You’ll hear all sorts of hearsay, rumours and stereotypes about almost anywhere you decide to go these days….but please don’t let unnecessary fear scare you away from living your life and doing the things you want, use the info you have to plan carefully and stay savvy.

Rumour: Kenya is dangerous

I’m not saying there’s nothing to be concerned about but at no point did I feel any serious sense of danger during this trip – not even from the animals….well some of the roads were a bit scary lol, but I’ll get to that in a minute!

Yes there had been some unrest/protests in Nairobi while I was in other parts of Kenya, and the knock on effect caused schools to close in certain areas and traffic to be diverted….I myself didn’t see or feel any direct impact from any of it….I think by the time we were back in Nairobi (only a small part of the entire country) it had all finished….but back in the UK it was the first thing someone (in London) mentioned when I said I’d been to Kenya….in the vein of surprise that I’d been there with all the ‘danger’.

Given the great carefree time I’d had I was quite amused by this – there are all manner of protests in the UK these days…but that doesn’t scare people from visiting the UK does it….or some of the other crimes reported in the UK press!!! Is there anywhere in the world immune from possible danger! Pick up a newspaper for any country in the world these days and you’ll probably find some scary headlines if you look hard enough.

The official GOV.UK travel advice on Kenya at the time I was considering this trip advised to stay away from the Somali border. This was echoed in various articles and videos from other travellers – the Somali border is where a significant number of terrorist incidents/kidnappings have taken place. I kept a regular check on the GOV.UK advice until after my trip, for any updates.

Research-wise, you’ll see a lot of advice warning tourists to stay away from protests, activist activities, or anything politically sensitive – sensible advice. Use good judgement, keep your wits about you, and listen to any advice given by your guides/game drivers/hotel staff…..as you would anywhere.

However, everything is about balance and perspective right? I remember another blogger touching on a similar analogy to the one below: 

Other countries that have experienced terror attacks and all manner of people commiting crimes that we read about in the news, are not labelled as dangerous to visit based on those isolated incidents (e.g. UK, France, US) and would you be put off visiting York because of something that happened in London or Liverpool? ….Kenya is a big country and anything can happen anywhere. 

Step back, take a balanced approach and as per usual, do your own research around the places you want to visit.

Going anywhere alone at night isn’t recommended, even in a random taxi alone or taking the offer of lifts from anyone. Stick with a guide or taxi organised through a reputable hotel or host tour operator for exploring, or at least travel in a group for safety in numbers.

As with anywhere, if something looks or sounds like a scam, trust your instincts. Use the same sharp common sense you would anywhere, don’t flash money or expensive items, avoid walking in quiet or secluded areas alone, be careful about what information you share with people, be alert to anyone looking suspicious or following you etc 

Read and research reviews on every bit of your itinerary and companies involved, to help reassure you. 

One thing’s absolutely true – crazy traffic and scary lorries!

I started calling Kenya ‘lorry land’ during some of those drives since I’ve never been in and amongst so many lorries on the road anywhere – they were non stop (even the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco didn’t see quite as many, and that was scary enough)  often we’d be in a lorry sandwich or constantly trying to overtake numerous lorries….that’s if the lorries weren’t trying to over take us….on two lane/two way traffic roads – including along the cliff edge of the Great Rift Valley. 😳

Two things to note here. Brace yourself for some scary lorry moments in Kenya, plenty of near misses (I’ll add a clip if I can find any) as well as some quirky sightings while you’re on the move – like the motorbike whizzing by the highway with a live sheep wedged between two people…looked like they might have been taking it to market. Then there was the live goat tied to the roof of a van!!

Across all the national parks, land cruiser/jeep wars is a thing. If there’s any good sightings – the vehicles, adrenaline and determined drivers liaising on their radios –  makes for some argy bargy on four wheels. 

Strong advice: avoid driving at night due to the heightened risk of road accidents.

Kenya: “Major beneficiary of chinese investment, a world leader in terms of cashless payment apps”  🧐

You could get attacked by an animal: well it’s not impossible!

But as with most unfortunate experiences in life, it’s unlikely, especially if you follow the safety advice given to you by reputable experienced game drivers/guides, accommodation staff and professionals working with and living close to the animals, plus a dollop of common sense and gut instinct, and respect for the animals and their habitat.

Book your safari through a reputable company with good reviews and don’t get so overly relaxed that you throw caution to the wind – stay sharp. All the scenarios I’ve come across where things went wrong on a safari tend to boil down to not following one or all of the points above. 

