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Drought
I would love to hear from travelers who have gone to Kenya recently, I've been reading that there is currently a serous drought in Kenya and I'm worried about the wildlife. Is the wildlife in distress? I would not want to go and see animals that were dying from thirst.
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The drought is unfortunately a regular occurrence. I can only recall Tauck changing the itineraries for the season one time since we first went in 2007— the Amboseli area got so dry, that there were a lot of dead animals in that area, so the itinerary was changed to avoid it that season. When we were last on the K and T tour in December 2019, the ‘short rains’ should have finished but they were continuing. I believe the ‘long rains’ most usually run until the end of May, so there is time for those to still occur.
Just to be clear, the wildlife is always in a sort of distressed situation, that is the nature of the area. The fear of predators, the search for water, it’s constant. You have chosen the Great Migration tour, the migration happens to follow the rains and the food, whether vegetarian or carnivore. That is why it’s hard to properly forecast when the migration will occur, it’s so dependent on the rain pattern for the season. This is why the tour is more expensive than other tours to have the flexibility to change where the camps will be for the best viewing. Just in my opinion, any other tour is just as good, longer and cheaper.
You have to realize that you might see lions, cheetahs, leopards, other small carnivores and vultures eating dead animals. Lots of blood and so on. That is the possibility of a safari. I recommend watching lots of wildlife shows, it really helps to understand the animal behaviors and how they adapt to droughts, especially elephants.
Thanks for your reply. I have seen the great migration before so I'm prepared for some gore. I'm just hoping to hear from someone who has been on safari very recently.
JeffC - I think that the Trip Advisor travel forums are quite helpful in monitoring current conditions in the safari countries. For example, I have been keeping an eye on the Botswana forum for updates on the Okavango Delta floods. I took a quick look at the Kenya forum earlier today and did not see any recent postings about the drought. But, you may want to add that forum to your research list.
Tauck don’t run tours to Kenya in March or April because it’s the long rains then.