getting around in kenya

Dear sjharvey ,

Hello!

First congratulations for wishing to do a tour of this beautiful country. While you are thinking of doing this tour on your own, i will advise you consider the fact that you are not very conversant with roads around and to the parks.
The selection of the parks is good, i would advise you contact a local tour company for the safari, you seem to be money conscious or on a tight budget. Please go for budget companies-Maasai Trails East Africa, Charterlink Tours, Plan safari among others.

You can do a day a trip in Lake Nakuru, Nairobi national park. But as for the Maasai Mara and Amboseli would be a wrong decision since they are far apart from Nairobi and to be able to offer the best of this top end parks give 2-3 days minimum. I would share my iterinaray with a local company if you feel like comparing notes. Email me:roselynbauer@hotmail.com

The road down to Maasai Mara is getting worse and worse with corrugations and probably won't see a grader until the beginning of the high season (June), so I would highly recommend getting a professional driver who has experience with this road rather than driving yourself. I'm from Australia, where we do have our fair share of corrugated roads, but we just went to Maasai Mara this month and it was really something else!
Dependable drivers in Nairobi can be found, but if you leave it up to when you are wandering the streets, the smooth-talking touts can get a hold of you before you know what's going on (although if you've travelled Africa before you will be aware of that :)). I would recommend searching online and having some email conversations with a few operators before you arrive to get a sense of who you might deal with. It will also save time on the ground.
There is public transport to Nakuru town, where you could find a local driver to take you into the park. For Mara, you can get a bus to Narok, then there are some mini buses that head towards Sekanani gate where there's plenty of accommodation and many have their own safari vehicles. Or arrange with the accommodation to pick you up from Narok. Doing it this way is a bit of a hassle though and if you don't have much time, could end up wasting your precious holidays. And I'm not sure if you've heard about all the bus accidents that seem to be constantly on the news - until something is done to rectify that situation, I would not recommend using public transport (I just took the bus from Kisumu to Nairobi and the driver was on his phone nearly all the way, and this is only a couple of days after two buses collided head on killing about 16 people! I was a bit scared).
Anyway, to answer you other question, it is possible to do day trips into the parks. All the three parks you mention have much more affordable accommodation outside the gates.
I hope this helps a little bit. All the best!
Tracey

Hi sjharvey,

firstly your choice of Masaai Mara, Amboseli and Nakuru national park is excellent. These are some of the top parks in Kenya. although the parks are far away from each other, logistics are not impossible. The best ways to travel to these destinations is by road or air.

it is advisable to use a local tour operator/guide. local tour operators/guides have excellent knowledge of the roads to these destinations. on you second question, yes you can hire a land rover and a driver to take you to these parks.

i could share with you my local tour guide who could give you a ideal itinerary to these destinations. email me: kaflice@gmail.com

[Quote]:
- Is it feasible and safe to drive ourselves to Lake Nakuru and then to Masaii Mara? Or can we hire dependable drivers in Nairobi? Or are there daily shuttles we can tap into from Nairobi to these places?
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- If we don't have our own vehicle, can we hire a land rover and driver in the parks to take us around? Is is possible to just do day trip safaris in and around Amboseli or Masaai Mara?
[End Quote]

Tracybell’s succinct post is spot on and covers the queries extensively. .
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Therefore I will just add a couple of minor points:
(1) As you have driven in Africa before, you will be aware that Road Side Rescue (AA and the like) is virtually non-existent. Therefore in the event of mechanical breakdown, you are completely exposed to the elements - including bandits – where the roads are deserted.
(2) The downside with using a local driver is that you do not know who you are getting – and while some will be professional and courteous, you may end up with a sour faced, ‘I-don’t-care’ character who will just ruin your holiday. I would strongly advise that if you do intend to use a local driver, do so on a daily wage rate, (or hire him/her on an excursion-by-excursion basis) and have a back up plan in case you decide to ditch them.
(3) I have no reservations about communication with local agencies via the Internet, but I would not commit/ enter into any contracts based on such conversations or transfer any funds as a down payment. I would only part with my money AFTER I have examined the car and accepted it to be roadworthy (and capable of long distance travel). Even then, it would be worthwhile to hire the car for short periods of time – and renew the hire agreement if the vehicle proves to be satisfactory.
(4) Public transport is a hassle free alternative, but as Tracey pointed out, it is time consuming; and you will waste valuable holiday time commuting between destinations. For example, if you had your own vehicle you could leave your hotel in Nairobi at 09:00 hrs and be present at the Nakuru Park gates at midday. If you used public means, the time taken to commute to the long-distance shuttle terminus in Downtown Nairobi, the time spent waiting for a vehicle to fill up, the time taken to travel to Nakuru Town, the time to board another shuttle and commute to the park gates [when put together] means you will not arrive at the park before 16:00 – 17:00.
(5) Re Maasai Mara: It is possible to stay outside the park (much cheaper) and take day trips into the park. But IMHO, it is not worth it. When I spend such a large amount of money on park fees etc, I would rather pay a little more and push the boat right out. This is especially so where I do not intend to return to Kenya in the near future

Kind Regards

Mwenyeji

I've travelled a lot in Kenya and I would suggest a company... if you're hiring a vehicle then it may not be that much more to go on an organised trip as this will include all the costs, including entry fees. You'd probably be able to barter given there are four of you and also you'll be doing more than one trip.