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Kenya - the home of safari

Kenya - the home of safari

Kenya – the home of safari

Kenya is the most popular African safari country, offering the gamut of safari experiences from exclusive and luxury to budget. It is also the original home of safari – which means “journey” in Swahili.

The national parks and reserves, with their abundance of wildlife, are still the main attractions, but for the discerning visitor, the safari can encompass some of the profusion of remarkable natural features in the time available.
As well as its great parks and reserves, Kenya contains almost every known landform: from true glacial ice to arid desert, mountain massifs to sprawling savannahs, from large lakes and dense forest. The Great Rift Valley, for example, cuts through the country from north to south, its floor littered with beautiful lakes and extinct volcanoes.

When to visit: The best time of the year to visit Kenya is the boreal (northern hemisphere) summer, from July to September. A second choice would be the boreal winter, especially January and February. As these months correspond to the high season, prices are more expensive during these periods.

A popular time to go to the Masai Mara (one of the most visited parks, west of the Rift Valley) - or Tanzania's Serengeti - of which the Mara is the northern quarter - is during the migration. This is a long process: a huge cycle, in which half a million wildebeest move up from the Serengeti to the plains of the Mara to calve. Wildebeests and their zebra escorts arrive at Masai Mara immediately after the “long rains” (March to June), searching the young and salt-rich pastures, so wildlife is more abundant in Masai Mara during the boreal summer. They usually start to move in March or April, arriving on the Mara in June or July and moving back in October or November. 

Climate: Seasonal rains affect both road communications and some cyclic wildlife movements. There are two rainy seasons: the "long rains" from March to June and the "short rains" from October to December. During these months, some dirt roads become heavily muddy and some parks get flooded, affecting road transit and even supply to the lodges.

In January and February, the weather is generally drier and hotter than in August. These months are suitable for visiting the country but temperatures tend to be extremely hot in the arid north, while few wildebeests and zebra remain at Masai Mara.

Visas: Citizens from most countries must obtain a visa (costing $50 US). Visas can be obtained directly on entry, although if there is a Kenyan diplomatic mission in your country, it is advisable to obtain the visa in advance. The visa is valid for 90 days.
Customs restrictions: Kenya is similar to most other countries - guns are totally forbidden since hunting was banned in 1977. There is no problem with photo or video cameras.

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