Stories & Insights

Your first Kenya holiday starts with a few good decisions: when to travel, how much ground to cover, and what to leave to someone on the ground. Here is how to bring the safari, the coast, and the practical details together.

Most first-time visitors to Kenya want both the savanna and the ocean. The difference between a trip that flows and one that feels rushed comes down to sequencing, flight timing, and how many days you actually have.

You do not need a week off to spend time in the Kenya people travel across the world to see. Five escapes within a few hours of the city, and what each one is actually good for.

Kenya's coast is fringed by reef for most of its length, and much of it sits inside marine parks that have been protected since the 1960s. Where to go, when the water is clearest, and how to snorkel without damaging what you came to see.

The Madaraka Express crosses Tsavo in about five hours, and passengers regularly see elephant and giraffe from the window. What the journey is actually like, and when to take it instead of flying.

From the plains of the Mara to the reef at Diani, five settings that carry a wedding beautifully. What each one asks of you, what it gives back, and the guest numbers each realistically holds.

The legal paperwork, the seasons that decide your date, what guests will actually spend, and the details that are missed most often. A practical account rather than an inspirational one.

Two landscapes within an hour's flight of each other, infrastructure that has quietly caught up, and guests who get a holiday rather than an errand. Also, honestly, what still needs work.

A lodge that is wonderful for a holiday can be the wrong choice for a working retreat. What to check before you book: power, connectivity, meeting space, group size, and how far you are asking people to travel.

The bush does most of the work on its own. Six activities that produce genuine conversation between colleagues, and the ones to leave out.