Trip Overview:
Nine day safari through Kenya and Tanzania with my parents, Pete, and Diana. Surreal experience being within ten feet of uncaged lions and cruising through packs of thousands of wildebeests. The common thought is that African safari’s are a “once in a lifetime experience”, however, adhering to a low and possible budget of $3,500 makes multiple visits possible.
Lots of details to follow.
Daily Itinerary:
Day One: 10pm arrival in Nairobi and safari company transport to hotel
Day Two: ¾ Day Drive to Masai Mara - game drive through reserve to safari company campsite
Day Three: Morning, Mid-Day, and Afternoon game drives
Day Four: Morning, Mid-Day, and Afternoon game drives
Day Five: ¾ Day Drive to Lake Naivasha / Hell’s Gate - game drive out of Masai Mara - guided hike through Hell’s Gate
Day Six: All day drive to Amboseli - mid-day stop at Nairobi market
Day Seven: Amboseli all-day game drive - Masai village
Day Eight: Tanzania Border Crossing - Lake Manyara game drive
Day Nine: ½ Day Drive to Ngorongoro Crater and afternoon game drive
Day Ten: Long, long drive back to Nairobi airport - Kenya part of drive in a cramped minibus
Selecting a Tour Company:
Considering the criticality of selecting a safari tour company there is very little information and company specific reviews available online. This may stem from the fact that essentially all you are doing is renting a driver to drive you to desired locations. A safari can be as unique and customizable as the individual and therefore the companies are relatively interchangeable.
You can spend days researching but once you’re in the game reserves you’ll realize your experience is largely dependent on your driver and patience/luck with seeing animals. If you show up at a location five minutes late or too early and you will miss four male lions walking right in front of you. All companies are essentially following the same route - it’s not until you venture into further corners of the park and may need to stay in luxury accommodations does the price increase.
Unlike other packaged tours, safaris offer extreme flexibility - the tour company offers base packages, however, you could create a complete unique, one-off experience. The Masai Mara reserve is about the size of Bucks County or roughly ½ the size of Rhode Island and there are definitely distinct parts that you may want to see - due to the rough roads reaching remote areas of the reserve requires an overnight stay which will likely be at a location unaffiliated with your tour company. There are high priced private reserves adjacent to Masai Mara that a tour company can arrange to visit but that will increase the cost of a budget trip.
We used Best Camping Kenya - http://www.bestcampingkenya.com/. We had a great experience and everyone in our family would recommend this company to a budget traveler. The owner/manager of the company, Imraan Nanji, was helpful throughout the planning process and answered at least twenty-five emails - typically within a 24-hour turnaround. This allowed us to create a detailed itinerary prior to payment and there were no surprises or additional costs upon arrival.
It’s essential that you understand what you’ve booked so you’re not disappointed on arrival, for example: Is your vehicle a Land Cruiser with open seating or pop-up minivan - if it’s a budget safari you will have a pop-up minivan - the pop-up minivans comprise about 90% of the vehicles in the government operated Kenya reserves - there isn’t much of a trade-off because you stick to well-worn paths and the pop-up minivans made it easy to move about and stand while driving.
I recommend booking directly through a company vs. an agency - it should lower your cost and allow more customization of your itinerary. It becomes confusing quickly because the safari companies typically don’t operate across borders thus searching for Kenya Safari may lead to an agency based in South Africa.
The company with the largest presence or what seemed to be the most vehicles in the reserves was Pollmans: http://www.pollmans.com. It makes sense to contact multiple companies to gain an understanding of the services offered, accommodation and vehicles, and what reserves will be included.
We made payment for the safari through a wire transfer - there was an initial 20% down payment we made about four months in advance at the same time we booked our flights. The remaining 80% wire was sent one week prior to departure. There’s an additional 5% fee for using a credit card. A positive of cash payment via wire was that we didn’t have a huge credit card bill waiting when we returned.
With all that is involved, I considered renting a vehicle and performing a self-drive around Kenya and through the parks but decided against this because there would be little cost savings even with five people and it would be an organizational nightmare. You would still need to hire a guide in the park or drive around aimlessly following other packs of vans and then figure your way back to accommodations at the end of the night. You’d also need to purchase or cook your own meals. Doing all of this would take away time from the experience of animal viewing.
