There are 4 things to consider when choosing when to travel to Kenya. 1) Weather 2) Wildlife 3) Cost 4) Will it be busy?

1) Weather – the long rains start towards the end of March and continue until the end of May / early June. You can get many days of drizzle, and apart from the wet weather spoiling your holiday, the wildlife will be harder to spot. This is because the grass is longer with the rains, and because there is so much water about that they don;t have to congregate around well known water holes.

There are also short rains mid to late November for a few weeks.

On our Kenya safari and beach holidays, the hotel we feature in Mombasa is actually closed for the rainy season in May, and uses the time to make improvements.

2) Wildlife – apart from being easier to spot after a period of dry weather, the main thing to note is the migration of zebra and wildebeest that takes place every year between the Masai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania. They cross the Mara River into Kenya around June, July, and into August, and remain until November when they head back to the Serengeti. If you are staying in the Masai Mara (which you should be!) then if you’re lucky, you’see the herds of wildebeest crossing the Mara River, trying to avoid the crocodiles waiting patiently for them.

3) – Like most holidays, UK school holidays plays a bit part in pricing. The cheapest time to travel is end of May / early June (as it is for many detainations), but a two week holiday can be £1000 more during the peak of July and August. Come late August though, and prices drop again.

4) The busiest season aprt from Christmas is the school summer holidays of July and August when availability is extremely tight. You have to book several months in advance to get what you want at the best price. Its the best weather, the wildife viewing is excellent, familes are arriving and its also a big honeymoon destination so there are lots of couples.

So, in conclusion, if I was to pick the absolute ideal time to travel on a Kenya safari and beach holiday, it would be mid to late September. The weather is superb, and has been dry for months making wildlife easy to spot. The Masai Mara will be full with the migrating herds of zebra and wildebeest. The prices have dropped from the high of August and September, and it will be less crowded too!