Kenya Travel Guide

Kenya can still pull it off, at least when it comes to safaris. But I have to subtract one star because of the seemingly unstoppable loss of habitat, especially forest, and the poaching of elephants and rhinos. I also feel less hospitality from the people these days, though this may be inevitable given the steady decline in living conditions and the fed-up mood of Kenyans toward their leaders and institutions.

The police never used to be a problem for foreign visitors, but I have noticed them getting bolder with their schemes to extract money. If you are male, ignore any young women who try to talk you up in a big town - they are undercover cops and you could be stopped and hassled even if you appear to merely notice her. Do not speak to a plain-clothes cop unless picture ID is shown. You are not obliged to have your passport with you if you are running short errands. They cannot arrest you for that.

As part of "terrorism prevention", hotels and even supermarkets are searching people coming in. It seems like a thoughtful measure until you have to endure it a dozen times in a day.

Kenyan safaris are still cheaper than those in Uganda and Tanzania, and you will experience less problems getting to the parks. Roads can be dodgy in places, but they are still better than in the rest of East Africa.

A special advisory: Kenya has experienced heavy rain and serious flooding in April-May 2012, and some land routes may be affected. Be particularly mindful of this in the north, where road repairs get the least priority.

I've been to Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia in the past. Areas such as the Masai Mara in Kenya rival anything the other destinations can offer, and there's simply nothing to beat the visual experience of the 2 million flamingo at Lake Nakuru or Lake Bogoria, when numbers are high, (the number does fluctuate with the weather, time of year and level of water in the lake). On the other hand it's often argued that Kenya is more "touristy", that it's less "wild" than say, the Luangua Valley in Zambia, - well probably true, but then it's more accessible, the infra-structure is better and it's less expensive. I'd also suggest the game-viewing is perhaps better, as the open plains are condusive to seeing animals from afar (in Chobe N.P., Botswana, and Hwange N.P. , Zimbabwe, I found animals were only visible when they emerged from the bush to cross the road). They are also more used to tourist disturbance, - not so skittish. So it gets a good rating in my book!

Very impressiv a country with many different landscapes.

The road to Marsh is an adventure in itself. If thats what your looking for...go there. If you want to experience an all inclusiv holliday... don't go there.
From Archers post to Moyale the scenery is like a dessert and the road wil eat your car but for how long? The chinees are building a road so nice you won't believe what you see. People are friendly but in this area also robberies occur so you need protection from a soldier or police officer.
The food we have been eating, we brought our own. The campsite of KWS was fine, they have showers, and sanitation was fine.
The weather was very warm. The wildlife is basic out the of the park but in the parks there's a lot of game to be seen.
If you want to drive to Ethiopia and further you need to heve your paper work ready before you go there. For us it was not possible to cross the border.

Kenya is fine for a packaged safari tour.

Kenya has been the classic safari destination for decades. The tourism infrastructure is well developed, so options abound. One can witness the highlights of Kenya on a budget group safari, indulge in the luxury of a private tour, or embark on a rugged exploration of remote Northern Kenya. The people are friendly, the food is tasty, and the scenery is fabulous. However, industrial tourism has taken its toll on the experience. Entrance fees (ask for an itemized list of your package tour costs) to the parks are outrageously expensive. Mini vans crowd around predator sightings, and the neglected remote parks have fallen victim to poaching.

There are much to see and it offers everything one can expect in terms of wildlife and animals.

Great experience with one exception

I had a great time on my trip to Kenya. I will start with the negative and then go with the positive. I became dehydrated on the trip. The first day we travelled over 8 hours and were not given any water, nor were we allowed to buy any. We made several stops, one over 30 minutes, and our driver just talked to people. Nothing, just chilling with his friends. Then we ask to get out and he refused to get out. Then would not give us any water. Being someone how has leg cramps and an athlete, water is VERY important. It was told on our trip that all water would be given to is. It was not. Also on the last two days we were not given any water either. So three dya we went without any water in the hot place. We had to buy the water, after we were told it would be free.

That part aside, it was one of the best vacations of my life. I enjoy seeing the animals and I was able to see all of the big five except for the leopard. The animals were very fun and it was good to experience life in Africa. I never knew there were that many animals out there. We also, one day, saw the elusive and highly endangered black rhino. Our guide told us that he usually only sees them about every 100 days. So that was super exciting. Being a teacher, I have to travel cheap and this was a great value for the trip. The food was the same every meal, but there was plenty of it. The places you stay are good, if you remember it is a budget experience. I did not mind it at all and met some really cool people. I used Safari Line Defender and Rose was the one who set it up for me. It was all very professional.....with the exception of the water.

I would highly suggest using this safari Line Defender and work with Rose. It was a GREAT time!!

Kenya Safari- Masai Mara and Amboseli- January 2020

Went on two 3 day safari's in Kenya, first to the Masai Mara and the second to Amboseli. All in all the two trips were good value given the low price, I've listed the pros and cons below.

Pro's-
-Amazing scenery and wildlife, you cannot get any wilder than the Masai Mara! You will more or less be guaranteed to see at least 3/4 of the big 5!
-Amboseli is one of the most scenic safari parks in the world with the Kilimanjaro backdrop! It really is a photographers dream!
-Food is good given the facilities (used to cook the food)- have a broad mind and enjoy the flavours!

Con's-
-For 3 days there is just too much driving from Nairobi to the Masai Mara and back. Amboseli and back is manageable because the distance is considerably less. And the roads are absolutely terrible in places, choose a more expensive vehicle- anything other than a 4x4 is not suitable!
-Wildlife is heavily dependent on the season- better in the dry season. We saw lots of wildlife in the Mara, but didn't see hardly any wildlife in Amboseli except lots of elephants and the general assortment of other smaller animals like antelope etc.
-Be prepared to eat the food, it wont be what you are used to at home!

The place is very cool

The beauty between the animals inside the cage and the free ones are way different. You will feel them alive and happy. It was very beautiful place to be!
However, there are part of the tour that we didnt do and did not advise us earlier why we are not doing it so. And im talking about the spring or thermal bath. We could have spend more time cycling than bringing us back to Nairobi, there are still plenty of time.

Beautiful Kenya.....disgraceful Tukio!

We travelled to Kenya for a safari trip of a life time. We absolutely loved Kenya, it’s wildlife and it’s people.
Kenya is a fabulous country to visit for Safari and seeing the Big Five.
However, just be advised that it is expensive, for example we paid €60 fora bottle of wine in a restaurant and we got the feeling that it was not just the wilder beast that are easy prey but tourists are very much so too.
Our tour company Tukio were good at the planning stage but we were let down very badly by them regarding accommodation. We tried to book a five star lodge which was only available for one night though we wanted two nights, and we offered for the same price, a completely different far inferior lodge in which we felt unsafe and could not even eat the deplorable food which was presented to us. When we wanted to change lodge we got very poor service from Tukio, who did very little to help our situation. We would definitely advise not using this company.

i am very pleased and it was exciting

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