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Kenya Travel Tips: Malaria Pills, Yellow Fever Vaccine, Transportation and more!

Are you going to be visiting Kenya soon? Headed there for safari and need some more honest and practical information on Kenya travel from someone who’s ‘been there / done that’? You’re in the right place! I’ve put together some Kenya travel tips, including important information about visas, vaccines, malaria tablets, and other top tips when visiting this East African country, so hopefully you’ll find this helpful.

Is nairobi national park worth visiting?
Is nairobi national park worth visiting?

Table of Contents

All of this is written from a US Citizen’s point of view, so if you’re from another country, you’ll need to do a bit more research.

Do I need a Visa to visit Kenya as a US Citizen?

Yes! You need a visa and you need to get it before you go. The Visa is $50 for US citizens and you can apply here through the official website. The visa is good for 3 months after it’s issued. Make sure not to apply too far in advance of your trip! The whole process is fairly easy and straightforward but you will need passport photos and information on your accommodation. When I applied, my Visa was issued within 24 hours.

Kenya Travel Tips - Sunset in the Mara
If you want to see sunsets like this, then you’ll need a Kenya visa. And yes, the sunsets truly do look like this!

Kenya Travel Tips – What airline to fly to Nairobi Kenya from the USA?

Many airlines fly to Nairobi, but unless you’re flying out of New York’s JFK airport (they have the only direct flight to Nairobi from the US), you will have a layover somewhere. As for us, we booked our entire tickets through Delta. We flew from Minneapolis/St Paul > CDG Charles De Gaulle Paris France on Delta Airlines. Then we had a layover in CDG before boarding our Kenya Airways flight to Nairobi. Kenya Airways is a SkyTeam Alliance partner with Delta; we checked two bags each for free and the bags were checked all the way through to Nairobi.

CDG airport, not much to eat here.

IMPORTANT: I can only speak for Delta but when you get to the check-in counter, Delta requires passengers headed to Nairobi to show the physical credit card you used when booking the flight. This is due to heavy amounts of fraud associated with this destination. You will be reminded of this when booking your flight — so do NOT forget to bring that card to the airport. I imagine that this isn’t just a Delta thing — make sure to check with your airline!

Kenya Travel tips – Malaria Pills – Do you need them for Kenya?

Initially, I was not going to bother with Malaria pills. After all, I lived in India and I did just fine without them. What’s a few weeks in East Africa? However, after meeting with the nurse at the travel clinic for my yellow fever vaccination, she convinced me that I should get it. Even my husband, who hates taking pills just as much as I do, got the Malaria pill prescription.

This tablets were covered by my insurance – I only paid like $3 out of pocket.

With these pills, you will need to take them on a set schedule and you don’t want to miss a dose. It helps to have a reminder scheduled on your phone. Keep the pills on hand (I kept mine in my cross-body purse) and make sure you take them with food — this is extremely important.

Malaria Pills – Side Effects

Malaria pills can cause some people to have side effects such as weird dreams and hallucinations. While I didn’t experience either of those, I did experience some other side effects. Especially during our plane ride out to Kenya from the USA. We had a layover at the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, France, and I took my Malaria pill, thinking that I’d be able to grab something to eat there. This was my first time visiting this airport and I had heard bad things about it — especially about the lack of food options but I was so sure that it couldn’t be true. But, low and behold, it was absolutely true — and the terminal that we were in — well, there wasn’t much to eat. Even so, I wasn’t too worried, thinking that we’d get food on the plane.

Long flight, no food

Well, we did get food on the plane but by the time the flight attendants made it to my seat, they ran out of everything except fish. Yeah. Kenyan Airways served fish on the plane. I took the meal but didn’t eat it, and completely forgot that I had taken that Malaria pill and needed to eat. I wasn’t feeling right when we landed in Nairobi, I cried my eyes out as we were checking into the hotel for absolutely no reason at all, and tossed my cookies in the lobby restroom. All of this is completely unlike me!

In other words, the Malaria pills can mess you up! Especially when taken without food.

But is it worth it? Yes – I have no regrets taking the medication — because once you’re in your safari lodge and you see big gaping holes in the mosquito netting over your bed — and then you see a mosquito in your room — which you will — you will rest easy knowing you took the pills. Just make sure you eat.

Kenya Travel tips
All beds in safari lodges have mosquito netting, but it’s not foolproof

Do you need a yellow fever vaccination to visit Kenya?

It depends. If you’re visiting Kenya — and only Kenya — then, no, you don’t need it. However, if you’re headed to another East African country, which many people do when doing a safari trip like this, you might need one. For our trip, we were visiting Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Tanzania and Uganda require the yellow fever vaccine, so we needed it.

There are some exceptions to this requirement, mostly due to age or pre-existing health conditions. As always, check the entry requirements of the country you’re planning on visiting.

