Just wanted to follow up on my original post... we posted the following on our home page: http://www.fodors.com/news/story_2893.html

Thanks for your help---if you have any comments or think of any additional links/resources that you think would be useful to include at the bottom please let me know!

Jambo Fodorites,

I am currently in Tanzania, after having spent 11 days in Kenya (1/07 - 1/17). We had no issues arriving in NBO on the 7th and transferred to Wilson airport for a flight to Samburu...again, no problems or delays.

We then drove from Samburu to the Ol Pajeta conservancy (Sweetwaters) and all was well. We continued our driving to Lake Nakuru with no issues. Again, drove from Lake Nakuru back to Nairobi (Wilson airport) for a flight to Maasai Mara. We stopped at a shopping center in central Nairobi, then on to the airport. Everything has been perfectly fine.

My mom flew from Amboseli back to Wilson then transfered to NBO for her flight back to the U.S. She is still en route, but I'm assuming all went well as she was with our tour operator the entire day in Nairobi (visiting Sheldrick, etc) and he has not called my guide to inform me of any mishaps or problems.

The camps and parks/game reserves in Kenya have been EMPTY. Two of our three nights at Mara Explorer, we were the only two people in the camp, due to 90% cancellation rate, and Mara Intrepids was completely empty. Anyway, more about all that later.

My personal experience, though, has been that it is completely safe to travel to Kenya.

Bill_H, I would not worry about your drives. I'm sure everything will be fine. Go and have a great trip.

6 nights to go and then back to the "real world"...BOO HOO!!!

Shane

Thanks for checking in, Shane! Glad to hear your trip is going well.

Hi, a group of us from Boston just returned from trip to Kenya and Tanzania: 19 Dec thru 5 Jan. Left Africa via Nairobi where we spent two days. Arrived at Wilson and left via NBO. Had no problems getting around town or to airports, aside from stepped up police stops. Even went to a shopping mall without problem.

But we had great help from Ker & Downey (Kenya); specifically Simon and Amanda Belcher re: getting boarding passes printed and delivered to us in advance.

The US and UK media seem to have hyped up the violence, danger and disruption vs. what friends in Nairobi have experienced.

Shane -

Thanks for checking in. Knew it would be better than what was being reported as far as tourists and the safari routes. Sorry though to hear of all the cancellations, probably many Europeans whose govts said "no can go." Can't wait to hear the details on your return, and we'll talk!

Thanks Shane for taking the time to update us about how this is affecting the tourists. Sounds like it's going to be lonely in the camps! Now, if only we were honeymooners, instead of this being our 25th wedding anniversary trip...then, we'd want all the alone time together!