All Other Items for Consideration:
I will not portend to be an expert on African safaris but since I struggled to find information online I’ll try to make this list as exhaustive as possible with the caveat that this is through the eyes of budget travel and travel experiences may vary by tour company.
Game Reserve Considerations
When to Go? There’s not necessarily a best or worse time, just times when there are different “activities” in the park. For the Masai Mara the rainy season is in spring and then the wildebeest migration runs July through October. After October the Wildebeest head south to the Serengeti in Tanzania and give birth in the January - March period before circling back up to Kenya. We went during the Mara wildebeest migration period and the volume of these animals is overwhelming. If you scanned across a horizon you could see herds of 100,000+ animals. Riding through these herds was a highlight of the trip. However, the tradeoff is, with all these animals it makes it very easy for lions to get their meals which may limit viewing opportunities - there’s nothing to confirm this, but that’s my numbers based supply and demand analysis.
Where to Go? Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, etc. - at some point I’m going to try and go to all of these but for now the only comparison point is Kenya and Tanzania. Tanzania had better roads and vehicles as most, if not all, vehicles were the Land Cruiser variety. Tanzania seemed better “organized” compared to the chaos of Kenya - prices were clearly marked and less negotiation involved - however, Kenya safari costs seemed a little bit lower because of the vehicle trade-off. Even if we had gone to the Serengeti in Tanzania I’m not sure if it’d rate above the Masai Mara. The Mara has simply phenomenal - it has the highest concentration of lions and from what we were told by South Africans we met, the lions and other animals are simply larger in Kenya than anywhere else in Africa. There is not as much electronic tracking of animals in Kenya which leads to a more traditional experience.
Kenya also seems to have a high concentration and cluster of reserves - Amboseli was a great stand alone park particularly if you enjoy elephants.
Public or Private Reserve? Private reserves will exceed any low cost travel plans…but what I may do on a future trip is spend 2-3 days at a private reserve then fly onwards to a beach destination like Zanzibar for the rest of the vacation. This first trip was all about the animals on the reserve but there are other attractions in the major cities. A week of game reserves never became old but on a future trip I think I will see other sites.
Safari vehicles are required to remain on established, well-worn tracks. If a vehicle leaves the track and is caught by reserve guards the fine is about $100 - which doesn’t seem high enough to dissuade some individuals from leaving the tracks for a better photo opportunity. The photos of vehicles off the track next to an animal are likely to be taken in a private reserve which has it’s own set of rules.
Park operating hours are 6:30am to 6:30pm - essential to know if you are staying in the reserve or outside. In the reserve will be more expensive but you can head out earlier for game drives - lion hunting tends to occur during the night into the early morning. If you are outside the reserve you can line up at the gate but can’t enter until 6:30. There is definitely lee-way on exiting the camp at 6:30pm and you can push your driver to stay out later if you’re on a game viewing hot streak.
Hot Air Balloon Ride or Not? At $500/person this exceeded the travel budget. The consideration here though isn’t necessarily cost but a game viewing trade-off. The hot air balloon rides occur in the morning (followed with a breakfast) which is also the best time to see lions up close enjoying a meal - if you’re in the hot air balloon you won’t be able to see this and if you only have two mornings in Masai Mara you’re cutting the lion meal eating opportunity in half. If I head back, I may try to squeeze in a hot air balloon ride on the day I fly out if I don’t need to purchase an additional day park entrance pass.
Weather changes throughout the day so best to dress in layers - morning game drives would be very cool. You’d also pick up a good breeze standing out the top of the vehicle. I wore a long sleeve shirt most of the time to also protect against sunburn.
The road to Masai Mara and within the reserves are in poor condition and incredibly bumpy - there’s no way to overstate this and you will instantly know when you switch from pavement to dirt road. The roads in Tanzania were much better.
Cash Considerations
Park Entrance Fees are included in the safari package price. On arrival at an entrance gate, the driver handles payment while you wait in the care or use the bathroom facilities.
Tips, visa payments, souvenirs, snacks, beer, etc. are not included. Google tip amounts before departure. You’ll need to tip your driver and when applicable your cook and campsite guards.
