Mwongozo
Mwongozo means guide.
Kenya travel guides
Straight answers to the questions people ask before a Kenya trip, written by the Kenyans who plan them.
Kenyans in the U.S.
Taking your kids to Kenya for the first time: a diaspora parent's guidePassports, vaccines, family expectations and the days that belong to the kids, for the trip where they meet cucu and guka.
Church, chama and alumni group trips to KenyaOne link to share, everyone pays their own way, and you see who's in.
Park fees for Kenyan citizens living abroadWhich document to carry, and where citizen rates apply.
Home for Christmas: short safaris from NairobiTwo to five days of safari or beach, added to the trip home.
Planning a safari
How much a Kenya trip costs from the USAThe total, line by line, and the three choices that move it by thousands.
The Great Migration in Kenya, month by monthWhen the herds reach the Mara, and how to be at the river when they cross.
A Kenya family safari with teenagersGame drives are only the start: walk, cycle, swim and meet Kenyans their age.
Flights from the USA to KenyaOne nonstop, a handful of good one-stops, and why your arrival time matters more than the fare.
Tipping in Kenya: who, how much and howThe amounts, the envelope habit, and the people you never see.
What to wear in Kenya: safari, Nairobi and the coastThree climates, one colour rule, and how to dress well in a Swahili town.
How many days do you need on a Kenya safari?Two nights is a glimpse, three is a safari, five is when you start watching instead of looking.- Private vs shared safari in KenyaThe camps can be identical. The question is whether the Land Cruiser is yours.
Fly-in vs road safari in KenyaForty-five minutes in a Cessna or six hours on the road. Both are right answers.- How to choose a Kenya safari companyThe good ones are easy to check. Here is the five-minute test, and our own answers to it.
First-safari mistakes, and how to avoid themEvery guide has a list. Here are the twelve we see most, and how to stay off it.
Game drive etiquette in KenyaA shared room on wheels, with a leopard outside.
Safari vehicles in Kenya, explainedYour seat, your window and your shade for eight hours a day. The three kinds, and which one you will get.- Safari photography tips for KenyaAbout 40 minutes of perfect light, twice a day. How to be ready for it, with a camera or a phone.
- Safari gear: the binoculars and camera kit that matterBuy the binoculars before the lens. An honest kit list, in categories rather than brands.
- Safari with toddlers and young kids in KenyaSome camps say no, some trips should wait, and some work beautifully. Here is how to tell which is which.
- Safari for seniors in KenyaEasy on knees, backs and early mornings, without missing anything.
- Multigenerational family safari in KenyaGrandma, the teenagers and the toddler all get the Kenya they wanted, and the organizer gets a holiday too.
Kenya on a budget: a real safari for under $150 a dayA minivan, a tent with a proper bed, the train to the coast and the months when the park fees halve.- Luxury Kenya safari: the camps, conservancies and experiences worth the moneyCanvas, candlelight and a gin and tonic at sunset is still the formula. What has changed is where: on private land, with no other vehicles in sight.
Climbing Mount Kenya: routes, days, costs and how to reach Point LenanaKilimanjaro is higher. Mount Kenya is quieter, wilder and a summit you reach at sunrise. Here is how to choose your climb.- How Kenya's parks are protected: the Kenya Wildlife Service explainedRangers, fees and a pile of burning ivory: who keeps Kenya's wildlife alive.
- Ethical wildlife experiences in Kenya: what to avoid and what to supportIf you can hold it, ride it or pose with it, it is probably not conservation.
- Kenya vs Tanzania: which safari is right for youTwo neighbors share one great ecosystem. Here is how to choose between them, or do both.
- Maasai Mara vs Serengeti: how to chooseOne ecosystem, two countries and two very different trips.
- Amboseli vs Tsavo: elephants, space and how to chooseKilimanjaro's elephants or Kenya's biggest wilderness, and why many trips include both.
- Diani vs Watamu: which Kenyan beach suits youKenya's two favorite beaches, south and north of Mombasa, and how to pick yours.
- Kenya vs South Africa: which safari should you chooseWide-open plains and the migration, or easy roads, Kruger and Cape Town.
Maasai Mara
- The Maasai Mara in JulyThe month the herds walk in from Tanzania, the fee doubles and the camps fill. The trick is the second half.
- The Maasai Mara in AugustThe month the postcards are made: crossings most days somewhere on the river, and more vehicles than any other month.
- The Maasai Mara in SeptemberHerds still here, crossings still coming, the children back at school and the light turned gold.
- The Maasai Mara in OctoberThe herds start walking south, the storms build in the afternoons, and the residents get the plains back.
Where to stay
- Where to stay in the Maasai MaraChoose the area first and the camp second. Here is how.
Where to stay in NairobiNairobi is a city of neighborhoods separated by traffic. Sleep in the right one.- Where to stay in DianiOne long beach with four personalities. Where you stay decides which one you get.
- Where to stay in AmboseliOnly a handful of lodges are inside the park. Some of the best views are outside it.
Where to stay in LamuThree islands, two centuries, all a boat ride apart.
Where to stay in SamburuA river in a desert. Choose your bank, then your camp.- Where to stay in LaikipiaPrivate conservancies, rhinos, star beds and almost no crowds.
Where to stay in Watamu and MalindiKenya's quiet coast, where turtles nest in the hotel gardens.- Where to stay in Tsavo East and WestRed elephants, waterholes and space. Pick your side of the highway first.
- Where to stay at Lake NaivashaHippos at night, fish eagles at breakfast, and Nairobi only 90 minutes away.
