Kenya is the home of the original safari - land of Hemingway’s tales, Beryl Markham’s remarkable flights, Karen Blixen’s famous farm - these romantic characters and their narratives laid the groundwork for the modern-day safari. Over the years the canvas Meru tent has evolved significantly, and I doubt Baron Blixen would even consider Angama Mara a “safari camp,” but we can thank them for fostering the idea that heading out into the bush was a romantic notion, that sitting around a campfire with a gin & tonic was something very much worth doing at the end of a day. 

Kenya’s vibrant tribal cultures, a storied colonial era, and a modern-day community that rests somewhere in the middle makes this a fascinating destination for travelers who are interested in digging deeper than just game drives. Kenya is one of the few places in Africa where you can still stay in a historic ranch house on an old angora farm and chat with the immediate descendents of the colonial-era farmers. It is one of the few places you can venture out into the bush on a camel-supported walking safari led by local Samburu guides. It’s the only place in Africa where you can view one of the continent’s most important African art collections before walking a few steps to your game drive vehicle to head into the bush and search for lions. Kenya gets a bad wrap - we’ve all seen the photos of the river crossings with tens upon tens of vehicles lined up along the river waiting for a gory wildebeest crossing or a lone leopard up a tree surrounded by mini-buses. These are scenarios that I help you avoid. If you’d like to see a river crossing in the Mara, the vehicles are unavoidable, but I’ll base you in a private reserve adjacent to the National Park where tourist numbers are carefully managed, vehicles are limited at sightings and bush walks, private vehicles and sundowners are the norm. The Serengeti-Mara ecosystem still delivers one of the region’s best safari experiences, hands-down. With the safari history Kenya has, it has fine-tuned the art of safari life. Most camps and lodges are still privately owned or part of small collections of properties, service is reliable and friendly, and it is one of just a handful of African countries with a formal guide training and certification program. If crafted by a thoughtful expert, a safari in Kenya can be one of the most diverse and novelesque adventures in Africa.