Plans are under way for the Kenyan government to establish a customs and immigration office at the Sand River Gate on its border with Tanzania to ease the movement of tourists.

Kenya’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary, Najib Balala, said the construction of the immigration office at a cost of $1 million would start soon to serve tourists travelling between the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

Balala added that the immigration office would clear tourists from Serengeti National Park who want to cross to Maasai Mara National Reserve or those from the Mara who want to cross to Serengeti.

 “Tourists will no longer need to travel all the way to Wilson Airport in Nairobi to go through the immigration procedures before being allowed into the Mara,” said Balala. He explained that in the past, tourists from Kenya encountered challenges accessing Serengeti because the Tanzanian authorities had not relaxed rules to allow free movement. Previously, he noted, tourists also had to use the Narok-Nairobi or Kisii-Migori-Isebania routes to access the Namanga border point to Tanzania.

Narok Governor, Samuel Tunai, said his County government would improve the main entrances that led to the Maasai Mara National Reserve for wildlife lovers to easily access the park.