Jambo Kenya

Kenya has been a bucket list destination for us for a long time. Not only because Kenya is home to the animals of The Big Five: the lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino. We are also curious about daily Kenyan life, tribal heritage, and not to forget the magical red sunsets. One thing was certain: we definitely wanted to visit this country with our children during our expat time in Dubai, because it is actually a stone's throw from Dubai.

And no sooner said than done, off we went. The first time to Africa for our children and another milestone, the first time below the equator (the latter also applied to Valentijn).

The country consists of a series of nature parks where it is an oasis of wildlife: it offers wide open savannah plains with the presence of the Big 5, volcanic landscapes, winding rivers, a beautiful coastline with white sandy beaches, lush wetlands, and much more! It's like being in the movie 'The Lion King' or 'Out of Africa'.

Hakuna Matata

Besides 'Jambo Jambo' (hello hello), 'Hakuna Matata' are the most Swahili words we heard. The phrase originated in Kenya. Meaning 'No trouble' with the two words translated as 'Hakuna' means 'no' or 'there is no' while 'matata' means 'trouble'. The phrase got famous after the song 'Jambo Bwana' by a kenyan band called The Mushrooms.

Heritage

Kenya has a rich and hospitable heritage with the tribes, the authentic inhabitants of the country. There are more than 50 different tribes, many of which have retained their own identity and customs, while others have largely westernized. Some important population groups are the Kikuyu (20%), the Luyia (14%), the Kamba (11%), the Luo (13%) and the Maasai (1.5%). We visited a Maasai Village during our trip. 

The downside of Kenya is also that she owns the largest slum in Africa: Kibera. We drove past here on our way back from Lake Navaisha to Nairobi. Here a group of 10-12 people live on 1-2 dollars a day.

Language and colonial past

There are two main languages spoken in Kenya – Swahili and English - however, Swahili is more widely spoken than English. From 1895 to 1963, the area that became modern Kenya was under British colonial rule as part of British East Africa. Kenya became fully independent on December 12, 1963. In Kenya you can pay with US dollars as well as with KES, the Kenyan shilling.

Temperature during rainy season

April is the rainy season, and lot of rain can fall during this 'long' rainy season. But we were not deterred by it, because if you investigate a bit further you will find out the rain usually falls in short heavy showers in the late afternoon, evening or at night. And that was the case, we had most rain during the night and a lot of sunshine during the day, so it didn't affect our safari at all.

Additional benefit: the rain refreshes nature and supplies rivers and waterholes with fresh water. Because the rain provides greenery and lushness, Kenya is actually at its most beautiful during the rainy season.

Another big advantage is that there are far fewer visitors in April and May than other seasons. This gave us a more intimate safari because we were not standing with hundreds of jeeps looking at one lion family. And if you like to take photos, this is also a perfect period. The dramatic clouds provide a nice contrast, which you often don't get with a clear blue sky.

Temperature during the day: 25-28 degrees and at night it can cool down to 15 degrees. At Lake Navaisha it is much colder there (18-20 degrees), because you are on a plateau of 2000 meters altitude. In Mombasa the weather is much warmer (32-35 degrees) and there is high humidity. That took some getting used to after our visit to Lake Navaisha.

For our visit to Kenya we brought clothing to cover ourselves against mosquitoes, sun and the cold (evenings), but if you have also a beach holiday included in your Kenya trip, you should also pack light clothing.

Visa requirements

All foreign visitors, regardless of nationality, can enter Kenya with a visa for tourism or business travel for stays up to 90 days, as of January 1, 2024. Travelers can apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) online prior to travel: https://www.evisa-kenya.com. We paid about 100 US dollars for our group. 

Yellow fever & malaria

The advice for Kenya is to take a one-off yellow fever vaccination and also take a preventive malaria treatment. We took our yellow fever vaccination 16 days before our trip to Kenya (this should be at least 10 days). Proof of your yellow fever vaccination may be requested when you arrive at the airport in Kenya. You also need proof of yellow fever vaccination if you want to cross the border into Tanzania (for example if you want to travel from Maasai Mara NP in Kenya to Serengeti NP in Tanzania).

Even though the malaria mosquito in East Africa seems to be declining, it is teeming with mosquitoes and for us the following applies: 'better safe than sorry'. We started our malaria treatment 2 days before departure and continued it until 7 days after returning to Dubai.

Local travel agency

We hired a local travel agency for our trip in Kenya. We had planned our route ourselves, and they booked all accommodations including a meal plan for us (except the first night in Nairobi) and we had our own safari landrover with driver/guide during the trip. This was so nice and safe. This agency also arranged/booked and paid our entrance fees to the parks and our domestic flight from Nairobi to Mombasa with Jambojet.

