I’ve just come back from a few weeks in Kenya – a self driven trip taking in 4 different National Parks around the country. We started in Nairobi with a vehicle we hired online and then drove around 2000km on all kinds of roads and tracks staying at 4 different camps across the country.
We loved driving around ourselves and definitely made the right decision to do so, but there are lots of considerations before deciding to do a self drive safari in Kenya.
Can you do a self drive safari in Kenya?
The real answer is…yes, but it depends. If you are talking about hiring a car in Nairobi and then driving from park to park, then yes, this is very feasible.
If you’re also talking about driving around without a guide in the National Parks too then this depends on where you are planning on visiting, the time of year and the car you are driving in.
In some parks you are only allowed to enter if you have a 4×4, in others like Samburu or Nakuru National Park, in general you can enter in any vehicle but it is still up to the people on the gate and there have been lots of reports of people being turned away in rainy weather. So my advice (and more on this later) is that you must hire a 4×4 for your self drive safari in Kenya.
Whilst we enjoyed driving through the parks to our camps/accommodation, as we wanted to spend time taking photos and not focusing on the driving, then we opted to drive our own vehicle into the park but then leave the car at the accommodation and go on a game drive with a guide. The guides have walkie talkies and are in WhatsApp groups with each other to keep up to date with specifically where the animals are, so it would be quite hard to know this yourself.
In the Maasai Mara we were given a transit permit at the gate, which allowed us two hours to drive to our camp/lodge. In Buffalo Springs for example, we had to pay per day for our park entry fee and vehicle fee, even though we weren’t going to be driving that vehicle every day.
The Maasai Mara is one of the strictest parks for self driving, and although it is technically allowed to drive yourself in some areas, rules have been known to tighten suddenly during peak wildlife movement.
Renting a car in Nairobi, Kenya.
When you’re searching through the options then make sure to select a 4×4 vehicle. Whilst in some parks it is possible to arrive in a non 4×4, in most, you won’t be allowed past the park gates unless you’re in a 4×4 vehicle. Equally, on many of the roads we had to take, if we didn’t have a 4×4 we would have been completely stuck.
We ended up with a Nissan x trail, a fairly small 4×4 with 5 seats and plenty of boot space. The car served us well, although we were one of the smallest vehicles in many of the parks. Anything smaller than this, or indeed with less ground clearance, we definitely would have struggled with.
What are the benefits of doing a self drive in Kenya?
The main decision for us for driving in Kenya was cost. We were able to hire a 4×4 Nissan x trail for about £900 for 14 days which seemed pretty good value. The cost of hiring a driver for the whole trip would have been at least 3 or 4 times the price.
We also liked the flexibility. We could set off as early or late as we wanted, stop when we wanted and have privacy to chat and play music as we wished.
Also driving in Kenya is fun! It was amazing seeing the animals right next to our windows. Winding down the window and having a zebra walk right past was incredible. We stopped all the time and of course didn’t have to ask anyone to stop or negotiate stopping points.
Driving rules in Kenya
- Do I need an international driving license in Kenya? You won’t need an international driver’s license in Kenya. If you have a valid license from your home country then that will be fine, but make sure to carry it with you
- Speed limits in Kenya are 50 km/hour in towns, 100 km/hour on rural roads and 110 km/hour on motorways. However, in Kenya, Land Cruisers are classified as heavy-duty vehicles due to their longer braking distance. As a result, they are not allowed to exceed 80 km/hour on highways.
- You are not allowed to use your mobile phone when driving in Kenya, and doing so can result in heavy fines.
- You must wear a seatbelt when driving in Kenya and also as a passenger in a car in Kenya.
What are the roads like in Kenya?
Obviously it’s hard to generalise the roads in an entire country, but I’ll talk you through some of the roads we experienced.
In Nairobi the roads were generally fairly good, not too many potholes, and sometimes the option to pay for a new road to bypass some of the busy roads. Having said that, the driving in the city is very defensive, and you’ll have cars zipping in and out of different lanes and squeezing into small gaps on both sides of you.
The road from Nairobi to Buffalo Springs/Samburu (the A2 highway) was a smooth, well maintained road with plenty of petrol stations and a pleasant stopping area at the equator. This journey was probably the best road we had for the entire trip.
One of the worst (shown in the pictures below) was driving from the Maasai Mara to Lake Nakuru. At one point the road pretty much disappeared and there were huge, deep ditches. We were very lucky that it was dry as otherwise I think this ‘road’ would have been impassable. Many of the roads had constant pot holes and sometimes roads finished out of nowhere and we had to do a bit of off-roading to re-join the road again.
We had to slow to only a couple of km per hour on these types of roads, so allow a lot more time for your journey than you might expect.
Is it dangerous to drive in Kenya?
Driving in Kenya is certainly likely to be different to what you are used to back home. Drivers here are confident and drive quite defensively, changing lanes quickly and pulling out into small gaps without any warning. If you’re a nervous or unconfident driver then you’re likely to find driving in Nairobi and the cities very challenging.
It is recommended that you keep your doors locked when driving, especially when in the cities and always lock your car properly and remove valuables from view (or take them with you) when you’ve parked up.
In terms of the quality of the roads, if you’re not a skilled driver or used to challenging conditions then it could be potentially dangerous as you might end up stuck somewhere. We had a few tricky roads that were very challenging to drive on and we had to manoeuvre out of a few holes. Once again, if we didn’t have a 4×4 we would have been stuck.
Hire your 4×4 in Kenya here.
What side of the road do they drive on in Kenya?
In Kenya they drive on the left hand side of the road, the same as in the UK.
Keep in mind that if you are hiring a car in Kenya, that the steering wheel and drivers seat will therefore be on the right hand side of the car, and you’ll be changing gear with your left hand.
Once you’re out of the cities, it won’t be that challenging driving on a different side of the road if you’re not used to driving on the left, but in the city it might take a bit of getting used to.
What to bring with you for your Kenya self drive safari?
- Firstly make sure you’ve got an e-sim, I use Holafly, and that you’ve got plenty of data. I then load Google Maps in advance to ensure that if I lose signal during the journey I still know which way I’m going.
- Bring cash. Some of the National Parks like Samburu/Buffalo Springs don’t accept card payment and you won’t be able to enter without cash or M-Pesa (a local money sending app in Kenya). Cash is also helpful for stopping at small roadside garages if you have a puncture (as we did).
- We stopped at a service station as soon as we collected our car and got 2 x 5l bottles of water to have with us in the car. This was helpful to ensure we always had water in case we broke down.
- Have a bottle of spare oil in the car in case it needs topping up.
- Toilet roll. We brought toilet paper with us for roadside stops and then had a plastic bag to put it in until we had somewhere to throw it all away.
In conclusion, driving in Kenya can be super fun, as long as you’re confident and prepared. It was definitely a decision we were happy with and some of the best experiences on our trip were when we were self driving along ourselves.