Credit card payment options are limited - majority of local payments will be in cash. I withdrew money from ATMs, my parents used the tour company to exchange USD to Kenya Shillings at a market rate. Larger denominations receive a better rate of conversion - i.e. better exchanging one $100 vs. five $20s.
Visa payments are in USD. We had no issues with payment in Nairobi. Make sure you carry six to seven $20 bills at the Tanzania border crossing even though payment is only $100. I had to switch out one $20 bill because it didn’t meet customs’ scrutiny. See other visa info in cost breakdown below.
Accommodation Considerations
Depending upon arrival time you may need to book a hotel in your arrival city for the first night.
There are various degrees of safari “camping” - luxury lodge $500/night camping to budget travel camping. We went the budget camping route and any concerns were lifted the first night. Tents varied but were all of good quality to keep out rain and reduce wind impact. In each case we either had a mattress, folding cot, or bed to sleep on. Blankets, sheets, and pillows were provided - no need for a sleeping bag but we did bring sleeping bag liners although there were no concerns with cleanliness. It does become cold at night. We were usually so tired that after dinner and a round of cards we were heading to bed by 9pm.
Each campsite had electrical chargers but you will need a converter for US plugs. In some cases we’d need to give the electronics to camp staff for them to take to another, nearby location.
Cell phone service is available in most areas. We passed a giant cell phone tower in the middle of the Masai Mara.
Bring a flashlight. The campsites had electrical lighting but you’ll need your own lighting for getting back to your tent and if you need to use the bathroom at night, etc.
Cleanliness Considerations
Dirt is everywhere. At the end of every day you will be covered in dirt. In some cases the dirt kicked up from passing vehicles could be so bad as to make breathing difficult.
Hot water showers are available at night. Not much water pressure or water flow but enough to get the dirt off.
Some flush, some pit toilets but all had Western Style seats. In most instances toilet paper would be available but we made sure to always carry wipes as a backup. If you’re on a game drive you’ll need to wait until no animals are present then use the side of the road. Most road-side souvenir stands had bathroom facilities and were relatively nice and clean.
We used hand sanitizer throughout the trip.
Food Considerations
You are so hungry at the end of the day that anything you put in your mouth will taste good.
The safari company provides adequate water on a daily basis. There is no need to purchase filtered, bottle water pre-departure unless you want smaller bottles to use during the day - the water provided comes in large jugs.
Nairobi has several supermarkets where you can stock up on snacks before departure. In the reserves there’s not too many, if any, places to purchase snacks, but we were able to have the cook purchase beer each night.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were provided - usually you eat at the campsite between game drives. Two exceptions were when we did all day game drives and ate at a lodge - for a lower cost we could have had a packed lunch. Lunch in a lodge is buffet style at about $30/person. The food is decent but any $30 meal in Kenya is overpriced.
The food options may become monotonous but you can make a request to the safari company on what you’d prefer to eat. The first time we had Cape Buffalo it was an exciting, exotic meat - by the seventh time we were sticking to vegetables.
Other Considerations
A guidebook and binoculars are useful but not necessary. The driver will know the animals, although Wildlife of East Africa by Martin B. Whithers was very well organized and helpful because of the colorful pictures - it helped to identify animals in photos when we returned home too I used the camera zoom with digital display instead of binoculars. If you need a guidebook or binoculars feel free to borrow mine. Local libraries should carry an animal guidebook.
Driving distances aren’t far but the ride can be very long. Safari vehicles have set speed limits but a lot of times you get stuck behind a slow moving line of tractor trailers - the highway linking Mombasa and Nairobi was particularly brutal.
If you plan to spend a day sightseeing in Nairobi I’d do it at the start of the trip instead of the end. The reason being is that if you arrive late at night your trip overview will be the following morning - this means a slightly later departure time. If you spend a day in the city first, you can have this meeting that day and then leave very early on the following day which will give you more time in the reserve.
