How to avoid vehicle traffic in the Maasai Mara

several peaceful private conservancies

You may hear some people say that the Maasai Mara is “too busy” or “overdone” these days.

Certainly the vehicle clustering here can be pretty horrific. We have personally witnessed groups of over a hundred vehicles in attendance at a big river crossing in high season and we have heard reports of two and even three hundred vehicles. Clearly this is a big problem and something we need to avoid.

We have also experienced some quite unpleasant vehicle clustering on more intimate sightings, such as five to ten vehicles on a lion sighting. For us even this is enough to ruin our day and, on occasion, we have found ourselves choosing to remain back in our camp rather than join the melee.

Fortunately, there is a fantastic way to avoid these crowds.

Around half of the total land area in the Maasai Mara area is comprised of conservancies, private areas which are operated by safari companies in partnership with local Maasai landowners. These areas typically contain just a handful of small and authentic camps, whose guests have the run of the place.

In these conservancies, the safari camps are not only able to completely sidestep these traffic issues, but they are able to offer a much broader range of activities, including walking safari, bush meals, cultural interaction and night vehicle safari.

The only time you need to expose yourself to the potential traffic issues of the main reserve is if you choose to undertake a day trip into the main reserve, which most people do once during the Jun-Oct dry season in the hope of seeing a migration river crossing.

Another option is to visit during the low seasons. These notably include mid-March to mid-May (the main rainy season), start-November to mid-December (short rainy season) and the last two weeks in January (something of a secret season).