With a shorter flight than to South Africa, Kenya is a great option for shorter half-term tours or for those wanting a combination of beach and sport rather than a longer tour.
Highlights of your tour to Kenya would be:
The Masai Mara
The Maasai Mara Game Reserve is considered to be Africa’s greatest wildlife reserve and world famous for the Great Wildebeest Migration. This natural spectacle takes place from July to October bringing more than a million wildebeest in sweeping waves across the Sand River into the Mara from the Serengeti. The deep rumbling of thundering hooves and low grunts splits the air as the wildebeest make their way westwards for fresh pastures across the Mara River.
The Mara offers a wide range of accommodation options including luxury lodges, exclusive tented camps and standard establishments to suit all budgets. Both flying and road packages are possible. Travel by air is a short 45 minute flight. Travel by road is highly recommended for the scenic 5-6 hour drive taking you through the Kikuyu Escarpment forest before descending into the Rift Valley and continuing across the Rift Valley floor past two extinct volcanoes, Mt Longonot and Mt Suswa, large wheat farms and Maasai villages.
The Great Rift Valley & Lake Nakuru
The Great Rift Valley is the world’s longest valley running from the Red Sea southwards through Ethiopia, East Africa, Malawi and Mozambique, covering a distance of 5000 kms. Africa’s Great Rift Valley reveals itself with breathtaking beauty in Kenya. It runs North-South almost the entire length of the country.
Driving north-westerly is the renowned Lake Nakuru National Park, home to huge flocks of flamingos and other water birds. Ringing this alkaline lake are belts of the tall yellow barked ‘Fever Trees’ (Acacia xanthophloea). The Park is also a sanctuary to huge numbers of waterbucks, warthogs, impalas, buffalo, Rothschild giraffes, elands, endangered black rhinos, white rhinos and is reputably one of the best places to spot leopard.
The Kenyan Coast
Kenya has a long coastline of beautiful white beaches with perfect weather all year round. The Coastal region extends for 480 kms along the Indian Ocean from the Somalia border in the north to the Tanzania in the south. Its proximity to Tsavo National Park and Shimba Hills National Reserve provides a perfect blend of beach, cultural and wildlife experiences.
background photo credit: Wajahat Mahmood via photopin cc