TOP 6 GAME DRIVE DESTINATIONS IN KENYA AND TANZANIA

 Kenya

1.  The Maasai Mara

The Mara is the pride of Kenya, having been named the best national park in Africa multiple times since 2018. It is over 1500 square kilometers, which is smaller compared to the Serengeti, its Tanzanian neighbor which is over 14,000 square kilometers. You are guaranteed to see lions and cheetah in the Mara because there are so many of them over a small geographical area. Rivalries here are fierce and battles between predators are just as common as death runs between predator and prey. With millions of grazers and predators on this small ground, game is a lot more concentrated in the park which means Game Drives, even short ones are always lively. The park has more than 100 lodges and tented camping grounds where you will stay while enjoying your trip, so you need to check the reviews on each lodge your agency proposes.

The best time to visit the Mara is August to November when the Wildebeest migration is happening. The costs tend to spike during this period but the experience can be heavenly. During the other seasons, especially from January to March when there is no rain, you need to drive around more to locate the fun but it is also interesting because you get to enjoy the plains better as the crowds are gone. The Maasai Mara can be accessed through daily flights from Nairobi to the various airstrips located in the park. There are two flights daily, often just a Dash 7/8 or a Cessna picking or dropping tourists from different airstrips depending on the lodges they stay at. 

The Maasai Mara also offers a lot more than Game Drives as it is the home of the Maasai tribe which has one of the richest cultures in Africa and which retains their nomadic lifestyle. Some of the local dancers offer performances and also come with mobile gift shops to the campsites. It is a great source of entertainment near a fire and under the stars. You also get the chance to try some aspects of the Maasai culture including food, dressing, and their high-jump dances. The Mara borders the Serengeti, but there are no direct drives or flights across the border so the bureaucracy kills the fun if you wanted to extend your trip to Tanzania.

2.      Amboseli National Park

While it is not the largest, Amboseli has more than 1500 elephants over its 400 square kilometer expanse making it the one place in Africa where you are sure to see elephant herds. Amboseli is also located at the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro which is actually across the border between Tanzania and Kenya. You get a perfect view of the snowy Kilimanjaro peaks from Amboseli and can also climb a few feet up the mountain on the Kenyan side of the border. Lodges in the Amboseli are the best as they are frequently visited by animals and you also get to watch the snow-covered Kilimanjaro peaks against the sun rays in the morning and at night.

Amboseli is also accessible through scheduled flights from Nairobi’s Wilson airport. You can also charter a flight from the coastal city of Mombasa. You need to book in advance though because there aren’t that many people flying and therefore the flights don’t happen on a daily basis. You can still drive three to four hours to Amboseli from Nairobi through Loitoktok town. 

The roads are paved and way more comfortable than a drive to the Maasai Mara. The drive is also scenic and you can start enjoying the abundance of life n the savanna with the occasional acacia trees in vast grasslands as well as zebra, warthogs, and giraffes on the road before you reach the park. A game drive through the Amboseli will be just three to four hours long but it will be a lot more fruitful. It is also easier to target your drives because the rangers know the type of animals present on different sides of the park almost every time because the park is small.

Amboseli is also home to some of the best lodges in the country with many offering the option to sleep under the stars and be able to watch animals walking past your camp early in the morning. There are lots of Giraffes, zebra, buffalo, and cheetahs. The lodges also host Maasai cultural dances as well as other entertainment options just like what you find in the Maasai Mara. 

3.      Tsavo East/Tsavo West National Park

At 13,000 square kilometers and home to over 12,000 red dust elephants, Tsavo is one of the largest national parks in Africa. Its size also means it cannot be covered in a single day which is why you need to book a stay inside one of the many lodges in the park. It is the host of the largest diversity of mammals and birds in the country and home to all the Big Five spread across different territories inside the park. There is also the Tsavo West National Park on the other side of the park which is less dense in terms of game because it is drier but it also offers a scenic game drive destination that could be just as fruitful.

Tsavo is home to 10 percent of the world’s large tuskers and they have a wide area to roam making it the best place to witness them in their natural habitat. The park is also home to more than 700 lions roaming in Africa’s largest lion prides. Predator wars between lions, cheetahs, and hyenas are frequent here because game is scarce and territories are fiercely protected.

The park is easily accessed through the many airstrips that receive daily flights from Nairobi and Mombasa. The Voi gate to the park is just 96km from Mombasa so you could just opt to drive. You can also access the park by driving 233km from Nairobi to the Mtito Andei gate.