And again, for the record….lions will likely be the least of your worries – they rarely attack humans unless provoked or you ignore safety advice….it’s the hippos and baboons you need to be more alert to!! Hippos attack and kill more humans in Kenya each year than any other animal, and from what I hear, baboons can be quite vicious (at least where food is concerned, I think, so don’t flash it about when you know they’re around)….though I’ve also seen people have harmless encounters. 

Elephant Close Up

One evening we were driving back to the lodge in Masai Mara along a very narrow dirt road lined with thick low bushes to the left and right…like being inside a garden maze.

Someone at the back of our vehicle literally screamed, STOP, LOOK, OMG…… (thankfully that didn’t scare the animals).

It took a while before any of us clocked what the commotion was about, until our eyes adjusted to looking through the gaps in the bushes to our left to see lots of elephants peering at us through bush….if I’d stuck my hand out of the window my arm would have been half way through the bush, that’s how close we were…..there was a herd of elephants in a narrow space all looking at us in silence, while we looked at them – what a moment!

Below: the fanciest toilet break/stop of the trip at this beautiful hotel in the middle of Amboseli National Park:

Any Surprises About Kenya?

I knew Kenya was a global lead in terms of safaris but didn’t know they were a world lead for flowers!

Kenyans drive on the left, like we do in the UK and the plug sockets are the same as the UK too!!

Tea seemed to be more popular than coffee as the go-to beverage, despite being a big coffee producer.

My game driver explained that polygamy is found in Kenyan culture, but mainly in the remote villages. A man is responsible for providing all his wives with their own home (each) and a business for each wife to run. The man also carries the main responsibility in providing to make sure all his children have everything they need. In the cities, it’s too expensive to have more than one wife. If things aren’t going well between a man and one of his wives, the elders in the village act as mediators/marriage counsellors to try and help. Divorce isn’t really a formality as the marriages are not carried out with legal documents to require a formal divorce….well not in the remote areas.

“I wouldn’t mind two wives” said my game driver – he didn’t have any at the time.

Kids work a long day

Apparently, primary school days run from 8am – 5pm, that’s great prep for the adult working day later down the line I guess. English is widely spoken in Kenya and children learn the language in school, it’s not optional. Game driver intel.

Photography Tips

I remember listening to a podcast about visiting Kenya, where a National Geographic photographer commented on how the best photographs are not always the ones that appear ‘photogenically sharp or well captured’ – sometimes the best photograph might be the one that brings you the most memories about that time/place when you look back on it…even if it’s wobbly, blurry and imperfect – and that we ought to try and take pictures that mean something to us rather than just trying to get a tick box shot or instagram-worthy shot. 

On a more technical note, he did suggest trying to capture some sort of motion in the shot, suggesting some sort of movement or action in the shot….which tells a story, or snippet of what was happening at that moment. 

Not sure I really thought about this while I was there but I have thousands of pics, many of which are blurry lol, and many that I instantly dismissed as ‘will be deleted later’ but maybe I’ll look over them again and re-think that.

Just had a thought from some new future blog post titles “Imperfect Photographs”….with a memory or story attached – watch this space, and feel free to do the same!

On safari tips more generally, gather other people’s tips, you’ll find plenty out there when researching – e.g. Richard Coniff (wildlife and human behaviour author) https://strangebehaviors.wordpress.com/2024/07/14/the-pleasures-perils-of-an-african-safari/2/   

