Deciding when to go to Kenya is a perennial question for visitors. There’s no simple ‘best time to visit Kenya’ as good conditions vary across the country, and one person’s ideal weather will be another’s disappointment. Having said that, most visitors will find something positive about the weather through most of the year. Whatever the ambient temperature in the shade, when the sun is out – which is a good deal of the time, and often from dawn until dusk for weeks on end – it is always fierce: you’re on the equator, and you’ll know all about it if you neglect the sunscreen.
Kenya's Climate
By and large,Kenya's climate is warm all year round, with plenty of sunshine, cools nights and mornings.But while most parts of Kenya exhibit more or less the same climatic conditions, when traveling across different parts of Kenya, you will experience varying weather patterns due to Kenya's differing topographical dimensions.
Below is a breakdown of Kenya's weather:
It's normally sunny and dry from December -February
Long rains from April to June
Short rains from August -November
What is the best time to visit Kenya?
July or August is excellent for safari, but it is also the high season. This is when the wild beast migration is on in the Mara. However at the coast, it will be cooler, and can be wet. When it rains at the coast it is usually for a few hours, and then the sun is usually out.
The coastal areas offer a diversity of marine species, and some pelagic species and marine mammals migrate through the area. From the end of June to December, humpback whales may be spotted. Fishermen seeking high excitement may prefer to visit the ocean shores of Kenya from August to October for yellowfin tuna. Marlins arrive in December and remain until March.
For flamingo lovers, we recommend visiting Lake Nakuru during the hot, dry season in January and February, and in Lake Bogoria, the ideal time is around October, both to be visited just before the arrival of the long and short rains respectively. The abundance of algae in the lake attracts millions of flamingos.
The great migration
Many travellers visit Kenya to see the great wildebeest migration in the Maasai Mara. Linked to annual rainfall patterns and the growth of new grass, this remarkable migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra is a constant movement of huge, nomadic herds. In Tanzania, it can be seen throughout the year: you just need to know where to look. The migrating herds enter Kenya for a much shorter period, roughly from July or August until October – though recent years have seen major arrivals as early as June, and late-stayers still in the Maasai Mara region until November or even later.
Staying warm on safari
One of the biggest surprises for most first-time visitors to Kenya is the experience of a chilly game drive on safari, especially early in the morning. If you remember your school geography, you’ll know that for every 100m you climb from sea level, you can reckon on a drop in temperature of 0.6°C (6°C per 1000m). In Mombasa, and along the rest of the coast, the thermometer rarely ever drops below 20°C, even just before dawn, while in Nairobi, up at 1660m, temperatures can drop to well below 10°C at night in July and August, even though daytime highs in the shade at that time of year get into the mid-20s. When you’re on safari in higher-altitude areas – the Maasai Mara, Laikipia and the Samburu reserves – you should be prepared with layers of clothing for your early morning game drive, the end of the afternoon game drive and for night drives if they are available. You need to take account of the wind chill in open vehicles, too, which can make if feel like 5°C or below, especially if you’re driving at 30kph or more. Some people take gloves, and it’s certainly not a bad idea. If you’re on safari at the somewhat lower altitudes of Meru, Tsavo East, Tsavo West or Amboseli national parks, you’ll find temperatures are a little higher – just enough to make a fleece about the only warm clothing you’ll need at the cooler times of day.