Where to stay in MombasaMombasa means three different places. Decide which one you mean.
Where to stay at Lake NakuruRhinos, flamingos when the water allows, and baboons at breakfast.
Know Kenya
Kenyan culture for visitorsMore than forty communities, two official languages and one very warm welcome.- How many tribes are there in Kenya?The famous figure of 42 is a convention, not a count. Here is what the census actually says.
- Kenya's three language familiesBantu, Nilotic and Cushitic: three families of languages, and centuries of people moving, mixing and settling.
- How to say hello in KenyaIn Kenya a greeting is a question about how you are, and it expects an answer.
Who travels
- Solo female travel in Kenya: an honest guide from the women who live hereKenya is one of the easiest countries in Africa for a woman alone. Here is where it is easy, where it takes care, and the habits that make the difference.
- Kenya for LGBTQ+ travelers: the law, the reality and how to travelThe law, the reality on the ground, and how LGBTQ+ travelers visit, with official sources and without spin.
- Business travel to Nairobi: hotels, logistics, etiquette and the weekend safariEast Africa's hub runs on handshakes, WhatsApp and traffic. Here is how to work it, and how to see a lion before your Monday meeting.
- Working remotely from Kenya: the digital nomad permit, where to base and what it costsFinish your U.S. workday by 1am, or start it at 3pm after a morning on the beach. Here is how the permit, the bases and the internet work.
- Kenya for faith travelers: churches, mosques, shrines and sacred forestsA Sunday service that lasts three hours and feels like one, a call to prayer over Mombasa's Old Town, and a forest where the ancestors still keep watch.
- Accessible safari in Kenya: lodges, vehicles and parks for wheelchair usersNot every camp and not every vehicle, but enough of both, if you book the right ones. Here they are, measured.
Culture
What to buy in Kenya: souvenirs, makers and marketsBuy from the people who make it, know what you are paying for, and leave the shells on the beach.- Kenyan etiquette for visitorsGreet first, slow down and use your right hand. Most Kenyan good manners follow from those three.
Taking photos of people in KenyaA photo of a person is a small exchange. Ask first, agree the terms, and send it back.- Bargaining in Kenyan marketsSmile, greet, ask the price, offer half and meet in the middle. Then pay, and say thank you.
- Gifts to bring for Kenyan hostsLeave the coffee at home, bring something from your own town, and give it with both hands.
Things to do
- 20 things to do in Nairobi, ranked by people who live hereThe only capital with lions inside the city limits deserves two days, not one night.
Free (and nearly free) things to do in NairobiSome of the best afternoons in the capital cost nothing, or the price of a soda.- Nairobi with kids: a two-day planA baby elephant at 11, a giraffe's tongue at 2, and a nap in between.
- The 12 best day trips from Nairobi, with times and costsLeave at 6am and you can be on a crater rim, in a gorge or at a soda lake by mid-morning.
- Nairobi layover guide: what you can do in 6, 10 or 24 hoursA lion between flights is a real possibility. Here is how to fit one in.
- Rainy day in Nairobi: museums, galleries and long lunchesGo outdoors early, and let the afternoon storm send you to the museum.
- 15 things to do in Mombasa, from Fort Jesus to the dhow dinnerRanked best first, with when to go, how long each one takes and roughly what it costs.
16 things to do in Diani Beach beyond the beachDolphins, a sacred forest, sable antelope and a cave for dinner, all within an hour of your sun lounger.
Things to do in Lamu: dhows, donkeys and the Old TownA ranked list for the island of donkeys and dhows, with the tides, the timing and three days to plan.
Things to do in Kisumu and around Lake VictoriaA city that runs on fish, music and the lake, with a rainforest and the tea hills within a drive.
Comparisons
- Kenya vs Botswana safari: which one, honestlyWater, wilderness and a very high price, or the migration, variety and value. Here is the trade, without the sales pitch.
- Kenya vs Uganda: Big Five or gorillas, or bothLions on open plains, or an hour with a gorilla family in a rainforest. For many travelers the right answer is a bit of both.
- Maasai Mara vs Amboseli: which park, or both?Kenya's two most famous parks do different jobs. Most first trips need both, and here is how to split the nights.
- Kenya vs Namibia: wildlife or desert?Kenya is animals in great numbers. Namibia is space, sand and the long drive between. Here is how to choose.
- Diani vs Zanzibar: which beach after your safari?The same warm ocean on both. The difference is a border, a stone town and what you want to do between swims.
- Amboseli vs Serengeti: stay in Kenya or cross the border?They are not really rival parks. The real question is whether your trip is long enough for a second country.
- Kenya's dry season vs green season: when the rains are the better dealThe rains cut the price and the crowds and bring babies and birds. They take away the herds and some of the roads.
- Maasai Mara in July vs October: the start of the migration or the end?The two bookends of the migration cost the same in fees and feel completely different on the ground.
- Nairobi vs Mombasa: which Kenyan city for a few days?The capital at altitude, or the old port in the heat. Many visitors should do both, and a train links them.
- Samburu or Laikipia? Choosing Kenya's northHot river country with rare animals, or a cool plateau of rhinos and private conservancies. They sit next to each other, so many trips take both.
Kenya's beaches compared: Diani, Watamu, Kilifi, Malindi and the restEvery Kenyan beach has white sand and warm water. The differences are the tide, the reef, the seaweed and who is staying next to you.- Lodge or tented camp? What each really means on a Kenyan safariA safari tent has a real bed, a hot shower and canvas walls. Here is what that means at 2am, and when a lodge is the better choice.
Travel essentials