While slightly touristy, our family did enjoy the Masai Village experience near Amboseli. Our tour company relayed some issues that past groups had with the Masai regarding pressure to purchase Masai handcrafts but our family encountered no such issues. You’ll need to haggle over the entrance fee and handicraft prices but it’s not an intense negotiation. The village consists of about a 30 minute “presentation” into the life of the Masai. You are free to walk around the village and can see the inside of a home. They spoke English well enough to gain an understanding of their culture. While you are not required to purchase handicrafts, I think it’s kind-of implied that you will - expect to spend about $20 per person on the entrance and handicrafts and you should be able to have an enjoyable, pressure-free experience. It’s not touristy in the sense you have the village to yourself and it’s an authentic glimpse into their life, but I understand why some people think the dancing and market are a bit contrived.
The road side stands sell primarily the same items but there is some variation. Prices in Kenya were negotiable while in Tanzania a price sticker was attached. While the stores are similar, if you see something you really want purchase it because the exact same item may not be available later.
Final Recommendation: Be Patient - a safari is a unique travel experience. There’s a gradual and eventual very high buildup of expectations in your mind and it can be annoying when your actual experience does meet the preconceived expectations. Unlike visiting Paris were simply seeing the Eiffel Tower “counts”, for some reason when you are on a safari simply seeing animals isn’t enough - the animals must be doing something unique and worthy of retelling stories several times over when you return. It can make for a frustrating travel experience because the animals may not always cooperate but if you’re patient you will eventual capture a unique moment.
Cost Breakdown:
Safari: $1,700 (Tanzania extension added about $650)
Flight: $1,300 (east coast was about $1,100)
Yellow Fever Vaccination: $100
Kenya Visa: $50
Tanzania VIsa: $100
First Night Hotel Hotel, Tips, and Snacks/Beer during trip: $200
Not factored into the costs: New camera, guidebook, shirt, pants, etc.
For visa and vaccination info you should consult more reliable and current sources - the information below are notes from a US perspective:
Both the Kenya and Tanzania visas are available on arrival. Even if you cross into Tanzania you can still return to Kenya with the single entry visa.
While neither country requires a Yellow Fever vaccination separately, Kenya requires vaccination proof if you enter from Tanzania. We needed to present our yellow vaccination card at the border when we re-entered Kenya.
I’ve added additional info every time I reread this so I’m sure there’s more I know but not including - if there is anything else please feel free to send me an email.
Nine day safari through Kenya and Tanzania with my parents, Pete, and Diana. Surreal experience being within ten feet of uncaged lions and cruising through packs of thousands of wildebeests. The common thought is that African safari’s are a “once in a lifetime experience”, however, adhering to a low and possible budget of $3,500 makes multiple visits possible.
Lots of details to follow.
Daily Itinerary:
Day One: 10pm arrival in Nairobi and safari company transport to hotel
Day Two: ¾ Day Drive to Masai Mara - game drive through reserve to safari company campsite
Day Three: Morning, Mid-Day, and Afternoon game drives
Day Four: Morning, Mid-Day, and Afternoon game drives
Day Five: ¾ Day Drive to Lake Naivasha / Hell’s Gate - game drive out of Masai Mara - guided hike through Hell’s Gate
Day Six: All day drive to Amboseli - mid-day stop at Nairobi market
Day Seven: Amboseli all-day game drive - Masai village
Day Eight: Tanzania Border Crossing - Lake Manyara game drive
Day Nine: ½ Day Drive to Ngorongoro Crater and afternoon game drive
Day Ten: Long, long drive back to Nairobi airport - Kenya part of drive in a cramped minibus
Selecting a Tour Company:
Considering the criticality of selecting a safari tour company there is very little information and company specific reviews available online. This may stem from the fact that essentially all you are doing is renting a driver to drive you to desired locations. A safari can be as unique and customizable as the individual and therefore the companies are relatively interchangeable.
You can spend days researching but once you’re in the game reserves you’ll realize your experience is largely dependent on your driver and patience/luck with seeing animals. If you show up at a location five minutes late or too early and you will miss four male lions walking right in front of you. All companies are essentially following the same route - it’s not until you venture into further corners of the park and may need to stay in luxury accommodations does the price increase.
Unlike other packaged tours, safaris offer extreme flexibility - the tour company offers base packages, however, you could create a complete unique, one-off experience. The Masai Mara reserve is about the size of Bucks County or roughly ½ the size of Rhode Island and there are definitely distinct parts that you may want to see - due to the rough roads reaching remote areas of the reserve requires an overnight stay which will likely be at a location unaffiliated with your tour company. There are high priced private reserves adjacent to Masai Mara that a tour company can arrange to visit but that will increase the cost of a budget trip.