Our highlights

We spent 10 days in Kenya and combined a safari trip with a relaxing holiday at a beach resort on the coast of Kenya. Below we will tell you about our journey day by day.

Wildlife photography 

The best of Canon photo album 

Day 1: Nairobi

We left Dubai at 4pm and arrived before 8pm in Nairobi. We had already arranged a driver in advance who took us to the hotel in half an hour. When we got there, we had something to eat and drink on the roof terrace with a view over Nairobi. 

View from the roof terrace of our hotel

Day 2: Heading for our first destination: Maasai Mara 

The next morning our driver Sammie (this was our driver for the next 6 days) picked us up at the hotel at 7pm. He immediately said that it was very busy on the road to our first destination (Maasai Mara National Reserve), and that we should take into account a 6-hour drive (normally this can be done in 4 hours).

Along the way we stopped 3 times at tourist spots, and he took a longer detour route to save time by avoiding traffic jams. This detour or shortcut was challenging, with cars in front of us getting stuck and narrow roads with a ravine below us. Beautiful route, and we took quite a few photos from the car and at the stops.

We arrived at our lodge around 3am, where we were going to stay for 3 nights. It is a beautiful - in colonial style - lodge. We had 2 connecting cabins with a balcony and a view of the Talek River, where large crocodiles and hippos were relaxing.

Some photos of our lodge in Maasai Mara (some were taken with our drone)

Sunset game drive

After lunch, we had our first game drive (another word for safari) and introduction to the wildlife of Kenya. Sammie gave us a brief instruction on what we were and were not allowed to do during the safari. For example, do not scream with enthusiasm, but approach animals in silence and keep your arms and hands always inside the vehicle.

Masai Mara National Reserve is Kenya's flagship park. Three of the Big Five are commonly seen, but sightings of leopards and black rhinos are a bit trickier (most rhinos are spotted in the northern part of the Mara Triangle). The reserve is one of the best in East Africa for big cats, and smaller predators such as the bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal and spotted hyena are also present. Antelopes include the impala, reedbuck, Thomson's gazelle, eland, waterbuck and topi, while the buffalo, vervet monkey, warthogs, (blue)wildebeest, hartebeest, crab-eating mongoose, zebra, baboon, green monkey, elephant and giraffe are relaxed and easy to spot. We also saw birds like the secretary bird, black-bellied bustard, lilac-breasted roller, southern ground hornbill, vulgar, (black crowned) crane, helmeted guineafowl, grey kestrel and East African (common) ostrich.

When entering the park, Sammie had raised the roof of the Land Rover, so that we had a beautiful view of the entire savannah. What an oasis of peace here. Sammie tells us all about the flora and fauna of this area and answers all the questions we have. This guy is an expert!

During this game drive, we already saw 3 of the 'big 5', the lion (lioness with 2 cubs), elephant and the buffalo. Also giraffes, zebras, impalas, warthogs, wildebeest (gnus), Thomson's gazelles, and many more. We drove back to the lodge while enjoying a beautiful, red/orange sunset.

During dinner, it started to rain and lasted for about the whole night. Such a lovely downpour!

What a treat: a mother lion with 2 cubs

Day 3: Full day safari in Maasai Mara 

Luckily, the rain stopped and it was a lovely, sunny day. When we drove into the park, it looks so fresh and lush. We immediately saw several frolicking impalas, antelopes, Thomson's gazelles, topis, buffalos, zebras and giraffes. We are in love with these funny warthogs families, they are so cute. They remind us of Pumbaa from the movie The Lion King. 

Animals that we frequently encounter during game driving

Soon Sammie receives a message on the radio that 3 lions have been spotted so we rushed there. Fortunately, upon arrival there were only a few other jeeps, so we had a good view of these beautiful animals. The male lion decided to find a spot under a tree, and the 2 female lions followed him. Due to the heavy rain in recent days, they stopped in front of our jeep to drink from a puddle on the road. We viewed this scene with admiration. 

A group of 3 lions, 1 male, 2 females

A new message on the radio: a cheetah family has been spotted somewhere else on the plain. Again we 'hastened' there (in Kenya they don't rush, everything here is 'pole pole'). And yes, it couldn't be better. Mother cheetah has no fewer than four cubs and they have gathered around a typical native African tree, one of the many types of acacias. 

Then mother cheetah decided to climb the tree, after which one of the cubs decided to follow her. It took the little one a lot of strength, but eventually he managed to join her. Together they stared across the plain, and the three little ones left behind kept staring up and followed closely behind the mother. After a while it was enough and mother decided to climb back down. The little one followed with a nice jump at the end. We could look at this scene endlessly. How beautiful.

