About Kenya

Kindly contact us for relevant and up-to-date travel advice before you decide to travel.

Kenya’s national currency is the Kenyan Shilling and although foreign currencies such as US Dollars are widely accepted. We recommend using local currency to pay bar bills, souvenirs, and meals not included in your itinerary. Due to several fake notes in circulation, no US Dollar bills printed before 2003 are acceptable in Kenya. We recommend carrying notes printed after 2006.
Banking facilities and ATMs are available throughout Kenya’s major travel destinations, and all major credit cards are widely accepted, particularly MasterCard, Visa, and American Express. Banking hours are from 9 am to 3 pm Monday to Friday, and 9 am to 11 am on most banks’ first and last Saturday of the month.

Tipping
Tipping for good service is customary in Kenya, although it is, of course, at your discretion – bear in mind that some of the larger hotels will add a service charge to your bill. A 10% tip is customary in city restaurants and bars when a service charge is not included. For in-depth tipping guidelines, enquire with one of our Africa Safari Experts – they’d be happy to share their knowledge with you.

Health and safety
Security issues are the same in Africa like the rest of the world. It is more like using your common sense and not exposing yourself to risk. Our African Safari Tour Guide will give you all the necessary advice you need – and it is always okay to ask for local advice once you’re in Africa. Please carry any medication you need for your trip. Also, get malaria prophylactics or a yellow fever injection. Consult your doctor during your planning or check with your African Safari Expert. Regulations are different for tourists in other regions.

Climate
Average summer temperatures: December through March: 20°C / 68°F to 34°C / 93°F
Average winter temperatures: June through September: 18°C / 64°F to 29°C / 84°F
Rainy season: mid-March to June (‘long rains’) and October to December (‘short rains’)

What to Pack
Pack light casual wear in neutral colors for your Kenya safari and a warm jacket and skull caps for chilly morning and evening game drives.
In Kenya’s major cities, the dress code is conservative but not overly formal – jeans and modest tops are fine. Swimsuits/ shorts are acceptable on the beach, but you’ll need to cover up in public places, especially dining and common areas of the hotel.

Etiquette
Kenya is a fairly conservative society. Much emphasis is on courtesy and manners. Take care when photographing local people – always ask permission before you click and be prepared to be asked for a reward in Kenya’s most popular destinations. However, in general, the people of Kenya are easy-going, amiable, helpful, jolly, making traveling and interacting with them an absolute pleasure.

Flights & Getting Around
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport: East Africa’s central travel hub is 13km / 8mi outside Nairobi and is the gateway to the Masai Mara, Amboseli, Mombasa, and Kenya’s beaches Zanzibar and Tanzania. There are also good connections from Nairobi to Uganda, Rwanda, and Seychelles.

Wilson Airport: It is a regional airport about 90 minutes by road from Jomo Kenyatta. Wilson is the hub for almost all of Kenya’s internal flights and serves its fly-in safari destinations. Please ensure you have sufficient time between your international and domestic flights to transfer between the two airports considering the road traffic is cumbersome during peak hours. Moi Mombasa International Airport: located about 10km / 6.2mi northwest of the town itself, Mombasa’s airport is the gateway to the Kenyan coast.
Chartered flights are a great way to travel in Kenya and avoid the country’s often dirt roads. Transfers from airstrips to lodges via comfortable 4X4 vehicles.
Road transfers from airports and between significant destinations via using minibusses or 4×4 landcruisers to popular destinations such as the Masai Mara and others as per your itinerary. Sliding windows and a specially designed pop-up roof provide visitors with ample game viewing opportunities while on game drives. However, safaris to more remote destinations and private conservancies use open-sided 4X4 Cruisers.

Visa & Passport Requirements
Visas can be obtained online from the E-Visa Portal www.evisa.go.ke. The procedure to obtain permits has been simplified and made tourist-friendly. A tourist visa is just three simple steps away from anyone. Visas are valid for three months from the date of entry and can be obtained online from the E-Visa Portal. Visitors must possess a passport that is valid until six months after the initial date of travel.

People, Culture and Language
Kenya’s predominantly young population comprises many ethnic groups that include the famous Maasai, Luos, Kalinjins, Kikuyos, to name a few. English and Swahili are the official languages (any attempts to speak Swahili will be warmly gestured by locals!), and most Kenyans are Christian. About 10% of the population are Muslim, the majority living on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. In Kenya, people speak more than 60 languages, and there are more than 40 ethnic groups. Almost everyone there says more than one African language. Music and storytelling are essential parts of Kenyan culture. For centuries, tribes throughout the country have used songs, stories, and poems to pass on their beliefs, history, and customs.

Useful Swahili phrases
You’ll probably hear and use these basic Swahili phrases and words throughout your Kenya trip. Jambo– meaning HELLO. It has to be the most popular word in Swahili. When you meet a local, say JAMBO, and you will surely get a smile back.
Nzuri: meaning FINE/GOOD/BEAUTIFUL. Nzuri is the reply you will get when you say Jambo.
Asante: meaning THANK YOU. It is also a ubiquitous word, and it will come up often in your conversations.
Sana: meaning VERY. The word is used in ASANTE SANA, which means Thank You VERY much.
Pole– meaning SORRY. You can use the word when you mistakenly drop something, someone falls, or s/he sneeze.
Nydio: meaning YES. They are used to answer in the affirmative.
Hapana: meaning NO. If you don’t want to say Yes, make use of ‘hapana.’
Rafiki– meaning FRIEND.
Maji: meaning WATER. You are on a safari, and you need some water. You now know the right word to use.
Chakula: meaning FOOD. Throughout your stay in Kenya, you will want to try out their cuisine. So there you have it- Chakula, Swahili for food.

Landscape & Wildlife
Kenya is in East Africa. Its terrain rises from a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean to mountains and plateaus (areas of level high ground) at its center. Most Kenyans live in the highlands, where Nairobi, the capital, sits at an altitude of 1,700 meters.
West of Nairobi, the land descends to the Great Rift Valley, a 6,400-kilometre tear in the Earth’s crust. Dividing the flat coastal plains from the fertile shores of Lake Victoria, the rolling temperate grasslands of the central Rift Valley is home to vast numbers of animals and, consequently, Kenya’s most famous parks and reserves.
Within this valley in the deserts of northern Kenya are the green waters of the famous Lake Turkana. Northern Kenya is hot and arid and is home to wilder, more remote parks and a different set of animals. Indian Ocean coast is a place of long white sand beaches, coral reefs, and tropical islands.
Kenya’s world-famous for the wildebeest migration, during which herds of these migratory animals move through the Masai Mara and Serengeti ecosystem. Kenya has several parks and conservancies that are lush in greenery and abundant animals that are well protected. Kenya has a strict ban on hunting and conservation initiatives to preserve and safeguard one of Africa’s communities. The most significant populations of large animals are in place. Hence viewing the Big fives and other predators, game, and hundreds of bird species is easy.

Electricity
The mains electricity supply is of 220–240 Volts. Most basic establishments have backup generators or solar panels. Some more remote safari lodges and tented camps are not on the national grid and rely solely on generators. They will advise when these are switched on – usually for a few hours in the evening and the early morning. Wall sockets are the square, three-flat pin variety used in Britain. Appliances using other plug fittings will need an adaptor to fit Kenyan sockets (available in major supermarkets). At the same time, North American devices that work only on 110V (most work on 110–240V) will also need a transformer.