Kenya Travel Planner
This Kenya Travel Planner is the culmination of countless hours of research, travel and experiences of living in Kenya. On this page, you’ll find my favourite Kenya travel resources to help you plan your trip to Kenya.
I’m downloading all my knowledge on to one page and sharing links to the best hotels, travel companies, tour guides and anything else that I think will make your travel in Kenya easier, safer and more exciting.
Health and Safety
This Kenya Travel Planner lists sites which offer a great starting point to ensure you stay safe and healthy whilst travelling in Kenya. However, I do recommend that you seek the advice of your doctor or a specialist travel clinic before you travel to Kenya.
Safety
See my blog on Health and Safety in Kenya here.
Health Info
Malaria
Yellow Fever
Travel Insurance
I recommend World Nomads to travellers. World Nomads cover most African countries and places and you can add on insurance for dangerous activities such as hiking over 4000m, white water rafting, and bungy jumping.
Kenya Travel Planner - Visa Information
Visiting visa for Kenya
Visitor visas are valid for 3 months with the possibility of extending in country for another 3 months.
The process of getting a visa to visit Kenya is simple with eVisa system. An online portal (www.evisa.co.ke) which allows you to apply and receive approval for your visa in one central place. Visa approval is done in real-time.
NOTE: you are no longer able to get your visa on arrival into Kenya, all applications must be done in advance via the eVisa portal.
Visa application process
- Visit www.evisa.co.ke and enter your details you will need to upload a passport size photo and a copy of your passport for the online application to be complete.
- The application fee of 50 USD is Visa fee is payable only in USD and is non-refundable since the application will be processed for approval or non-approval
- You will be notified if your application has been successful or not via email.
Packing for Kenya
Kenya Accommodation
Travelstart for hotels
Travelstart is Africas leading agency for hotels, flights, cars and tours. Buy local and take advantage of an agency that really knows the continent.
Booking.com for hotels
This global favourite is easy to use, with a great selection of hotels, competitive prices, and no fees
Agoda for hotels
I find that Agoda most often has the best rates for booking hotels in Kenya.
FlipKey
Flipkey TripAdvisors version of Airbnb. It has TripAdvisors in depth review system so you get a bit more knowledge about what you are booking than with Airbnb.
TripAdvisor for checking out reviews
Even if I book through another site I never press go on the button unless I’ve checked out the TripAdvisor reviews first. This is an absolute essential. You can also book directly through TripAdvisor for flights, hotels and more
Book budget airport parking in advance with companies like Flyparks to save on unnecessary costs. (For example saving costs with Airport Parking Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane)”
Booking Cheap Travel in Kenya
Kayak best all rounder
Kayak is a travel search engine which searches 100’s of other travel sites to find the most competitive prices on flights, hotels and tours. I use them primarily for flights but have a mooch around and you can pick up some great deals
Travelbag for flights and tours
UK agency Travelbag really do have all your needs wrapped up in one bag, I use them for booking flights but they have a bunch of tours and hotels for really competitive prices.
Jambojet for local flights
The only local airline to use really (unless you are taking a smaller plane to Safari). Jambojet fly multiple times a day to destinations in Kenya and East Africa.
SGR Madaraka Express – high speed train
The new high speed train is the cheapest way to get from Nairobi to the coast. A second class ticket costs just 10USD and a first class is 30 USD. The train is modern and clean and the views of Kilimanjaro and Tsavo on the way are second to none. At the moment they only accept M-PESA as payment, so you’ll either need to find someone with M-PESA to do it for, go through a booking agent or go down to the station yourself.
Discover Cars for rental cars
Discover Cars gives you the cheapest cars available, by searching across a number of platforms. There is 24/7 support, no cancellation fee and no hidden costs
Whilst driving in Kenya can often feel like a game of chicken the roads are mostly tarmacked and it’s definitely the best way of getting around. Be warned, if you are planning a self drive safari then hire a capable 4×4
Kenya Bus Service
Runs local buses which travel long distances all over Kenya.
Kenya Safari Guides & Travel Companies
GetYourGuide – top choice of tour guides
My preferred choice of Kenya tour company, Get Your Guide is a globally recognised tour company that arranges short / medium tours across Kenya. They do all the biggies: Mount Kenya/ Maasai Mara and Amboseli but a few intruiging and lesser known tours as well. I love that they use local guides and tour companies.
Viator for tours and activities
The greatest collection of tours around the world — food tours, day trips, transfers between cities, anything. Whatever you’re looking for, they’ve got it.
Tour Radar
Tour Radar offers an excellent selection of tours to local and international travellers all over Kenya and Africa
Other Helpful Travel Sites and Apps
Rome2Rio
This is the best website for working out how to travel between places. Simply put in your start and end point and it’ll tell you all the ways to travel; plane, boat, car, train…sometimes in Kenya walking. It’s amazing
The Points Guy
If you’re into collecting points and travelling for free then this is a top resource, with tips for airlines and hotels globally. Yours truly may have published the odd article with them too.
