Maasai Mara in June: weather, wildlife, crowds and prices
Maasai Mara in June means drying grass, the last month of the lower park fee and, in some years, the first migratory herds crossing from Tanzania at the very end of the month.
June comes at the end of the long rains in the Maasai Mara, and how much rain falls varies: Governors’ Camp measured 88 mm in June 2024, 47 mm in 2025 and only 9.4 mm in 2026, when the Mara Conservancy recorded its driest month in 25 years. The migratory herds are usually still in Tanzania. In 2026 the first wildebeest crossed the Sand River into the Reserve on 28 June, but in 2024 and 2025 they arrived only in July. The park fee stays in its low season, USD 100 per non-resident adult a day, until 30 June, and doubles on 1 July.
Park tickets for both the Main Reserve and the Mara Triangle are sold on the KAPS ticket portal.
The observations below come from the Mara Conservancy, which manages the Mara Triangle, and from Governors’ Camp at Musiara, in the north of the Reserve, for each June from 2024 to 2026.
Maasai Mara in June at a glance
Rain: 9.4–88 mm
Governors' Camp totals for 2024–2026; the Mara Triangle measured 20.2 mm in 2024.
A low Mara River
Low, with sandbanks showing, in 2024; very low from mid-month in 2025.
First herds, some years
Wildebeest crossed the Sand River on 28 June 2026; in 2024 and 2025 not until July.
Low-season fee to 30 June
USD 100 per non-resident adult a day, rising to USD 200 on 1 July.
Busy before the fee rises
Record June numbers in the Mara Triangle in 2025, as visitors came before 1 July.
Zebras arrive first
Thousands came down from the northern conservancies in 2026, before the wildebeest.
What is the weather like in the Maasai Mara in June?
Long-term Mara rain-gauge records count June as the last month of the long rains (January–June), when wet-season months average 96 mm of rain, and in recent years the rains have tailed off during the month. The Mara Triangle measured 20.2 mm in 2024, when the rains stopped early in the month, against 156.81 mm that May. In 2025 the Mara Conservancy recorded sporadic rain all month, and in 2026 the driest month in its 25 years in the Triangle. At Musiara, Governors’ Camp recorded 88 mm in 2024, 47 mm in 2025 and 9.4 mm in 2026.
Rain varies sharply over short distances in the Mara, so one gauge can be wet while another stays dry. Governors’ Camp described clear, sunny, mild days in 2025. We found no dated temperature readings for the month that we can rely on; in July 2025 the camp recorded mornings and evenings of 11–15 °C and daytime highs of 25–28 °C. Pack a warm layer for early game drives and a light waterproof for showers. Our Maasai Mara weather guide compares every month.
How much rain fell in recent Junes?
Measured totals for the month, in millimetres, at two gauges in different parts of the Mara.
| Year | Mara Triangle (Serena) | Governors' Camp, Musiara | What it meant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 20.2; the rains stopped early in the month | 88 | Long grass golden on top and green at the base; the Mara River low, with sandbanks exposed |
| 2025 | No total given; sporadic rain all month | 47 | Green grass in the Triangle; at Musiara, grass drying and in seed and the river very low from mid-month |
| 2026 | No total given; the Conservancy’s driest month in 25 years | 9.4 | Grass pale yellow by the end of the month and ideal game viewing |
The 2024 Mara Triangle figures come from the Conservancy’s year-end rain chart, which is titled “Rainfall 2025” but holds the 2024 data.
Where is the migration in June?
At this time of year the migratory wildebeest are usually still in Tanzania. GPS tracking of wildebeest from 1999 to 2022 shows the herds leaving the southern Serengeti with the dry season from May and moving west to the Western Corridor in June and July, then north. The median move away from the wet-season range runs from 6 May to 29 June. The Mara Conservancy says the migration usually starts somewhere in June or July.
The last days of the month are when the first herds can arrive. In 2026 the first wildebeest crossed the Sand River into the Main Reserve on 28 June, and by the end of the month a few thousand had entered the Mara Triangle after crossing the Mara River in Tanzania. In 2024 Governors’ Camp expected the herds at the end of the month, but they arrived only in mid-July; in 2025 they entered on 6 July. Governors’ Camp says that in some years the first wildebeest cross the Sand River towards the end of the month.
Zebras often come first. More than 200,000 zebras migrate through the Serengeti-Mara, and the median move of GPS-collared zebras from their wet-season to their dry-season range runs from 18 June to 2 July. Governors’ Camp saw a herd of at least 500 zebras beyond Bila Shaka in 2024, and thousands of zebras coming down from the northern conservancies in 2026, before the wildebeest. The Mara’s resident lion prides hold the same territories for generations, and the big cats breed all year round.