The whole cheetah family story in pictures

We decided to continue and in the meantime we were working up an appetite.. Sammie had arranged packed lunches for us through the lodge. He drove us uphill for a beautiful lunch spot with a view over the valley, but along the way he spotted 3 lionesses. We had to have a closer look and drove their direction. We stopped the jeep en they walked right past our car. At that moment, we were the only ones here, what a treat, this performance was for just us. Sammie reported the location over the radio, and other jeeps immediately arrived. That's how things go. By now we had seen enough, so we continued towards lunch.

Female lions passing our jeep 

We sat here for almost an hour and enjoyed the delicious lunch that our hotel had prepared for us. Well organized!

Lunch time

After lunch we went to the Mara River. The annual great migration of the wildebeest takes place here. We have seen the photos, beautiful, but unfortunately with hundreds of cars parked along the river. Now we had this view to ourselves and we saw hippos and large crocodiles relaxing in the river. They looked like rocks in the river. A few buffalos had also entrenched themselves here. 

Mara River

We continued to the border with Tanzania and the Serengeti Park. This park is on the World Heritage List and, just like Maasai Mara, it is teeming with wildlife: more than 2 million ungulates, 4,000 lions, 1,000 leopards, 550 cheetahs and about 500 bird species inhabit an area of ​​almost 15,000 square kilometers big. We took some photos of the border crossing and we 'illegally' set foot on Tanzanian territory. Reminds us of Boudewijn de Groot's song 'only the birds fly from North to West Berlin'; the same applies here: only the animals are allowed to move freely from Maasai Mara to Serengeti. We agreed, we will save this destination for later. 

At the border with Tanzania

In the meantime it was time to go back to the lodge. This was at least a 1-1.5 hour drive from the border. We saw many beautiful animals along the way, such as jackals and hyenas. We also had another 'bathroom break' and we were immediately attacked by the 'sales ladies' of the Maasai. Oh well, it made for a beautiful, colorful photo.

On our way back to the lodge

We returned to the lodge around half past five and enjoyed a sundowner on the terrace with the crocodiles in the river below us. Let's call it a day. One with a golden edge!

Sundowner in our lodge 

Day 4: Starting with a sunrise game drive 

We had another safari day ahead of us, but there was also something else planned for today, more about that later. We left at 6am this morning for a sunrise game drive. Upon entering the park, it is still dark, but the sun soon rose. It was a beautiful, fresh, crisp sunrise. We saw all the animals, we had already seen, passing by again, only this time we saw them woke up. Hyenas, who were looking for leftovers from the day before and a herd of elephants against the soft morning light, very beautiful. 

Then a message came on the radio. Sammie had a surprise in store for us. We rushed there, without even knowing what he knew. And there, about 30 meters away, was grazing in front of us a fairly rare black rhino, also one of the big 5! It is believed that there are only between 35 and 50 black rhinos left in the Masai Mara and the Serengeti. In recent decades, the rhino population in this area has suffered greatly from poaching: the number of rhinos fell from 1,000 to fewer than 50 individuals. Such a pity.  

This was the highlight of this morning drive, and we watched for a long time until the rhino disappeared from view. Around half past eight, we arrived back at the lodge and had a proper breakfast, as we were really hungry from this early game drive. 

Rare Black Rhino

Visiting a traditional Maasai Village

Then we explored their circular village ('boma'), surrounded by a fence of branches to protect their livestock from lions and other predators. They live in small self-made mud huts, and we were allowed to view the inside of one of the huts. There was a small central living space with a fire and 3 'bedrooms' where 10-12 people lived and slept. We wonder 'how' without electricity, a shower and in the middle of nowhere.

We also received a 'fire making' workshop and the women of the village performed a song for us in which we (Lieke and Sandra) were invited to join. We couldn’t refuse.

While it seems to us that these people have had to give up or miss out on a lot of convenience, for them it is a wonderfully simple life without ringing cell phones and full agendas. We couldn’t live like this, but for the Maasai, this harmonious life in and with nature is a conscious choice within their comfort zone. Each to their own!

Visiting a Maasai Village

Last sunset game drive 

We spent the afternoon with a book by the pool. Wonderfully relaxing! At 4pm, it was time for our last game drive in the Maasai Mara. This time we went longer, because we wanted to witness the full sunset on the plain.

It started to rain a bit during this drive, and that also had an impact on the animals. We saw giraffes 'necking', herds of impalas moving to hiding places and a hippo came out of the water.

