What You Should Know About Kenya

Kenya is where you will have the realization of your vision of Africa - the wide-open space, vast savannah, awe-inspiring landscapes, rich wildlife and the snow-capped Kilimanjaro. It is the revelation you will carry within your heart on seeing the ancient tribes and their fascinating traditions that they have lived on this soil for ages which is said to be the cradle of humankind.

The wildlife, thrilling safaris and attractive coastline demand that you spend few weeks at least to even touch the periphery of a majestic dimension, where this land exists for ages and sustains everyone who depends on it. It’s a perfect country for travellers who want to escape the crowds and experience Kenya’s vivacious and captivating elusiveness.

In Kenya, you’ll love the culture, landscape, and wildlife as soon as you step off the plane. It’s a country for everyone as it’s the best safari destination in the world. Therefore, let’s begin!

What to Take with you 

When Do You Travel to Kenya?

The best period to visit Kenya is between November and April and between July and October during the dry season. It’ll be much easier during the dry season as most roads are impassable during the rainy season. 

Places to Visit 

1. Maasai Mara National Reserve

If you want to get close to the wild, this is the ideal place. If you want to experience wildlife in Kenya up-close and personal, Maasai Mara is an excellent destination for that.

The National Reserve is full of “Big 5” and other wonderful animal species. Here you can find picturesque landscape, amazing wildlife, and nature as its innate beauty ensures that guests come back every year. 

2. The Great Rift Valley

This is Kenya’s top tourist attraction as it’s a beauty to see! You’ll get some of the oldest, deepest, and largest lakes in the world in the Great Rift Valley. The valley is also home to some volcanic mountains. It offers a breathtaking view, and you’ll see numerous photo-worthy panoramas. 

3. Diani Beach 

This is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and it’s situated along the Kenyan coast. Diani beach is a perfect getaway at its finest. There are numerous activities you can relish at the beach, or you can use your time admiring the landscape it offers. The view is stunning!

4. Mt. Kenya

This mountain is well-known in the world. In Kenya, it’s the highest mountain and the second-highest in Africa. It’s approximately 5199 meters high and has attractive snow-capped summits that make it outstanding and beautiful. If you enjoy venturesome climbing and trekking, this is among the best places to travel in Kenya. This is a great destination if you’re a climber, hiker, or love travelling alone. Mount Kenya is perfect as you can be joyful with nature, contemplate, figure out your inner ideas, and be yourself for the whole trip. It’s highly recommended for you to experience calmness at high altitude; you can also meet diverse people from around the world while hiking in groups.

Apart from the top places to visit in Kenya, you can go on a Wildlife Safari.

5. The Ol Pejeta Conservancy

The huge conservancy attracts visitors from all over the world who are searching for unforgettable adventures. The conservancy is situated in Nanyuki, between the Aberdares and the foot of Mt. Kenya. It’s home to “The Big Five” and offers a picturesque landscape, wildlife sitting, and an exciting experience. This is a place with a quiet and calm ambience, rare scenery, and roast meat that’s worth dying for. The local community (Maasai) says that if you haven’t tasted roast meat from Ole Polos, then you don’t know the real taste of roast meat.

6. Lake Nakuru

This is among the most beautiful Kenyan lakes, and it’s situated in Lake Nakuru National Park in the Great Rift Valley. The lake is a famous home to beautiful bird species such as fuchsia pink flamingoes. 

7. Lamu Island

While the island attracts numerous local visitors and tourists, its natural beauty and serene atmosphere are the major attractions. It’s one of the best places to travel in Kenya. 

From the history and culture of Lamu to the picturesque beaches, you’ll be impressed by what this island has to offer.

8. Meru National Park

It’s situated 350 km from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. The National Park is among the most popular and attractive parks in Kenya. It’s home to numerous animal species like Hippopotamus, Leopard, Cheetah, Elephant, and many more. The National Park offers a real wilderness atmosphere, picturesque landscape, and amazing wildlife.

9. The Aberdares

We cannot ignore the beauty of the Aberdares. This mountain range is 160 km long and offers great views of the country’s mountains. 

10. The Shanzu Beach

The beach is found along the Kenyan coast in Mombasa, a perfect place for an unforgettable coastal adventure. The beach is famous for its attractive shores, outstanding views, high palm trees, and unspoiled white sands. There are numerous accommodations next to the beach. It’s an excellent place to spend an unforgettable vacation.

