Masai Mara february 2026

Hi all, we are a family for 4 (2 kids aged 8 and 11) and we are looking at a Kenya safari for 2026. Our itinerary would be 2 nights Amboseli, 1 night Lake Nakuru and 4 nights Masai Mara. We’ve been on safari before in other African countries and we are keen on seeing cheetah and leopard. At the moment we are leaning to either staying 4 nights in the reserve (Fig Tree) or splitting up our time in 2 nights reserve and 2 nights Naboisho conservancy. I know there have been many posts regarding this topic and most of you guys are big fans 😊 but we are still a bit hesitant towards the conservancies because of 1. We are not huge fans of for example the South African Private Game Reserves where to us it often feels like driving through a big zoo. Furthermore we loved the open plains and the vastness of the Serengeti and we are worried that the conservancy might feel more ‘cramped’. Should we be worried about this? 2. We’ve read that there are lots of lions in the Naboisho Conservancy. Would this diminish our chances of seeing cheetah and leopards there? Does any know how many game drive are included in the conservancy? Morning and afternoon game drives we presume but also a game drive on the morning that we check out? Thank you so much for the advice!