Introduction:
Revered by anthropologists as the 'cradle of humanity', Kenya
is wild and a little dangerous. If you're adventurous - and
sensible - it promises the globe's most magnificent wildlife
parks, unsullied beaches, thriving coral reefs, memorable
mountainscapes and ancient Swahili cities.
The Swahili word safari (literally, journey) wouldn't mean
much to most people if it wasn't for this East African adventure
land. No matter how many Tarzan movies you've seen, nothing
will prepare you for the annual mass migration of wildebeests
in the Maasai Mara.
When to Visit Kenya:
The main tourist season is in January and February, since
the hot, dry weather at this time of year is generally considered
to be the most pleasant. It's also when Kenya's birdlife flocks
to the Rift Valley lakes in the greatest numbers. June to
September could be called the 'shoulder season' as the weather
is still dry. The rains hit from March to May (and to a lesser
extent from October to December). During these months things
are much quieter - places tend to have rooms available and
prices drop. The rains generally don't affect travellers'
ability to get around.
Attraction in Kenya:
» Nairobi
Kenya's capital is cosmopolitan, lively, interesting and pleasantly
landscaped. Its central business district is handily compact
and it's a great place to tune into modern urban African life.
Unfortunately, it's also a great place to get mugged. Security,
especially at night, is a definite concern.
 Often touted as the birthplace of humanity Nairobi has artefacts
galore in some very classy museums. If you'd prefer to look
at exhibits that aren't stuffed there are plenty of rhinos,
snakes and giraffes roaming in parks around the city - some
you can even feed!
» Amboseli National Park
At 392 sq km, Amboseli has huge herds of elephants, and to
see a herd of them making their way sedately across the grassy
plains, with Tanzania's Mt Kilimanjaro in the background,
may be a real African cliche but it's an experience that certainly
leaves a lasting impression.
» Lamu
Lamu is a place of fantasy and other-worldliness wrapped in
a cloak of medieval romance. With an almost exclusively Muslim
population, Kenya's remote and self-contained oldest living
town has changed little in appearance or character over many
centuries.
This once thriving port town is now a gloriously relaxed and
relaxing destination. No other Swahili town, other than Zanzibar,
can offer you such a cultural feast and uncorrupted traditional
style of architecture - if you can ignore the TV aerials.
» Masai Mara National
Reserve
The Mara is the most popular wildlife park in Kenya. Abounding
with wildlife and joined to the Serengeti, this 320-sq-km
reserve is anything but plain.Few visitors miss roaming at
least part of its vast open savanna grasslands - or leaping
out of the way of the annual wildebeest stampede.
 The western border of the park is the spectacular Esoit Olooloo
(Siria) Escarpment where the concentrations of wildlife are
the highest. Lions are found in large prides everywhere and
it's not unusual to see them hunt. Elephants, buffaloes, zebras,
antelopes and hippos also exist in large numbers.
» Mombasa
The largest port on the coast of East Africa, Mombasa is hot,
steamy and historical. Its earliest history dates back to
the 12th century. Mombasa proper sprawls over Mombasa Island
which is connected to the mainland both north and south of
the city.
A Muslim haven for centuries, it was attacked by the Portuguese
in 1505 and burnt to the ground. It was quickly rebuilt only
to be reduced to rubble again by an embattled Mombasan ruler
during the long fight against the Portuguese. Mombasa's Old
Town is testament to this tumultuous era.
» Aberdare National Park
This park encloses the moorland and high forest of the 60km-long
Kinangop plateau. Only rarely does this place see safari companies
and even less individual travellers. But if you're willing
to brave the inclement weather, this remote and formidably
dense forest is well worth the effort.
The park offers a variety of fauna, flora and scenery which
you won't find elsewhere except, perhaps, on Mt Kenya. There
are also the dramatic Gura Falls which drop a full 300m, along
with alpine moorland, and the chance of seeing a black leopard,
elephant, rhino or bongo (spiral-horned antelope).
» Hyrax Hill Prehistoric
Site
Just outside Nakuru, this site first went under the archeological
microscope in 1937 when Louis Leakey started poking about
for signs of ancient life. The digs, which continued right
up to the 1980s, indicate three settlements were made here
- the earliest possibly 3000 years ago and the most recent
about 200 to 300 years ago.
The large collection of items found in the burial pits on
and around the hill include a real puzzle - six Indian coins,
one of them 500 years old, two of them dating from 1918 and
1919! The site is on the Nairobi road.
» Kakamega Forest Reserve
Kakamega is a superb slab of virgin tropical rainforest in
the heart of an intensively cultivated agricultural area of
Western Kenya. It's home to a huge variety of birds and animals
and is well worth the minimal effort required to get to it.
The forest area of the reserve is where you'll find a number
of primate species including the red-tailed monkey, black
& white colobus monkey and the blue monkey. The Forest
Department maintains a superb rest house here and some excellent
guides are available for hire.
» Marsabit National Park
& Reserve
Because the area is thickly forested, you won't see much wildlife
unless you spend quite some time here - preferably camping
at Lake Paradise. This crater lake is aptly named. It's an
enchanting place to rough it and few camp sites in Kenya can
rival it for scenery and tranquility.
While they might be obscured by the vegetation, this northern
park is home to Kenya's larger mammals including lions, leopards,
cheetahs, elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, warthogs, zebras,
giraffes, hyenas and gazelles. With a quick finger and a lot
of patience you might come away with a snap or two.
Reaching Kenya:
Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is the hub of
East African air transport, and it has connections to many
European and US cities. It's from these places that you're
mostlikely to get a relatively cheap ticket, but it's worth
checking out cheap charter flights to Mombasa from Europe
too. Airport departure tax for international flights is 20.00
but is usually included in the cost of your ticket.
You can travel by bus or minibus shuttle between Kenya and
Tanzania. The main routes are from Mombasa or Nairobi to Dar
es Salaam and from Nairobi to Arusha and Moshi. There's also
a once-weekly train connection between Voi in Kenya with Taveta
(on the border), from which you can take local transport to
Moshi. The ferry service that connected Mombasa with Zanzibar
and Dar es Salaam is no longer running.
The main border crossing into Uganda is at Malaba, though
Busia is an alternative if you're coming from Kisumu. Nairobi
and the Ugandan capital Kampala are connected by road (the
train no longer operates). There's a border crossing to Ethiopia
frequently used by travellers and overland trucks run to/from
Moyale. There's no safe way you can enter or exit Kenya overland
from Somalia or Sudan at present. |
Click here to Book
this Tour