Best Places for Solitude Seekers

Besides the major attractions stated above, there are other sites where you can go solo. For solo travellers, these sites are naturally beautiful and will give you the calmness you seek away from the crowd. Some of these places include: 

1. Gedi Ruins along the Kenyan coast

These ruins are beautiful but mysterious. It was a forsaken city concealed from the world by a tropical forest. For this reason, not much is said concerning this place. However, it’s a great place for you to explore and experience this old Swahili city, situated near Malindi.

2. Lord Egerton Castle

The castle is adjacent to the Lake Nakuru National Park and was constructed by Lord Egerton for his bride-to-be in the mid-20th Century. It’s among the most astounding castles in the world. You can walk through the castle or hire a guide who’ll give you a tour and tell you more about it.

3. The Rusinga Island Lodge in Lake Victoria

With its excellent location, unparalleled beauty, and impressive landscape, the island is a great location to travel. It has a resort that offers excellent service, a cosy environment, and constant calmness. 

This place is perfect for solo travellers because you can relish the tranquillity, water activities, and ambience of Rusinga Island Lodge's fascinating environment.

Apart from the top places to visit in Kenya, you can go on a Wildlife Safari.

Wildlife Safari

Onfor a safari, you admire wildlife and birds, together with many more adventures. Safaris have largely evolved into vacation trips that are a benefit to African wildlife through supporting wildlife havens and local conservation efforts. A Kenya safari will submerge you in the grand wilderness and intimate camps and lodges where you can find elephant herds and ancient histories up close and personal.

“If you are not filled with overflowing love, compassion and goodwill for all creatures living wild in nature, you will never know true happiness.” ― Paul Oxton.

Contrary to hunting animals, visitors who come across them contribute to the protection of the species. Safari firms either contribute actively to conservation plans or yield tourism revenue to oversee wildlife projects and game reserves.

The safari also helps tourists to interact with the local communities and positively impacts the locality’s economy. The ethnic interactions by credible safari operators don’t take advantage of the local people. Sustainable tourism benefits the local communities through employment and financial gains from the sale of goods such as:

Artefacts include bow and arrows, traditional swords, neck pillows, spears, and shields. These are amazing gifts to purchase and can be used for your home décor

What’s an African Safari About?

Besides wildlife tracking and game viewing, safaris involve:

• Experiencing topical African cultures
• Exploring picturesque places and innate wonders
• Sightseeing and visiting historical sites
• Taking part in outdoor activities and adventure

Many African safaris are overland, which implies that they travel by road between destinations. There are also fly-in safaris, sailing, canoeing, hiking, and other special safaris.

There are various safaris to suit any combination of parameters, considering the timeframe, locations you wish to visit, budget, and activities. The most common type is luxury safaris.

Read more on - How a typical day in African Safari looks like

Ways of Experiencing Safaris in Kenya

1. Custom-Made Safaris

Custom-made safaris are at the top of the price pyramid. These tailor-made luxury trips meet the specific needs of the distinguished traveller. Clients can anticipate pampering and care every step of the way, exploring individually owned game reserves while being housed in up-market private lodges.

2. Luxury Safaris

These luxury safaris in Kenya also use first-class lodges and hotels, but the route is already set. Customers pay more for additional privacy, lush facilities, exclusive wildlife viewing activities, and classy accommodation. 

The maximum luxury safaris have functions such as private boat cruising, spa treatments, eating dinner in wild locations, and many more. 

3. Lodge-Based Safaris

Travel to one or several chosen lodges that act as a base for exploring the wildlife reserves. In these safaris, game lodges are situated in or near the game parks and start from relatively inexpensive to extravagant. 

This safari type commonly involves transfers from the airport to the city nearby, but not from one place or lodge to the next.

Apart from wildlife safaris, some other places in Kenya that you didn’t know existed but are worth visiting. They include:

Popular Kenyan Dishes for Tourists

1. Nyama Choma

Nyamchom, as it’s commonly known locally, is a dish you have to try when visiting Kenya. This is grilled or roasted beef or goat meat. What sets this dish apart from other grilled meats is the local preparation method.

It’s a usual dish in bars and other resorts in Kenya. If you don’t like red meat, you can choose samaki choma (fish) or kuku choma (chicken).

