Tourist vehicle simply known as a tour car or safari vehicle an auto-mobile built and customized purposely for sightseeing tours and excursions. The most amazing feature about any tourist vehicle is the full-time four-wheel drive mechanism that enables the vehicle to traverse any type of terrain including steep and muddy slopes with much ease. Some of the tourist vehicles feature a pop-up roof that offers tourists a chance to peep out and get clear views of the wild and nature. These 4×4 cars are ideal for safaris, photography, research projects, filming among others.
All our safari vehicles are customized for the rough safari terrain and are well serviced and in excellent condition to ensure they do not break down when you are on your safari in Kenya. The safari vehicles are also fitted with long-range high-frequency radio so that driver-guides can communicate in parks when searching for wildlife on game drives.
Note we can also assist you in planning your safari in Kenya at no extra cost, even when all you need is to hire a safari vehicle. We will advise on the best places to visit depending on the safari season and the most appropriate places to stay when in or near parks for the best safari experience. We can also help you book accommodation and advice on park fee payments, and if it’s all too much work, we can arrange the whole safari for you as a package depending on your requirements. We will work together to ensure you get the best experience possible when planning and when on your safari in Kenya and other East African Countries.
Types of Safari Vehicles Available for Hire
Some seven, five and four seat Land Cruisers are also customized specially for wildlife photography. They have canvas roll-up windows which, your driver-guide will roll up before a game drive for an expansive view and easy manipulation of your cameras (especially with long photography lenses) when taking photos. These vehicles are ideal for wildlife photography safaris.
- Extended Safari Land Cruiser
- The Toyota Land Cruiser is the most luxurious African safari vehicle that you can use.
- Extended Safari land cruisers have 5 &7 individual seats.
- It adds to the Kenya Safari Cost anything from $250 per day with a driver.
- Other than being a 4×4, which is quite important for challenging road conditions that might be encountered in some parks, the land cruiser is more comfortable than the safari van.
- It is also able to access parts of the park that cannot be accessed by other vehicles.
- The Toyota land cruiser is the ultimate rough road vehicle.
- The safari land cruisers are, however, very different from the normal land cruisers on the road.
- This is because they are specifically customized for game viewing, and not all are identical since different tour companies or camps have modified them in different ways.
- Modification of the safari vehicles in Kenya and especially the land cruiser is a great balancing act.
- The car must be safe for road travel- such as between Nairobi and Masai Mara and also be open enough to facilitate game viewing and great photography.
- If the land cruiser is used for road travel from Nairobi, say to the Masai Mara, it will have glass windows as a required safety measure.
- There are also open-sided safari jeeps, such as the one shown below, that are only used for game drives inside the park.
- Note that these vehicles, since they are fully opened, aren’t used for the transfer from destination to destination.
- Toyota Land Cruiser (4 wheel drive) 3 – 4 Seater
- Toyota Land cruiser include; V8, LX, TX, GX PRADO
- Safari vehicle hire rate per day is US$ 150 for those with 15 days and above while 5-14 days pay US$ 180 without fuel and park entry fees for the vehicle and driver-guide
- Vehicle seats either eight or seven passengers comfortably. Each person has a window seat in the seven-seat vehicle. One person in the eight-seat vehicle occupies the middle seat at the back
- The vehicle is customized for safari. It has a pop-up roof and has special shock absorbers for game viewing and photography
- Vehicles are driven by a professional safari guide with between 5 – 35 years of experience guiding wildlife safaris
- We provide a free airport pick up and drop off if the airport pick up and drop off is on the same days as your safari
- The price given does not include fuel and does not include park entry fees for the vehicle and driver-guide. We can help you calculate this
- The vehicle has a large pop-up roof to view wildlife and for photography
- The 4×4 Land Cruiser vehicle has a total of two diesel tanks, so it can cover long distances without refueling
- The vehicles are customised with a long extended chassis that allows for good legroom for all passengers
- Vehicles have comfortable seats that recline
- We have customized the vehicles with a specially customized load compensating suspension system for smoother rides on rough roads
- The vehicle has High-Frequency Radio that allows the guide to collaborate with other guides when searching for wildlife.
