Kenya Travel Guide
East Africa

The Maasai Mara (aka Masai)

Why Travel to Kenya?

Wildlife, wildlife, wildlife; Kenya's national parks set the wild standard in East Africa with a huge diversity and quantity of parks, animals and great game lodges, tented camps and superb resort hotels.
A dramatic new private management system in the Masai Mara, the country's most famous park, is returning the Mara to its former glory.
The weather is perfect in season, sunny but not too hot, the mountains are over the moon, and there is a herd of great beaches too.

Downsides

• Violent crime is a fact of life in the big towns, especially Nairobi (sometimes known as Nairobbery), and areas near the Somali border are suspect too. Car-jacking is almost as popular as mugging. The police do little without substantial bribes. Read Travel Safety.

• The accepted way to see the country is with a knowledgeable Africa tour operator a) to keep you away from the bad guys b) to keep you near the good animals. This is fine but expensive, as are flights to wildlife zones and decent game lodges.

• Malaria, the bad kind. Read Malaria.

• Locals tribes like the Masai can be sadly unnatural and mercenary.

• What's the difference between a Kenyan road and a cigarette? There's more tar in a cigarette.

Weather

Best: January-February, June-September (migration time)
OK: October-December (so-so with small rains and low prices)
Worst: March-May (big rains, animals disperse and long grass conceals the action)

Main attractions

Wildlife and Local Tribes

***Masai Mara. Huge, flat and loaded with beasts of every description, including herds of jeeps. This used to be the world's best wildlife experience, then things fell apart under the local council but are now back on track under private management. The Mara is still on the receiving end of the million beest migration June-September, the ultimate wildlife experience? The Mara is a bad day's drive from Nairobi, or an expensive flight.

**Samburu. Less visitors and more romance than the Mara, tho' slightly less wildlife visible, especially predators. A day's drive, or flight.

*Amboseli. A small park not far from Nairobi, with a backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro and plenty of big game, it's bound to be crowded, and it is.

*Tsavo West. The most scenic of the parks, with hills, a pretty oasis and a mass of hippos and crocs.

*Aberdare. A mountain park, partly rainforest, with good walking routes, poor weather and great views, especially of waterfalls..

* Nairobi National Park. Only minutes from the town centre it has most of the must-see creatures except elephant.

Birds

*Kakamega Forest, west Kenya. A classic equatorial African rainforest buzzing with birds, monkeys and reptiles and accessible on foot. A day's ride from Nairobi.

Flamingoes are often found massed in/on Lake Nakuru or Lake Bogoria, but no guarentees. 3 hours drive from Nairobi.

Kenya's Best Beaches

**Malindi. A big, busy, beach resort with plenty of everything except mosquitoes (they don't fly well in sea breezes). Good food, fishing, windsurfing and some atmospheric ruins at Gede nearby.

*Watamu has beautiful bays in a marine park, good for snorkelling, bad for ethnic culture.

*Diani and Tiwi. South of Mombasa, palm-fringed, white sand and reef-protected (so no shark danger). Diani is longer and more developed than Tiwi, tho' Tiwi sometimes has a seaweed overload situation. Both beaches have a shortage of cheap accomodation.

Activities

Walking and Hiking: Mount Kenya is a common target, as are the few walking wildlife parks (see under 'Where to go..' Mt Elgon and Ngong Hills are also good, less frequented hiking areas.

Watersports: windsurfing, snorkelling, and scuba all have excellent, varied locations.

Game Fishing: Malindi and south of Mombasa.

Airsports: ballooning & microlight available. And by the way, don't expect your balloon flight to be quiet! (the burner is bloody noisy).

White Water Rafting: Athi and Galana River.

Towns

***Lamu. A tiny, pretty little Arabic town on the island of Lamu; narrow carless streets in use by donkeys, traditional Muslim locals, neo-hippies and affluent adventurers. Adjacent to some great beaches. So laid back it's almost horizontal.

Nairobi would be a pleasant, lively, walkable town if not for the criminal element - particularly after dark. A couple of good museums and the usual market, of course. You'd probably have to spend some time here anyway.

*Mombasa is hot, humid and stretches onto Mombasa island, with a big history, a small attractive old town and a small, unattractive criminal element.

Walking with Wildlife

Mount Kenya Park (alpine vegetation)

Lake Bogoria (hot springs and antelope)

Hell's Gate (scenic gorge and plenty of wildlife)

All are accessible by public transport from Nairobi.

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