Will I see a river crossing in June?
Only with luck, and only at the end of the month. The first crossing of 2026 was on the Sand River on 28 June; in 2023–2025 the first crossings into the Mara Triangle came between 20 and 25 July, the Mara Conservancy reported. In most recent years, then, the month ended before the crossings began.
Crossings are also fewer than they used to be. The Main Reserve had about 14 crossing days in 2025, against 29 in 2024 and about 50 historically, and the Mara Conservancy says most crossings now take place in Tanzania. It also reports that the migration has not reached Mara North and the conservancies for five years or more. If a crossing is the main reason for your trip, the months from July to September give you better odds; see our guide to the Maasai Mara in July.
What did observers see in the Mara in June?
June 2024. The Mara Conservancy said the high season seemed to have started early: the Reserve was very busy for most of the month, and campsites were in use before they had dried out. With the Purungat bridge gone, most road traffic went Sekenani–Talek–Musiara–Oloololo, and roads inside the Reserve were still being repaired. At Musiara, Governors’ Camp recorded 88 mm of rain, long grass golden on top and green at the base, a low Mara River with sandbanks exposed, and a herd of at least 500 zebras beyond Bila Shaka.
June 2025. Sporadic rain all month kept the Triangle’s grass green. The Conservancy called it an exceptionally busy month, with many negative reports about overcrowding: over 200 vehicles at a sighting, long queues at the Look Out toilets, and vehicles from the Main Reserve flooding into the Triangle for leopard sightings. Governors’ Camp had 47 mm and clear, sunny, mild days, with the Mara River very low from mid-month. At the end of the month large herds of zebra and topi, with eland and Thomson’s gazelle, gathered on the short-grass plains north of Musiara, the “mini migration”.
June 2026. The Conservancy called it the driest month in its 25 years in the Triangle. The first wildebeest herds entered the Triangle after crossing the Mara River in Tanzania, a few thousand by the end of the month, and all game-viewing tracks were cut and the major roads graded for the high season. Governors’ Camp recorded 9.4 mm and ideal game viewing, with the grass pale yellow by the end of the month and thousands of zebras coming down from the northern conservancies. Across Kenya, the Kenya Meteorological Department reported below-average rain over most of the country in June–August 2026.
How busy is the Maasai Mara in June?
The month has become busy. The Mara Conservancy counted 7,096 non-resident visitors to the Mara Triangle in June 2023, 6,233 in 2024 and 8,076 in 2025, a record it put down largely to visitors using the lower park fee before the high-season increase on 1 July. The 2026 figure was 12.4% down on 2025. Both 2024 and 2025 were very busy, and in 2025 the Conservancy reported over 200 vehicles at one sighting.
The park rules limit crowding at the big cats: a maximum of five vehicles at a lion, leopard, cheetah or rhino sighting, with others waiting at least 100 metres away, and in the Mara Triangle viewing is restricted to 10 minutes when more than five vehicles are waiting. Madaraka Day, 1 June, is a public holiday in Kenya. The peak is still to come: the high season starts on 1 July, and the Triangle’s record month was August 2023, with 41,992 visitors.
How much does a Maasai Mara safari cost in June?
Park fee. June is the last month of the low season, which runs from 1 January to 30 June. Non-resident adults pay USD 100 a day until 30 June and USD 200 a day from 1 July, so a stay that runs into July pays the high-season fee for every day from 1 July. Children aged 9 to 17 pay USD 50 in both seasons, and children aged 8 and under enter free. Kenyan citizens pay KSh 1,500 and East African residents KSh 2,500 per adult a day, rising to KSh 3,000 and KSh 5,000 on 1 July; the Mara Triangle charges the same.
Camps. Many camps price the month below their July peak. Published 2026 rates per person per night sharing include USD 300 at Basecamp Masai Mara (June, with meals and shared drives), USD 623 at Governors’ Camp (June), USD 625 at Kicheche Mara Camp (23 May–30 June) and USD 700 at Saruni Mara (June), against USD 500 (July–September), USD 998 (1 July–31 October), USD 995 (1 July–31 October) and USD 900 (July–September) at the same camps.
Rekero Camp charges USD 910 for 1–30 June 2026 and USD 1,450 for 1 July–31 October, Porini Mara Camp USD 620 and USD 955 for the same dates, conservancy fees included, and Angama Mara USD 1,850 per guest until 30 June and USD 2,750 from 1 July, park fees extra. Offbeat Mara Camp charges USD 670 in June and USD 950 in July–September, and Sentinel Mara Camp keeps its off-peak USD 780 until 14 July. Julia’s River Camp, on the Talek River inside the Reserve, charges USD 146 full board in a classic tent from 1 July 2026 and takes 10% off in its low season, 7 January–30 June.
