Kenya Safari Travel Tips
Before proceeding for a Safari to Kenya, it is helpful to understand precisely what to anticipate or how you ought to get ready for your adventure holiday. Below are a few a quick tips and hints and information regarding safaris, the local customs, and traveling tips for Kenya.
Photography Tips
Visa Information
Accommodations
Food or Meals
Climate
Money
Tipping and Gratuities
Photography Tips
The early morning and late afternoon as from 1600hrs is ideal for photographing wildlife. During this period the sun is not very hot and the animals are not hiding. Most of the carnivorous are out hunting. Your safari guide if not driving yourself will be of aid to position the vehicle appropriately for the best shots. Wildlife photos must be captured from the vehicle and guests are not permitted to get out of the vehicle for a closer shot. In some instances, where it is safe, you may be able to get out of the vehicle to take a picture of scenery.
Accommodations
Places to stay on safari are typically a blending of lodges, hotels, Beach resorts, villas and cottages as well as permanent or portable tented camps. The Safari Accommodations are usually located far apart, stating from the city to the bush. A majority of these magnificence camp’s and holiday lodges are often all personalized and in outstanding locations. Lodge rooms comprise complete en-suite amenities as do most permanent tented camps. Mobile camps could have either private en-suite facilities or shared bathroom and shower tents.
Food or Meals
The meals taken while on safari is enticing and can vary from simple to gourmet. You can still expect to have large amounts of fresh vegetables and fruits as well as lovely homemade soups. You can also request food depending on your diet.
Climate
Kenya enjoys a tropical climate. It is hot and humid at the coast, temperate inland and extremely dry in the north and northeast areas of the country. There is also plenty of sunshine all the year round and summer clothes are worn all year around. Nevertheless, it is normally cool during the night and also early in the morning. The long rains start from April to June and short rains from October to December. The rainfall is sometimes heavy. The hottest period is from February to March and coldest in July to August.
Money
The local currency in Kenya is the shilling. Major credit cards are accepted at hotels and most lodges and camps. US dollars are also accepted in major lodges and hotels. It is usually advisable to carry some cash in small denominations with you.
Tipping and Gratuities
While on a safari, it is a custom, tipping is not compulsory or mandatory, but is usually expected as a sign of appreciation of good service.

Situated at an altitude of 4, 875 to 7, 052, feet above sea level, Masai Mara Game Reserve provides much more moderate temperatures compared to the rest of Kenya. Daytime temperature ranges run at 32ºC optimum and night temperatures usually do not decrease below 12º.
Masai Mara enjoys warm and mild weather all year round. The reserve at no time does it become excessively scorching or chilly which in turn provides a very good game viewing experience making it a spectacular tourist destination throughout the entire year.
Read More about Masai Mara Game Reserve
The game reserve’s weather conditions comprises of a sunny season, cold season and rainy season. The hot season is usually from December through March when temperatures range between 28ºC and 32ºC. Nevertheless the cold season lasts from July through September; however temperatures seldom drop below 12ºC.
The long rains usually start between March and May while the short rains happen between November and mid December. The game reserve can be challenging to get around in the raining period. The ideal time to visit Masai Mara Game Reserve is the period between mid December and March and July to September as per the weather conditions.
Between July and October Masai Mara’s vegetation is lush and the daytime temperatures are pleasant – which makes it the ideal season embark on a game viewing safari in Mara. Consequently, the reserve experiences the highest visitors within this period. June and July are the coolest months at the Masai Mara Game Reserve while December and January are the hottest.
Read more on AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE WILDEBEEST MIGRATION IN MAASAI MARA

Situated in south-west Kenya, approximately three hundred km from Nairobi, the Masai Mara Game Reserve is well known as one of the best adventures destination in Africa.
The 320 sq km game reserve, which entails a breathtaking expanse of grassland, is a natural habitat to a variety of wildlife species, such as the big cats; cheetah, lion, and leopard, buffalo, hippo, elephant, zebra, wildebeest, crocodile, African hunting dog many other species of wild animals.
Masai Mara Game Reserve is fed by the Mara River. The park’s western boundary offers one of the largest concentration of wild animals. This location is not comfortably traversable as the swampy ground get impassable during the period of or after excessive rains. As a result, many travelers coming from Nairobi prefer the eastern side of the Masai Mara.
Read more on The Maasai Community of East Africa
The focus of the Masai Mara Game Reserve Kenya safari is evidently the Great Wildebeest Migration – the extraordinary yearly experience that realizes over one and half million wildebeest moving from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania looking for greener pastures.
At the time of the migration, the wildebeests concentrate together at the boarder of Mara River, before making a spectacular jump into the river, fighting against the fast currents and crocodiles ready to feed on them. At the Mara River they gather together on the banks before plunging onwards through the violent waters, creating frenzy as they fight against fast currents and giant crocodiles. After crossing the Mara River, the fortunate animals eventually get to the Savannah plains of the Masai Mara between July and September, before they start returning to Serengeti on October hoping to find greener pastures on the other side.
Read more on AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE WILDEBEEST MIGRATION IN MAASAI MARA
Masai Mara weather condition is favorable for safari all year around. Therefore you can go on a Masai Mara Safari anytime of the season, however many people prefer to tour the reserve when the Great Wildebeest Migration is taking place. The migration is not very foreseeable, however if you time the safari from mid-August to beginning of November, your probabilities of experiencing the magnificent attraction are very high.
Masai Mara can be accessed by both road and air. It takes approximately 5 to 6 hours to reach the park by road and forty-five minutes by air. There are also scheduled flights from Wilson Airport and also Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi. A number of visitors prefer to fly into the Masai Mara to save on time and avoid the long travel through the road as there are ground packages that are being offered by the lodges and camps.
The reserve offers a variety of holiday accommodation options catering for all budgets, tastes and preferences. These range from basic camp sites to luxury Masai Mara holiday lodges, high-end tented
Read More on Masai Mara Game Reserve Weather Condition

