For many travelers, a safari is the main reason for visiting Kenya. Safaris are typically done in one the Kenya wildlife resorts. This presents many travelers with a difficult questions: “Which national park is best suited for my interests?” This article gives some tips and ideas.
An important choice is between beautiful scenery or animal viewing. Because animals tend to hide in the bush, parks with a lot of open plains give much more chances of seeing all big animals. This goes for example for Masai Mara and Tsavo East. Parks with a huge and vibrant flora, such as Aberdare and Meru National Park, are less suitable for animal viewing.
Limit Your Traveling Time
Another thing to look out of, is traveling time. Kenyan roads are often very bad, and it can take whole days to get from one Kenya wildlife resort to the next. If you want to include more wildlife resorts in your safari itinerary, as many travelers do, then you have to inquire with your tour operator, or you’ll spend your valuable safari time being being totally shaken at 15 miles per hour.
Many tourists fly in through Nairobi and want to combine a safari tour with a stay at one of Kenya’s beautiful white sand beaches at the Indian Ocean. In that case, a safari in Tsavo East of Tsavo West is a good option, as most safari companies in Nairobi offer the possibility to end the safari in Mombasa, Kenya’s second city at the coast. From there, many of the best beach resorts can be reached in an hour or two.
If you have little time, then Nairobi National Park is clearly the best. This is one of the few full-blown wildlife resorts on the planet which lies just outside a world capital. Nairobi National Park has all the features of a real Kenya wildlife resorts, and an impressive variety in animals. Yet it can be reached with a 30-minute taxi ride from the city center.
The Big Five
Many tourists are very eager to see all of the Big Five: rhinos, lions, leopards, elephants and buffaloes. Then your logical choice would be Masai Mara National Reserve, which is Kenya’s most popular park. This is also where the annual Wildebeest Migration takes place. Masai Mara is also relatively close to Nairobi, where most tourists fly in.
The disadvantage is that, together with Amboseli, this park is crowded with tourists during the high seasons (July-August and December-January). You’ll probably end with a lot of lions-in-front-of-a-jeep photo’s.
Walking And Trekking
Aberdare and Mount Elgon National Park are great for walking and trekking. Mount Elgon is Kenya’s second biggest mountain, but as most trekkers are more interested in claiming that they’ve climbed the biggest mountain (Mount Kenya) only few people come here. It’s a great option if you like to have a whole park practically to yourself. If that’s important to you, also consider little visited wildlife resorts as Saiwa Swamp National Park. It’s small and not very quick to reach, but beautiful and tranquil.
Many visitors also come to Kenya for it’s huge bird variety. Bird watching can be done best in Mount Elgon National Park, Lake Nakuru or Samburu. In Lake Nakuru, you’ll also get to see the huge pink flamingo population, although due to quick changes between droughts and heavy rains, there’s can be huge changes in the number of flamingos present.
All in all, there’s a Kenya wildlife resort for every taste and interest. But it’s wise to prepare yourself well, so you’ll not end up regretting the choice you’ve made.