Kenya Vs. tanzania

Old Feb 14th, 2017, 08:03 AM
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Kenya Vs. tanzania

Folks - We are family of 4 travelling to Kenya in August. We have been debating whether to combine tanzania in the mix. For Kenya, we are looking to visit the Masai Mara and safari. The Ngororogoro crater and the Grumeti river are attractive in tanzania, but I am not sure if there is vastly different set of activities in tanzania if we are already doing similar activities in Kenya. Their is also the hassle of the border crossing which is time consuming.

Am asking the experts in this forum on their perspective on whether we should consider combining Tanzania with our Kenya trip.

CM
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Old Feb 15th, 2017, 01:34 AM
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The combining of the safari depends on the time you have for your safari, if the time allows then its worth it. The activities are almost the same except that in Ngorogoro Crater their are more of birds like flamingos and other water animals
For boarder crossing you only need East African visa this will allow you to cross to any other East African Country at ease
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Old Feb 15th, 2017, 01:38 AM
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If you need a different activity to combine any of the two countries then i would recommend also you do Gorilla trekking in Rwanda or Uganda i did this tour with my family i combined Kenya and Uganda it was very amazing
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Old Feb 22nd, 2017, 03:17 AM
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Hi columbiaman

why not stay in Kenya?

Kenya has some attractions which are not found in Tanzania:

A night viewing lodge (also called "tree lodge") e.g. Ark, Mt. Lodge, Treetops

Samburu with it's special fauna

boat trip on a freshwater lake like Naivasha (or Baringo)

big masses of flamingoes in a soda lake (Nakuru / bogoria)

safari njema

aby
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Old Feb 22nd, 2017, 03:20 AM
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p.s.

if you take the shuttle Nairobi-Arusha the border procedure is not much of a hussle
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Old Apr 14th, 2017, 09:41 AM
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I just spent three weeks in Kenya with my daughter in October, saw 37 properties in that time and stayed in 18 of them. I would recommend you stay in Kenya for several reasons and guarantee you will not run out of things to do or wonderful places to stay. I far prefer Kenya for families over Tanzania and feel that in Kenya you can get so much more value for your money and a more exclusive safari experience than in Tanzania. Let me count the ways:

1) Kenya has such a diversity of landscapes, from the plains of the Maasai Mara to Mt. Kenya. You do have a wonderful flamingo-filled lake at Lake Nakuru National Park also and once you go north of the equator, the land is a bit more arid in general and you have species like the Samburu Special Five that you won’t see in Tanzania. These include: the Somali ostrich, the long-necked gerenuk antelope, Beisa oryx. Reticulated Giraffe, which are really striking as well as the Grevy’s zebra, of which there are only about 2,000 left in the world. Also, the vulture guinea fowl are a favorite of mine with their beautiful royal blue feathers.

2) In Kenya there is a much wider range of activities on offer as there are more private conservancies where walks, camel rides and horse-back riding are permissible. You would not be able to do these activities in the National Parks in Tanzania and would be largely restricted to game drives unless you stay in some of the private conservancies in Tanzania.

3) Many properties in Kenya have no age limit and are super family friendly. My daughter was almost four when we went in October. She participated in every activity that I did! The guides all had kids her age and were wonderful with her and kept her engaged and busy both on game drives and back at the camps and lodges. Also, not sure of the age of your kids but gorilla tracking in Rwanda or Uganda, while one of the pinnacle wildlife experiences to be had anywhere, has a minimum age limit of 15.

4) The Maasai Mara and its neighboring conservancies consistently deliver year-round world-class wildlife sightings and there is arguably no better place to see lions and cheetah in Africa. I had the most exciting game drive of my 22 trips to Africa in the Mara North conservancy just outside the Masai Mara Reserve on this last trip to Kenya. Saw a cheetah kill a gazelle to feed her two subadult cubs. The kill was promptly stolen by a hyena. Two other hyenas showed up as did jackal and an eagle. Chaos ensued as the cheetah cubs tried to no avail to get some of their mother’s kill, whilst the jackals yelped and the eagle paced nervously back and forth. Epic! Documentary worthy sighting! Additionally and for me personally, the Ngorongoro Crater is my least favorite safari destination in Africa because it is so crowded. Just not worth it although there are a few ways around it, stay at a property right on the rim that has access to get through the gates first thing, and skip the picnic site, etc.

5) Not to be missed on a trip to Kenya are Lewa conservancy, which is one of the best places to see rhino in East Africa (you’d be lucky to see any in Tanzania) and the Maasai Mara to name a few, although staying in a conservancy outside of the Masai Mara reserve is the way to go. We spent five nights in the neighboring conservancies and never entered the Masai Mara Reserve on this trip at all! Proof that unless you are going to see crossings during the migration, the conservancies have plenty of game and no need to go into the Mara Reserve unless you like crowds! You can combine these areas with the Chyulu Hills or Amboseli National Park or go further north to Samburu National Reserve or better yet to one of the community areas like Sarara Camp in Namunyuk.

Kenya is truly the ultimate quintessential and also family safari destination! I can assure you that it will not disappoint your family and what a most epic family safari it would make for!

Jeanie Fundora
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Old Apr 14th, 2017, 01:59 PM
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I did a safari to Tanzania eight years ago, and one in Kenya last month.
Kenya won hands down.
The reason?
I went to a conservancy in Kenya. Less cars, more freedom of movement, more natural viewing feeling. We stayed at Porini Lion Camp booked through Gamewatchers.

As Mark says above, adding Rwanda on for a gorilla trek would be a great add on if you have the time. It depends on budget and if you have kids, if they are old enough to see the gorillas. My trip report is posted if you click on my name.
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Old Apr 21st, 2017, 09:56 AM
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From what I can tell, the east Africa visa does not include Tanzania.

https://www.migration.gov.rw/index.php?id=233
ELIGIBLE PERSON:

A foreigner who wants to visit simultaneously the Republic of Kenya, Republic of Rwanda and Republic of Uganda for tourism.
An East Africa Tourist Visa is multiple entries within the three countries and shall be valid for 90 days.

I am also contemplating whether to visit both Kenya and Tanzania for my 2 weeks of safari time in Sept. 2018. As an American, the TZ visa is $100 and the Kenya visa is $50. If I end up flying into Nairobi to do a TZ safari I might as well spend some of my time on a Kenyan safari since I will have paid for the Kenya visa. If I fly into Kilimanjaro I would most likely just stay in Tanzania for the 2 weeks.
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