Kenya: best time to visit, entry, travel facts

Kenya has 2 dry seasons and 2 rainy seasons, and for game viewing the dry season from July to October counts most. The grass is short, the bushes carry little leaf, and the animals gather at the few remaining water sources: the Mara River, the Talek, the Amboseli swamps and the waterholes of Tsavo. In 1 hour of game drive you see more in these months than in 3 during the green season.

The Great Migration reaches the Masai Mara in July, depending on the rains; the first herds usually cross the Sand River in the 2nd half of July. The river crossings on the Mara River fall between late July and early October. There is no fixed date, and 3 to 4 nights in the Mara Triangle or on the Talek raise the odds considerably. From late October the wildebeest move back into the Serengeti. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants and buffalo stay in the Mara all year; only the roughly 1.5 million wildebeest and zebras come and go.

The 2nd dry season in January and February is shorter, but for Amboseli and Tsavo it is often the best time: Kilimanjaro stands clear of cloud until about 9 in the morning, the elephant families come to the swamps, and in Samburu and Laikipia reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra and beisa oryx show up along the rivers. Many antelopes and zebras give birth after the short rains in December and January, and the predators are correspondingly active.

The long rains from late March to May are the weakest time: tall grass, animals widely scattered, and many camps in the Mara close completely in April and May. The short rains in November and early December are milder, usually 1 to 2 hours of showers in the afternoon; the landscape turns green and the migratory birds from Europe arrive. For birders, and for anyone who wants to see animals without 20 other vehicles, November is a good compromise. Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha work all year; the flamingo count swings with the water level from a few thousand to over 1 million.

The climate table is for the Masai Mara at around 1,600 m, the region where most Kenya safaris spend most of their time. Daytime highs stay between 24 and 29 degrees all year, and nights cool to 11 to 14 degrees; in July and August you need a fleece and a windproof jacket on the early-morning game drive. Rain falls in every month, and what matters is the amount: the long rainy season from late March to May brings 14 to 17 rain days per month, the short rainy season in November about 14, and the dry season from June to October 6 to 7, usually as a brief shower in the late afternoon. Humidity stays moderate at 58 to 74 percent, and the sun shines 6 to 8 hours a day.

Other regions differ: Amboseli and Tsavo lie at 1,000 to 1,200 m and are 3 to 5 degrees warmer, Samburu in the north reaches 34 to 36 degrees in February and March, and the coast around Mombasa has 28 to 32 degrees all year at over 80 percent humidity. Nairobi at 1,800 m is the coolest point on the route, around 10 degrees at night in July.

Kenya's rainy seasons decide whether a track is passable, not how pleasant the weather is. The long rains (March to May) hit the Masai Mara and the savanna in the southwest hardest: the black cotton soil (vertisol) there swells when wet into deep, sticky mud that even four-wheel-drive vehicles get stuck in - individual tracks and lodges become temporarily unreachable. The short rains (late October to December) are usually shorter and more localised, but can still make individual afternoons impassable. The central highlands around Nairobi, Mount Kenya and the Rift Valley are far more forgiving: the main routes are mostly paved, and rain makes the laterite sections slippery but rarely fully impassable. Between the rainy seasons lie the two dry windows, January/February and June to September, when the Mara tracks are also firm and grippy throughout - these are also the months with the best visibility for wildlife viewing. Ramadan has no effect on the routes themselves, but it does affect restaurant and shop hours on the coast (Mombasa route).

Since 2024, Kenya has required practically all nationalities to obtain an electronic travel authorisation (eTA) before entry, and the visa on arrival at the counter has been abolished. The eTA is applied for online at etakenya.go.ke, costs 30 USD and is usually issued within 24 to 72 hours, though 3 to 5 working days are officially allowed for processing. You will need: a passport valid for at least 6 months with one blank page, a recent passport photo, a confirmed flight or border crossing with entry and exit dates, proof of accommodation, and a yellow fever vaccination certificate if arriving from a yellow fever endemic area (relevant, among others, when entering via Tanzania, Uganda or Ethiopia). The eTA is available as a single-entry or multiple-entry permit with up to 90 days per stay, valid for up to 5 years. Anyone planning a route through Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda can apply for the East Africa Tourist Visa for 100 USD instead of three separate eTAs; it covers all three countries, but can only be applied for through the portal of whichever country is entered first, and it begins with the physical crossing into that country. At land borders, the eTA confirmation is checked together with your passport - carrying a printout as a backup is worthwhile in case there is no phone signal on the road.

For your own, foreign-registered motorcycle, a two-tier system applies at Kenya's land borders. Travellers from countries outside the EAC and COMESA generally need a Carnet de Passages en Douane or a comparable document from their home country; without it, customs at the border issues form C32, a free provisional import document valid for 14 days. The motorcycle may only leave the customs post with one of these two documents, and an extension beyond the 14 days is possible through the Kenya Revenue Authority, though it is not guaranteed at the border crossing itself. Third-party liability insurance is mandatory: the COMESA Yellow Card is valid in Kenya and most neighbouring countries (Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi and others), so it covers the whole East Africa route with a single policy, and it is issued at the border or by Kenyan insurers. Carry the vehicle registration document, proof of ownership and an international number plate sticker. If you are riding someone else's motorcycle - a borrowed one, or a fellow traveller's - border officials regularly ask for a written, ideally notarised power of attorney from the owner. Most crossings into Tanzania (Namanga, Isebania) and Uganda (Busia, Malaba) are well used to transit traffic; more remote posts cost more time and patience. For anyone not already travelling with their own motorcycle and a Carnet, renting a locally based motorcycle in Nairobi is in practice considerably less complicated than importing your own.

