Itinerary Planning

Itinerary Planning

This is one of the most important parts of your roadtrip preparation. A good start is half the battle! Roadtripping in Kenya is a different ball game to roadtripping in most countries in the world. It's also a completely different environment than Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, so don't think you can compare southern Africa with the East. Most tourists opt for an organised tour in Kenya and the self-drive industry is far less developed. That doesn't mean it's impossible, but it does mean you need to plan well in advance. The information on our website is there to help as much as possible with your travel preparations.

Being prepared and knowing what to expect is essential for a successful and satisfying trip. Here we share our most important itinerary planning tips with you:

- In general, plan your trip with an average of 50km/h distance covered outside the parks and 30km/h covered inside the parks.

- When you plan with Google Maps, increase the driving time suggested by at least 30%.

- Plan a minimum of two nights at each destination/highlight. Do not underestimate the game driving/viewing that you will undertake inside the national parks. This can also be very challenging, rough and tiresome driving.

- Be careful with adopting tour operators' trip itineraries for your self-drive trip. Some itineraries are very ambitious, counting on experienced Kenyan drivers who can drive 10+ hours in a day, and are used to the Kenyan driving style - which is sometimes (usually) a bit crazy. This is not something you want to do when driving yourself.

- You can use our suggested itineraries as a guideline for your trip

- Make sure you plan fuel stops in advance. Not all national parks have a fuel stations inside them, and often the fuel stations (found at the expensive lodges) are out of stock or service.

- 'Pole pole' (slowly slowly) is a lifestyle in Kenya. Expect that everything will take a while; from fuel stops to entering parks, crossing the border, etc.

- A roadtrip is best enjoyed when you believe that the adventure lies in the journey itself, and that the destination is not the end goal...