Kenyan Holiday - Book months in advance or Last minute?

tupac662

Hi friendly people, trying to work out how we could get the cheapest holiday to Kenya this Christmas.
Should we be booking now or wait 'til Winter and hope for a cheap(ish) last minute deal?

4 Adults
14 Nights
Beach or Safari holiday

Thanks in advance
:snow_laug:snow_laug:snow_laug

Incapuppy

Have you researched prices at all? Holidaying over Christmas/New Year is generally the most expensive time of year, I hope you have a healthy budget!

Bananabelly

I agree with Incapuppy - you won't get a cheap last minute deal at Christmas, and the cheapest stuff is probably already gone. I would book ASAP. I am going to Kenya in October and booked months ago as the safari I wanted to do was already nearly sold out. If you are very flexible (eg in terms of country as well) you might get a last minute deal but otherwise no.

misgrace

tupac662 wrote: »

Hi friendly people, trying to work out how we could get the cheapest holiday to Kenya this Christmas.
Should we be booking now or wait 'til Winter and hope for a cheap(ish) last minute deal?

4 Adults
14 Nights
Beach or Safari holiday

Thanks in advance
:snow_laug:snow_laug:snow_laug

You might get lucky a last minute deal, but the ones you will be offered are from a company called 'african safari compnay', avoid them at your peril, yes, they do give good deals, but the choices of resorts are rank, have a look on trip advisor and you will get loads of info of the best resorts.
You mentioned a beach and safari hiliday, I can recommend a kenyan company that does the safaris, the money you pay goes back into the kenya economy, dont get them through your tour Op, plus its much cheaper.

I would recommend staying in Mombasa as a beach part of your holiday, and also go on safari, what I do is, spend about 4-5 days at the resort, then go on a 3 day safari, come back and chill at resort.
It is the most fantastic experience, I love Kenya, the people, the animals, and I would go back every year if I could, but I like to spread my wings, if you need any tips/help/advice, just ask

tupac662

Thanks for the advice all. I think we'll now be looking to book as soon as possible as Christmas seems to be the most expensive season. Seen a couple of good deals on Sky Travel (mixed reviews online) so will be doing some more research before booking (if we actually do).
Sky have an all inclusive deal in Mombasa for just over £900 each. I'm off to the high st travel agents tomorrow to see if any can beat this.
Been to Kenya twice before and loved it, but never been for Christmas. OH has been battling depression for the last couple of months and I really want to treat her to something special this winter. She's always said that Kenya was by far her best holiday, so looking to surprise her.

Beach holiday (Malindi or Mombasa)
3-4 day safari (Tsavo, Serengeti or Mara)
and maybe even a couple of days in Nairobi, (but not really fussed) would be perfect.

@ Misgrace can I ask what the Kenyan company was? We tried Kuoni 2 yrs ago. Good deals, but not the cheapest. (Thanks in adance)

Incapuppy

If you go over to the Trip Advisor Kenya forums there is a huge amount of info about local companies that run safari trips. Many of them are highly rated and considerably cheaper than either buying as part of a package here or booking with uk reps in resort.

misgrace

tupac662 wrote: »

@ Misgrace can I ask what the Kenyan company was? We tried Kuoni 2 yrs ago. Good deals, but not the cheapest. (Thanks in adance)

Sent you a PM

luci

tupac662 wrote: »

OH has been battling depression for the last couple of months and I really want to treat her to something special this winter. She's always said that Kenya was by far her best holiday, so looking to surprise her.

Make sure that you find travel insurance that will cover her. A lot of companies load the premium and some won't cover at all so I would check this out before you book.

hxm

Hope you manage to find a good price. Be warned, it is VERY hot in Kenya in December

tupac662

Cheers all
@ hxm I thought it was rainy season in December? Cool, wet and at times sunny
I could be wrong though:cool:

hxm

I may have been unlucky, but I spent 6 weeks in Kenya December / January and didn't see a drop of rain. Make sure you book somewhere with air conditioning! I can't tell you how tired I was after a couple of weeks with no sleep