- All safari vehicles have two spare wheels
- They also have four doors that open wide for easy access
- WiFi can be provided at no extra cost on request
MOST ASKED RENTAL QUESTIONS IN KENYA
Renting a car can be an exciting experience, and you no doubt have a lot of questions. We at Advantage Car Rentals have answered some of the most frequently asked questions we receive when people want to rent a car so you can be confident you are getting the most out of your rental.
How should I book a car hire?
Most Kenya car rentals can be booked online by simply visiting our website or get to our office to make booking arrangement with our reservationist. Online, you can be time effective as it takes you a short time to fill in the contact form-that is car or services you require and our consultants will get back to you as soon as possible.
Why take a self-drive in Kenya?
A self-drive gives you the freedom and flexibility to decide on where you travel and what you see and do at your own pace.
What are the terms of my rental agreement?
It’s a good idea to call your car rental company or review their web site to determine the terms and policy of the rental agreement. Be sure to ask about who can drive the car, where the car needs to be park, what happens if you need to extended your rental, and if the rental company is responsible in case of a mechanical failure.
What are different modes of payments?
We do accept both cash and money transfer as mode of payment for visitors desiring our car rental services. After you have confirmed booking, you can effect payment via our pesapal account or to our bank account as we shall give you the details.
When do I need to return the car?
Car rental companies charge you in 24 hour increments based on the time you picked up the vehicle. Most companies allow a 45 minute grace period beyond your return time, but exceed that and you can find yourself paying for another day’s worth of rental fees.
What is a Rental Mileage Plan?
A Rental Mileage Plan dictates the numbers of kilometres or miles a rental car can be driven over the length of your rental. Depending on the car you rent and the length of time you have the car for your mileage plan will change.
Does the vehicle need to be returned with a full tank of gas?
The short answer is yes, filling up the tank before returning your rental is always a good idea, it saves the company from having to go out and fill up the car themselves. A lot of companies charge a premium per litre if they have to fill up the car themselves, which means it could end up costing you more than if you had filled the car yourself.
What happens if I return the car late?
When renting a car, the rental agent will make it very clear what time the car has to be returned by. Failure to return the car by the given time will result in being charged a late fee just like a library charges for late books. If you know you are going to be late returning the car we urge you to call ahead and let the rental office know, that way we can make arrangements for another car for the person renting after you.
What are my insurance options?
Optional Insurance is not required to rent a vehicle. Details are available at the rental counter. Personal Accident Coverage (PPC): Personal property coverage protects against damage to personal effects owned by the renter, as well as immediate family members of the renter, who permanently reside in the renter’s household and are travelling with the renter. Personal accident coverage provides accidental death and accidental medical expense benefit to the renter and their passenger (s). The death and medical expense benefit will both pay in addition to any other coverage that might be applicable to the renter or passenger (s).
Loss Damage Waiver (This is not insurance): This is a waiver for damage to the rental vehicle only. When accepted at the time of rental, Advantage will waive the right to collect for damages to the rental vehicle when the vehicle involved in an accident with a set amount of deductible.
What do I do in case of mechanical problems?
Our rental cars are very new so they are not likely to have many problems, unfortunately, nothing is perfect and even new cars sometimes break down or get flat tires. If that happens to drive the car to a safe place and contact the rental location at the phone number provided on the rental agreement.
Do I require an International Driving Permit?
An International Driving Permit (IDP) is proof that you hold a valid driver’s license in your home country at the date of issue of the IDP. This should be carried with your domestic driver’s license. It is a very useful travel document and is required or recommended for many countries when hiring a motor vehicle. How do I receive confirmation?
Are multiple drivers allowed to drive the rental car?
Yes but only if they are covered under the insurance and the rental office knows there will be multiple drivers. At Advantage, we charge a small multiple drivers’ fee to cover any other incurred costs.
What is the minimum age requirement for renting a car?
The minimum age for renters and drivers is 21. Renters under 25 are subject to additional rental rules and surcharges. Drivers between the ages of 21-24 will not be permitted to rent luxury cars, mini vans, and 8- passenger vans, specialty vehicles, full-size SUVs or premium SUVs.
If an underage renter wishes to add an additional driver to the rental policy, the second driver must be 25 or older and present their valid driver’s license and credit card at the time of rental pick up.
What kind of gear transmission do cars use?
We have a wide range of car rentals right from automatic to manual transmission options. And depending on your travel needs, we have comfortable, land cruisers, extended land cruisers.