Go between July and October if you want the migration in the Masai Mara, and go in December if you want the Mara largely to yourself, which is what we did. The migration window is from the &Beyond Bateleur Camp page; the December answer is our own, from a stay at Bateleur in Dec-2025. For the months in between we have had to lean on a commercial guide, and we say so below where we do.
Updated 10-Nov-2026
Photography courtesy of andBeyond.com, Bateleur Camp, Masai Mara
Which months are best for the Masai Mara?
The Great Migration is in the Mara roughly July to October, and &Beyond treats roughly June to October plus the Christmas to New Year stretch as peak season. If you want the river crossings, those are the months, and the tents go early. That much is on our &Beyond Bateleur Camp page and it is the only timing &Beyond gives.
For the quiet months we have used maasaimara.com, which is a commercial booking site, not a park authority: it says plainly that it does not run safaris but connects you to people who do, and it earns its keep that way. Treat its table as a well-informed opinion. It grades June to September as the best time and dry, January and February as good and dry, October and December as good shoulder months, March to May as low season under the long rains, and November as low under the short rains. Its guide text agrees with &Beyond’s: July to October “if you want the classic safari experience”. We found no Kenyan park-authority calendar to set against it, which is why the source is named in every column below.
What does each month look like?
| Month | maasaimara.com (commercial guide) | What the Bateleur page adds |
|---|---|---|
| January | Good; dry season | The Christmas to New Year peak runs into the start of it |
| February | Good; dry season | Nothing specific |
| March | Low season; long rains | Nothing specific |
| April | Low season; long rains | Nothing specific |
| May | Low season; long rains | Nothing specific |
| June | Best time; dry season | &Beyond peak season begins, roughly |
| July | Best time; dry season | Migration in the Mara, roughly July to October; peak |
| August | Best time; dry season | Migration; peak |
| September | Best time; dry season | Migration; peak |
| October | Good; shoulder season | Migration, roughly to the end of the month; peak |
| November | Low season; short rains | Nothing specific |
| December | Good; shoulder season | Our Dec-2025 stay: fewer vehicles, green grass, resident cats busy; Christmas to New Year is peak |
One footnote on October. maasaimara.com’s own migration update of 15-Oct-2026 reported “quite a few large herds in the Triangle towards the western escarpment”, which is a reminder that the brochure month is a forecast, not a booking. The herds leave when they leave.
What does December actually give you?
Fewer vehicles, green grass and the resident cats busy. That is the short version from the Bateleur page, and the long version is our own December journal. Two things from that stay are worth repeating for anyone weighing December against the migration months. The first is the balloon: we traded tyres for a wicker basket at first light, spent about an hour over the Mara watching the herds stitch patterns across the grass, and landed to champagne and a full English bush breakfast served family-style. The flight is an extra, and it does not need the migration in residence to be worth it. The second is the night drive, also an extra, with a spotlight: this was where we followed a lion hunt after dark, with zebra yelping warnings somewhere behind the vehicle. December gave us both without a queue of vehicles at either.
What December does not give you is a river crossing. If that is the picture in your head, book July to October and accept the company.
What should you book first at Bateleur?
The family tent, if you are bringing children. &Beyond Bateleur Camp is two camps of nine tents each on the Kichwa Tembo concession, below the Oloololo escarpment at the edge of the Masai Mara National Reserve, and across all eighteen tents there is exactly one family tent: two tents joined by an interior passage with a private lounge, sleeping two adults and two children, a third child on request at an additional cost. Everything else sleeps two. Secure it before flights. Otherwise the stay is all-inclusive, with three meals, drinks, laundry, airstrip transfers and two safari activities a day, a game drive or a nature walk, with a pair of Swarovski binoculars lent per room; balloon flights, night drives, Maasai cultural visits and wellness treatments cost extra, and so do park fees.
What we could not verify
Whether Bateleur stays open through the long rains. The camp’s page on andbeyond.com gave us navigation and nothing else on 22-Oct-2026, and its sub-pages returned errors, so we have no official line on seasonal closures and are not going to assume one. If you are planning March to May, ask &Beyond, or ask us and we will ask them. The rest of our Kenya lodges are on the Kenya page, and we are always happy to argue the case for December over a drink.