Books to inspire travel in Kenya
Circling the sun – by Beryl Markham
When I learned I was coming to Kenya my friend lent me this book. It changed the way I felt about living here and gave me a new appreciation for this wild land and it’s people. This book changed my apprehension from fear to excitement. It meant a lot. Kenya still vibrates with the rhythm of these people. These pioneering, fabulous, often cruel, conceited and spoilt people. These adventurers.
Circling the Sun takes us from the brittle glamour of the 1920s Happy Valley set, fuelled by gin and adultery, to the loneliness of life as a scandalous divorcee; from the spectacular beauty of the Kenyan landscape to the manicured lawns of Nairobi’s Muthaiga Club. Dazzlingly beautiful, brave, passionate and reckless, Beryl is an unforgettable heroine, whose tragic loss in love compels her to pursue her own dream – of flight, and freedom
Out of Africa – by Karen Blixen
Can you provide guide to travel in Kenya and not suggest Out of Africa. It’s a classic, the film is worth a look too and it’s written about Karen where I live.
In 1914 Karen Blixen arrived in Kenya with her husband to run a coffee farm. Instantly drawn to the land, she spent her happiest years there until the plantation failed. Karen Blixen was forced to return to Denmark in 1931 and it was there that she wrote this classic account of her experiences. A poignant farewell to her beloved farm,Out of Africa describes her strong friendships with the people of her area, her affection for the landscape and animals, and great love for the adventurer Denys Finch-Hatton.
The Sun Also Rises – by Ernest Hemmingway
This novel depicts the wild lives of the “lost generation” expats living in Paris and traveling around Europe in the 1930s.
The White Maasai – By Corinne Hoffman
At once a hopelessly romantic love story, a gripping adventure yarn and a fine piece of social anthropology, The White Masai is a compulsive read. Whilst on holiday Corinne Hoffman fell in love with a Masai warrior. After overcoming all sorts of obstacles she moved into a tiny shack with him and his mother and spent four years in Kenya. Slowly but surely, the dream began to crumble. She eventually fled back home with her baby daughter. From wild animals through starvation to ritual mutilation, this is a book steeped in humanity and one that tells a fascinating tale.
On the Road – by Jack Kerouac
My coming of age book. This hit all the rights notes for me. Dreams of cutting lose, travelling and being free. I’ve done all those things. My times on the road are where I learned the most about myself.
Sal Paradise (Sam Riley), a young innocent, joins his hero Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), a traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat, on a breathless, exuberant ride back and forth across the United States.
Eat, Pray, Love – by Elizabeth Gilbert
It gets a lock of schtik this book, but that doesn’t mean its not inspiring and unlifting an encouraging of a life lived more fully.
Essential Travel Gear for Kenya
Pacsafe Portable Safe
It pays to be prudent whilst traveling, not all hotels (in fact most hotels) don’t have safes. This TravelSafe keeps your most important items safe and is the one thing I’d highly recommend you take a look at.
Rubber Doorstop
It may seem a bit random but I picked this tip up when I was backpacking years ago. You won’t always have a lock your bedroom/ bathroom but even if you do a doorstop placed beneath the door will make it difficult for people to enter your room.
Portable Mosquito net
Most places will have mosquito nets but they can very often have holes in them. If you want to protect yourself from those malarial mosquitos at the coast or on safari then pack a net. This net is what we use and I have never seen similar in Kenya so buy before you leave.
Deet Mosquito repellent
Again, mosquitos. Even if Nairobi where there is no malaria they are annoying a hell. Buy a really good mosquito repellent. This Lifesystems brand was recommended to me by the doctors before i travelled to Africa.
Technology and Digital Resources
Unlocked phone/ MPESA
In Kenya we use Mpesa, a mobile banking service that allows you to store and transfer money on your mobile phone. Honestly it’s amazing, no need to carry cash or cards. It’s the best thing you can bring for travel in Kenya, with your phone you can pay everywhere, from supermarkets to the smallest villages. Just get yourself a SIM card from a Safari.com when you land.
Kindle e-reader
I resisted a Kindle for years but now I have one I can never go back. No longer lugging a bag filled with heavy books. This is a must for travellers, make sure you get the one with a backlight for reading in the dark whilst camping or or safari. Shop Amazon e-readers Here
RAVPower 26800mAh Portable Charger Power Bank
Electricity is patchy at best in Kenya and often non existence in the bush. This power bank charges an iphone 6 times and is a safari / camping essential . Add this to your Kenya travel planner today.
A really good camera
I’m not a photographer but my photos have got 100% better since my husband bought me the Canon SX740 HS Powershot for Christmas. Fed up of going on safari and having some blurry image of a dot in the grass that could, or could not be a lion. This camera has an incredible zoom to provide high quality images. It’s compact and not too flashy which is great if you are out and about and don’t want to make yourself a target lugging a huge lens around. I can highly recommend it.
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