The event was inaugurated from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari, run across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika. In 1960 it was renamed the East African Safari Rally and continued under that name until 1974, when it became simply the Safari Rally. With the launch of the World Rally Championship in 1973, the event became one of the founding rounds of the series.
At its peak as a WRC event the Safari Rally covered approximately 5,000 kilometres of route, with all competitive mileage run on open public roads. The terrain was extraordinarily varied: fesh fesh fine powdered sand, fast farm tracks, rough rock-strewn roads up and down the Great Rift Valley, and in wet conditions thick, deep mud. Average speeds historically exceeded 100 km/h, but the roughness of the terrain and length of individual stages meant the winner was often not the fastest driver but the most judicious — the one whose car survived. Teams prepared specialised vehicles with bullbars to deflect wildlife and obstacles, snorkels for river crossings, and banks of additional lighting for nocturnal driving.
Helicopter logistics played a significant role in the event's operation. Top teams used aircraft to scout ahead for livestock, wildlife, or other vehicles on the open road stages. Servicing was conducted at roadside points throughout the route, with repair time added to a crew's total elapsed time. Tyre mousse, allowing wheels to continue functioning after a puncture, became a critical weapon for teams wanting to run full-speed without stopping.
In 1996 the event transitioned to the special stage format used by other WRC rounds, and helicopter servicing was banned. Stages remained very long by international standards — individual tests well over 60 kilometres were common — and the total timed distance across the event ran to approximately 2,000 km, producing winning times measured in hours rather than the minutes typical of compact European rounds.
The Safari Rally was dropped from the WRC calendar after 2002 due to insufficient financing and organisational difficulties, ending a continuous thirty-year run as a world championship event. From 2003 it joined the African Rally Championship and was modernised with shorter closed-road stages. Two editions, in 2007 and 2009, were also included in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge calendar.
Among Kenyan drivers, Shekhar Mehta and Carl Tundo have been the most successful competitors in the event's history. Mehta won five times outright, starting in 1973 and then taking four consecutive victories from 1979 to 1982, all during the WRC era. Tundo also won five times, his victories coming across the African Rally Championship editions in 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2018, and he has accumulated twelve podium finishes in total at the event.
Plans to restore the Safari Rally to the WRC were advanced in 2013 when President Uhuru Kenyatta publicly backed the effort. An announcement in September 2019 confirmed a 2020 return, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused that edition to be cancelled. The rally finally made its comeback in June 2021, held on the floor of the Rift Valley near Naivasha in Nakuru County, with Sébastien Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia winning in a Toyota Yaris WRC. The event received strong reviews for capturing the traditional character of the Safari while meeting modern WRC safety and organisational standards. The rally holds a WRC contract through 2026.
Alongside the modern championship event, a historical Safari — the East African Safari Classic Rally — has been held biennially since 2003, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the original coronation event. Open to vehicles built before 1985, the nine-day classic covers 5,000 kilometres and preserves the spirit of the original long-distance, open-road format that made the Safari Rally one of the most distinctive events in motorsport history.