ESSENTIALS

Getting there & around

British Airways and Kenya Airways fly daily between Heathrow and Nairobi, and various carriers offer one-stop services from the UK to Nairobi, including Ethiopian Airlines, KLM and Air France. ba.com kenya-airways.com ethiopianairlines.com klm.com airfrance.co.uk

Average flight time: 8h40m, direct to Nairobi.

Transfers from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara can be done by road, taking five to six hours, or by internal flight, taking between 45 minutes and an hour. These flights use small aircraft and leave from Wilson Airport, around half an hour by road from Nairobi’s international airport.

When to go

Walking safaris can be organised between November and May. For more general safaris, spring is the ideal time in which to visit, with rains turning the landscape green and the air largely dust-free. July-September is peak season, coinciding with the great wildebeest migration. Temperatures don’t change drastically through the year, with daytimes in the mid to high 20Cs, and cooler evenings.

Organisations mentioned

Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association. maraconservancies.org Mara Predator Conservation Programme. marapredatorconservation.org

Mara Elephant Project. maraelephantproject.org

Maa Trust. themaatrust.org

How to do it

offers Traverse the Mara Conservancies, a five-night safari from £3,200 per person based on a group of four. It includes five nights’ accommodation, all meals, house drinks and safari activities. asiliaafrica.com Ethiopian Airlines flies daily from Heathrow and three times a week from Manchester to Addis Ababa, and operates two daily onward flights to Nairobi. Return fares from £774. To book and see updates on coronavirus measures for passengers, visit ethiopianairlines.com