We used Best Camping Kenya - http://www.bestcampingkenya.com/. We had a great experience and everyone in our family would recommend this company to a budget traveler. The owner/manager of the company, Imraan Nanji, was helpful throughout the planning process and answered at least twenty-five emails - typically within a 24-hour turnaround. This allowed us to create a detailed itinerary prior to payment and there were no surprises or additional costs upon arrival.
It’s essential that you understand what you’ve booked so you’re not disappointed on arrival, for example: Is your vehicle a Land Cruiser with open seating or pop-up minivan - if it’s a budget safari you will have a pop-up minivan - the pop-up minivans comprise about 90% of the vehicles in the government operated Kenya reserves - there isn’t much of a trade-off because you stick to well-worn paths and the pop-up minivans made it easy to move about and stand while driving.
I recommend booking directly through a company vs. an agency - it should lower your cost and allow more customization of your itinerary. It becomes confusing quickly because the safari companies typically don’t operate across borders thus searching for Kenya Safari may lead to an agency based in South Africa.
The company with the largest presence or what seemed to be the most vehicles in the reserves was Pollmans: http://www.pollmans.com. It makes sense to contact multiple companies to gain an understanding of the services offered, accommodation and vehicles, and what reserves will be included.
We made payment for the safari through a wire transfer - there was an initial 20% down payment we made about four months in advance at the same time we booked our flights. The remaining 80% wire was sent one week prior to departure. There’s an additional 5% fee for using a credit card. A positive of cash payment via wire was that we didn’t have a huge credit card bill waiting when we returned.
With all that is involved, I considered renting a vehicle and performing a self-drive around Kenya and through the parks but decided against this because there would be little cost savings even with five people and it would be an organizational nightmare. You would still need to hire a guide in the park or drive around aimlessly following other packs of vans and then figure your way back to accommodations at the end of the night. You’d also need to purchase or cook your own meals. Doing all of this would take away time from the experience of animal viewing.
All Other Items for Consideration:
I will not portend to be an expert on African safaris but since I struggled to find information online I’ll try to make this list as exhaustive as possible with the caveat that this is through the eyes of budget travel and travel experiences may vary by tour company.
Game Reserve Considerations
When to Go? There’s not necessarily a best or worse time, just times when there are different “activities” in the park. For the Masai Mara the rainy season is in spring and then the wildebeest migration runs July through October. After October the Wildebeest head south to the Serengeti in Tanzania and give birth in the January - March period before circling back up to Kenya. We went during the Mara wildebeest migration period and the volume of these animals is overwhelming. If you scanned across a horizon you could see herds of 100,000+ animals. Riding through these herds was a highlight of the trip. However, the tradeoff is, with all these animals it makes it very easy for lions to get their meals which may limit viewing opportunities - there’s nothing to confirm this, but that’s my numbers based supply and demand analysis.
Where to Go? Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, etc. - at some point I’m going to try and go to all of these but for now the only comparison point is Kenya and Tanzania. Tanzania had better roads and vehicles as most, if not all, vehicles were the Land Cruiser variety. Tanzania seemed better “organized” compared to the chaos of Kenya - prices were clearly marked and less negotiation involved - however, Kenya safari costs seemed a little bit lower because of the vehicle trade-off. Even if we had gone to the Serengeti in Tanzania I’m not sure if it’d rate above the Masai Mara. The Mara has simply phenomenal - it has the highest concentration of lions and from what we were told by South Africans we met, the lions and other animals are simply larger in Kenya than anywhere else in Africa. There is not as much electronic tracking of animals in Kenya which leads to a more traditional experience.
Kenya also seems to have a high concentration and cluster of reserves - Amboseli was a great stand alone park particularly if you enjoy elephants.
Public or Private Reserve? Private reserves will exceed any low cost travel plans…but what I may do on a future trip is spend 2-3 days at a private reserve then fly onwards to a beach destination like Zanzibar for the rest of the vacation. This first trip was all about the animals on the reserve but there are other attractions in the major cities. A week of game reserves never became old but on a future trip I think I will see other sites.
