Tips to Travel to Kenya

KavitaA Banker by profession, a Traveller by heart. Come follow me to hear my travel tales... I'm not perfect but the stories always sound better with a touch of imperfection.

So I have many who messaged me to about Travelling to Kenya and if I could give some tips over for it. Here I am jotting down a few  for you to refer to :

Vaccinations: If you travelling to South Africa and Kenya, it is mandatory to take your Yellow Fever and Polio Shots. Yes, you read that right, Polio too. Even thou if you have taken Polio as a Kid you need to administer one again. Yellow Fever is valid for a lifetime now, so you can visit designated centres near your place which is mostly done by the Airport Authority of India. You need to carry your passport and a copy of your flight ticket for the same. The timings are normally mornings till around lunch time and they give you a card which you need to keep safe.

Visa: Visa is on arrival there, and you need to just fill a quick form and hand over 50 dollars there, for now,  In Kenya the currency is Shilling however most places accept USD and you can pay in that.

Safety: When you think of countries such as Kenya and around South Africa, you are always worried about safety aspect as you hear about mugging and theft. Personally I felt very safe there and the locals were very friendly. However, ensure you don’t venture around Nairobi and in cities late into the night and stay in groups if you do.

Food: Mostly food is Non-vegetarian here, but most Camps and Hotels are owned or run by Indians so you will easily find in the Buffet Vegetarian Food, including your  favourite Dal -Rice.  If you love your meat don’t miss tasting their exotic meat like Ostrich, Crocodile and other’s which you may get served here. Most of the camps provide all meals and they are very good.

Clothes: Since you will be on safari most of the time, wear light clothes (a lot of cotton T-shirts )  and carry a good hat to cover yourself for sun. Apply lots of sunscreens, and make sure your spine is fit to hit the hard roads. Most of the roads now are getting fixed there however, the stretch to Maasai Mara can be rough and also all the internal safaris will be too much to bear if you are not fit enough.

Essentials: Drink Bottled Water and do not use normal water here. Also make sure you stock up the water bottles from Nairobi from where you start, as else you will find it is very expensive in the camps inside Masai and Hotels. Carry emergency medicines over and a Nice  DSLR Camera ( with good Zoom lens ) charger / spare Memory card as there is so much of Wild Life to click over there.

Last but not the least meet the Local tribes, carry some nice stuff to gift their children like Notebooks, Pencils , Clothes  and spend some time with them. Also buy some souvenirs from them , instead of buying from City shops and Hotels . They will really appreciate that.

Have a Nice Safari and Enjoy!.