National Parks and Reserves Travel Guide

If Kenya is famous for anything, it’s surely its many national parks and reserves. These beautiful spots offer a wide array of landscapes, plants, and animals. You can trek the slopes of the Aberdares, Mt. Kenya, or Mt. Longonot, or go on a game drive on the plains of the Masai Mara or below Mt. Kilimanjaro at Amboseli National Park.

You need to be in a vehicle to enter most national parks and all national reserves, except Saiwa Swamp and South Turkana, so you either need your own car, or you need to book your safari through one of the many companies in Kenya. The good news is that there are so many of these safari companies that competition drives the prices down. Most any tourist that can afford an airline ticket to Kenya can afford to see at least one or two parks. Two affordable companies in Nairobi that offer quality safaris are Gametrackers (# 338927) on the first floor of the Kenya Cinema Plaza, and Let’s Go Travel (# 340331) on Standard Street near Koinange St.

Entrance fees may or may not be included in your company’s total price. The major parks, such as Masai Mara, Amboseli, Samburu, and the Aberdares will cost nonresident adults US$ 27 per day. The other parks ask between US$ 23 and $15 per day. One day is considered to be a 24-hour period, so if you enter the park at 5 pm, you are expected to leave by 5 pm the next day. There also may be a camping fee if you are not spending the night in a lodge.