Hello, I'm deciding whether to go to Kenya for my Safari or another african country with wildlife. Which are the best places for Africa safari in Kenya. We don't want to use a tour company but ourselves.

Alan:

Nice to have you join us here on Bushdrums!

If you could let us know where your interests lie, what you hope to see, what your favorite animals are and how much time you want to spend on safari we could give you more specific information. Will you be staying in lodges/tented camps or camping on your own? Have you been on safari before?

You might also want to look under the section General Information / FAQs for your trip to Africa / Self drive safaris. Driving in Africa is quite different than in other countries and these are things and suggestions you should be aware of before undertaking it.

Generally the Masai Mara, Samburu, Amboseli and Tsavo East are the parks with the most wildlife (provided there hasn't been recent rain - so it depends on the time of year you will be traveling there). However, it can take 6 - 8 hours to drive from Nairobi to most of them. Amboseli is only a 4 - 5 hour drive. Most of the drives will be on very poor bumpy dirt roads and you will need a 4-wheel drive vehicle to drive in most of the parks. You can also catch a flight from Wilson airport to the Mara, Samburu and Amboseli saving yourself a lot of time to be game viewing.

Kipper is the real self-drive, self-tenting expert. Perhaps he will jump in and give some advice. Nico and Carsten are both originally from Kenya and they might also be able to help you make a decision as to where to go. I think it will boil down to how much time you have and where your interests lie as to where you will want to go.

Let us know what you are interested in and we can be more specific.

Again, welcome!

Aww! Shucks! Jan! ........Self-tenting expert?

Had a whole different meaning when I was a lad!!

Welcome Alan if I can help I surely will although Kenya is not my knowledge area.

To add it sometimes can be difficult to arrange your own trip, with some permits it is who you know that matters. Although lodge accommodation can be arranged beware of booking agents who add their little percentage.

I would also add that if you intend to go it alone it is easy to miss a little known area that could just be the perfect Eden your looking for. A good agent knows these areas that you may miss & the costs are not a great difference. Ir could just make the difference between a "Trip" & a "Fantastic safari!"

If planning a trip yourself could I suggest factoring in the costs of a professional guide.
I would rather 10 game drives with a professional than 100 without.
With out the skill to read the bush & local knowledge you will miss 80% of all that is good about Safari.
- Edited by kipper on 15.01.2009, 18:13 -

Top African Safari destinations in Kenya are the national parks. The best and most popular is Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Aberdare and Tsavo in that order.
- Edited by Carsten on 17.01.2009, 11:04 -

Welcome Colin and thank you for joining.

Veterans Jan and Kipper have explained it well; depends on the time of year, how much time you wish to spend and what you wish to see.
I agree with Kipper - if you are a 1st timer in Kenya, perhaps do it the proper way. You will only get better deals if you are a Kenyan and have Kenyan ID - if not then the cost is more or less the same if you use an agent or go on your own.
Doing a complete drive in Kenya to the various parks etc etc I would only suggest if you have been to Africa already and have done such things in the past in other African countries. If you are a 1st timer in Africa I would not suggest this with no experience at all.

hello alan,

a warm welcome to bushdrums!

here come my favorites:

- massai mara for the migration (wildbeest and zebra) but also for the landscape and the residential big cats year round. when one has visited the massai mara one will be spoiled for the rest of the continent. luckily we started with south africa followed by other southern african safari destinations before we went to the massai mara. we still appreciate southern africa but when we want to be just fed with all sorts of animals - we go to the massai mara in sep or oct.
- meru for its landscape but the elephant grass makes tracking difficult which is fun
- samburu for elephants, lion etc.
- tsavo west and east for landscape and elephants but not soooo much for big cats
- amboseli for elephants but not toooo many cats
- lake nakuru for landscape and flamingo migration, leopard sightings