Africa Travel Information

It is a well known fact that Kenya is one of the greatest Africa safari destinations. But where should you go when you want to see some amazing scenic sites while on your safari?

I was a bit lazy to do a full write-up about this, so I decided to create a simple video instead. It ended up taking more than two hours.

This is my first ever attempt at creating a video, so just pardon any traces of amateurism. The next videos will obviously be better. I hope you enjoy this one. Feel free to leave your comments here or at youtube.

As I write this post, the news of Prince William’s engagement to Kate Middleton is one of the trending topics in the world media, and of course in twitter. Not really surprising, considering our fascination with royalty, especially the British Royal family.

For African safari enthusiasts, you may cherish the fact that the prince proposed while on holiday in a private game reserve in Kenya – the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

About the Lewa Conservancy
This wildlife sanctuary is situated about 250 kilometers (by road) North of Nairobi, near Isiolo town. Its history goes back to the early 1980s when rampant poaching threatened to wipe out the population of black rhinos in northern Kenya. Read the rest of this entry »

Flamingoes in Lake Nakuru, Kenya

Ask most Africa travel enthusiasts, and they’ll easily tell you that Kenya is the real home of the African safari. To this day, the country’s diverse wildlife and magnificent landscapes continue to attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. This is despite the rising competition from countries like Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia, and Zambia.

Of course wildlife safaris are Kenya’s biggest attraction, which is why in today’s post, I write about what, in my opinion, are the five of the top national parks and game reserves in Kenya.

1. Masai Mara Game Reserve
Certainly, no other Kenyan game reserve or national park can rival the Maasai Mara in terms of fame and popularity. I can attribute a huge chunk of this fame to the annual wildebeest migration between the Mara and the neighboring Serengeti national park in Tanzania. This great migration takes place between June and September, and remains the top draw for tourists into the Mara.

But that does not mean the migration is all that the Mara has to offer. In fact, you can travel to the reserve almost anytime of the year, and still have a great safari experience. The reserve has a great concentration of animals including all the big five. It may sometimes be hard to spot rhinos and leopards in the Mara, but you can be sure you will see plenty of elephants, lions, and buffaloes all year round.

Read the rest of this entry »

Elephants in Amboseli National Park. Mt Kilimanjaro is in the background. Image by Disdero in Wikimedia commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elephants_Kili_2.jpg

I read a very interesting report in the Daily Nation today. The Kenya wildlife service (KWS) plans to trans-locate about 7,000 herbivores, mostly zebras and wildebeest, from some private ranches and game reserves in Kenya to the Amboseli national park. Apparently, following last year’s drought in Amboseli, the herbivore/carnivore balance in the park was severely disrupted. The predators are now attacking the livestock of the neighboring Maasai people. You can read full details of the story here.

Looking at it from a different perspective, the KWS action raises a number of questions. Is it fair to the game reserves from which the zebras and wildebeest will be taken? What will happen to the predator/prey balance in these ranches? I know, KWS may rightly argue that in these reserves, that “balance” was largely skewed in favour of the herbivores. After all, species trans-location is an acceptable and proven animal conservation strategy. There have been several animal translocations in Kenya in the past, though not on such a large scale. One past translocation that comes close in scale was the fairly successful translocation of 228 elephants from Shimba hills national park to Tsavo East (see story).

Read the rest of this entry »

Kenya: Home of the African Safari

The thought of an African safari is almost inseparable from Kenya in many people’s minds. Kenya has has for long been a favorite safari destination in Africa due to its great diversity of wildlife, scenic landscape and land features, exotic beaches, and a beautiful amalgam of African cultures.

Situated on the Eastern Africa coast, Kenya neighbors Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Indian Ocean. Among the popular travel and holiday destinations in Kenya are the coastal beaches, Kenya national parks and game reserves, the highlands (especially the snow-capped Mount Kenya), and the Great Rift Valley.

Holiday activities in Kenya

Wildlife safaris
These are perhaps what Kenya is most famous for. The country has over 50 national parks and game reserves hosting a wide array of african wild animals. Read the rest of this entry »