Pictures of our sunset game drive; necking giraffes, hippo on land and sheltering impalas

The rain also gave dramatic skies and luckily it became dry again during the drive and we could start our final sunset in the Maasai Mara with the roof up. Sammie had parked the jeep in a nice spot from where we could watch the sun set beautifully. 

These fiery red skies are typically African, right? 

Day 5: Lake Navaisha 

After breakfast, we left for our second destination: Lake Navaisha, also known as the 'hippo lake'. Although we were sad to leave the Mara, we were also looking forward to what else Kenya had to offer. Sammie indicated that it would certainly be a 4-hour drive, but with breaks and traffic delays, probably 5 hours. Traveling by road in Kenya is really quite a challenge.

We took two breaks along the way and around 2 o'clock we arrive at our 'new' resort on the lake. At check-in we received strict instructions: if you want to walk to the lake, you have to go with a guard, you should never go alone because the hippos can be very aggressive. Okay, noted!

Once again, this lodge was also in Colonial style and we had 'connecting' rooms, which was just very convenient. These rooms were incredibly large, and most importantly, had perfect WiFi (which is not common in Kenya). Children were especially happy with this. After we got settled, we had lunch.

Some pics of the lodge at Lake Naivasha

Hippo lake

After lunch we went to the lake with a guard. Unfortunately the weather was not too good, very cloudy and a bit rainy.

The lake is severely affected by climate change, which causes the water level to rise and the trees to become submerged, causing them to eventually die. This gives a somewhat sad, or ghostly, appearance (at least that's what we thought). As we were walking, a dead branch fell from the tree right next to us, just saying... From the jetty and the boathouse we could see the many hippos in the lake. 

Partially submerged dead trees in Lake Naivasha, due to rising water levels

Walking safari

After this mini excursion, we went on a walking safari with the same guard through the park next to the resort. We were able to walk among the zebras and giraffes, these animals are apparently used to people. It produced some pretty nice photos. The sun even came back. 

Walking through wildlife

In the evening, we went for dinner and afterwards, we went to play pool and we sat around the fireplace with a nightcap. As we walked back to our cabins, one of the guards asked if we wanted to see some grazing hippos. The hippos come out of the water in the evening to eat. Of course we wanted that. We spotted them less than 10 meters away for us. Amazing!

Grazing hippos in our backyard

Day 6: Game drive in Hell's Gate National Park 

Today, we went for a game drive in Hell's Gate National Park, which is located south of Lake Naivasha in Kenya. It was only a 10 minute drive from our lakeside stay.

Hell's Gate is completely different from Maasai Mara. It offers a rugged landscape full of gorges, cracks and volcanic rocks. In addition, it is more wooded. Lions, cheetahs and leopards live there, but in small numbers, so you have to be lucky to spot them (which we, unfortunately, didn't have). But nevertheless, we saw enough during this game drive: (families of) warthogs, zebras, gazelles, impalas, giraffes, hyenas, buffalos, waterbucks and baboons. After 3 days on the savannah, we had to get used to this landscape a bit, but we are also super enthusiastic about this park. How lucky we are that we have the time to experience several places and parks.

Photos taken during the game drive. The pointed rock is 'Fisher's Tower'

There are several things to do in the park: you can climb in different places, also a bicycle safari is possible (with a guide), there are several beautiful hikes to do (that's what we chose), you can bathe in the thermal pools or 'just' enjoy your game drive.

Hiking The Ol Njorowa Gorge

By far the most popular sight and hike in Hell's Gate is Ol Njorowa Gorge, also known from the film The Lion King, because the rock and valley were used for the presentation of Simba and the fight between the two male lions. This gorge is a rainbow of colorful rock layers, carved into the ground by rushing water and the ever-dividing Great Rift Valley. The gorge is home to a number of sights: from the steam jets 'Hell's Kitchen' to a number of hot and cool springs.

Lion King's Rock, or locally called, 'pride rock' in Hell's Gate

Unfortunately, due to a tragic accident at the gorge in 2019, visitors can no longer enter the gorge independently. This meant, we had to hire a local guide, Hassan, who took us into the gorge. But he actually made our hike even more special by adding his knowledge and expertise of this area. He gave us, for example, a special mud treatment to heal wounds on the skin and showed us how to make henna from the seeds of a henna bush.

There were plenty of guides available at the entrance to Ol Njorowa, and we could choose from three different routes: we did the medium trail which was 4.6 km and took us, including stops, climbing and picture moments, about 2 hours and 15 minutes. We paid for our group around 35 US dollars excluding a tip for our wonderful guide. 