2. Ugali

Ugali is not renowned for its taste but as Kenya’s staple food. It’s a common meal that you’ll get in many local homes. This makes it a keystone in many hotels’ and restaurants’ menus in Kenya.

It’s made from maize flour, and the preparation takes a short time. Since the ingredients required are only water and maize flour, you only need a certain amount of expertise to prepare a good one.

As a staple dish in Kenya, it’s usually used as a yardstick to know if someone can cook. Ugali is mostly served with cabbage, spinach, or various stews.

3. Biryani or Pilau

Biryani and Pilau are advanced meals that are most famous in Kenya’s coastal regions. Both are cooked with rice, but their preparation and the final results differ. When preparing Pilau, you use savoury ingredients such as cardamom, cinnamon, and cumin.

Biryani is characterized by a separate Biryani stew and diverse coloured rice. The stew can contain either chicken or beef, as desired. These meals will leave you asking for more, and most visitors request takeaway recipes.

4. Chapatis

In most Kenyan households, chapati is considered the most special type of food. This is mainly due to the preparation procedure, which takes time and lots of love. Chapatis are made of flour and are generally round and flat.

Making chapatis begins with the careful preparation of the dough; then, you roll it into smaller, flat, circular pieces. Then, they are fried on a flat pan so that the outer layer has a brown, crispy appearance while the inner part is a little doughy.

You can serve chapatis with cereals such as green grams and beans or beef stew or any other type of stew. 

5. Mukimo

This is a delicious staple food prepared by mashing potatoes, pumpkin leaves, green peas, and maize.

Let’s now take a look at some of the best places to stay as a tourist.

Local Kenyan Communities You’ll Come Across as a Tourist.

The most common community you’ll encounter as a tourist in Kenya is the Maasai. The Maasai tribe is famous for sticking to their traditional way of life as pastoralists and warriors. Their centre of social and cultural life is the cows they keep. 

They always welcome tourists to their villages and frequently dance and sing, which you may want to join in. The Maasai are traditionalists who have defied the urge to follow a more modern lifestyle.

As a tourist, you’ll find the Maasai women and girls busy milking goats and cows and taking care of other tasks. You’ll also learn that later the men herders take the cattle to graze on Mara's plains. They mostly live near Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kajiado.

That’s why you frequently see them with their cattle on the savannah when you’re on a regular safari. There are zebras, elephants, giraffes, and some of the most dangerous predators in Africa in the Savannah. Still, the Maasai tribe has been living peacefully with these wild animals for many years. 

Kenya is an archetype safari destination and a great place in Africa to see wild animals. Its collection of iconic game reserves and game parks comprise the Amboseli National Park, Maasai Mara, and Tsavo East and West National Parks. 

Millions of wildebeests accompanied by Thomson’s gazelle, elands and zebras relocate from Tanzania into Southern Kenya every year in what’s known as “The Great Migration” – one of the most dramatic events nature has to offer. It takes place between mid-august to October.

Despite the myriad of online migration videos and photography, nothing is close to seeing the mass migration of animals, moving clumsily, swaying, and strutting in what’s known as one of the great natural wonders of the world. 

There are also historic Swahili settlements and white sandy beaches along the Kenyan Coast, which offers you a wonderful view of the vast Indian Ocean. 

Topographically, Kenya is breathtaking. Mountain ranges and calderas surround the Great Rift Valley that divides the country. To the east of this vast valley, you can climb the snow-capped Mt. Kenya’s equatorial peaks and fish for trout in the crystal-clear brooks.

There’s also the Hell’s Gate National Park with obsidian earth holes and hisses with innate hot springs and geysers. If you want to experience the intimacy of Kenya’s colourful colonial history, captured in the movie “Out of Africa,” go to Nairobi. 

This bustling capital is the gateway to one of the most reminiscent and exciting travel destinations in the world.

Conclusion

All those listed are some of the unique experiences in Kenya. Kenya has also gained international attention as one of Africa's best tourist destinations packed with game parks, historical sites, tourist hotels, pre-historic sites, cultural centres, and traditional cultures of the Maasai.

Now, you have numerous ideas on the most attractive places to tour on your 12-15 day visit to Kenya. Since this is a big country, there are of course many more places to discover.

However, this guide is meant to give you a feel of the picturesque landscape, culture, and incredible wildlife that makes this country so special and unequalled.