Masai Mara with Kids

After having such a great time on our 2-night safari to Uganda, we decided to continue with a safari to Masai Mara with our kids. We had not initially budgeted for a second safari, so made some intentional changes to make it happen.

First, we didn’t eat a single restaurant meal during our stay in Diani Beach and chose less expensive food, activities, and transportation during our time there. Second, we chose the cheapest return to Nairobi, booking economy class on the SGR train from Mombasa. In order to buy tickets for the SGR online, you must have MPESA, which requires a Safaricom SIM card for your phone. Jon explains step-by-step how to accomplish this here.

Choosing a safari provider

Especially after having such a great time in Uganda, we knew that a great safari company and guide is crucial to an amazing family experience. However, we also had a smaller budget for our Mara safari. We started by reaching out to 6 tour companies. After extensive communication with several, it was an easy final decision for us to book with Bush Troops Safaris. The office was excellent with communication and worked with us to stay within budget. They also adjusted our safari dates when we ended up with COVID without charging any extra fees and checked in on our health along the way.

Getting to Mara from Nairobi

Just be aware, it is a 5+ hour drive from Nairobi to the Mara. Major pro-tip: staying by the international airport may add 1+ hours to your trip. The Jomo airport is on the southeast side of Nairobi, and you must exit the city on the northwest towards Masai Mara. Traffic in Nairobi can be terrible, so set up your lodging on pick-up day west of downtown.

The first few hours are on paved roads, and the last couple includes a free “African massage”: vibrating seats!

Masai Mara Eco-lodge: is it worth the savings?

Staying on budget meant that we chose the cheapest accommodation option. There is a huge range of costs, and most lodges include full board. However, once you are in the Mara on a game drive, you see the same animals!

Therefore, we knew going into the trip that the lodging and food would not be 5 stars. However, we were pleasantly surprised with our stay at Miti Mingi Eco Lodge! We expected to be in a tent, but our family room was actually brick. Some of the “rooms” were tents, and we did not see or go inside any of them. We also had a private full bathroom, with hot water for showers! We’ve actually gotten quite used to not having hot water for showers during our trip around the world, so this was a pleasant surprise. We had 4 beds, each with a mosquito net, but we found very few overall bug issues.

The food also exceeded expectations. The host and the chef at the camp were both exceedingly friendly and accommodating. The food was fairly basic but good. Breakfast had pancakes and toast, and the chef brought each of us a freshly fried egg directly to our table! We took boxed lunches with us for the second day, which were also excellent.

The one downside of using the cheapest accommodation is that you are further from the animals. The Masai people have been herding their cows and goats into the game reserve to graze, which has pushed the big cats and other animals further back from the entrance to the park. There are lodges inside the Mara gates if your budget allows, but it is significantly more expensive. We overcame the slightly further drive to animals by doing an all-day game drive with our boxed lunches, which was awesome. If you have little kids and definitely want to take a mid-day break, stay a ways inside the park. However, for our all-day game drive, it made very little difference.

The animals of Masai Mara

Check out our Instagram page for the best of what we saw during our January 2022 visit. However, as a recap, we saw 18 lions, 20+ hyenas, 2 leopards, 4 cheetahs stalking a herd of zebras, and countless other animals. The antelopes, gazelles, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, buffaloes, birds, hippos, and crocodiles were amazing but what we had already seen in Uganda. Therefore, we focused our time and attention on what we had yet to see, which is where Hudson, our guide, was amazing.

The only animal that we did not see on our safari to Masai Mara with kids was rhinos. They are shy, reclusive animals that primarily hide in the bush, making them harder to spot. Watching hyenas tear apart a carcass, cheetahs stalking zebras, and a lion cub scratching his ears more than made up for the one animal we didn’t spot. We later spent the day at Nairobi National Park which has both white and black rhinos completing our bucket list of African animals!

Getting a great safari guide

When you are doing safari to Masai Mara with kids, you need a great guide. Hudson was awesome: he’s a guide that can navigate the Mara (would be CRAZY easy to get lost), find the animals we wanted to see the most, AND tolerate the singing/playing/craziness of our kids. We would trust Bush Troops Safari to match the best guide to the dynamics of your group.

Visiting the Masai Village

Jon also took advantage of a short visit to the traditional Masai village. Read about his experience here: he learned friction fire, how the Masai boys are initiated to become men, and isn’t quite sure if he jumped high enough to qualify for marriage into the tribe.

Masai Mara with Kids: do it!

We had another amazing family experience by taking our kids to Masai Mara. Staying at an eco-lodge added to the experience and the memories! After being on the road for 6 months, our family has learned the flexibility to travel on bumpy and dusty roads, sleep anywhere, and eat most anything.

We still aren’t perfect in any of those areas, but a visit to the Masai Mara with kids will be an adventure your family will never forget!

See our other articles for traveling to Kenya here: travel to Kenya during Covid, how expensive in Diani Beach, top 5 activities in Diani Beach with kids, getting from Nairobi to Diani Beach, and how tourists can use MPESA.

To see all our travel adventures during a year-long trip around the world, head over to our Instagram page.

If you have questions or tips for a trip to Masai Mara with kids, let us know!  Happy Travels!