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| | Kenya overview
- Excellent for diversity, culture, safari-beach combinations, family
safaris or a first time trip to Africa.
- This is East Africa's
"traditional" safari destination - great game viewing but watch out for
crowds. If wildlife is the priority then go to Tanzania.
- Nairobi is the hub and it's easy. The rest is simple. Main destinations
are the Mara, Amboseli, Laikipia, the Rift Valley lakes,
Mt. Kenya and the coast.
- Game and wildlife opportunities are generally excellent all year round and
the only "low season" is during the heavy rains in April and May
- Kenya is at its best between July and October - the migration in the Mara is
best in August and September
- Our top votes: Stephano Cheli's team in Nairobi; in the Mara -
Rekero for its location and the Beaton's outstanding guiding team; in
Amboseli - Mike and Judy Rainy's amazing elephant experiences from Ol Kanjau;
in Laikipia, Steve and Annabelle Carey at Sossian, the Francombe's at Ol
Malo, Piers and Hilary Bastard and the "singing wells" at Sarara; on the
coast - just about anywhere in Lamu (George and Simone at Kiwayu, the van
Aardt's at Kizingo, plus Manda Bay and Peponi...)
Best spots
- Masai Mara
- Kenya’s most visited "eco-system" (the Mara is a small bit of the
bigger picture), famous for its vast, open
plains and the annual migration between July and October. Home to the
BBC Big Cat Diaries. The larger eco-system includes the National Reserve
plus a much larger expanse of Maasai tribal lands on the Group Ranches.
- Access is by scheduled flight from Nairobi, the main hub linking all
of Kenya’s national reserves
- Amboseli
- Known for unrivalled views of Mount Kilimanjaro (in Tanzania) and
its large elephant population.
- Amboseli combines easily with a safari to the Masai Mara.
- Laikipia
- A wild and sparsely populated region offering a real sense of
freedom and adventure, with far reaching views of Mount Kenya.
- Much of this Reserve is covered by large, privately owned ranches,
populated by cattle sharing the land with free ranging wildlife.
- This is Kenya’s adventure centre – activities include camel
trekking, fly camping, horse riding, quad biking and balloon safaris.
- Meru
- The least visited of Kenya’s national parks and reserves, Meru is an
unspoiled wilderness. It was here that George and Joy Adamson returned
Elsa the lioness to the wild as depicted in "Born Free".
- Meru’s landscape is characterized by stands of Doum Palm trees,
dense forests, rolling hills and rocky outcrops or ‘kopjes’.
- Lamu and the Coast
- Avoid Kenya's mainstream coastal haunts centered around Mombasa in
the south - large resorts and loads of visitors on package holidays
(speak to us about two specific exceptions).
- The northern stretches offer world-class sport fishing at Malindi,
unspoiled Swahili culture with quiet and outstanding beach breaks in the
Lamu Archipelago.
- Zanzibar is the regular East African haunt. If you're looking
for relatively unspoiled Swahili culture, cool beaches and space to
recharge batteries then go to Lamu...
Best time of year
- July to September for the migration - book well in advance for the best
slots and best guides
- looking for spectacular sunshine? Africa's East Coast is dominated
by the monsoons - usually very predictable and resulting in nine months of
outstanding weather from July through to April!
- Over most of East Africa we have two rainy seasons: the ‘Short’ rains
from late October through November and the ‘Long’ rains from late March to
early June.
- East Africa is open all year except April and May - don't expect to meet
any of us...our African team could be drinking beer in Windhoek and our UK
squad will be tending their gardens in England...
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