{"id":31,"date":"2026-07-12T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/?p=31"},"modified":"2026-10-12T19:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:09:23","slug":"georgian-traveller-first-safari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/?p=31","title":{"rendered":"From Tbilisi to Nairobi: A Georgian&#8217;s First Safari Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.acsn-authorbox{display:none!important}<\/style>\n<p><em>Nino Beridze (33) is a graphic designer from Tbilisi, Georgia. She travelled with Africa Calling in March, her first trip outside Europe.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>My friends thought I was making an unusual choice. Most Georgians who travel for the first time outside Europe go to Dubai, Istanbul or possibly Bali. Kenya was not on the list. But I had read about the migration, watched every David Attenborough documentary twice, and decided that if I was going to travel far, I was going to go somewhere genuinely different.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f3f4ef;border-left:4px solid #a8842f;padding:20px 24px;margin:28px 0;border-radius:0 6px 6px 0;\">\n<p style=\"font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.12em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#a8842f;margin:0 0 12px 0;\">Key Facts<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding:0 0 0 18px;color:#1f2621;font-size:14px;line-height:1.8;\">\n<li style=\"margin-bottom:4px;\">Tbilisi&#8211;Nairobi routing: typically via Istanbul (Turkish Airlines, 11&#8211;13 hours) or Dubai (Emirates\/flydubai, 10&#8211;12 hours); both connections are available multiple times daily<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom:4px;\">Kenya introduced visa-free entry for Georgian passport holders in January 2024 (90-day permit, no advance registration required)<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom:4px;\">Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO): elevation 1,624 m above sea level; IATA regional hub for East Africa<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom:4px;\">The Masai Mara sits at approximately 1,500 m elevation &#8212; comparable to the Kartli plain &#8212; producing a quality of afternoon light that many Eastern European visitors recognise from highland landscapes at home<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom:4px;\">English is Kenya&#8217;s official co-language alongside Swahili; virtually all safari guides, camp staff and urban professionals communicate in English<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>The Journey<\/h2>\n<p>Tbilisi to Nairobi with one connection, either through Istanbul or Dubai. The connection in Dubai is particularly convenient \u2014 Emirates runs the route regularly with good timing from Tbilisi&#8217;s Shota Rustaveli International Airport. Total travel time is approximately ten to thirteen hours depending on the connection. Shorter than I expected.<\/p>\n<h2>The First Impression of Nairobi<\/h2>\n<p>Modern, dense and alive. I had imagined something much more different from home. There are coffee shops I recognised, traffic that felt familiar, food markets that had something in common with Tbilisi&#8217;s Dezerter Bazaar. Africa Calling met me at arrivals and within an hour I was in a hotel in the Karen district, which is green and surprisingly quiet.<\/p>\n<h2>The Masai Mara<\/h2>\n<p>Nothing prepares you for scale. The Serengeti ecosystem is vast in a way that is genuinely difficult to process \u2014 not just large, but apparently limitless. Georgia has beautiful landscapes. I have stood on Kazbegi and felt small. The Masai Mara made me feel smaller. The sky is larger. The horizon is further away. The light at sunset turns everything gold in a way I have only seen in paintings.<\/p>\n<p>The animals were extraordinary. Obvious to say. But the detail surprised me more than the spectacle: the sound a cheetah makes, which is not a roar but almost a bird call; the way elephant families communicate in low rumbles you feel in your chest rather than hear; the fact that the Mara&#8217;s grass smells exactly like the grass on the hills above Mtskheta after summer rain.<\/p>\n<h2>What I Told My Friends<\/h2>\n<p>Go. The logistics are simpler than you think. English is widely spoken. The camps handle everything. You do not need to be an &#8220;outdoor person&#8221; \u2014 I am not one. You need only to be willing to sit in a vehicle for several hours and watch. The watching is the point. It is the best use of attention I have found.<\/p>\n<p>Africa Calling welcomes travellers from across the world, including direct bookings from Georgia and Eastern Europe. <a href=\"https:\/\/africacallingsafaris.com\/contact\">Contact us in English<\/a> and we will handle everything from your first question to your airport transfer home.<\/p>\n<h2>Practical Notes for Georgian Travellers<\/h2>\n<p>Georgian passport holders do not require a visa to enter Kenya \u2014 Kenya introduced a visa-free policy for all nationalities in January 2024, replacing the Electronic Travel Authorisation system. Citizens of all countries can enter Kenya for up to 90 days without prior visa arrangement. The entry process at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport involves completing a digital arrival card and passing through immigration, which typically takes 20 to 40 minutes on an average international arrival.