Masai Mara Safari, Kenya

Masai Mara is the best destination in Kenya for viewing wildlife.
The Masai Mara is home to a great wildlife event, as sometime between August and November 2 million wildebeest migrate from the Serengeti in search of water and grazing.

Many people like to plan their Masai Mara Safari to coincide with this migration.
However bear in mind that the very large population of animals makes  a holiday to the Masai Mara great all year round.

With its vast grasslands and open savannah, the Masai Mara is the typical African lands you see in films.

Large prides of lions live in the Mara, along with many cheetahs, leopards and spotted hyenas.
In Nakuru there is an old and unsavory tradition : robbing white tourists driving in rented cars.
Another driving tip is that when driving through Nakuru you will see people making signals to you from the pavement and pointing to your tyres, as if you had a puncture. You need to ignore them. They are attempting to get you to stop your car and  steal your belongings.
The best way to handle this type of situation is to smile and simply keep driving.

Public transport:
If you are using trains or buses or matatus, keep a look out on your personal belongings. Often people might approach you for a chat, but also be waiting fro you to drop your guard. So be careful.
On many occasions backpackers have taken food or drinks from apparently friendly locals, only to wake up from a deep sleep and find their belongings have vanished.

Parks and reserves:
National  parks like Meru, Tsavo, Masai Mara and Samburu sometimes had poachers on the looses looking for prey . In fact nn Samburu, Kenya Wildlife Service rangers were themselves responsible for the attacks. Fortunately the authorities reacted rapidly and as a result  Masai Mara also seems now to be relatively safe.
The Amboseli-Tsavo road through Oloitokitok was also unsafe a few years ago. However Kenya Wildlife Service dealt with this by offering a free armed escort service. This measure was effective and ever since the area seems quiet now.
And Meru national park, well known as a poachers' paradise, has become better controlled, allowing us to enjoy one of the most beautiful spots in the country.
However, the north and northeast are unsafe. So be careful of parks in these areas: Losai, Marsabit and all the Turkana region must be visited in groups, traveling north in convoys.
The safest places in all the country are the lodges in parks and reserves. As of now, no attack has ever occurred there, so you can feel totally safe.
Generally seek information on the safety status of the regions you plan to visit, because the situations change.

Beaches:
Most hotels have a private area next to the beach, in which most tourists remain except for briefly crossing the public area to reach the Indian Ocean.
Beaches are not really dangerous, as long as you take some basic precautions.
Do not carry beach bags nor other items, and never leave your belongings unattended on the sand while you swim.
Don't think that askaris or private guards in the hotel grounds, offer you total protection.
As long as you are outside the hotel you are outside their responsibility.
Forget the romantic notion of  the tropical white sands. You'll be visited  by many men, the so-called beach boys, trying to sell everything, from a sarong to a safari. They never give up . Some use a boat to approach and sell their goods. The hotel management will recommend not to talk to them,. You can buy sarongs, but never hire a safari here.
If you are alone or with a group of pals, the beach boys may try to sell you drugs. You must know that in Kenya, possession or consumption of any type of drug, including marijuana, is a severely punished crime.
It is also possible that you are offered girls. Remember that at least half of the prostitutes in Kenya are carriers of the AIDS virus.
If you are young and at the beach with no apparent mate, the beach boys will flirt with you. If that’s ok with you, this is the place. But be careful, and don’t talk about things you don't want to happen. If something occurred, the hotel would have warned you and you wouldn't have followed their advice, so for them you would have been responsible for ignoring their advice. Don't forget that in Kenya, sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, are as usual as a common cold, but much more dangerous.

All this applies to daylight hours. At night things change and the public beaches are very unsafe.

Rangers :
These men and women perform an essential role in nature conservation, with low salaries and having to fight poachers with hardly any resources or weapons
Don't be confused by their sometimes hieratic aspect, in many cases it's just the character of their Maasai origin.