Kenya is a signatory to the 1968 Vienna Convention and generally recognises foreign driving licences, so an IDP is not a legal requirement. In practice, an international driving permit is still worthwhile: it is an official translation, and many police officers at checkpoints outside the cities do not recognise a German, Austrian or Swiss card licence and check more slowly if no English translation is available. Helmets are a legal requirement for rider and passenger and are regularly checked at checkpoints and weighbridges on the main roads out of town. At checkpoints - police barriers, weighbridges for trucks - you will be asked for your driving licence, vehicle papers and eTA confirmation; a calm manner and patience speed up processing considerably.

The stages described here follow the classic Nairobi - Mount Kenya - Lake Baringo - Molo - Masai Mara - Lake Naivasha - Nairobi route, the core of almost every guided Kenya motorcycle tour. Tarmac and track alternate constantly once you leave the main roads A2 and A104; from Molo towards the Mara, longer stretches run only on paths used by the Maasai and wildlife, and a support vehicle usually travels separately from the convoy there. Daily stages of 150 to 225 km are the norm on these tracks, not the exception - much greater distances are possible on continuous tarmac, considerably less on gravel and hilly terrain. Altitude differences of roughly 1,500 to over 2,500 metres between individual stages mean cold nights despite the equatorial location, so pack warm clothing for the evening. Anyone riding the route in the opposite direction should build in a buffer of at least one day around Molo and the Masai Mara at the first rain reports of the season. Fuel and food are worth topping up whenever a town offers them, since several of these stages run for hours with nothing in between.

The A104 and A109, along with all larger towns, have reliable fuel stations from major brands (Shell, TotalEnergies, Rubis) selling Super and diesel and accepting cards as well as M-Pesa. Away from these routes - for instance between Mount Kenya and Lake Baringo, or on the way to the Masai Mara - stations are considerably further apart, sometimes 100 km or more; cash is the more reliable payment method there, since card terminals and mobile networks do not always work. A reserve canister of 5 to 10 litres is worthwhile on the remote stages; small rural stations occasionally sell lower-quality fuel from drums, which is best avoided if in doubt. The tank size of most travel enduros is easily enough for the 150 to 225 km daily stages typical here.

The nationwide emergency number is 999; alternatively, 112 also works from mobile networks without an active SIM card. For medical emergencies, the Kenya Red Cross Emergency Response is also reachable around the clock free of charge on 1199, and in practice is often faster on the scene than the state ambulance. In remote regions such as the Masai Mara or around Lake Baringo, it can take longer for an emergency call to get through or for a vehicle to arrive, depending on network coverage - safari lodges and camps usually have their own radio links and can help in an emergency. For serious accidents away from the cities, evacuation by Flying Doctors (AMREF) is realistic, which requires appropriate travel or evacuation insurance.

Most European travel and overseas health insurance policies explicitly exclude riding motorcycles over 125cc or require an additional add-on - check the small print before booking, or nobody pays out in an emergency. A yellow fever vaccination certificate is mandatory on entry from a yellow fever endemic area, and otherwise recommended alongside protection against hepatitis A/B, typhoid and rabies. Malaria prophylaxis is relevant for lower-lying areas such as the Masai Mara and the coast, while the risk drops noticeably in the cooler highlands around Nairobi and Mount Kenya. A well-stocked travel medical kit, including remedies for travellers' diarrhoea, belongs in your luggage, since pharmacies are thin on the ground away from the larger towns.

The national currency is the Kenyan Shilling (KES); ATMs are reliably available in every larger town, in the highlands and on the coast, but rare in remote regions. M-Pesa, Kenya's mobile payment system, is more practical than cash for many payments - from the fuel station to the market stall - but requires a Kenyan phone number, which can be registered at any Safaricom counter at the airport. Cards are accepted in hotels and larger restaurants; in the countryside, cash is essential.

Safaricom has by far the best network, mostly with 4G even in the highlands and around the Masai Mara; Airtel is an alternative with somewhat thinner coverage. A local SIM card is cheap and available immediately at the airport or from any Safaricom dealer, and eSIM options also exist. In the national parks and on remote tracks such as between Mount Kenya and Lake Baringo, there are longer stretches with no signal at all.

Kenya drives on the left; at roundabouts, traffic already in the circle has the right of way. Wildlife regularly crosses country roads outside the parks, especially at dusk - riding after dark should be kept to a minimum. Near Maasai communities, do not photograph people or their livestock without asking; a brief conversation or a small fee usually settles this without complications. On Fridays, expect more pedestrian traffic around mosques - otherwise everyday life has no religiously based restrictions for travellers.