Why Kenya?

Often regarded to be the ultimate safari destination, Kenya undoubtedly incorporates some of the continent’s most rewarding and exciting national parks and wildlife reserves.

Best known is the incomparable Masai Mara, whose undulating green grasslands support staggering concentrations of lion, cheetah, spotted hyena and other predators. Over August to October, the Mara also hosts the world’s greatest wildlife spectacle, when hundreds of thousands of manically baa-ing dust-kicking wildebeest stream across the Mara River from neighboring Tanzania.

Budget safari holidays in Kenya

Kenya is quite easy to travel through on a tight budget, with two main provisos. The first is that high daily entrance fees at game parks, and the need for a 4x4 make most safari-oriented reserves difficult to explore cheaply, or you would need to focus on other attractions. The second is that wherever possible you’ll need to use amenities geared towards the local economy. There are a variety of attractions suited to budget-conscious travelers, for example most parts of the far west and central highlands, and the entire coast are excellent options.

Why we love Kenya?

There’s no better index of Kenya’s biodiversity, perhaps, than its national bird checklist of more than 1,000 species - placing it third in Africa, a figure made all the more remarkable when you realise that it doesn’t make the continent’s top 20 countries in terms of surface area.Kenya is undoubtedly one of Africa’s finest Big Five destinations. But it has a great deal more to offer than just safaris. Culturally, it is a fascinating mass of contradictions. One of Africa’s most developed countries, it has an unusually high level of education, a substantial middle class, world-class tourist facilities, and a growing industrial belt sprawling out from its bustling capital. Yet away from the cities, on dusty plains populated by pastoralists such as the Maasai, Samburu and Turkana, it ranks among the most visibly traditional of African nations.

Kenya vs Uganda

Kenya is a better destination than Uganda when it comes to quality Big Five sightings and plains wildlife in general. Its game reserves tend to be far larger than their counterparts in Uganda, and to offer a more varied selection of lodges and tented camps. Equally, Uganda offers several attractions not found in Kenya or indeed most other safari destinations. Foremost among these is the opportunity to track mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and chimpanzees in the likes of Kibale National Park. Overall, Uganda offers far greater diversity when it comes to primates, and it matches Kenya for general bird watching, though it tends be stronger on forest birds that are difficult to see elsewhere in eastern and southern Africa. Uganda’s three main savannah reserves are also wonderfully scenic, and offer the opportunity to explore thrilling tropical waterways by boat. There is nothing in landlocked Uganda to compare with the Indian Ocean beach resorts such as Diani and Watamu. Kenya is also a more visibly diverse and interesting country when it comes to traditional cultures, be it the pastoralist Maasai and Samburu, or Arab-influenced Swahili people of the coast.