Leading African Safari Attractions
Africa’s leading African Safari Attractions consist of wildlife national parks in Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Gabon and Namibia. If you are you’re searching for the perfect safari which you are guaranteed to view the “Big Five” you cannot make a mistake by choosing to visit the below choices.

a) Chobe National Park (Botswana)
Chobe National park sits in Botswana’s Okavango Delta and covers 4 unique Eco-systems. The Savuti marsh specifically provides most of the highest concentrations of wild animals in Africa year around. Chobe holds around a hundred and twenty thousand elephants, which you will easily spot while on a safari.
The ideal time to tour Chobe National park is between April and October, the dry, cool winter season. Herds of zebra, eland, buffalo, giraffe and wildebeest congregate around the Savuti marsh this period of year. Chobe National park can be reached by car that makes it slightly less costly compared to several other Botswana National parks. There is a number of hotels to meet every budgets, you may also book a houseboat.

b) Masai Mara Game Reserve ( Kenya )
Kenya is Africa’s preferred safari getaway destination and Masai Mara Game Reserve is the well-known wildlife reserve in Kenya for its abundant in wildlife and the annual Great Mara Migration. The Mara Migration starts from around July – October where you will experience the extraordinary migration of millions upon millions of wildebeest with zebra migration from Serengeti National Park to Masai Mara Game Reserve. A visit to the Masai Community will make your safari more authentic cultural excursions which will certainly complement your adventure.

c) South Luangwa National Park ( Zambia )
Home of the “walking safari” South Luangwa National Park in Zambia provides a real African adventure. There’s abundant wild animal in addition to over four hundred variety of birds life. The Luangwa River is stuffed to the brim with hippos if you are fortunate you will see prides of over thirty lions at any given time. There is sixty distinctive animal species also over four hundred distinctive bird species residing in the National Park.
South Luangwa provides both the budget and luxurious safari holiday accommodation. The ideal time to tour is during the period of the dry season from April to October. Close to the completion of the dry season of the year, the wild animals basically concentrate on around the left waterholes, that makes for an awesome safari.
d) Kruger National Park ( South Africa )
Kruger National Park in South Africa offers one of the best wildlife experiences with the largest number of wild animals in Africa that features the Big Five, crocodiles, hippos, cheetah and more wild animals. Kruger is among the best controlled parks in Africa therefore it’s perfect for a self-drive safari.
e) Serengeti National Park ( Tanzania )
The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania gives the authentic typical African safari environment for the traveler to enjoy and relax in the wild. The grasslands creates the Serengeti National Park magnificent for discovering lions hunting as one can easily lion kills as can easily see the entire spectacle visibly. It is a destination worth visiting while in Tanzania.

f) Etosha Natonal Park ( Namibia )
Etosha National Park is Namibia’s best wildlife tourist destination. Etosha National Park is the habitat for Africa’s tallest elephants, the endangered black rhino, together with ninety one additional variety of of mammal. Etosha is particularly loved by photography enthusiasts in the dry period who flock to the waterholes to capture those captivating and spectacular pictures. The majority tourists to Etosha National Park will find an abundance of giraffe, elephant, lion, and rhino as well as have an excellent opportunity for viewing cheetah, leopard, in addition to a wide array of variations of birdlife. Etosha National Park does not have scheduled game drives, it is a self-drive safari adventure. However there are various fantastic upmarket holiday lodges and camps to choose from absolutely outside the park boundaries in secluded reserves, where guided safaris represent the package.

g) Bwindi Impenetrable Forest ( Uganda )
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda is the habitat for nearly fifty percent the world’s population of mountain gorillas. Apart from providing amazing surroundings to Gorilla tracking, you may also spot chimpanzees and a lot of different mammals. Bwindi is designated a World Heritage Site.
h) Okavango Delta ( Botswana )
The Okavango River passes through the main of Botswana’s Kalahari Desert, making a distinct inland water system that provides life to hundreds of birds and mammals. The Okavango is an awesome safari vacation destination since you can easily see a lot of the wild animals from a conventional canoe. Annually the delta floods covering up over sixteen thousand Km’s. The ideal season to check out wild animals is at the optimum of the flooding, in the dry season from May to October. The wildlife is substantially more concentrated on islands at this stage, so it’s consequently much easier to view them. Since the flooding recedes, fresh vegetation springs up additionally the wild animals scatters to feed. There are various holiday lodges dotted around in addition to luxurious safari camps, many provide walking safaris.
Read More on Okavango Delta Africa’s natural wonder
i) Hwange National Park (Zimbabwe)
Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe is a customized favorite of mine because of its abundance of elephants, giraffes, and lions as well as 105 other mammal species. Hwange also offers among the biggest populations of wild dogs left in Africa. There are a number comfy holiday lodges to stay at for reasonable price. The park is close to one of the world’s greatest natural wonders — the Victoria Falls.

j) Ngorongoro Conservation Area ( Tanzania )
The Ngorongoro Conservation area in Tanzania spans vast expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands and forests, it contains the world’s biggest crater which acts as a natural enclosure for nearly all varieties of wildlife located in East Africa. The Masai still live within the conservation area, and it’s also residence to Olduvai where a good amount of man’s first remains have been found.