Fly-In vs Driving Safari
24 June 2026 · 5 min read
Nairobi to the Mara is roughly 45 minutes by light aircraft or five to six hours by road. Nairobi to Amboseli is 45 minutes or four hours. Samburu is under an hour flying, most of a day driving.
On a seven-night trip, flying between two or three areas can recover a full day and a half of game viewing. On a fourteen-night trip, road days matter far less and the savings can buy several extra nights.
Driving has real advantages beyond cost. You see the country between the parks, you can stop, and you are not restricted by the strict luggage limits on light aircraft — usually 15kg in a soft bag.
Flying has one more advantage worth naming: arriving fresh. A six-hour drive on rough road at the end of a long-haul flight takes something out of the first day.
Most of the routes I plan mix both — drive the Rift Valley leg, fly the long ones.
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