Kenya is located on the Eastern side of the African continent. It is bordered by Uganda on the west, the Sudan and Ethiopia to the north and the Indian Ocean to the east. It straddles the Equator and is roughly a nine hour flight from London.

Believe it or not hundreds of thousands of people travel to Kenya every year just to see the animals. There are lions, leopards, elephants, cape buffalo, rhino, giraffe, gazelle and wart hogs , just to name a few, that are alive and well and walking around in the game parks. Although you can no longer kill them (thank God) you can get mighty close to them to either photograph or just enjoy watching them go about doing whatever it is they do. There is also a huge variety of bird life. To add to all that, the land itself is some of the most gorgeous on the planet and extremely varied. There are mountains, deserts, savanna's, rivers, oceans and forests. The air is clean, the scenery fantastic and the joys of getting that close to both Nature the place where man was born is hard to describe. Just being there seems to do something to many a visitors soul. A night spent under canvas in Kenya is said to cure a host of problems known to mankind.

There are a few different ways to get to Kenya. You can fly, arrive by boat, or come overland. We recommend flying. Its long enough, but still the quickest way. British Airways, AirFrance, and Kenya Airways all make the trip. Check the links page.

We have covered all of Kenya in many different ways and when all is said and done we have to say that we find sleeping under canvas, listening to the sounds of the African night as we fall asleep, the absolute best. To hear the lions roaring at night and to sit around a camp fire, is, to us anyway, utter bliss. And it doesn't have to be the most expensive option

It is the Kenyan Shilling. Right now it is trading about 55 to the dollar and about 85 to the pound. As it is useless anywhere else, spend it while you are there because you definitely can't take it with you.

Not anymore. You can get it either before you go by contacting the Kenyan Embassy or you can get it at the airport when you arrive. The better choice is to do it before hand as you will encounter massive lines at Jomo Kenyatta and you might not want to deal with such things after the million hour flight (ok, 8.5 hours) to get there.

The best policy is to do what you should do anywhere in the world and not have unprotected sex while visiting Kenya (unless you brought the person). Get the necessary shots for the things that your Dr. says (you can also check with the Atlanta Center for Disease Control (on the links page) for the latest update. Just know they always err on the side of safety and are very conservative.) And take your Malaria pills. Don't worry about Ebola, there isn't any in Kenya.

Yes and no. There are insects of all varieties in Kenya and of course there are mosquitoes, mostly on the Coast however, but nothing worse then you have seen anywhere else. In fact the twilight hour in the Adirondacks is far more apt to send you running for cover than anything you will encounter in Kenya. If the sight of a gecko sends you flying though, maybe a trip to Kenya is best avoided. Probably the worst thing is the moisture seeking flies in the very dry areas of Kenya. They are very annoying, but then again most people never get to those remote places and so you are very unlikely to encounter them. You will not however, walk into huge swarms of killer bees or step across acres of crunching bugs under your feet. Snakes do exist of course, but are rarely seen. By anyone. This is, after all, not the set of Indiana Jones.

Since you should probably ask your doctor anyway go ahead and ask him or her. We will only say that as long as you boil the water you will be safe. The local 'bottled' water that restaurants will try to serve you is often just filtered from the Nairobi taps, so don't think you are always drinking the 'pure springs of Mt. Kenya.' It is a pretty good bet that you are not. Order bottled soda water or stick with soft drinks. On the other hand if you are trying to avoid a case of The Kenya Two Step, you are wasting your time. All salads, cutlery and glasses are washed in tap water and it only takes one little microbe. Not to mention ice cubes. On a trip to Kenya, as with a trip almost anywhere in the world, travelers diarrhea is bound to get you . Its just a change in the bacteria in the water per se and it only lasts about a day anyway. Take your Pepto and you'll be fine. Or better yet, take nothing and just let your system do what its trying to do and you'll be just as fine. And probably sooner. So try to be careful but don't drive yourself crazy watching where every drop came from. You might not know where it came from but you will certainly know where it will end up.

There are hundreds of beggers all around Kenya (and the world for that matter). What you do with your money is up to you but here is a thought: The amount you will be helping anyone by handing it over to a single beggar is only your self esteem and that single beggar. You are not helping the greater society nor the country. You are furthering begging as a profession not getting him/her off the streets. If you really want to help, save all your knick knacks, t-shirts, pens and all the rest for buying things and save all your money to give to a organization that really does
widespread good.

The average wage for Kenya is about $2 a day. Try to tip within reason but not with flare, again you are doing more harm then good. The point of visiting a country is to be a guest, as a guest try to respect the way things are done and not step outside of the social ways.

There are a few hospitals in Kenya that we would suggest but Nairobi Hospital is the one you should ask for. Not that you always have a choice but if you have a last breath ask for this one. It is very clean and well run. If you want to be ultra safe get an African Air Rescue package. With this, if anything happens to you they will fly in and save your butt (plane, helicopter etc). It is not that costly and might just be worth it if you got a little to friendly with that cute kitty cat. There are other services but this is the one we suggest.

Jomo Kenyatta International is quite small. Remember to watch your bags and to try and get a cart for taking you luggage past the taxi people (there are hundreds, or at least it seems like hundreds). Remember if you decide to take a taxi that you can bargain for that as well into Nairobi. Take what ever they give you and go for about half. If they get too sticky on the price go to the next ten guys. Someone will do it for less, trust us. You will also need to pay the departure tax when you leave ($20) so have some cash handy on the way home.