Classic Mara Safari
Three nights in the Maasai Mara with the Governors' Camp Collection, flown in on Governors' Aviation. One camp, up to three game drives a day, and nothing else on the diary.
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Experience
Flying Safaris
Fifty minutes instead of six hours. Fly between the parks and a seven-night trip holds five days of game viewing rather than three.
Kenya is a big country with short flights across it. A leg that costs you the best part of a day by road takes fifty minutes in a light aircraft, and on a week-long trip that is the difference between three good days and five.
That is the whole case for flying, and it is a strong one. What you give up is the country in between, the escarpment, the tea and the towns, and about a third of your luggage.
How it works
Bush flights leave from Wilson Airport in Nairobi, not the international airport. It is a short transfer across the city, and building enough margin between an international arrival and a bush departure is the single most important line in a fly-in itinerary. We build it in; ask anyone who has run for a Wilson departure why.
The aircraft are light, typically twelve to twenty seats, and they fly scheduled circuits rather than point to point. You may touch down at two airstrips that are not yours before you reach the one that is. That is normal, it is not a delay, and the landings are part of the entertainment.
A vehicle from your camp is waiting at the strip. Sometimes so is a giraffe.
Luggage, honestly
A soft bag. No hard cases, no wheeled frames, because the hold is a shaped space rather than a boot. There is a weight limit, it is set by the airline and by the aircraft flying on the day, and we confirm the one that applies to your specific flights in writing rather than repeating a number off a website.
It sounds tighter than it is. Camps launder daily, usually included, so most people travel with about half of what they first packed and never think about it again.
Where you can fly to
The Maasai Mara has more airstrips than anywhere else in Kenya, and the conservancies around it are the reason fly-in exists. They are far enough from a road that flying is the sensible way in. Amboseli, Samburu, Laikipia, Lamu and the Watamu coast are all served. The Kenya destination page sets the regions out; our itineraries show which ones we normally combine.
What it costs
More, twice over. You pay for the seat, and you pay for the kind of camp that sits beside an airstrip, smaller, deeper into a conservancy and priced accordingly. The cost guide breaks the bill into its three parts.
Most of the trips we are proudest of do both: drive the leg that is worth driving, fly the leg that is only distance.
Whether the extra is worth it is not a question this page should be trusted to answer on its own. Road or flying is where the choice actually gets made: the vehicle, the guide, what you can carry, and how party size moves the sum, side by side and with no thumb on the scale.
One booking, both halves
We are IATA accredited and issue tickets ourselves, so your international leg and your bush legs sit in the same booking with the same person on them. When a long-haul flight moves, and one will, a fly-in itinerary is the kind that unravels fastest, and having both halves under one roof is what stops it.
Once your dates are set, the first-safari guide covers the rest of the planning.
Driving times, bush-flight luggage allowances and airline rules are set by the operators and the aircraft on the day, and change between seasons. We confirm what applies to your dates in writing before you pay anything.
The other way round
The trade-off, in three lines
This page has made its own case, so here is the short version of the other one. The full comparison (vehicle, guide, luggage, cost and the rest) lives on a single page, and that is the one to read if you have not decided yet.
Time between parks
By roadHalf a day on the road, with lunch somewhere along it
Flying · this pageFifty minutes in the air, and you are in camp for lunch
What it costs
By roadCheaper, and cheaper again the more of you there are
Flying · this pageYou are buying the seat, and usually a smaller camp beside the strip
Who it suits
By roadLonger trips, families, and anyone who wants the drive to count for something
Flying · this pageA week or less, or two regions that are nowhere near each other
Where to do it
Where we arrange flying safaris
These itineraries already include it. Any of them can be rebuilt around your dates.
Out of Africa
Five nights with the Governors' Camp Collection, two on Lake Naivasha at Loldia House and three in the Maasai Mara, flown between them on Governors' Aviation.
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Plateau and Plains
Six nights with the Governors' Camp Collection, three in the Maasai Mara and three at Governors' Mugie House on the Laikipia plateau, where the activity list stops being game drives.
View itineraryOr browse every itinerary andthe rest of the experiences.
Questions we are actually asked
Where do bush flights leave from?
Wilson Airport in Nairobi, not the international airport. It is a short transfer across the city, and building enough time between an international arrival and a bush departure is the single most important thing in a fly-in itinerary.
How small are the aircraft?
Light aircraft, typically twelve to twenty seats, flying scheduled circuits that touch two or three airstrips on the way. You may land somewhere that is not your camp before you land at the one that is; that is normal and it is not a delay.
What is the luggage limit?
Bush flights limit you to a soft bag: no hard cases and no wheels, because the hold is a shaped space rather than a boot. The exact weight allowance is set by the airline and by the aircraft on the day, so we confirm it in writing for your specific flights. Camps launder daily, which is what makes a small bag workable.
Is flying worth the extra cost?
If your trip is under eight nights, usually yes. Flying converts transfer days into game-viewing days, and on a short trip that is the difference between three good days and five. On a longer trip the road legs stop hurting and the maths changes.
Can you ticket my international flights too?
Yes. That is the half of this most agencies subcontract. We are IATA accredited and issue tickets ourselves, so your London or Dubai leg and your Mara leg sit in one booking with one person handling both when something moves.
Keep reading
Where to go next
Each of these answers one of the questions this page opens.
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