The hike was truly amazing. There are some steep climbs, but it is doable. We wouldn't have wanted to miss this, and it was one of the highlights of our trip through Kenya. Be sure to bring food and drinks, as well as sunscreen (and a hat). Tip: after about half an hour's walk there is a local market where villagers offer their goods. Very cheap compared to the other markets we have been to. You can also buy a bottle of drink here. We bought a set of wooden elephants and other small souvenirs.

Day 7: From Nairobi to Mombasa

Our time around Nairobi was over, and we moved on to our last destination of this trip: Kilifi, located on the coast near Mombasa. Sammie took us from Lake Naivasha to Nairobi Airport.

Enjoying street life during traveling 

Street life in Africa

The Great Rift Valley

Passing a slum

We also passed the largest slum in Africa, Kibera, on our way to the airport in Nairobi. Around 1 million people live in this district. The district covers an area of ​​2.5 square kilometers, less than 1% of Nairobi's total area. Despite this, more than a quarter of Nairobi's population is said to live in Kibera. The population density is then approximately 2000 people per hectare. Most residents live in extreme poverty and earn less than $1-2 a day. Unemployment is high and crime is rampant. Robberies and (gender-based) violence occur daily, and the slum cartel controls the electricity and water.

Kibera - Nairobi, Africa's largest slum 

We got stuck in a traffic jam at Kibera. Sammie ordered us to close all the windows and lock the doors. From the road we got a general impression of Kiberia, the poor housing and the overpopulation. This was quite shocking and definitely the downside of our holiday in Kenya.

Flying in a propeller aircraft

Around noon, we arrived at the Airport. This was also the time to say goodbye to Sammie, who took such good care of our family for 6 days! We took a domestic flight to Mombasa with Jambo Jet. 

Sharing some pictures from our flight with Jambo Jet, plane type 5Y – JXD / Heroe turboprop (flying with such a propeller plane was also a very nice experience); we flew over Tsavo East National Park, another fantastic nature reserve in Kenya.

Domestic flight with Jambo Jet

In less than an hour, we arrived at MIA, Mombasa International Airport and within half an hour, we could continue our journey to Kilifi. A new driver was waiting for us, everything went very smoothly. The drive to Mnarani took an hour and a half. We arrived at our beach resort around 5 pm, we checked into our bungalows (2 next to each other) by the pool. Afterwards, we went to the beach and had a relaxing evening. 

Mnarani Beach Club

Day 8: Sailing a traditional dhow

We started the day with some sleeping in. After breakfast we spent a few hours at the pool and later on the beach. We booked a sunset sailing trip on a traditional dhow, to sail the Kilifi Creek, a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean. While enjoying a sundowner, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the water.

In the evening we enjoyed a barbeque on the beach, after which we had a few nightcaps.

Sailing a traditional dhow on Kilifi Creek

Day 9: Visiting Mnarani with a local

This morning we went (only Valentijn and me) with a local to the nearby town of Mnarani, a typical Kenyan village with about ten thousand inhabitants. Our local guide Roger (he lives in Kilifi), took us from the resort and while walking, we visited the local school (closed due to holidays), we were allowed to look inside a number of houses and we saw how they prepared food. We were also allowed to have our picture taken with a few children and young boys. So lovely. 

At the end of the tour we 'obligated' visited a number of souvenir shops and bought a few gadgets (to support the local community ;-) This was another nice trip guided by this friendly local man.

Visiting Mnarani Village

Watersports

After lunch we had fun on the beach with water sports activities, stand up paddle (SUP), kayaking, beach volleyball and also lazing on a lounger. It was a hot day today. 

In the evening, we were picked up by a tuktuk to go over the bridge to the other side of the sea inlet (this is actually Kilifi village, our resort is on the Mnarani side). We had dinner at Nautilus, a small restaurant on the water with a very good kitchen and ditto reviews. It was indeed delicious, all four of us loved it. We went back with the same tuktuk driver, which was about a 5-minute ride back to the resort. 

Day 10: Back to Dubai

Our trip in Kenya had unfortunately come to an end, after breakfast we were picked up by a driver who took us to the airport. We got there around half past 12 and our flight left at half past three. Finally, with a half hour delay, we were back in Dubai around 9pm.

We can hardly describe how special this holiday was. The many wild animals we saw, visiting a Maasai tribe, normal daily Kenyan life, the slum, the beautiful walk in The Lions King Valley and gorge, the sailing trip, but also the wonderful beach holiday at the end. It was K(g)enius!

Now we just have to finish the malaria treatment (still 7 days to go) and get used to our daily routine in Dubai.