My experience getting the yellow fever vaccination

I hate getting shots, so I was very apprehensive about this. First, this vaccine is NOT CHEAP and in most cases, it will NOT be covered by your insurance plan, no matter how good your insurance is. Depending on where you go/where in the USA you’re located, you’ll likely pay $200-$400 for this shot! I wish I were joking.

The yellow fever vaccine is good for LIFE. You can get this at any Passport Health clinic in the USA, or some CVS / Walgreens will have it. You could also check your medical provider for it as well. However, I called around and the Passport Health clinic was by far the cheapest in my area.

Once you’ve been administered the vaccine, you’ll be given a yellow card. I keep this with my passport, but I also took a photo of it just in case. You will need to present this card to customs officials when entering countries that require this.

As always, double-check the entry requirements for each country you plan on visiting for the latest information!

As for side effects of the Yellow Fever vaccine, I didn’t experience anything but a slightly sore arm for a few days.

Roads and Transportation in Kenya

Though lots of the main roads in Kenya are pretty good, one major accident can snarl up traffic for hours. Or even strand you on a road overnight. I mention this because there is a specific dangerous stretch of road that you’re likely to be on as a tourist — this is as you pass through the famous Great Rift Valley, en route from Nairobi to Lake Naiviasha, Lake Nakuru and other places to the north or west. This is a tough mountain pass for trucks, especially as they ascend the mountain, and accidents are common.

Roads can be bad - Kenya Travel Tips
This is the accident that held us up – this road is very dangerous! Luckily, I believe no one was hurt | Kenya Travel Tips

We got stuck in a traffic jam due to an overturned truck — we were stuck at a complete standstill for at least an hour. This is a huge reminder that you are not at home — there are no highway signs altering you to a major standstill on the roads and to avoid it. You have no idea when the accident will be cleared — we were lucky that it was only an hour; according to our driver, sometimes on this road, it can cause you to be stranded overnight.

The map below shows this road — along this road are a bunch of curio shops and viewpoints of the Great Rift Valley – chances are, if you’re going on safari, you will be on this road at some point.

Do not drive at night! Chances are, you’re not going to be renting a car, but in the rare case that you are, do not drive at night. Truck drivers drive carelessly, especially at night, plus you have to watch out for wildlife on the roads. It is NOT safe, and even your safari guide/driver won’t be driving at night.

Zebra Road Kill - Kenya Travel Tips
A zebra as roadkill was quite a sight to see…

Outside of the main highways, the roads get bad. Very, very bad. A lot of times, it’s a dirt track with large potholes and ruts. You may be on these roads for hours. And it gets even worse in the game parks! You will need ibuprofen and ladies, wear a sports bra.

Kenya Travel Tips: The roads in Amboseli National Park and Lake Nakuru National Park were pretty good. The Masaai Mara was a completely different story

You will encounter police checkpoints, even when traveling in a safari Land Cruiser with your guide. You don’t have to worry about this — your guide will handle this, but this is just another vote for not renting a car and going out and about on your own.

A matatu / shared mini bus

Local transportation is done on matatus (shared mini bus) and motorcycle taxis (boda boda). While you could take one of these, I personally wouldn’t, but you might have more of a sense of adventure than I do – the matatus get extremely packed to the point where they look unsafe.

Language

Swahili is the main language spoken in Kenya, but English is widely spoken and most people speak excellent English. While you’re in East Africa, you’ll pick up on a few words, especially –

Jambo! (Hello)
Asante / Asante Sana (Thank you / Thank you very much)
Karibu (Welcome)
Hakuna Matana (No worries)
Polle Polle (slowly, slowly – slow down and relax)

Jambo!

Random Observations about Kenya

There are a lot of paint stores in Kenya. And I mean A LOT. I noticed this everywhere — “Crown Paints” and their slogan is “If you like it, Crown It.” Not sure what the deal is with paint here, but the stores are everywhere, even in the countryside.

Kenya travel tips for first timers
If you like it, Crown it! | Kenya Travel Tips for First timers

There is no McDonalds in Kenya. But you will find Subway and KFC.

The coffee in Kenya is amazing, but the locals typically don’t drink it and prefer tea, so you won’t find a lot of coffee shops.

Kenya coffee and Splenda
The coffee in Kenya is amazing!

Keep your window rolled up if you are playing on your phone in the car. Phone theft right from inside your vehicle is common.

Entering hotels / malls in Nairobi often will require an airport-style security check. Your bags will be put through a scanner.

Facebook Toilet in Kenya
The “Facebook Toilet” is likely a squatty potty

You will encounter squat toilets in Kenya, especially in gas stations as you travel between game parks. If you’re horrible at using these like I am (I get stuff allllll over the place), bring your own toilet paper or wipes, as well as a trash bag for your waste as there often isn’t any trash can.

Anything you’d like to add?

Kenya Travel Tips for Safari vacations
Kenya Travel Tips for Safari vacations
Kenya Travel Tips for Safari vacations

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