Kenya is one of the top safari destinations in Africa. With famous national parks like Masai Mara National Park and Amboseli National Park, Kenya is among the best countries to visit for a true African Safari. A Safari to Kenya is too rewarding! You can enjoy a wildlife safari mixed with a leisurely beach holiday along the Mombasa Beaches.
Kenya – the Home of African Safaris
The popular image of safari, especially in Europe and America, is inseparable from Kenya.The word Safari has its roots from Kenya! It is a Swahili word meaning a long journey! Earlier in the last century, gifted writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Karen Blixen brought to life the vivid images and uplifting life experience that constitutes a Kenyan safari. It is at this time that leading celebrities of the day such as Teddy Roosevelt and Prince Edward traveled to Kenya on safari. And so the safari gained a certain snob appeal. The famous went because it was expected of them. And those on the make because the safari was part of the certification they needed on the way up. If you want to take a peek into the mood and character of the players at that time, read Hemingway’s intriguing short story “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”.
Today a Kenya safari is accessible to many more people. Despite competition from other destinations, Kenya remains the heart of the African safari experience. The magnificence and diversity of the wildlife and landscape is unsurpassed. You are guaranteed to tick off the full roster of the big five – lion, buffalo, leopard, rhino and elephant. Other less well-known but essential and chartered members of the savannah ecosystem are also abundant. The landscape kaleidoscope rolls out the magnificent rift valley, the central highlands, the savannah grasslands, snow capped Mount Kenya and the desolate moonscape of the north. This is perhaps why the experts advise all those faithful lovers of wildlife and nature that at least once in their lifetime they must partake of a Kenyan safari.
Top National parks to Visit in Kenya
Kenya has over 50 national parks and game reserves protecting incredible wildlife. But as you already suspect, on the average safari you cannot hope to cover all of them on a single safari. Many travelers choose which national parks to visit basing on their interests – the animals you would like to see. The most popular and from which those with limited time and budget need to pick from are-
- Maasai Mara National Park
- Amboseli National Park
- Lake Nakuru National Park
- Aberdares National Park
- Samburu National Park
- Tsavo
Masai Mara National Park
Maasai Mara is the most popular of all Kenya’s national park. This is where you must go even when all the time you can spare is two nights. This is mostly where all those wildlife videos on Kenya are filmed. The Mara, as the Maasai Mara Game Reserve is commonly known, is part of the ecosystem that includes the equally famous Serengeti of Tanzania. Covering 320 square kilometers, it is nested in the southwestern corner of the country. The Mara offers wildlife in such variety and abundance that it is difficult to believe. On a two-night visit, I saw lions, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, giraffe, wildebeests, zebras, buffalo, warthogs, hyenas, jackals, wild dogs, buffalo, leopard, nine kinds of antelopes and elephant. The birds are also in plenty –secretary birds, cranes, stork, vultures and ostriches.
It is in the Mara that perhaps the most spectacular event of the natural world takes place. I refer to the annual migration of millions of wildebeest and zebra from the Serengeti in search of water and pasture. The timing of the phenomena is conditional on the rains and occurs between June and August. The reverse journey is usually taken in October. With or without the migration the Mara has abundant numbers of resident animals and you are sure to have a good wildlife viewing experience whatever time of the year you visit. If you have sufficient funds, consider taking a balloon trip over the reserve. This popular and thoroughly memorable ride usually commences before dawn and includes a champagne breakfast. The Mara is 5 hours from Nairobi by road and 45 minutes by light aircraft.
Top destinations in the off-the-beaten track category for either wildlife or back to nature activities are-
- Kakamega Forest,
- Marsabit,
- Meru,
- Mount Kenya
- Mount Elgon
- Shimba Hills.
When to Visit Kenya
Kenya can be visited all year round.