🇰🇪 Kenya

5 national parks ・ 14 days・ 5085 photos ・ Leica Q2

Kenya is a fascinating country. Literally everything you have heard about it would prove otherwise once you experience it. In 2024, we spent 2 weeks in this wildlife haven and got a chance to see some spectacular sights.

There are 24 national parks. And then there are 1000 species of birds, over 400 species of mammals and 100 different species of reptiles – absolutely insane biodiversity. It shares border with Tanzania which is equally beautiful. There’s no way you’d cover everything the country has to offer in a single trip. But you can see enough to get hooked.

We took a direct flight from Mumbai to Nairobi. Quite convenient I’d say, about 6h of flying time. You reach Nairobi early morning and have the entire day to explore.

Our first stop was to pass through the equator point. Equator line cuts Kenya in half right from the middle. When you head north, you go through the equatorial line. There’s also a cute sign on the road for a picture.

Traveling to Kenya is not like any other typical country in that you don’t actually make a city-to-city itinerary and add things to your plan. If you’re visiting for the wildlife, the better way to plan is to decide the national parks you want to visit. Once you decide the parks, you book via a travel agency your entire trip that includes a guide (who is also your driver), a stocked up car, all national park permits, all safaris, and full-board stays. Once you’re in the national parks, there’s no freestyle roaming around by yourself. You’re confined to the parks and you go out for safaris with your guide.

The national parks aren’t identical either. Ol Pejeta, Maasai Mara, Aberdare, Naivasha, Tsavo, Amboseli, Samburu – they all offer very different terrain and hence very different species. Maasai Mara is obviously the most well known amongst all, but there are quite a few that are equally good or in our opinion, even better.

We made our way to the gorgeous Ol Pejeta Conservancy. A very nondescript region. No savannah here. Proper grasslands. But the history of the region is very rich. It’s a deep conservation region with very carefully safeguarded animals and tight government integrations and conservation programs.

The interesting thing about Ol Pejeta is how little you actually come across about it when you’re planning. It’s nowhere near as popular as Maasai Mara. I only found detailed mentions on some deep blogs by a few travelers. So glad I did though.

We started off on our first safari. Safaris are conducted in a Toyota Landcruiser that is custom-jacked locally – there’s a vendor in Tanzania that modifies off-the-shelf Landcruisers to make them fit for a rugged terrain in the muddy savannah, mountains, potholes and everything Kenya has to throw.

Ol Pejeta is home to majestic rhinos – the black and the white ones. There are plenty of black rhinos you can spot in the lowlands.

As for the northern white rhinos, there has been a lot of poaching in the last few decades and they are on the verge of extinction. Interestingly it also houses the last two remaining northern white rhinos: Najin and Fatu. Both of them are protected 24x7 by armed guards in an enclosure.

You can visit them in their enclosure. It requires a prior booking by appointment and you need to factor it into your plan. We absolutely recommend it as you’d never see a rhino this up close anywhere else.

Now come the absolute predators. As the sun winds down in the African grasslands, the big cats get active. The way these national parks are situated, you could very well see a pride of lions right outside the gate of your camp.

On our way back one evening, we spotted a beautiful pride. Adults, teenagers (figuratively), cubs – the full cabal. Absolute majestic beasts.

Shepherding their entire pride was the alpha male slowly making his way behind the complete family. What a sight.

I’ve seen Asiatic lions before and knew that their African cousins were larger in size. Especially their manes. The first visuals confirmed this. Quite larger in size and even more grand up close.

Morning safaris typically start at 6am. Despite what you might think, it gets very cold in the morning. Even throughout the day, you will see moderate temperatures. Very comfortable indeed. It gets warmer in the direct sun but when you’re in the vehicle, it’s very pleasant. You can easily sit through hours of safaris.

Your back would take a beating though in the rugged terrain. But that’s part of the experience.