Safari vehicles are required to remain on established, well-worn tracks. If a vehicle leaves the track and is caught by reserve guards the fine is about $100 - which doesn’t seem high enough to dissuade some individuals from leaving the tracks for a better photo opportunity. The photos of vehicles off the track next to an animal are likely to be taken in a private reserve which has it’s own set of rules.
Park operating hours are 6:30am to 6:30pm - essential to know if you are staying in the reserve or outside. In the reserve will be more expensive but you can head out earlier for game drives - lion hunting tends to occur during the night into the early morning. If you are outside the reserve you can line up at the gate but can’t enter until 6:30. There is definitely lee-way on exiting the camp at 6:30pm and you can push your driver to stay out later if you’re on a game viewing hot streak.
Hot Air Balloon Ride or Not? At $500/person this exceeded the travel budget. The consideration here though isn’t necessarily cost but a game viewing trade-off. The hot air balloon rides occur in the morning (followed with a breakfast) which is also the best time to see lions up close enjoying a meal - if you’re in the hot air balloon you won’t be able to see this and if you only have two mornings in Masai Mara you’re cutting the lion meal eating opportunity in half. If I head back, I may try to squeeze in a hot air balloon ride on the day I fly out if I don’t need to purchase an additional day park entrance pass.
Weather changes throughout the day so best to dress in layers - morning game drives would be very cool. You’d also pick up a good breeze standing out the top of the vehicle. I wore a long sleeve shirt most of the time to also protect against sunburn.
The road to Masai Mara and within the reserves are in poor condition and incredibly bumpy - there’s no way to overstate this and you will instantly know when you switch from pavement to dirt road. The roads in Tanzania were much better.
Cash Considerations
Park Entrance Fees are included in the safari package price. On arrival at an entrance gate, the driver handles payment while you wait in the care or use the bathroom facilities.
Tips, visa payments, souvenirs, snacks, beer, etc. are not included. Google tip amounts before departure. You’ll need to tip your driver and when applicable your cook and campsite guards.
Credit card payment options are limited - majority of local payments will be in cash. I withdrew money from ATMs, my parents used the tour company to exchange USD to Kenya Shillings at a market rate. Larger denominations receive a better rate of conversion - i.e. better exchanging one $100 vs. five $20s.
Visa payments are in USD. We had no issues with payment in Nairobi. Make sure you carry six to seven $20 bills at the Tanzania border crossing even though payment is only $100. I had to switch out one $20 bill because it didn’t meet customs’ scrutiny. See other visa info in cost breakdown below.
Accommodation Considerations
Depending upon arrival time you may need to book a hotel in your arrival city for the first night.
There are various degrees of safari “camping” - luxury lodge $500/night camping to budget travel camping. We went the budget camping route and any concerns were lifted the first night. Tents varied but were all of good quality to keep out rain and reduce wind impact. In each case we either had a mattress, folding cot, or bed to sleep on. Blankets, sheets, and pillows were provided - no need for a sleeping bag but we did bring sleeping bag liners although there were no concerns with cleanliness. It does become cold at night. We were usually so tired that after dinner and a round of cards we were heading to bed by 9pm.
Each campsite had electrical chargers but you will need a converter for US plugs. In some cases we’d need to give the electronics to camp staff for them to take to another, nearby location.
Cell phone service is available in most areas. We passed a giant cell phone tower in the middle of the Masai Mara.
Bring a flashlight. The campsites had electrical lighting but you’ll need your own lighting for getting back to your tent and if you need to use the bathroom at night, etc.
Cleanliness Considerations
Dirt is everywhere. At the end of every day you will be covered in dirt. In some cases the dirt kicked up from passing vehicles could be so bad as to make breathing difficult.
Hot water showers are available at night. Not much water pressure or water flow but enough to get the dirt off.
Some flush, some pit toilets but all had Western Style seats. In most instances toilet paper would be available but we made sure to always carry wipes as a backup. If you’re on a game drive you’ll need to wait until no animals are present then use the side of the road. Most road-side souvenir stands had bathroom facilities and were relatively nice and clean.
We used hand sanitizer throughout the trip.