Run-of-the-mill Safari/Kenya Tips

1. Don’t forget to purchase your visa online beforehand – you need to show it at the airport when you arrive in Kenya
2. If any of your transfers involve a light aircraft flight there’ll probably be a 15kg weight limit on those small planes. 
3. Don’t pack duct tape in your hand luggage. Heathrow took it from my hand luggage since I could have been planning to tape people up and hold them hostage like they do in films 😂 I only brought it in case I had to transfer luggage to a soft bag later and was worried in case the soft bag ripped or tore (but ended up not needing a soft bag, thankfully). 
4. If there are any toiletries or first aid you can’t do without where possible buy some more in the aiport to keep in your hand luggage…in case anything happens to your checked luggage. On safai you’re out in the sticks of the sticks for much of the time, it’s not like you can find a familiar shop on a whim to pick up what you need. Two travellers I met had a very traumatic ordeal with flights and lost luggage – they had travelled via the US, with multiple flights. Keep some clothes in your hand luggage as well.
5. Clothes-wise, think dusty, hot, long periods sat in confined spaces and sometimes cold and chilly first thing. If your vehicle isn’t closed (with fully sealed doors and windows all around) then think about this even more, especially in case of cold, rain and dust. Earthy tones also hide much of the dust you’ll get covered in. It gets very bumpy at times so a sports bra might be a good idea ladies….but bare in mind it can reach highs of around the 40c mark in the summer. On dust, eye drops are a good idea for a quick refresh after a game drive, and some sort of face cover/bandana in case of any very dusty moments, especially in a fully open vehicle.
6. From what I can tell, and from local intel, open vehicles are more of a ‘South African’ safari trait, and much less so in the East African countries like Kenya, where (nowadays at least) vehicles tend to me more enclosed and secure, though I did see one or two that were open – check this out with whoever you’re booking with beforehand if you’re particular. I also ‘heard’ there are things they do in South Africa to make the animals (like lions) more relaxed and likely to come right up to the vehicles…..whilst in East Africa they have new policies now that mean if a lion or large animal comes close to the vehicle, game drivers should aim to move away, to avoid animals becoming too comfortable with close proximity to humans and vehicles 👌
7. Avoid wearing black – not just because of dust but I heard there are more flies during the rainy season, they bite and will target you the most if you wear black or dark blue clothing, along with other insects generally.
8. Most people dress casually day and night, on game drives and back at the lodges in the evening – so there’s no pressure to be fancy, you’ll probably be too tired anyway.
9. Pack a good torch. Apparently power cuts are not uncommon, though this didn’t happen during my trip. Each lodge provided a big tourch, usually on the side of your bed but the light from them was poor – probably needed new batteries.
10. I mentioned this before – invest in a good pair of binoculars. If ever there was a time and a place, a safari is it, you won’t regret it. Some people borrowed poor quality ones from friends and were frustrated with them….so shop around and get something you know you won’t be disappointed with.
11. Don’t forget insect repellent. I’m a big fan of mixing essential oils like citronella, lemon oil, peppermint oil, lemon grass oil, as well as a bit of the shop bought Deet based spray. That said, I only came home with one bite thanks to keeping skin covered most of the time.
12. Don’t wear bright colours, try to blend in???? This is what most of the traveller advice tells you. However, my game driver reckons this advice is part of a ploy to get people to buy ‘safari clothes’ and that it doesn’t really make any difference what colours you wear, especially since most animals are colour blind and you’re in the vehicle the whole time anyway….after this, I immediately went to the lodge gift shop and bought a bright red T shirt lol and wore it to the the Masai Village visit that same afternoon. That said, monkeys have been known to sound alarm calls when they spot humans wearing leopard-print, scaring off the other animals – so probably best to avoid animal prints. 
13. Bring snacks on the long drives if you need to – our vehicles had large water containers for refills (but remember what I said before about toilet breaks….the bumpy drives will intensify the need for the loo if you’re drinking a lot of water and you might end up having to relieve yourself while watching out for wild animals).
14. Add at least one extra nights‘ stay at the end of your safari before flying home to get some rest, you’ll thank yourself – if I did this trip again I’d try and add at least two more nights at the end…..or maybe a Mombasa or Diani beach extension.

“Bring some toilet rolls when you’re out on game drives – you might have to use the wilderness!!” A Youtuber

“Educate yourself about local traditions and basic laws!!! We encountered an issue with the police and military because one day we didn’t stand up or pause our activities when they raised the Kenyan flag silently. This was due to our unawareness of the law. Although we managed to resolve the situation, it was a serious scare!”  https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/229827808/posts/19  

What Not  To Pack!

1. No carrier bags, or plastic bags like zip lock/food bags in Kenya they’re illegal. Don’t pack any in your suitcases or other luggage either.  
2. No drones allowed. I think you might have to apply for some sort of special permit before arriving in Kenya. 
3. No military clothing – that’s illegal, you could be arrested.  

Below: Kenya-Tanzania border

Other thoughts on Safaris

A safari is about as organic as it gets. On our last afternoon game drive the wind was picking up and the clouds were turning that deep purply grey as the rains began to creep over and finally began pelting down against the vehicle. “Many of the animals will be happy the rain is coming, it will wash off a lot of the pests on their skin” said my game driver. We meandered past never ending plains of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, a lone elephant, giraffe, and various types of antelope…..all grazing peacefully against the moody backdrop.  

Stillness, the sound of the birds, and other soft sounds of nature can be a five star experience too. As well as having a good game driver/guide, keeping a mindset of ‘soaking up the moments’ whatever those moments happen to be, and remaining ever curious of the little things as well as the bigger things,  – this will give you a richer experience, on safari or anywhere for that matter. 

In case you missed any, you can find all my other Kenya posts here and if you’re planning a similar first time trip yourself, well I’m truly excited for you….enjoy every minute!!