Advantages: Stunning scenery, amazing wildlife, holiday of a lifetime
Disadvantages: cold mornings and evenings, very early mornings, unsafe food and water

...My family and I travelled to Kenya for a 10 day safari with British Airways Holidays. I honestly can't praise the experience enough, and if you can raise the cash it is a definite holiday to remember. The highlight of our trip was a the Masai Mara national park. We rose early every morning (you are must likely to see animals at dusk and sunrise)and set out in our safari van. Our guide was friendly, cheerful and extremely informative. He knew where to go to find the best wildlife and also knew how close we could get - one time he had to make a quick get-a-way from a herd of angry male elephant. It is so crucial that you feel 100% secure when you are out there, so a personal guide is a must. Take your camera, video camera or even tape recorder to secure that the stunning scenery, wildlife and sounds are captured indelibly. Another tip... Read review

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Advantages: An experience of a life time
Disadvantages: Long times spent bumping on unmade roads, getting covered in dust, so be prepared

...As part of a recent Safari holiday in Kenya, six of us travelled with Somak Holidays for two and a half days at The Mara Simba Lodge. Its well bumping down all those Kenyan dirt tracks for hours to get to the Mara. The Simba Lodge is a recently built lodge on the edge of The Mara, it sits in among the trees created from local materials along the edge of the river bank. The communal areas are all open sided and overlook the river where crocodile baiting takes place at sunset. A log fire buns in the bar each night with a couple of musicians playing. Rooms were great, very clean and spacious, food, wine and service were also to be recommended. We went on two game drives each day, and our wonderful driver found us all the Big Five managing to jostle us in to good positions for wonderful photos. The most exciting time we had was on a sunrise... Read review

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Advantages: Fabulous views ,lots of wildlife, rewarding
Disadvantages: Hard work, primitive, fairly expensive

...Mt Kenya national park is less famous than the Masai Mara or Kilimanjaro but has everything the adventurous spirit could want. The mountain itself is the main draw for most people but the park itself has plenty of wildlife and is much less crowded than the big game parks. The climb up and back takes 5-6 days and is pretty strenuous. Most nights there are huts to stay in but camping is necessary on some routes. Listening at night in your tent to a herd of buffalo grazing a few metres away is an unforgettable experience ! It is more or less compulsory to take a guide and porter - you won't want to cook your own food or put up your tent anyway. Amateur climbers can reach Lenana point, just short of 5,000 metres.... Read review

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Advantages: Weather, wildlife, adventure, experience, mad
Disadvantages: not long enough!

...Went to the Masia Mara on safari over the summer and have to say it was the most brilliant experience you'll ever encounter. I was only there for 3 days but boy where they a mighty 3 days. I was based around Lake Navisha on my Kenya trip, and traveled to the Masia Mara by rented Landys. This trip was long enough, the roads where fine until me just past Nakuru where we where of the beaten track on our way to the Masia Mara (the roads just not so good!). When we arrived at our safari accomodation in the middle of nowhere we recieved complimentry pineapple drinks, and where then shown to our tents. Now these where luxury with warm showers, flushing toilets and comfy beds. The food was amazing, morning, day and night. To top this all off the safari was magnificent. Our guide was a local Masia Warrior who just directed our convoy... Read review

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Advantages: Once in a life time experince. Magic destination. Luxury accomodaton
Disadvantages: Cost,

...Key points Medical Issues:- It is strongly recommended to see you GP at least 4 weeks before travel. ( 2 weeks at a push). You will have to be immunised against Yellow Fever ( around £45), along with all the standard immunisations (Hepatitis A, Typhoid, etc) Anti malarial should be taken at all time. The best ones on the market at the moment are called Malarone. They happen to be the most expensive (around £70 for a 2 week holiday) but there the most effective (95%- 100%). Weather:- Most travellers travel at peak time in our summer time. In kenya however it is their winter and the coldest time of thew year. It is still very warm during the day. In the Mara however besure to take warm clothes as in the early mornings and at night, it can get very cold. What to expect:- You can plausibly say that after a few days in the Mara you... Read review

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Advantages: learning about an amazing culture/stunning scenery/up close with the animals
Disadvantages: food and drink where we were staying was not inclusive so rather expensive

...I travelled to the Mara as a part of a seven day safari. I stayed at the Serena lodge for one night and spent two fantastic days here. The beauty of the Maasai Mara is the abundance of wildlife, we went on four game drives and were not disappointed once. Here in the space of two days we marvelled at lions, lion cubs and lionesses (one would have been enough for me - I was thrilled!) we watched them view "their" territory early in the morning and sleep side by side at night. We also saw many other wonderful animals such as a cheetah and her cubs,a leopard, meercats,hyenas, zebras, wilderbeast and many many more. The photographic opportunities were surreal, really stunning shots! We saw the sun set over the Acacia trees as we finished our game drives - a truly african experience. We were taken to the mara river where we saw crocodile... Read review

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Advantages: see opinion
Disadvantages: see opinion

...Guess who won a 5 day trip to the Masai Mara National Park? This was something I was truly looking forward to. I've never been much of a beach to hotel and back again type tourist, so this would be real adventure in a place I'd never been to, and I was horribly excited. First and foremost, though, was the safety aspect. I went off to the doctor who consulted the map and told me to have the Yellow Fever jab, and to take anti-malaria tablets. The side effects of both of them could be pretty nasty, but I had to remember that they wouldn't be half as bad as the full blown illnesses. Plus, the Yellow Fever jab would last for 10 years so at least there was some milage in that pain. The malaria pills, Paludrine, had to be taken for a few weeks before leaving then for 4 weeks after our return. They were likely to cause headaches, stomach... Read review

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Advantages: Fantastic holiday, see all types of animals at close range
Disadvantages: I got food poisoning

...It was summer 1999 when we set off for the experience of a lifetime which turned out to be above and beyond our expectations! Destination 1: Nairobi We stayed in the holiday Inn for our first night in Kenya. The hotel was lovely - clean, friendly, comfortable, good facilities, excellent food and most important of all, drinking water! We asked about venturing into town as we had a day to waste before setting off on safari. Our query was met with surprise and we realised hat this was obviously not the done thing! We soon found out why! We were probably the only British people out on the streets and as a result we attracted much attention (not all enjoyable). We were guided (for commission) around the markets and enjoyed some amazingly beautiful wood carvings etc. Destination 2:Masai Mara We spent a week on safari by the end... Read review

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