<\/p>\n<p>Currency exchange: Kenya Shillings are readily available at Nairobi airport and city banks. The Georgian Lari is not directly exchangeable in Kenya; USD or EUR in cash is the most practical option for in-country exchange. Africa Calling accepts payment in GEL through Georgian bank transfer for clients based in Georgia, with pricing provided in USD equivalent at the time of booking.<\/p>\n<p>Nino&#8217;s observation that the Masai Mara light resembles Georgian mountain light after summer rain is one that guides hear often from Eastern European and Caucasian visitors. The high-altitude grasslands of the Rift Valley sit at 1,500 to 1,800 metres above sea level \u2014 not unlike the elevation of much of central Georgia \u2014 and share a quality of late-afternoon light that painters from both regions have tried to capture. For Georgians planning their first Africa trip, our <a href=\"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/?p=27\">British first-timer&#8217;s account<\/a> provides a complementary perspective, and our <a href=\"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/?p=22\">seasonal timing guide<\/a> covers the best months to align with school and public holidays in Georgia. The <a href=\"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/?p=26\">safari budget guide<\/a> gives realistic cost expectations in USD.<\/p>\n<h2>\n<p>Readers interested in the ecological underpinning of the landscape described here will find <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/environment\/article\/kenya-wildlife-conservation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Geographic&#8217;s East African conservation reporting<\/a> and the Kenya Wildlife Service&#8217;s annual wildlife census data useful reference points.<\/p>\n<p>Sources and Further Reading<\/h2>\n<ol style=\"font-size:14px;line-height:1.9;color:#444;padding-left:22px;\">\n<li style=\"margin-bottom:8px;\">Kenya Directorate of Immigration Services. Visa-free entry for all nationalities (January 2024). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.immigration.go.ke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">immigration.go.ke<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom:8px;\">Kenya Airports Authority. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport official information. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaa.go.ke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">kaa.go.ke<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom:8px;\">Kenya Tourism Board. Destination Kenya &#8212; travel planning guide. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.magicalkenya.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">magicalkenya.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom:8px;\">African Wildlife Foundation. Masai Mara ecosystem guide. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.awf.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">awf.org<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr\/>\n<div style=\"border:1px solid #e0e4ea;border-radius:10px;padding:22px 24px;margin:36px 0 0 0;background:#fafbfc;\">\n<p style=\"font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.10em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#888;margin:0 0 14px 0;\">About the Author<\/p>\n<div style=\"display:flex;gap:18px;align-items:center;flex-wrap:wrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/?p=162\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nikos-pocock-1.jpg\" alt=\"Nikos Pocock\" style=\"width:76px;height:76px;border-radius:50%;object-fit:cover;flex-shrink:0;display:block;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 2px 0;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/?p=162\" style=\"color:inherit;text-decoration:none;\">Nikos Pocock<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 6px 0;font-size:13px;color:#8B5E3C;font-weight:600;\">Managing Director, Africa Calling Safaris &middot; Editor, Safari News<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:0;font-size:13px;color:#444;line-height:1.6;\">Over two decades designing private safari journeys across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. <a href=\"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/?p=162\" style=\"color:#8B5E3C;font-weight:600;\">Full profile &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nino had never left Europe before. She chose Kenya as her first intercontinental trip. Here is her account of what surprised her most about East Africa and why she would go back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":47,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"coauthors":[16],"class_list":["post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":303,"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.africacallingsafaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}