Important National Park Rules to Observe While on Safari in Africa

It always gets exciting when visiting a national park in East Africa, but it’s always good to also understand there are park rules to be observed in any East African Park.

These rules help us all to maintain the standards and improve the conservation and protection of our natural resources. They guide us on what to do and how to interact with wildlife. Below we will check some of the most important African Park Rules. 

Most of our East African Safaris are routed through these National Parks offering our guests the best wildlife safari experiences. There are many other additional safari activities a guest can engage in such as game walks, balloon safaris, and many others. 

Most important African National Park Rules to Follow While on Safari

• Respect the privacy of the wildlife, this is their habitat. 
• Beware of the animals, they are wild and can be unpredictable.
• Don’t crowd the animals or make sudden noises or movements.
• Don’t feed the animals, it upsets their diet and leads to human dependence.
• Keep quiet, noise disturbs the wildlife and may antagonize your fellow visitors.
• Stay in your vehicle at all times, except at designated picnic or walking areas.
• Keep below the maximum speed limit (40 kph/25 mph).
• Never drive off-road, this severely damages the habitat.
• When viewing wildlife keep to a minimum distance of 20 meters and pull to the side of
• Leave no litter and never leave fires unattended or discard burning objects.
• Respect the cultural heritage of Kenya, never take pictures of the local people or their habitat without asking their permission, respect the cultural traditions of Kenya and always dress with decorum.
• Stay over or leave before dusk, visitors must vacate the Park between 6.00 p.m. – 6.00 a.m. unless they are camping overnight. Night game driving is not allowed.

What is a Game Drive? Plus 5 Things to Know Before You Go

What is a Safari Game Drive? It’s an activity that involves searching for wildlife in a game park, national park, or national reserve. It involves the use of a 4×4 land cruiser jeep that’s open-sided enabling you to have a vantage of comfortable point-to-view wildlife in their natural habitat.

Game Drives are often the highlight of any safari holiday. They are the quintessential African adventure – best for covering larger distances and viewing wildlife from the comfort of an open-sided 4×4 vehicle.

These go hand in hand with the park rules that we indicated above, and they will help you practice the best game drives in East African National Parks and National Reserves.

1. Wildlife has the right of way

While in any national park in East Africa, it’s important to note that wildlife has a right of way. You are not allowed to speed beyond 20km/hr at least to be at the right speed and can be able to break in case you find wildlife crossing. 

If you find any wildlife on the road, you are advised to stop and let it cross to give you the way to continue with your journey. It kind and reasonable, as much as there are park rules to be followed, always know wildlife have a right of way in all parks in East Africa.

2. Remain Silent while on a game drive

It’s advised to remain silent and quiet when close to a sighting or an animal. The silence helps them be natural and uninterrupted by the noise made by us while on game drives. 

It’s not allowed to yell, shout, or even talk loudly, or try to call them since this might pose a danger to you. You can speak in a very low tone or mammer in case you need some clarity from the guide. 

The jeeps are also switched off the engine to give animals ample and peaceful time in their spaces. Silence is paramount and also indicated in all parks as part of Park Rules in East Africa.

3. Do not litter while on game drives

All our African Safaris are sustainable driven and in every trip made, we ensure sustainability is practiced and adhered to. As a safari company, it’s our duty to ensure we protect our natural resources by all and by all means possible. 

Littering in the parks and national reserves in East Africa poses a great danger to wildlife as they might consume some of our leftover dirt such as paper and plastics. These might harm the same animals you paid lots of money to come and see in Africa. 

All our jeeps are fitted with litter bins where you can throw your trash, or even leave your trash in our jeeps since they will be cleaned after every game drive and disposed of properly. It’s always good to keep in mind the park rules in East Africa. 

For example, some Park Rules to Observe in Tanzania parks include not disposing of litter anyhow, still, the same rule applies to all other countries in East Africa.

4. Always drive on designated roads

Most of the National Parks and National Reserves in East Africa, prohibit off-roading while on game drives. You might damage the natural habitat or even step and drive on an animal that could be lying down in the grass. 

Big cats such as cheetahs and lions, love to hide their cubs under bushes, snakes and birds too lay eggs in the grass, and off-roading might be a dangerous act in killing some of these species. 

As part of the East African Park Rules, it’s good to respect these spaces and void off-roading to keep wildlife species safe and protected.

5. Get a professional Safari Guide

We know most of us ignore the importance of a professional safari guide, but they are as important as any other aspect of a safari. They know most of these destinations, situations,s, and conditions and they can advise accordingly. 

It’s important to have a guide who knows park rules in depth. Each East African country has its own park rules, but they are more or less the same. Kenya park rules are the same in Tanzania and Uganda parks.

We have heard cases of guests getting lost in parks for missing directions back to their camps or where they were going. They can also rescue you in very difficult situations and are conversant with the terrains and the roads of these national parks. 

In conclusion to National Park Rules to Observe in East Africa, you might come across some more strict rules like in Bwindi in Uganda, Akagera in Rwanda, and other special parks where they protect the more endangered species.

African national park rules are more of the same kind that applies across the board in all parks. Maybe additional rules apply in other parks such as Bwindi National Park in Uganda where they take care of gorillas and Chimps.

Like there are some Park Rules to Observe in Uganda Parks, such as not coming close to Gorillas, just for some time when you spot them, and so on and forth. 

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