Eight levers, ranked

1. Change the month. By a distance the biggest lever. The same tent in the same camp can cost roughly half in April what it costs in August. If your dates are flexible, this is where the money is.
2. Fewer nights at a higher level. Counter-intuitive, but the fixed costs are identical and five good nights beat seven mediocre ones.
3. Fewer parks. Every move is a transfer and half a day. Two parks in a week, not three.
4. Travel as four rather than two. Vehicle and guide are costed per vehicle, so the per-person figure falls sharply.
5. Drive the short legs, fly the long ones. The Rift Valley escarpment road is worth seeing. The Mara road is worth avoiding.
6. The reserve rather than a conservancy — but only if crowds genuinely do not bother you. Be honest with yourself about this one.
7. Ask about single supplements if you are travelling alone. Some camps waive them in low season and nobody volunteers it.
8. Book early for July to October. Not dynamic pricing — the good-value rooms in good camps simply go first.

Two places not to economise

• Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover. A remote airstrip is a long way from a hospital and an evacuation is ruinously expensive.
• Three nights minimum in the Masai Mara. Two nights is Mara prices without the time to get anything out of it. If the budget will not stretch, go somewhere cheaper for longer rather than to the Mara briefly.

The honest version

The cheapest genuinely good Kenya trip we regularly build is a green-season week, two parks, comfortable tented camps, a private vehicle and one internal flight. It costs a fraction of the same shape in August and the wildlife is entirely unaware of the difference.

If your dates are flexible, ask us to price both. The gap is usually larger than people expect.

Ask us to price two months