In Kenya, the terrain changes fast. An hour into the drive, you’re suddenly in the plains crossing the midcountry. For hours, not a human or a turn in the road.

We cross over from Ol Pejeta to Aberdare – a national park nestled in the hills. But before we get there we go through a sprawling vastland.

After crossing over, the climb begins. We drive on the edge of the Great Rift Valley. Apparently, this rift begins from the Red Sea and extends all the way to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Fascinating.

We saw the great African babboons for the first time. They’re a sight to behold. They’re omnivorous and can absolutely kill when needed. They can get very aggressive too.

We got very close to one here.

Maasai Mara is a magical place. The best savannah in the world. The vast open terrain allows you to see so much of the landscape around you. Elephants and rhinos stick out even when they’re far away.

Lions take refuge in the trees. If there’s shrubs around, there’s likely one lazing around in the shade.

The most interesting are the giraffes. The tallest mammals in the world. They’re also surprising unfazed with the cars moving around.

We got very close to a few of them.

We’d never heard of a topi before. They’re antelopes. Very quick ones at that, and also muscular. There are a ton of them in Maasai Mara.

It’s quite easy to spot lions in Maasai Mara. Lionesses typically sit on top of small elevated platforms to survey the landscape in search of food.

We followed a pack in the hunt and found the head lioness.

While one pack searched for prey, another one had already had enough food and was lazing around in the shade. There were a truckload of cubs too. We got very lucky here.

Maasai Mara allows for a very interesting experience – having a bush lunch. You get to sit in the open and have food. Around lunch time, you see all the vehicles in the national park driving around looking for the best tree to have lunch under.

It is quite the experience. Sitting in the open jungle with predators around.

The terrain plays tricks in the Mara. The sky plays the painter. Yellow to blue to orange to purple in the twilight. It keeps changing. And as a result, you get surreal photos of this vast open landscape. Unmatched range.

I have a deep appreciation for the jungle. In Kenya, the jungle is the country. The seclusion you get to experience from the chaos of the urban is something else. No notifications, no interruptions. Pure silence and the rustle of the nature.

It grows on you.

Our last stop was at the great Lake Naivasha. The home of the hippos. We had a beautiful lodge where we stayed on the banks of the lake. Hippos roaming just outside the premises.

I’d like to note that throughout the country, our lodge experiences have been phenomenal. Wooden cabins, tents, luxurious rooms, the food and the service – all top notch. The beating you take on safaris, the comfortable lodges more than make up for the recovery to get you going for the next one.

In your lifetime, you’d travel around and see places. But I guarantee you this: not many would come close to the magic of Kenya. We couldn’t even go to Tsavo, and I’ve heard the great stories of the maneater lions of the region… Amboseli and the great Mt Kilimanjaro… Mombasa and the white sandy beaches of Diani… it’s endless.

And then there’s the rest of southern Africa. Tanzania, Namibia, Zimbabwe… the list goes on.

There are very few places like this one. And that’s precisely the allure of this beautiful country. Traveling to Kenya is surprisingly straightforward too. You’re picked up from the airport in a vehicle meant to double as your city to city transport, as well as the safari ranger. These vehicles are stocked every day with cold water and juices in an onboard cooler. For morning safaris, you also have the option of enjoying your breakfast in the jungle – they call it the Bush Breakfast (I know). You should definitely try it out. The picnic baskets are fun!

The vehicle also has an open-top roof that allows you to get really close to the action when you’re in the jungle.

We’ve done safaris in many parts of the world. Nothing has ever come close to the experience of Kenya so far.

Go visit. If you need any help with planning your trip, reach out to me on me@hvpandya.com. I can help connect you to the travel company and the local guide we used.

When you make your trip booking, you end up paying for the whole thing end to end, which is quite convenient. You don’t have to carry any cash (you should though) or worry about paying for anything while you’re there. I love that because it allows you to truly focus on enjoying the experience.

Asante 🇰🇪🙏