Kenyans are trooping into national parks around the country after Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano announced free entry into all the parks across the country on Saturday, September 28, 2024.
In a video shared on her X handle, CS Miano said that as early as 6:30 am, visitors had been lining up to be cleared for entry into Meru National Park.
Miano had earlier announced that in celebration of the United Nations World Tourism Day, the government would provide an all-access service to local tourists in a bid to encourage domestic tourism in the country.
The announcement approved by President William Ruto in a cabinet meeting he chaired on Tuesday, September 18, 2024, will allow Kenyans across the country to indulge in the country’s rich heritage and picturesque scenery of landscapes and wildlife with friends and families.
They will also have the chance to attend events hosted in honour of the National Tourism Week, which started from September 22, 2024, to September 28, 2024.
All parks, including the Maasai Mara, Tsavo National Park, Amboseli, and Nairobi National Park, will have free entry access.
Kenyans getting into the Maasai Mara National Reserve could get a glimpse of the last bit of the wildebeest migration across the Mara River even as the animals wait to cross over again into Kenya in November.
Maasai Mara National Park
Usually, it would cost a Kenyan citizen between Ksh1,000 and Ksh2,000 in entry fees only to the Maasai Mara. Children above the age of 10 pay Ksh500, while those below 10 are granted free entry.
For foreign nationals, Maasai Mara announced that children below the age of 17 years will pay Ksh6450 in entry fees while adults pay Ksh25,800. Guests staying outside the park will pay a daily entry fee, while those inside the park would only have to fend for their stay in their hotels of choice.
The fees for both public and private campsites in the park are Ksh1,000 for adults and Ksh200 for children and students. Also, the entry fee for vehicles of between 6-12 seats is Ksh1,000 while vehicles with 13-24 seats attract a rate of Ksh3,000.
A game drive of less than six hours will set you back Ksh1,500 in ranger fees while those intending to stay the night at the park would have to pay fees for two rangers of around Ksh4,000.