Food Considerations
You are so hungry at the end of the day that anything you put in your mouth will taste good.
The safari company provides adequate water on a daily basis. There is no need to purchase filtered, bottle water pre-departure unless you want smaller bottles to use during the day - the water provided comes in large jugs.
Nairobi has several supermarkets where you can stock up on snacks before departure. In the reserves there’s not too many, if any, places to purchase snacks, but we were able to have the cook purchase beer each night.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were provided - usually you eat at the campsite between game drives. Two exceptions were when we did all day game drives and ate at a lodge - for a lower cost we could have had a packed lunch. Lunch in a lodge is buffet style at about $30/person. The food is decent but any $30 meal in Kenya is overpriced.
The food options may become monotonous but you can make a request to the safari company on what you’d prefer to eat. The first time we had Cape Buffalo it was an exciting, exotic meat - by the seventh time we were sticking to vegetables.
Other Considerations
A guidebook and binoculars are useful but not necessary. The driver will know the animals, although Wildlife of East Africa by Martin B. Whithers was very well organized and helpful because of the colorful pictures - it helped to identify animals in photos when we returned home too I used the camera zoom with digital display instead of binoculars. If you need a guidebook or binoculars feel free to borrow mine. Local libraries should carry an animal guidebook.
Driving distances aren’t far but the ride can be very long. Safari vehicles have set speed limits but a lot of times you get stuck behind a slow moving line of tractor trailers - the highway linking Mombasa and Nairobi was particularly brutal.
If you plan to spend a day sightseeing in Nairobi I’d do it at the start of the trip instead of the end. The reason being is that if you arrive late at night your trip overview will be the following morning - this means a slightly later departure time. If you spend a day in the city first, you can have this meeting that day and then leave very early on the following day which will give you more time in the reserve.
While slightly touristy, our family did enjoy the Masai Village experience near Amboseli. Our tour company relayed some issues that past groups had with the Masai regarding pressure to purchase Masai handcrafts but our family encountered no such issues. You’ll need to haggle over the entrance fee and handicraft prices but it’s not an intense negotiation. The village consists of about a 30 minute “presentation” into the life of the Masai. You are free to walk around the village and can see the inside of a home. They spoke English well enough to gain an understanding of their culture. While you are not required to purchase handicrafts, I think it’s kind-of implied that you will - expect to spend about $20 per person on the entrance and handicrafts and you should be able to have an enjoyable, pressure-free experience. It’s not touristy in the sense you have the village to yourself and it’s an authentic glimpse into their life, but I understand why some people think the dancing and market are a bit contrived.
The road side stands sell primarily the same items but there is some variation. Prices in Kenya were negotiable while in Tanzania a price sticker was attached. While the stores are similar, if you see something you really want purchase it because the exact same item may not be available later.
Final Recommendation: Be Patient - a safari is a unique travel experience. There’s a gradual and eventual very high buildup of expectations in your mind and it can be annoying when your actual experience does meet the preconceived expectations. Unlike visiting Paris were simply seeing the Eiffel Tower “counts”, for some reason when you are on a safari simply seeing animals isn’t enough - the animals must be doing something unique and worthy of retelling stories several times over when you return. It can make for a frustrating travel experience because the animals may not always cooperate but if you’re patient you will eventual capture a unique moment.
Cost Breakdown:
Safari: $1,700 (Tanzania extension added about $650)
Flight: $1,300 (east coast was about $1,100)
Yellow Fever Vaccination: $100
Kenya Visa: $50
Tanzania VIsa: $100
First Night Hotel Hotel, Tips, and Snacks/Beer during trip: $200
Not factored into the costs: New camera, guidebook, shirt, pants, etc.
For visa and vaccination info you should consult more reliable and current sources - the information below are notes from a US perspective:
Both the Kenya and Tanzania visas are available on arrival. Even if you cross into Tanzania you can still return to Kenya with the single entry visa.
While neither country requires a Yellow Fever vaccination separately, Kenya requires vaccination proof if you enter from Tanzania. We needed to present our yellow vaccination card at the border when we re-entered Kenya.
I’ve added additional info every time I reread this so I’m sure there’s more I know but not including - if there is anything else please feel free to send me an email.