US
20-35 years of age
Great life experience, but very cold at night!
I went with a group of college students and camped for one night at Khutse Game Reserve. The trip was organized by Africa Insight; they drove us there, provided tents, blankets, and food, and in the daylight took us around the reserve. Everything went very smoothly, and we spent several hours driving around the reserve. The highlight was being able to see a bunch of lions who were hanging around a giraffe they had killed the day before. Our trip leader was great- he was funny, knowledgeable and had a good sense of the place, and he was also very good/careful about approaching the animals (e.g. lions). Camping was a unique experience in itself. There was an outdoor bathroom/shower area. It was EXTREMELY cold at night, though. Make sure if you go around June/July, you pack lots and lots of layers! My feet were numb the whole next day, it was kind of alarming. Otherwise it was definitely a unique experience! Glad to have had it.
Review about Tsavo East National Park by John Carthy
Dry park - not the most amazing scenery but has unusual things like gerenuk and vulturine guinefowl (we didn't find any of the latter, despite looking hard). Makes a good alternative route from the coast back to Nairobi or vice versa rather than using the main road. You can spend two days in the park and only have to pay for one expensive lodge. Fairly easy on a self-drive, unlike some other Kenyan parks.
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by John Carthy
The Kruger of Kenya. Very expensive, almost like a theme park with the amount of people and the swanky facilities. But the wildlife is great - really easy to see most animals and the birds are great because of the lake. Lots of flamingos. All the big animals here - hyena, rhino etc. Brilliant park, especially if you are on a first time safari. Easy to reach from Nairobi aswell.
Review about Kakamega Forest National Reserve by John Carthy
Ronda's Retreat is the best place to stay in Kenya, particularly if they let you pay Kenyan rates. Blue monkeys and loads of birds on the grounds. Quite hard to see other wildlife in the park as it is a forest. Hire a guide.
Review about Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve by John Carthy
We were very disappointed. I think you need to hire a proper guide to get the best out of this park, which we rarely do. The coast is lovely though.
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by John Carthy
Fantastic on an organised safari, hard work on self drive. Lots of relatively cheap tented accommodation on the outside of the park near the gates. Otherwise very expensive. Compared to comparably sized southern African parks the Mara is hard to find your way around. Otherwise, it is amazing. Birds are great. We missed the migration but still saw loads of lion, cheetah, hyena (including one striped), rhino, elephant, and loads of other good stuff. Won't let you down. If you've got the money, stay at one of the swank lodges in the middle of the park and go on a hot air balloon.
Fantastic add-on if you're going to Kakamega
Saiwa Swamp is the best small park in Kenya in my opinion. We hired a car and drove around East Africa in 2009 and this park was definitely one of our favourites. If you are going to Kakamega, another great park, you should seriously think about a few days at Saiwa aswell. It's quiet because of it's location, we only saw two other tourists in the park. You can camp in the park, we stayed at a guesthouse a few miles away. Both are good options.
The park is, as the name suggests, just a swamp with paths around it. You drive in, park up, and walk around. You can easily walk the whole park in half a day, but if I was going again I would camp overnight.
The best thing about the park is the wildlife - it is totally different to any other major park in Kenya. Sitatunga and otters are easy to see. There are lots of mongooses and plenty of monkeys. We saw colobus and a few others. I'm not a birder but there are lots of birds - swamps are generally good for birds are they not?
Entrance fee is very cheap by Kenyan standards aswell. Go now.
Review about Kenya by John Carthy
Kenya's great for an organised safari. If you are self-driving Southern Africa is much cheaper and easier, as are Uganda and Rwanda.
US
35-50 years of age
Review about Kruger National Park by ~lustedtowander~
The wildlife viewing in the Kruger is spectacular, if you are willing to jostle amongst dozens of vehicles for the experience. Camps are crowded and noisy during holidays.
US
35-50 years of age
Review about Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park by ~lustedtowander~
Kgalagadi feels wild and remote.