Tsavo is the perfect place to enjoy the real solitude of a Game Drive since its vastness allows you to choose your perfect spot away from the crowds. You can choose a self-driving tour with a guide and locate the one spot that best suits your intentions for the trip. There are also multiple animal rescue and release centers in the park where you can go to learn about the animals in the park and the best regions for spotting animal activity. Kenya’s route A109 passes through the park, which makes it possible to enjoy your view while just driving through.

Other game drive destinations in Kenya

There are nearly 60 national parks and reserves in Kenya with most of them accepting tourists. However, most of them have caged animals while others just don’t have the diversity to warrant a whole day’s worth of driving. The Nairobi National Park right in the capital of Kenya is a great place to go if you have two or three hours to spare and watch Africa’s Big Five while on the move. The Ol Pojeta Conservancy which is nearly as large as Amboseli National Park also offers you the chance to view both caged and free-ranging animals and also offers the chance to picnic and dine in the wild. 

Other parks worth visiting are the Samburu National Park, Lake Nakuru National Park where you get to see vast flamingo colonies as well as the Big Five, Mount Kenya National Park where you get to see elephants as well as the snow-covered peaks of Mount Kenya, and finally, the Meru National Park which is greener and quieter and suitable for intimate getaways.

Tanzania

1. The Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti is the pride of Tanzania, spread over 14,000 square kilometers and home to some of the largest lion prides on the continent. The park is divided into different regions with the Seronera Valley region being the most densely populated by predators. You have to drive for long to locate animals in the Serengeti because of its vastness. However, with the right guide, it won’t take long before you find the animals. 

The Serengeti allows you to track the great migration from as early as May when the baby boom happens and the predators congregate around the herds to make easy pickings of zebra, wildebeest, and antelope babies. The Serengeti is where the first stage of the Great Migration also happens when the herds cross the Grumeti River in Central Serengeti as they head North towards the mighty Mara River. 

Just like in the Mara, the Serengeti has hundreds of lodges situated at strategic viewing points where you can see the herds, some right below your tree house at any time of the year. The Serengeti’s vastness also gives predators better hideout spots, which is why it is the best place to watch elusive cats including leopards. 

A trip through the Serengeti is not complete unless you tour the neighboring Ngorongoro Crater which is a huge attraction on its own with huge herds of grazers across the grasslands. The Ngorongoro is the conservation area that adjoins the Serengeti and actually has more buffalo, rhinos, and elephants than the Serengeti. In reality, the Wildebeest Migration also starts in the Ngorongoro heading North towards Kenya. 

The Serengeti had more than five airstrips accessed by chattered planes from Arusha, Dar es Salaam and even Kenya at all times of the year. You can also drive to the Serengeti from Arusha. There is no direct route from the Serengeti to the Mara due to diplomatic barriers between Kenya and Tanzania, so you cannot follow the herds across the river.

2.      Tarangire National Park/Lake Manyara National Park

4,000 elephants in a 2600 square kilometer space are the reason why Tarangire is one of the best places in Africa to watch animal herds. It is still part of Tanzania’s Northern Safari Circuit destinations meaning you can access it the same way you do the Serengeti. The park is just shrubs and marshy swamps so you can see the herds moving from far off. 

Because of the long grass and swampy conditions that come during the rainy seasons between March and May, it is best to plan a trip for June through January to get the best views and comfortable drives. Tarangire’s high concentration of the Big Five allows you to watch predator vs prey battles frequently especially on morning and afternoon drives when the animals brush shoulders.

Tarangire elephants come in larger herds than what you see anywhere else because the families live together for decades and develop long lineages. Next to Tarangire is the Lake Manyara National Park which is also part of the Northern Strip. Lake Manyara has more lions and leopards than Tarangire. Manyara is famous for its tree-climbing lions, but don’t worry, they keep their distance from Safari convoys. 

3.      Nyere National Park/Ruaha National Park

The Nyere National Park is the largest park in Africa and part of Tanzania’s Southern Conservation Circuit. The Ruaha national park is the Nyere’s close neighbor in the south with more than 12,000 elephants traversing the two parks yearly. These two are the best places to enjoy the getaway with the solitude that comes with game drives in such vast parks. The best thing about the Nyere and Ruaha national parks is the beautiful river lodges that give you a 360-degree view of the park while also placing you at strategic watering points where you are sure to see animals. 

Getting to these two parks is harder than their Northern counterparts since the road network between Dar Es Salaam and the south is not the best. You may have to do a 7-hour drive on unpaved roads to reach Nyere unless you use the Iringa town route which is still tiresome. The easiest way to get to Nyere and Ruaha is by air. There are daily flights from Arusha, Dar, and even Zanzibar to the airstrips in the parks. You can also request a chattered flight if you don’t have the time to wait for the scheduled flights.