Kenya safari
An eight day safari vacation in Kenya, fully guided, and traveling in a small group. Staying in luxury camps in the Masai Mara, it is Out of Africa and out of this world.
Lake Elementaita Lake Nakuru National Park Masai Mara Luxury tented safari camps Option for walking safari Great wildebeest migration in season Nairobi
US $4649ToUS $4800excluding flights
Description of Kenya safari
Map
Price information
Check dates, prices & availability
Travel guides
Two million wildebeest, zebra and antelope thunder for 1,000km across Tanzania’s Serengeti, bottlenecking at the border to cross the final frontier: t...
Kenya has been in the tourism game longer than virtually any other African country – and it shows. Other nations may boast higher mountains, bigger ga...
Vacation information
Small group tour, ideal for solos & couples:
Small group travel is not large group travel scaled down. It is modeled on independent travel – but with the advantage of a group leader to take care of the itinerary, accommodation and tickets, and dealing with the language. It’s easy to tick off the big sights independently – but finding those one-off experiences, local festivals, traveling markets and secret viewpoints is almost impossible for someone without the insider knowledge gained from years in the field. For those with limited time, a small group tour will save valuable time in planning, and on vacation.
Reviews
1 Reviews of Kenya safari
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed on 09 Feb 2020 by April Arnatt
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
We visited Kenya to see elephants and we saw many in parks and the two conservancies we stayed in. We will always remember the two young elephants playing together in ponds and puddles, clearly having enormous fun spraying each other with yet more water and trumpeting as they did so. The roads were pretty exciting too in this very wet year!
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Find out exactly where your accommodation is with relation to roads and airstrips and the time it will take to travel between them. The condition of Kenyan roads means that journeys that would take 15 minutes on tarmac take literally hours.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
We stayed in properties on lands leased from Maasai people, and largely employing them too. I'm concerned that that driving "off-road" on the savannah in the very wet conditions where soil is disturbed and plants uprooted is damaging the environment and will research this aspect more before/if we go again. Our first guide/driver at one location was especially careless of the ground, and managed to get the vehicle stuck several times on one drive. We also felt he was reckless around the animals and this was very distressing, so much so we immediately asked for a new guide. Nothwithstanding that issue, it is probably better for tourism income to support wildlife conservation and provide local employment.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Apart from the upsetting incident with the guide we enjoyed the experience enormously.
Read the operator's response here:
We would like to thank April for her feedback and whilst we are pleased that she enjoyed her trip overall, we are sorry that she has had cause to raise concerns about their first guide/driver in the Masai Mara. The Mara North Conservancy is different to many other places in that game drives are permitted to happen ‘off road’. We of course would expect that guides working with our clients hold the expected respect for the wildlife and drive according to conditions as to leave as little trace as possible. We were pleased to note that as soon as it was requested, a new guide was provided and we would like assure April that her feedback has been shared with the local team so that they may speak with the guide in question and follow up the concerns directly with the camp.
Responsible Travel
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we've screened this (and every) vacation so that you can travel knowing it will help support the places and people that you visit, and the planet. Read how below.
Planet
Activity:The highlight of this trip is going on game drives in the Masai Mara Game Reserve and Lake Nakuru National Park, where we hope to spot some the ‘Big 5’ and countless other fascinating species. First of all, by visiting these protected areas, we must pay park fees which go towards community and environmental initiatives in this area. We are very mindful of the environment and local groups we encounter anyway and maintain a strict ‘leave no trace’ policy.
Conservation:
Our local operators are trustees of the Kicheche Community trust, which runs several programmes for the benefit of people and wildlife. For communities to prosper within and in the vicinity of wildlife conservancies it's important for these communities to be protected from the wildlife and vice versa. In 2012 Kicheche Trust donated half for the construction of 5 predator free bomas (small groups of housing). The trust also part sponsors the Naboisho Lion project in Naboisho Concervancy, Masai Mara, which helps to protect and monitor local wildlife. By traveling with us, you are not only raising awareness about animal welfare but contributing to these vital projects.
UK Office:
It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK Offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.
People
Accommodation and Meals:We will be spending three nights in a luxury tented camp and 2 nights in a lodge. Both accommodations are locally run and locally staffed, so by choosing to stay here, we are supporting employment opportunities for communities in surrounding areas. Most meals are supplied and we are keen to source ingredients from as nearby as possible as a means of generating income for small businesses within the local community and producing fresh, authentic food for clients. Breakfasts and lunches often include freshly baked biscuits, fruit, cakes and hot drinks.
Community:
We usually use Ilkeliani Camp, which assists the surrounding Masai communities of the game reserve in conserving their wildlife and environment. By using this accommodation, we contribute to a number of initiatives they run. The camp provides for the Masai people whereby they receive a bed night fee for every guest night in the camp. Unlike most camps in the Mara who charge their clients an extra "hidden" conservation fee, Ilkeliani contributes to this cause directly from their profits. This enables the Masai to benefit from their natural resources in a sustainable and non-destructive way so to better able to care for their families and improve their standard of living.
Charity:
Through Ilkeliani, we support the ‘Pack for a Purpose’ initiative. We encourage guests to bring school supplies and equipment with them and then provide transport to the Molibanny Primary School which is located near the Mara Reserve. The school educates children between the ages of 6 and 13 in the surrounding villages on the edge of the Masai Mara. The school often has difficulty obtaining items like book bags, chalk, coloured pencils and notepads so our contributions- and those of our guests- are really greatly appreciated here. We have also raised considerable money for various projects in Kenya including the predator free bomas project and supporting S.A.F.E Kenya (http://safekenya.org/) which uses street theatre to educate about the harms of female genital mutilation.
Group Size:
This small group tour has a maximum of 16 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.
Popular similar vacations
Kenya safari and Zanzibar beach vacation
From £4120 13 days including domestic flights only
Safari in the Masai Mara & paradise beaches on Zanzibar
Masai Mara safari in Kenya, 4 days
From US $1400 - US $2900 4 days excluding flights
Nowhere in Africa is wildlife more abundant
Kenya cheetah safari
From £3320 10 days excluding flights
Explore Ol Pejeta, Lake Naivasha and the Masai Mara