One ecosystem, two countries
The Serengeti and the Masai Mara are the same plain split by a border. The wildebeest do not see it: they cross it every year in both directions. What changes is the size. The Serengeti covers about 14,750 km² and the Masai Mara reserve about 1,500: ten times smaller.
You feel it on the trip. In the Mara everything is close and you see a lot in little time, but sightings fill up with vehicles sooner. In the Serengeti the distances are long and, outside the busiest months, it is easy to be alone with a pride of lions.
Where the migration is each month
| Months | Where the herds are | Country |
|---|---|---|
| December – March | Southern Serengeti plains, with the calving in February | Tanzania |
| April – May | Central Serengeti, in the long rains | Tanzania |
| June – July | Western corridor and the Grumeti River crossings | Tanzania |
| August – October | Northern Serengeti and Masai Mara: the Mara River crossings | Both |
| November | Heading south with the short rains | Tanzania |
The maths is simple: the herds spend nine or ten months a year in Tanzania and two or three in Kenya. If you travel between August and October, both countries work for the crossings. The rest of the year, the migration is in Tanzania.
What Tanzania has
- The Ngorongoro Crater. A twenty-kilometre caldera with lions, elephants, rhinos and thousands of wildebeest inside. There is nothing like it in Kenya.
- Space. The Serengeti is huge and, outside July and August, you drive it with few vehicles around.
- A very complete route. From Arusha you link Tarangire, with its elephants and baobabs, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti without repeating a landscape.
- Zanzibar at the end. Kenya has a coast too, at Diani or Lamu, but the most established and easiest safari-and-beach combination is Tanzania’s: Zanzibar is an hour and a quarter by air from Arusha.
What Kenya has
- Shorter trips. Nairobi has plenty of international flights and the Masai Mara is about 45 minutes away by light aircraft. Four or five days make a good safari.
- The private conservancies. Around the Mara there are conservancies that allow walking safaris, night drives and off-road driving, with very few vehicles.
- Amboseli and Kilimanjaro. The classic photograph of elephants with snowy Kilimanjaro behind is taken in Amboseli, on the Kenyan side of the mountain.
- The Mara crossings in August and September, if you only have a week and want to go straight to them.
Doing both on one trip
It can be done. Arusha and Nairobi are five or six hours apart by road, through the Namanga border, and there are short flights too. It only pays off with twelve days or more: below that, too much time goes on transfers.
Our recommendation
- First safari and ten days or more: Tanzania, with the northern circuit and a few days on Zanzibar.
- Four or five days, or a trip that already goes through Nairobi: Kenya.
- You want the wildebeest calving, in January or February: Tanzania, no question. Kenya has no migration in those months.
- You want the Mara River crossings: both work from August to October. The northern Serengeti usually has fewer vehicles per crossing than the Mara.
Official sources
- TANAPA — Tanzania National Parks — The authority that runs the Serengeti, Tarangire and Lake Manyara, with current fees.
- UK FCDO travel advice — Kenya — Entry requirements and safety advice for Kenya.
- UK FCDO travel advice — Tanzania — Entry requirements and safety advice for Tanzania.
