Kenya: What to Expect / Highlights

Small Exclusive Lodges

Created by the sons and daughters of the people who invented the safari industry just outside the national parks.

Landscapes Rich in Diversity

Snow-clad mountains and glaciers to arid deserts; dry Savannah to lush lakes and dense forest. Vast Serengeti plains and champagne-colored hills of Kenya's Masai Mara. Magnificent wildlife parks, pristine beaches, and ancient Swahili cities.

The Annual Migration

Over 1.4 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra and gazelle, relentlessly tracked by Africa's great predators, migrate in a clockwise fashion over 1,800 miles each year in search of rain-ripened grass.

Mount Kenya

The highest mountain in Kenya and second highest in Africa, is an extinct volcano which formed a couple of million years ago. It sits astride the equator and its icy summit reaches 17,058 ft.

The Masai People

The Masai are a well known nomadic people who are mainly cattle and goat herders and live off the milk, blood, and meat of their livestock. The Masai, who are characteristically tall and slender, live traditionally in the kraal, a compound within which are mud houses.

TIME TO GO

Kenya is a great place to visit anytime besides March to May.

• January and February is the main tourist season since the hot, dry weather at this time of year is generally considered to be the most pleasant. It's also when Kenya's bird life flocks to the Rift Valley lakes in the greatest numbers.
• June to September could be called the 'shoulder season' as the weather is still dry. The best place to witness the wildebeest and zebra migration (July&August) is in the Masai Mara National Reserve. They head south into Tanzania again around October.
• March to May (and to a lesser extent from October to December) - the rains hit. During these months things are much quieter - places tend to have rooms available and prices drop. The rains generally don't affect travelers' ability to get around.