Kenya with kids!

[D15NEY]

Hi all,


Has anyone been to Kenya? Have you taken your kids?

DH has found a right bargain for mid June,all inclusive.

I'm worried about DS as he is 3 and a half,will it be too hot,jabs etc?

The flight is nine hrs,same as Orlando,which he was ok with.

Any comments would e great,

[TravelBunny]

Have been to Kenya quite a while ago, but not with kids. The culture is very different (a lot of poverty), although where most of the hotels are situated along the coast you'll be away from that. Beaches are very nice and the hotel we stayed at (Bamburi Beach, Mombassa), was also lovely (just be aware of the guys trying to sell you stuff on the beaches - they can sometimes become a nuiscance). We went on a days safari (which is plenty and very exciting, and you'll get to see much of the wildlife in one day too - any longer and I think it may get boring especially with little ones on tow!). I think it is still a requirement to have the Yellow Fever vaccination to enter Kenya - when we went you couldn't get into the country without the certificate. As long as you open your eyes to the different culture etc, I think you'll have a wonderful time! Enjoy!

[D15NEY]

Thanks for the reply, the hotel is on Shanzu Beach.

[scottfeltham]

just got back from kenya last week.the roads were a tad bumpy to say the least.we went for a week and that was enough.very nice country but we agree that you do get alot of people selling things and it can get to much after a while.you will need to have all your jabs and such as we found out that they are alot more third world than us and its better to be safe.when it comes to doing the safari's be prepared for long days but as we found its all worth it when you come within feet of a pack of lions eating there breakfast.

[Jan]

Oh gosh, what a coincidence! I was going to ask a very similar question (without the bit about children)!

There was a write-up at the weekend in the Daily Post about a holiday in Kenya and the Bamburi Beach and a two night safari with First Choice. Sounded really good so I got the brochure yesterday. DH is having a look at it - will probably take a couple of weeks to get around to that! I though about the first week in May for the temps, but they don't seem to vary that much (may be a couple of degrees or so).

What was your bargain, if you don't mind my asking, Vicky?

[D15NEY]

For 14nts all-inclusive it was £344.00 each for me and dh,the kids were £239.00. However I checked out the hotel on a travel web-site and it got really bad reviews from previous guests:( , so we have decided not to go:(

[tina cooper]

i went to kenya a few years ago now done the safari for a week then a week in mombassa by the beautiful beach. i dont think i would take small children there its a matter of personnal choice but it is not a place for little ones.its very dusty if you do the safaris and hot and you have to get up early to travel the vast areas. i dont think there would be much there for children??

[Jan]

What a shame about the hotel, Vicky, although from what Dibbers have said, it doesn't sound like a place for small children anyway. So perhaps best left for a few years.

[ashley.smith]

Went last year to run the only marathon in the world in a Game reserve (and to check out whether it was worth taking wife and kids. I loved it. Fabulous place... but then I stayed with a local who lived on a private estate next door to a government minister and accross the road from the Russian Embassy!

The roads were bad and at 3 I would not recomend going for the safari. But if you are going for a beach holiday thats a different matter.

You MUST have a yellow fever jab and take the certificate wth you. If you are going to the beaches I believe that you need a to take a course of anti-malaria tablets as well but if you are staying in Niarobi they are not required.

A MUST DO over there is the Kenyan National Park and Zoo. It borders the airport. We went there and were escorted around the zoo by a very helpful keeper who told us about each and every animal, its species and how it had come to be in the zoo, which I thought was one of the best I have visited (Singapore Zoo is the best). I mentioned that I loved Cheetah (what do you expect from a runner!) and he told me no problem he would introduce me to theirs.... He wasn't kidding... he took me into the enclosure and I have some of the best photos and memories of my life stroking the cheetah. I also took one of my best photographs which has the cheetah laying on its back with its paws in the air and is licking my friends hands!

Also my friend decided to take a short cut which resulted in us getting stuck in the mud and having to walk 2k to the rangers station to get help to tow his jeep out! (NOT RECOMENDED AS THERE ARE LIONS AROUND!!!!). Anyhow the rangers did the job and then invited us back to thier home for tea! I was told that for Kenyan standards they were well off, but the home was nothin more than we would put up on a school playing field for a changing room. You know... walls of precast concrete on a concrete slab with a corregated steel roof.

If you go do take lots of pencils or books with you. Cheap ones is fine. We started a riot outside a local school when we stopped to give the children pencils, such is the value of such things....

Humbling thought.... £1 a day will feed a class of 30 children AND provide thier library books... worse is that the meal at school is likely to be thier only meal - no school no food...

For an idea of the area and photos visit my web site at

http://www.smithfamily.me.uk/Safaricom%202005%20review.htm

I need to rebuild the site but the above is a summary!

[ashley.smith]

OH while I think about it if £344 is all inclusive (flights etc.) thats a good price... you could always check into a better quality hotel when your there.

[grottyrotty]

I went to Kenya several (!!!) years ago, before marriage & kids. I loved it & would love to go again. We went on a cheap safari (camped on the Masai Mara) and I can only describe it as "awesome". Don't know how anyone can say 1 day is enough. Now I'm older & wiser (??????) I certainly wouldn't camp the way we did last time with an unknown company booked in Nairobi.

Of course it is "3rd world" with lots of poverty & children begging on the streets (very distressing as a lot of them are maimed in some way - often deliberately to get more money!) & you should expect that. Tourists innocently travelling in out-of-the-way places are an easy target for crime.

If you are going to a hotel all-inclusive you should be fine BUT I would be very cautious about giving young children anti-malarials. I took them & was ill. The efficacy rate is lower than I expected, so decided not to continue taking the tablets as they made me so ill.

If you only intend to stay in the hotel, you may be safer trying another country and travelling to more exotic areas when your children are older.

As has been mentioned, biros, pencils etc can be used to barter for all sorts of local goods, and visiting somewhere like Kenya makes you appreciate what you take for granted.

Deb :wave:

[Jan]

The more I read, the more I'm going off the idea. :omg:

[ashley.smith]

Jan Kenya is fantastic and I think everyone who has been has loved it. But not for a three year old. (in my view) You can have an edited highlights tour at Busch Gardens on the Serengetti tour. I know its not the same but at least you get to feed giraffe... This is what I did for my wife and kids.

I have nearly finished updating my web site and hope to have it uploaded Sunday night so please go have a look then