For a first-time visitor to Africa – and wondering where to start – Kenya is the indisputable deal.

In 2021, the World Travel Awards, the Oscars of the travel industry, ranked Kenya the best safari destination in Africa. This was the seventh time in a row that the country was recognized as the premier wildlife tourism nation. In this, Kenya overcomes fierce competition from other African safari destinations such as South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Apart from the global win, Kenya also wins many times as Africa’s best beach destination while Maasai Mara wins as Africa’s best national park.

Other awards in 2021 were:

• Africa’s Leading Airport Hotel 2021 — Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi
• Africa’s Leading All-Inclusive Resort 2021 — Diamonds Dream of Africa
• Africa’s Leading Business Travel Destination 2021 — Nairobi
• Africa’s Leading City Hotel 2021 — Fairmont The Norfolk
• Africa’s Leading Cruise Port 2021 — Port of Mombasa
• Africa’s Leading Hotel 2021 — Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club
• Africa’s Leading Hotel Brand 2021 — Serena Hotels
• Africa’s Leading Luxury Tented Safari Camp 2021 — Olare Mara Kempinski
  Masai Mara
• Africa’s Leading Meetings & Conference Centre 2021 —  Kenyatta
  International Convention Centre
• Africa’s Leading Sports Resort 2021 —  Ocean Sports Resort, Watamu
• Africa’s Leading Tented Safari Camp 2021 — Finch Hattons
• Africa’s Leading Tourist Board 2021 — Kenya Tourism Board

A Million Reasons to Visit Kenya

In summary, Kenya is the first choice for an African safari. We can give a million reasons to visit Kenya. But let us start with a few:

• Easily accessible from many Western capitals and with a wide choice of International Airlines.
• Good range of world-class accommodations, including international hotels in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Maasai Mara.
• Ecologically rich and well-managed national parks, reserves, and wildlife conservancies with a huge variety of wildlife.
• Stunning landscapes, courtesy of highly diverse geographical features – from volcanic mountains, the Great Rift Valley, extinct volcanoes, deserts, and open grasslands to tropical beaches.
• Accommodation on safari is excellent and offers great choice to suit all budgets – from absolute luxury to basic ground camping.
• Host to the leading wildlife parks in Africa which are all accessible by road and served by daily scheduled light aircraft flights from Nairobi.
• A long-standing culture of hospitality- Friendly, hospitable people who speak English and who welcome visitors. The English language is widely spoken and there are speakers of major international languages.
• Clean and beautiful beaches on the Indian Ocean whose surroundings are occupied by warm and lovely people. Hence, there is an opportunity for a beach holiday after a safari.
• Easily connects to other good safari destinations like Tanzania/Zanzibar and Rwanda and Uganda.

Choosing Your Destination and Itinerary

The majority of visitors to Kenya express interest to see African wildlife in their natural habitats. The national parks and game reserves, set aside by the government for the protection and conservation of wildlife, are therefore leading safari attractions. Kenya has more than these 50 National Parks, Game Reserves. Of late we also have Wildlife Conservancies owned and managed by private citizens and communities. In all these, visitors can see a huge variety of wild animals, beautiful landscapes, and diverse cultures.

The most popular reserves for wildlife are the savanna grassland parks because of their openness and large populations of wildlife, especially the large mammals that are emblematic of Africa. This narrows the popular wildlife destinations to a few that are famous with tourists and which also offer better opportunities for wildlife viewing.

Maasai Mara is the most popular of them followed by Amboseli and Lake Nakuru. There are also Samburu reserves in the North and the Tsavo East and West towards the coast. Not to leave behind Meru, Nairobi, and Hells Gate National Parks.

Most safari itineraries try to make a combination of these areas to suit a client’s time, budget, and other special interests.

Many itineraries will also combine national parks and wildlife conservancies which are increasingly popular especially with luxury and exclusive travelers.