I chose the comfort of air travel to a potential backbreaking road journey!
In Nairobi, I stayed at Weston hotel that is bang opposite Wilson airport. Though I could have walked across, the hotel offered a complementary drop and I accepted. Wilson airport arrival and departure building is hardly like you would expect in an airport. In 2 minutes, I was ready to board, except that the flight had not arrived yet! Wilson airport is the busiest light aircraft airport in Africa. The tarmac was certainly crowded with all kinds of small aircraft.
Adhere to prescribed baggage size
Air Kenya operates a fleet of Cessna’s, Twin Otters and 1 Dash -7.The flight I took to Mara was the Dash 7 that can seat up to 50 passengers and is pressurized. Given the small size of the aircraft, they are fairly strict about the baggage weight and size. The weight of both check in and hand baggage should not exceed 15 kgs. Hard luggages are generally not allowed but if the overall size is as prescribed, they normally let it through. The preference is for soft luggages though.
Potholes on taxiway
The taxiway reminded me of Bengaluru roads-there were quite a few potholes! I guess that may be to prepare the aircraft to land on the gravel topped airstrips! The aircraft did not seem particularly new but the seating was quite comfortable.
Flight duration and routing
Mara has several airstrips and it takes about 45 minutes to 75 minutes depending on the routing. There is no airstrip called Mara and you will need to be clear which airstrip serves the camp you are visiting.
Typically, the flights take about 2 to 2.5 hours to do a round trip to Nairobi, touching down at 3-4 airstrips in Mara. These are not scheduled flights and hence, the departure/arrival times can vary a bit. I was going to Keekorok and flight made 3 stops before landing at Keekorok. At each stop, the halt is no more than 10 minutes. Since the airstrips in Mara are close by, the aircraft flies at a low altitude and sometimes even the landing gear is not retracted if the flying time is only 5 minutes. I could watch wildlife at some of the airstrips as the aircraft came in to land. The aerial views of the Mara are also very nice. Certainly, an enjoyable experience.
‘Lounge’ at Keekorok airstrip, Masai Mara, Kenya 
Signboard at Keekorok airstrip, Kenya
On the return journey, after taking off from Keekorok, and upon landing at the Kichwa Tembo airstrip, the two tyres on the right landing gear got punctured. I did not feel anything when the aircraft landed, slowed and stopped. Only after the announcement and when we deplaned, I could see the damage and I thought we were very lucky. Thankfully, there was an Air Kenya engineer travelling on the flight and within 40 minutes the tyres had been changed. The aircraft was carrying spare tyres which possibly means such events are not uncommon.
Overall, very comfortable onward and return journey.
Safety
I have somehow nurtured a feeling that smaller aircrafts are less safe than larger aircrafts. While there have been few incidents with regional airlines(Air Kenya, Safarilinks, Silverstone), it appears that none of them have resulted in any fatalities. I guess it is still safer to fly than drive!
