The safari tour on which these pages are based was called the Kenya Safari Highlights Tour. The tour was organised by a Japanese safari tour specialist - because the author of these pages lives in Japan - and the other members of the party of six were Japanese, including the author's wife. An accompanying guide was Japanese, while the driver of our tour van in Kenya was a Kenyan (Kikuyu) who spoke English, Swahili and Kikuyu, as well as greetings and simple sentences in Japanese and various other languages. The actual van was organised by a Kenyan safari tour company (that is, the same company offers tours of all sorts to people from any country).

The tour was called 'highlights' because it included Amboseli National Park, where the elephants are a special attraction, and there are hippos in the swamps; Lake Nakuru National Park, where the flamingos and pelicans on the lake are famous, and there are rhinos in the park; and the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, where the big cats can be seen - the lion and the cheetah probably, and the leopard possibly. The variety of antelopes is wider at Maasai Mara, and there are also giraffes. In short, the combination of these three parks includes all the African animals that a first-time safari tourist may hope to see.

Safari Highlights took place over the New Year's holiday, 2008-2009. The distances are large, and there is a time difference of six hours between Japan and Kenya. The tour began with a 2315 departure from Japan. There is no direct flight, and the Dubai route is probably the shortest possible. All travel in Kenya was done in the same van with the same driver.

Safari Highlights Tour Introduction