Has it ever been your dream to drive yourself off-road in a 4WD in the African wilderness? Here’s your chance with Kenya 1 Tours!
Kenya 1 Tours is offering the opportunity to drive a Land Cruiser or Land Rover guided by a professional Rally Driver and his team of Safari Drivers. Have fun and learn how to improve your off-road handling of the car in the rough while driving through Kenya’s amazing wildlife and scenery and spend the nights in Kenya’s most luxurious small camps and lodges where the hosts give you personalized service. Kenya 1 Tours has also planned for spouse/family programs. They can join you on your off-road adventures or go on planned game drives and activities.
The off-road programs depart from both Mombasa and Nairobi, while the maximum number for each group is four drivers for each departure. Condition for participation is a valid driving license issued by your country of residence and sufficient driving experience.
8-Day Mombasa off-road adventure
You will drive from Mombasa to Malindi through the beautiful tropical countryside, with little rivers, hills, farmland and villages deep in Giriama land.
From Malindi you continue to Tsavo East National Park along Galana River and the Yatta Plateau. The beautiful vast landscape and rich wildlife proximity make it an exciting place to drive. Bushy grassland and open plains alternating with savannah and semi-arid acacia scrub and woodlands. Green swathes cross the Park where the river banks give rise to lush vegetation.
From the savannah of Tsavo East you will enter Tsavo West National Park with its open plains acacia woodlands, rocky ridges, outcrops, extensive ranges and isolated hills as well as rivers. Towards the Chyulu Hills, there are the remains of recent volcanic activities with lava flows and ash cones including the Shetani lava flow. On clear days there a beautiful views of Mt Kilimanajro, which is also dominating the view from the Chyulu Hills which are the youngest volcano mountain range of Africa.
The mountains are only 500 years old and covered with grass. Here you can feel the magic of Africa. The hills are nearly undisturbed and shelter a variety of vegetation and wildlife. Rough grassland and thicket give way to patches of montane forest along the spine of the hills, mainly above the 1800m contour. To drive the car here is demanding and awarding.
You will return to Mombasa through Tsavo West National Park and the Taita Hills after mastering the African Bush.
8-Day Nairobi off-road adventure
Your African driving experience will begin in Lewa in Laikipia. The Laikipia Ecosystem spans two million acres of unblemished wilderness in the North of Kenya. It has icy mountains, arid dry lands, savannah and forest. Through its varied environment roams an incredible diverse array of wildlife. Drivers enjoy total liberty in Laikipia.
From Laikipia you will drive to the semi arid land of the Shaba National Reserve in the Northern Frontier District. It is rugged and dry country, the Ewaso River and its tributaries display their green meanders of riverine forests. There are rugged hilly terrain, with great rocky kopjes and lots of springs supporting the abundant wildlife. Shaba National Reserve is enriched with extraordinary wildlife.
The last area you will drive to is Meru National Park which is wild and beautiful. Straddling the equator and bisected by 13 rivers and numerous mountain-fed streams, it is an especially beautiful area of Kenya. It has diverse scenery from woodlands at 3,000 feet on the slopes of Nyambeni Mountain Range, northeast of Mount Kenya, to wide-open plains with wandering riverbanks dotted with doum palms.
You will return to Nairobi by air after mastering the Northern Frontier District.
For more information, please visit: www.kenyaonetours.com/activities/driving.htm.
Photos courtesy of Kim Edmunds & Ashnil.