For Indians On The Great Masai Mara Safari, 150% Hike In Fees Is No Worry

In the Indian holiday calendar, July, August and September are usually dead months. The Instagrammable Northern Hemisphere countries are all reeling from a heat wave and summer vacation is a thing of the recent past. So, when it's stuffy and sweaty and humid here, where can you escape to?

Think millions of wildebeest making a precarious crossing, pride of lions watching with the utmost attention, and crocodiles lying in wait in the meandering Mara. Think miles after miles of the savannah where the sun paints the sky in the brightest of colours come twilight. Think the snow-tipped Mt Kilimanjaro with tuskers at its feet. And think The Lion King or Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor's dreamy proposal.

Irene Katumo, the regional marketing manager of Kenya Tourism Board told the media in January 2023 that Kenya saw an increase of 93.2% Indian tourists in 2022, as compared to 2021, after a drastic pandemic slump. Kenya saw 1.2 lakh Indian tourists in 2019, which went down to 42,159 in 2021. In 2022, almost double that number of Indians made their way to the shores of Kenya.