Highlights
Wildlife viewing in the Maasai Mara // High mountain hike around Mount Kenya // Dream beaches on the Indian Ocean // Authentic encounter with the Maasai // Seascape in Kenya’s Rift Valley // A paradise for ornithologist
Facts
Population: 53.77 million // Size: 580,367 km² // Official language: English // Currency: Kenyan Shilling KSH // International Airport: Nairobi (NBO), Mombasa (MBA)
As a safari destination and holiday country, Kenya has a lot to offer for every taste and requirement! In addition to the well-known destinations such as Diani Beach, the Maasai Mara and the Amboseli National Park with its incomparable view of Mount Kilimanjaro, there are countless “hidden gems” to be discovered that we would like to introduce you to.
Big game occurs in most parts of the country and also in non-protected areas. Hunting of wild animals has been banned for over 40 years and there are numerous (and growing!) protected areas which are cared for and preserved by the neighboring communities and are a welcome source of income from tourism.
In spring 2021, the Kenyan Wildlife Protection Agency (KWS) started a nationwide counting campaign to provide a precise overview of the current animal population. Animal and species protection can then be further developed in a more targeted manner on the basis of these findings.
Kenya’s picturesque landscapes range from extensive grassy savannas, through which the large herds of wildebeest and zebra migrate from July to October, to the rocky deserts in the far, sparsely populated north of the country. In between you will find the dramatically rugged, volcanic Rift Valley (African Rift Valley), breezy highlands where tea and coffee thrive, the fantastic mountain landscape around Mount Kenya with its peaks over 5000 m high and a series of picturesque lakes, which are in the West of the country lined up like jewels on a chain along the Rift Valley. The alkaline lakes are often colored pink by large colonies of flamingos.
The beaches on the Indian Ocean offer a wonderful complement to these natural beauties: palm-fringed powder-sugar beaches, coral reefs rich in species and Swahili culture that is thousands of years old. South and north of Mombasa, in Malindi, Watamu and on the Lamu archipelago you will find a very well developed tourist infrastructure with hotels and lodges for every taste.
Kenya’s population of approximately 50 million consists of more than 40 ethnic groups, each with their own language, tradition and regional identity. In a Lamu hotel, tea may be served to you by someone of Oman or Indian Punjab origin. On a flight from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara your pilots may be two well educated young ladies from the capital speaking 3-5 languages and if you are tracking black rhinos in the northern Laikipia region your competent and extremely tech savvy guide is likely to be a Samburu who, as a child, looked after his family’s sheep and goats.
CHECK OUR SAMPLE ITINERARIES:
Photo credits: www.pixabay.com / www.unsplash.com – please see photo credits for more details