zanzibar and its surrounding islands is too much for many people to resist. Flight connections are either via Nairobi, or direct from Serengeti. 

Uganda

For gorilla and chimp tracking experiences, we usually look towards Uganda, with Rwanda being an alternative for very high-end trips. Flights to the respective capitals Entebbe and Kigali are either via Nairobi or Serengeti. 

The best safari lodges in Kenya

Kenya has around 200 safari lodges, of which over half are in the Maasai Mara, plus maybe another 100 or so decent properties in town, rural and beach locations.

We are able to include any of these properties in your trip. We ones most like to recommend fall into two categories …

Firstly, there are the truly high-end lodges, which are in the very best locations and offer the highest levels of guiding, hospitality and consistency, suitable for demanding guests.

Secondly, there are the relatively good value camps, which are also in excellent locations and also take their guiding very seriously, but which typically offer lower levels of luxury and have the potential to be slightly less consistent in their delivery, suitable for more easy-going guests.

The properties that we generally prefer to avoid in Kenya are the large sausage-factory type places, which deliver nasty low-quality safari experiences to guests who appear to be on a very different agenda. We also need to avoid very simple lodges, where the experience can be too unreliable for us to recommend.

You can always expect absolute honesty from us when describing the various lodges and camps. Our primary motivation is to figure out which ones will suit you the best.

Luxury trips

Our luxury trips to Kenya combine lodges which are in prime locations, where high levels of comfort and service are guaranteed. This does not necessarily mean infinity pools and spa facilities, but it does always mean that you will be hosted and guided by the very best people in the country. That is how to truly guarantee the quality of a safari.

Adventure trips

In our adventure trips to Kenya, we use a much wider range of lodges, still in fabulous locations and offering authentic safari experiences, but often at considerably lower cost. More strenuous activities, like walking safari, are likely to feature more prominently. These cool, sometimes edgy lodges tend to be best suited to guests who are a little more outdoorsy and forgiving.

When to go on safari in Kenya

The various areas of Kenya are not only very seasonal, but there are significant differences in climate across the country. Careful planning is extremely important.  When thinking about seasonality it is important to consider the five aspects of weather, wildlife movements, visitor traffic and prices.

Jul-Oct : Dry season

The classic time to go on safari in Kenya is the during the main Jul-Oct dry season, when weather conditions should be warm and sunny everywhere and wildlife viewing should be at its strongest, as the animals cluster around the few remaining water sources. Visitor traffic is a significant issue and traffic avoidance is important, especially in Jul-Aug. Prices are at their highest.

Nov-Dec : Short rains

The period Nov-Dec usually marks the end of the dry season in most areas, but in reality the Short Rains are unpredictable and sporadic. Although there can be some considerable weather around, the experience usually remains very enjoyable. Wildlife viewing can be more challenging, with the animals becoming more dispersed, but there's still plenty to see. Visitor traffic is much lower, meaning that even the most popular areas can become attractive. Prices tend to be slightly reduced.

Jan-Mar : Green season

Another interesting period to go on safari in Kenya is the Jan-Mar green season, when the more naturally arid safari areas to the north and southeast again experience good weather and reasonably strong wildlife viewing. Visitor traffic drops significantly after New Year. Prices tend to be in the middle of their range.

Apr-Jun : Long rains

The Apr-Jun period is usually dominated by the Long Rains, which tend to be much more reliable and heavy. If you are ready for some considerable weather, the experience should remains very enjoyable. Wildlife viewing can be more challenging, with the animals being more dispersed and the increased foliage cover reducing visibility, but there's still plenty to see, notably with lots of wildflowers and baby animals. Visitor traffic is much lower, meaning that even the most popular areas can become attractive. Prices tend to be at their lowest. This is a 'secret season' that tends to be popular with more experienced safari travellers.

Expert

Our safari experts are uncommonly knowledgeable and experienced

765,000

The number of superb safaris we have  so far created

Seamless

Arranging your trip should be almost as much fun as actually going on safari  

Value

Your trip should cost you no more than if you booked all the components directly

Tailored

Your trip will be perfectly tuned to meet your requirements

What our guests say

“We’ve used many different travel organizers and agents, but one truly stands like a giraffe, head and shoulders above all others.”

Linda Goddard  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

“ATR are the experts in their field and I wouldn’t trust anyone else.”

Tara Stewart  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

“ATR are honest in their appraisal of individual lodges. You can trust their judgement.”

Graeme Gales  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

4.9   ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

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1999

The year that we started to build great safaris

Maasai Mara

Set 200km west of Nairobi, Maasai Mara is one of Africa’s best known wildlife reserves, famous for its enormous migration herds. Virtually all safaris to Kenya include at least a few nights in this area. Some trips focus entirely on the Mara.

Despite the very significant downsides listed above, it is still very much possible to put together a very high quality safari experience in the Maasai Mara. In high season, this usually means focusing on lodges and camps outside the main reserve, where there is less traffic and the freedom to offer authentic safari experiences.

Amboseli

Set 150km southeast of Nairobi, Amboseli is an iconic national park which is renowned for huge tusker elephants, set against the classic backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro. The reserve is easily combined by light aircraft with the Maasai Mara. Unlike the Maasai Mara, it can be quite difficult to overcome these very significant downsides, to deliver a high quality safari experience in Amboseli. Staying in a private reserve is a good stating point, but you still need to visit the busy main reserve, since it contains the springs around which the wildlife clusters during the dry season. The best option can be to visit outside the busy periods. Alternatively you can head to the more remote and upmarket lodges of the nearby Chyulu Hills area.

Samburu

Set 230km north of Nairobi, Samburu is an arid and particularly atmospheric safari area, set alongside a magical perennial river. The reserve is relatively easily combined by light aircraft with the Maasai Mara, providing a wonderful contrast of landscapes.

In Samburu, there are at least a couple of fantastic lodge options, which are set in private conservancies adjacent to the main reserve. Here you can avoid the high season crowds and enjoy a much wider range of high quality safari experiences. However, most of the key wildlife viewing spots are inside the reserve, so we tend to raid in during the middle of the day, in order to avoid any traffic. Of course, you can always visit out of season, Jan-Mar is particularly good this far north. Overall, Samburu can offer a really good safari experience when done properly. If you want a similar experience but in a much more remote location, you can always head further north to the Mathew’s Range.

           Traffic 

The vehicle clustering in core parts of the most famous reserves can be unbearable. We hate traffic and avoiding the crowds is usually our number one priority. 

           Remote locations 

The best way to safari in Kenya is usually  to combine lodges which are remotely located, often in private conservancy areas. 

           High prices 

There is a marked lack of good  mid-priced lodge options in Kenya. Goof quality safaris tend to be unavoidably pricey, unless you cross the border into Tanzania.