Making decisions about taking an African safari is not easy, especially if you've never done it before. What country? What part of the country? When? How much should I spend? What does budget really mean? How do I see lions? Is there shampoo? Do I need malaria pills? (Yes, you want Malarone, and if you live in Abu Dhabi, bless you - go to the Cleveland Clinic).
These are all perfectly reasonable questions, but it's so hard to know if you haven't done it before. We're not experts by any means, but we can tell you what we learned rather quickly on our adventure to four game-viewing parks in Kenya: Amboseli, Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, and Crater Lake.
Before you go - again, Malarone. Also, you may need some jabs. See the CDC site for all your vaccine and medicine information. Do what you can to avoid bug bites. Insect repellent is a good idea, and for those of you who aren't into DEET, you can find DEET-less creams and sprays as well as insect repellent bracelets. Always use the mosquito nets provided in your accommodations.
You will probably not be able to buy shampoo. Sorry.
If you want any degree of comfort, pay up for a mid-range package. If you want to hang with the bush people - not kidding - go budget by all means. Budget is cheap-cheap, though, and it can be rough. It's not for everyone. Check out this impassable road where our driver almost killed us on the way to one of our campsites, and, no, Simba did not live in that tent. Ultimate disappointment.
We started out in Nairobi, of course, and part of the safari package was a night's stay near the airport before heading out early the next morning. This is good - you can settle a bit and get plenty of sleep this way. We don't know that we'd want to deplane and head straight off on a 6-8-hour off-road excursion. You can count on super-long and super-bumpy rides going from park-to-park in Kenya, and even where the roads are paved traffic can be perfectly awful.
Summer is a good time to go to Kenya. We went in the first week of July. It's not as hot then as you might think because of the high elevation, and the air can be refreshingly crisp at night. It will be hot in the sun around midday, but so is anywhere in the summer. The best part about summer is that you're likely to find clear, dry days at the major game parks. If you want those sweet pics of Simba, Ellie, and all their friends, July's not a bad idea. Also, you'll likely catch sight of the Great Wildebeest Migration in Masai Mara in the summer.
The food is good in Kenya - they know what to do with their meats. Chapati, an oily bread similar to naan, is incredible. We ate as much chapati as we could. Be careful with fruits and vegetables. I came down with a vicious case of bush belly just from eating a sandwich with a tomato slice and some lettuce that were clearly either not washed properly or handled without proper hygiene. Make sure your veggies are cooked, friends.
Amboseli National Park
Our game park tour began in Amboseli, where the main draws are elephants, zebras, and a nice view of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We considered skipping Amboseli because it's a touch out of the way, but I had to see Kilimanjaro. We're glad we went - we thought Amboseli was the best of them all. If you want pictures of elephants, your cup will runneth over in Amboseli. We also had our closest encounter with a hippo in Amboseli. There are lions, and we saw a bunch, but Masai Mara is the best place to meet Simba.
Lake Nakuru National Park
The main draws at Lake Nakuru are rhinos and flamingos. Aside from those, we weren't sure what to expect at Lake Nakuru. The bar was set high at Amboseli, and we were itching to meet Simba at Masai Mara, but we ended up glad we stopped at Nakuru because of the rhinos and because of the rarest spot of the trip: the elusive Tsavo cat.
Although there are white rhinos and black rhinos at Nakuru, we only spotted white rhinos, which was fine - any rhinoceros is a magnificent sight. This is also the only place where we saw rhinos on an 8-day safari to all the major game parks, so if you need to see rhinos, you should probably go to Nakuru.
Even considering the rhino sightings, the highlight of our jaunt to Nakuru was spotting a Tsavo cat. I thought it was a baby cheetah at first. I think we all did. However, I was fortunate enough to snap some decent pictures of the little guy, and we found out that it was the rarely-seen Tsavo cat - and not only is it rarely spotted, but it is virtually never spotted at Nakuru. You should've seen how much of a celebrity our driver became among all the other drivers that day. All the tour guides marveled at the tiny 2-inch review screen on my camera all day. I don't know that our driver had ever received so much attention in his life. It was pretty great.
Masai Mara National Reserve
When one thinks 'Kenya game viewing' the mental image is of Masai Mara. The northern tip of Tanzania's famed Serengeti, Masai Mara is the richest collection of wildlife in Kenya. As I've mentioned, lions are the main draw here, but everyone lives here: elephants, hyenas, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, crocodiles, etc. We missed out on the cheetahs, unfortunately, but this disappointment was cushioned by the memory of the Tsavo cat.
Many safaris will cross the border here to continue into Tanzania. We didn't - we had a Kenya-only safari, and we're still fine with that choice. Everything you need is in Masai Mara.
Green Crater Lake
Somewhat of a postscript to the trip, Green Crater Lake is a very nice spot near Lake Naivasha where, rather than a game drive, we had a lovely game walk. We were able to walk among the zebras, giraffes, and buffaloes. We saw some hyena poop. We had to take a long loop around at one point because a solo buffalo was roaming around - very exciting stuff.
Africa is hard, but it's worth it. It's truly remarkable to see the abundance of wildlife in an age when wildlife is so at-risk. When I think of how much wildlife there must have been before humans really started screwing things up - it just blows my mind because there's still so much to see.
When we return to sub-Saharan Africa (probably to Botswana or perhaps Uganda), we'll definitely pay up for at least a mid-level tour. Beyond that recommendation, we really would just like to emphasize that you must do as much research as you can on tour companies. Don't just trust one website no matter what site it is or what it says. We found ourselves to be quite lucky as our tour company apparently dropped off a cliff very shortly after we used them. Be diligent and be ready for very long drives between parks that are not close to each other, but - as we almost always recommend - just go.
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