Kenya Travel Guide

Amazing to see the wildlife

It was fantastic and overwhelming to see the wildlife in the Masai Mara, and at Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha.
I also enjoyed my first afternoon in Nairobi, walking through the city and going up the KICC tower.
I found the Masai village visit artificial but nonetheless interesting and fascinating.
It was hard to get out of the tourist bubble once in it, and find budget ways to see the city rather than expensive taxis and tours.

Great sights on the Mara

I had a great stay in Masaai Mara. It was my second time and there are so many incredible sights. We got very close to a group of elephants and saw an interesting encounter with a pack of hyenas following a big cheetah. I really enjoyed it! I took some great photographs as well.

Amazing experience

We visited Amboseli, Lake Naivasha and Masai Mara. Our safari company was Unscripted Safaris who were very helpful and professional throughout. A special mention for our guide/driver Daniel who was exceptional - very knowledgeable and went out of his way to make sure we had a fabulous experience.
During our safari we managed to spot every animal we were hoping to see apart from rhino. We enjoyed Amboseli in particular as it is smaller than Masai Mara and less driving involved. Particularly impressive with Mt Kilimanjaro as a backdrop. Saw dozens of elephants. Less to see at Lake Naivasha although our hotel Sopa Lodge was superb. Masai Mara is vast so it took a lot of driving to be able to see animals such as lions, cheetahs and leopards. For this reason I would not recommend safari for families with young children We were there in April which is the rainy season but we were lucky that the rain only came once at night and once when we were travelling between Lake Naivasha and Masai Mara. After our safari we flew down to Diani Beach to meet up with family. Beautiful beach and nice restaurants. We then travelled by hire car to Mombasa before flying home. The beaches north of Mombasa were nice but very windy at this time of year (not sure if it’s always like this). We were with a family member who is from Mombasa although now lives in the UK and he speaks Swahili. He was quite happy to drive the hire car - I would not recommend this for anyone unfamiliar with the area. We enjoyed Kenya, it’s a beautiful country and the people are friendly. However there is no doubt that there is a lot of poverty and it’s clear that most people are just scraping a living. This is hard for privileged Europeans to come to terms with.

Great experience

Our guide Evans was amazing but pay attention which accommodations you book. The basic once are very basic

If you are travelling to Africa for the first time and want to see as much of the wildlife as possible then Kenya is the place to go.

Awesome... must expierence one in your lifetime

We booked our 9 days safari from Kenya walking safaris ... the whole expierence was very professionally managed...Special thanks to Mr. Otineho from Kenya walking safaris...
We went to Samburu, Nakuru, Masai Mara and Naivasha... at all places the accommodations were very good... our tour Guide Mr. Benson was awesome... he was very attentive and took good care of us .... we were lucky to see the big 5 and many many more animals in their natural habitat ... the trip to Hells Gate National Park was a very different and would highly recommend it.
We would strongly recommend to book through Kenya Survivors waking Safari and ask for Mr. Benson as your tour guide.

Amazing experience to see so many wild animals in a single location.

Like: amazing wildlife, spectacular Kilimanjaro scenery, clear Indian ocean waters with marine life and corrals, competent guides and friendly people, reasonable and clean accommodation;
to be improved: transportation infrastructure (took ages to drive from one part to another, some roads were so poor quality, looked more like off-road rally), excessive pressure on tourists to purchase souvenirs on the beach or national parks entrances

We enjoyed Kenya wildlife.

Loved seeing and learning about the wildlife. Since that was our purpose and goal for the trip, Kenya surpassed our expectations in that area. There was an abundance of wildlife at all the locations visited and we would not have skipped anything on our itinerary except for Lake Bogoria. Masai Mara, Ambroselli, and Lake Nakura were our favorites,
Most accommodations were adequate.
I did not think Kenya or its wildlife parks were tourist friendly. The lack of bathrooms was surprising.
Mixed review for tour company and guide. They kept changing our lodging and trying to give us lesser quality lodging. Guide knew a lot about wildlife but would only share what was specifically asked. I felt like I had to fight to get all that was included on the itinerary either to save money on park admission or make the job easier for the driver/guide. Driver had very good driving skills.
High pressure sales tactic used at rest stops which were not appreciated.

Westernized Africa

You can't beat the wildlife and scenery of a safari, that's for sure and it's worth every buck. However, it did feel heavily commercialized and not very authentic in terms of the people and the vibe. It's the first safari I ever take and my views could be exclusive to Kenya, Amboseli NP or the company I chose (which was very good by the way), but to me it felt artificial in a Disney-like manner. Please don't get me wrong: I stayed perhaps in the best hotels I've ever stayed and got some of the best customer service; the guide and all the staff were always trying to please us and make us happy. Maybe this was the problem ... it felt like Cancun, Miami or anything else but Africa, a standardized and westernized vision and feel of tourism. If what you are looking for is to get to know Africa's epic wildlife with international comfort then a safari is your best choice, but if you want to discover a new culture, then make a change of plans or balance your trip with something else. We also went to Ethiopia and while the comfort standard was light years away from Kenya, the social-cultural component of that part of the trip was much more genuine and memorable. In terms of wildlife, orangutan trekking in Borneo or walking among gellada baboons in Ethiopia feel much more authentic, although not as impressive as what a safari reserve can offer. I think it's a matter of what your profile is and the expectations you have. Again, my only safari experience is in one reserve in Kenya and things could be very different in other places, I don't know but I doubt it. Personally I would take a safari again (tampering my expectations) if I was traveling to Africa on a longer trip. I would never plan a trip exclusively for a safari.

i am very pleased and it was exciting

the weather was warm, the national parks were great and the tour guides are very kind.