Travel Destination: Africa - Kenya Safaris
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 across 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.
Kenya has over 50 national parks and game reserves where wildlife is protected.
But, as you can imagine, on the average safari you wouldn’t hope to cover all of them. It is therefore wise to get the best value by visiting only a few of the more famous national parks; unless you have a lot of time and can afford to get off the beaten track.
The most popular national parks in Kenya, and from which those with limited time and budget need to pick from, are Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Lake Nakuru, Aberdares, Samburu and Tsavo.
Top in the off-the-beaten track category, for either wildlife or back to nature activities, are Kakamega Forest, Marsabit, Meru, Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon and Shimba Hills.
Maasai Mara
Maasai Mara is the big one. 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. Birds can also be seen aplenty as secretary birds, cranes, stork, vultures and ostriches all spread their wings in the park.
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, conditional on the rains, occurs between June and August.
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