Changes during the month. Some camps raise their rates part of the way through. In 2026 Ol Seki Hemingways Mara moves from USD 810 to USD 1,195 and Kandili Camp’s full-board rate from USD 240 to USD 300 on 15 June, and Mara West’s inclusive package, without game drives, from USD 350 to USD 438 on 16 June. Encounter Mara charges USD 940 from 1 June 2026, the same as in July–October. A shared three-day group safari by road from Nairobi is published at USD 840 per person for 1–15 June and USD 1,200 from 16 June (economy camp), park fees included.
Fees on top. Except at Porini Mara Camp, conservancy or Reserve charges come on top of these rates: conservancy camps add a conservancy fee per adult: USD 130 or USD 150 a night at Mara North camps (Kicheche Mara, Saruni Mara, Offbeat Mara; confirm with your camp), USD 130 a night in the Naboisho Conservancy, plus a USD 5 Naboisho Reserve Fund fee at Ol Seki, and USD 50 a day at Kandili Camp, and camps inside the Main Reserve can add a Narok County bed-night or community charge of USD 40–80 per adult; the amount differs between camps, so ask yours.
Outside the Reserve. Enchoro Wildlife Camp, by Oloolaimutia Gate, charges USD 180 per double tent a night, full board, in its 2026 March–June low season and USD 200 in its July–September high season; Reserve fees and game drives are extra.
Residents. Mara Serena Safari Lodge’s 2026 resident ground package costs KSh 32,500 per person for the first night until 30 June and KSh 43,800 from 1 July, park fees excluded. Our guide to what a Maasai Mara safari costs has worked budgets for every style.
Can you take a balloon flight in June?
Yes. Governors’ Balloon Safaris publishes 2026 rates of USD 430 per adult for June and USD 490 from 1 July, and USD 275 for a child under 15 all year. On top come Narok County’s landing fee of USD 80 per adult (USD 35 per child), a USD 20 community levy, and USD 5 for medical-evacuation cover if you have none. Children must be at least 8 years old and 1.2 metres tall.
Flights leave at sunrise, between about 6:15 and 6:45 am, and last about an hour, Governors’ Balloon Safaris says; on 95 days out of 100 it flies south over the Mara River. Ask whether the landing fee and the day’s park fee are included in the price you are quoted, and book the flight early in your stay: the Reserve’s management plan allows flights to be suspended in unseasonable wet weather, so leave time to rebook.
Are the camps open in June?
The seasonal closures with published dates that we found all end before June. Rekero Camp and Encounter Mara reopen at the start of the month; in 2026 Kicheche Mara Camp was closed from 1 April to 22 May, Ol Seki Hemingways Mara from 13 April to 22 May and Kicheche Valley Camp from 10 April to 31 May.
In the Mara Triangle, Little Governors’ camp closed for a complete makeover, with reopening planned for June 2026; in July 2026 the Mara Conservancy listed “Mara Wilderness (formerly Little Governors)” as one of the Triangle’s two permanent camps. The Triangle’s seasonal camp, Enkishui, opens only from July to November. Ask your camp whether it is open for your dates.
Is June a good time to visit the Maasai Mara?
- Good for: the last weeks of the low-season park fee and lower camp rates, the end of the long rains, zebra herds and, at the very end of the month in some years, the first wildebeest.
- Less good for: the wildebeest migration, which arrived only in July in 2024 and 2025; and quiet roads, since many visitors come before the fee rises.
- Plan for: the park fee doubling on 1 July if your stay runs into July, and rate rises in the middle of the month at some camps.
Planning a June safari
- Book early: visitors now come in large numbers before the park fee doubles.
- Budget USD 100 per non-resident adult a day until 30 June, and USD 200 for every day from 1 July.
- Check your camp's season dates: some raise their rates on 15 or 16 June.
- Pack a warm layer for early game drives and a light waterproof for showers.
- If the river crossings are the main reason for your trip, look at July to September instead.
More help choosing your month
- Best time to visit the Maasai Mara – all 12 months compared
- Maasai Mara in July – the next month
- Maasai Mara in May – the month before
- Maasai Mara weather – rain and temperature month by month
- Maasai Mara park fees – rates for every visitor and season
- How much a Maasai Mara safari costs – worked budgets
Thinking of a June safari?
Tell us your dates and what you want to see. MaasaiMara.ke quotes and books safaris through authorised, highly rated tour operator partners, and we will suggest camps that suit the season.
