Planning a budget African safari is a little hard as detailed information for budget travellers is somewhat limited. What we did know before arriving is that we wanted to do our safari in the Masai Mara - it's one of the best, cheapest places to go on safari. You see plenty of animals, can do it on a relative budget and it still feels like it's in the wild, rather than a managed reserve area. Other places we'd considered included the Serengeti (very similar to the Masai Mara as they border each other, but more expensive), Kruger (less frequent animal encounters, especially lions) and Chobe (not as well set-up for tourists to get to and from on cheaper public transport).
Here is the main information and tips we managed to find from a lot of googling:
The cheapest way to see a Game Reserve with a knowledgeable guide is by doing a shared drive, which cost $60pp with our accommodation. It's up to 6 people per vehicle, although we only had four in ours. You can book this with them on the day you arrive, to go out the next day
Park fees are an additional $80pp and are paid at the gate just before you start your day (a fee you have to pay for every day you enter)
The closet and cheapest accommodation (which books up quickly) to the Masai Mara is a lodge called Mara Explorers Camp (you can further reduce the cost if you bring your own tent 🏕️ and food - there's free water!)
You can get to the camp cheaply by local transport from Nairobi. It takes about five hours, two vehicles and costs less than £10. You leave from the Narok line office in the CBD (you buy your tickets here too - at the time you want to leave is fine, but you can also do in advance and it costs 400KES), about 7am is a good idea. It takes two or three hours to get to Narok by minibus (matatu) and then you get a shared taxi for the next couple of hours towards Sekenani. They'll charge you 700KES but on the way back you'll only pay 500KES as the accommodation can organise it for you and make sure you don't get overcharged. Currently about 70% of the way on this road is just gravel and rocks, but we could see them tarmacking a new road as we went, so that will be finished at some point in the future. If you tell the driver you're going to Mara Explorers he'll pull off a few kilometres before Sekenani and drop you at the accommodation gate, where you're met by the staff.
We were so pleased that this is where we chose to have our truly once in a lifetime experience, seeing 4 of the "Big Five" - lions (and lionesses) 🦁, elephants 🐘, buffaloes 🐃 and a leopard 🐆
Not forgetting the zebras 🦓, wildebeest, giraffes 🦒, impalas , hippos, cheetahs, hyenas, crocodiles 🐊, baboons, warthogs, mongoose, topis, gazelles, hat beasts, elands and waterbucks. This was all in a one day safari, which we were completely happy with. We met others who'd done two days and said both were equally as good as each other. So you don't need two days to feel like you've seen enough, but if you love animal spotting then a couple of days is completely doable - just comes down to budget.
Here are the 3 things we wished we'd known whilst we were planning our budget African Safari:
The Game drive leaves the accomodation at 6:30am and arrives back at camp at 6pm - unlike other safari destinations you can see animals throughout the day here. You can bring your own lunch or you can have it prepared by Mara Explorers ($10pp). Water is provided and you can stop in safe places (away from the Big Five but likely close to a 🦓) for the toilet
For the park fee, cash payment is only accepted in US dollar. They will charge you extra for trying to pay in local currency. However, card payment, unlike any other vendor in the area, doesn't have a charge. You'll also need your passport to be able to enter
Mara Explorers is a lovely camp with cosy (and CLEAN) facilities. It's $15 for dinner - but that's 3 courses and a hot drink. Their WiFi is strong but the staff's charm is even stronger
We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
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