¿ hat is the Smartcard system?

It is a rechargeable electronic card, issued by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), intended to pay the entrance fees to the parks in which it is implemented.

If you travel on your own, it is very important for you to know the system, since its use is mandatory in the parks in which it is already implemented. In other words, you will not be allowed to pay the entrance fees in cash at the park gates. Below you will find some questions and answers about the Smartcard system.

In which parks is Smartcard already working?

At the moment they are six: Aberdares, Amboseli, Lake Nakuru, Nairobi, Tsavo East and Tsavo West.

1) You obtain a card at a point of issue (POI). At the moment of issuance, you can load it with the value you wish. If you plan to visit several participating parks, one card will be sufficient for your whole safari. A card is also valid for several persons in a group. When loading the card, bear in mind that loaded money is not refundable, that is, if you load the total amount for your planned visits and you are bound to change plans or finish your trip earlier than expected, you will lose your money.
 
2) You can reload the card, if needed, at any point of sale (POS).
 
3) At the park gate, or point of access (POA), the amount corresponding to the applicable fee, according to the residency status, number of visitors and number of nights, will be deducted from your card.
 
4) When the card is fully unloaded, you must surrender it to KWS. This means, if when you leave a park the card's value is 0, your card will be retained by KWS, thus if you plan to visit other parks subsequently, you will need a new card. Conversely, if the card still has some money in it, the card is valid for the next park. This is applicable to non-residents, since Kenyan citizens and residents get a personalised card and may keep it.

Where can I obtain and load the Smartcard?

POI (points of issue, where you can obtain the card): KWS Headquarters in Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa and Voi.
 
POS (points of sale, where you can load the card): KWS Headquarters in Nairobi, Lake Nakuru National Park main gate, Voi town, KWS Headquarters in Aberdares (Mweiga), KWS Office in Mombasa, Malindi Marine Park, Tsavo West National Park main gate at Mtito Andei, and Amboseli National Park Meshanani (Namanga) gate.
 
POA (points of access, where your payment is made effective by unloading the appropriate amount from your card): park gates. Keep in mind that, in general, there is no card reloading at the park gates, so if your card balance is insufficient, you will be denied entrance, and possibly the nearest POS is one hour drive away.

For safari agencies, the system provides easier management of payments for access of large groups, since they can fulfill the whole payment with a single card.
 
For Kenyan citizens and residents, it is like a permanent ticket that can be reloaded at any time and used at will, replacing the use of cash at the time of access. These visitors get a personalised card to keep, avoiding fraudulent use.
 
For KWS, the system improves management of revenues and data. They state it also improves customer service, which is much more arguable, since ticket spot checks seem to be carried out more frequently now, with the consequent disturbance and waste of time for the visitor. No doubt though, it has improved customer control.
 
For the independent traveller, not only there is no advantage, but there are lots of drawbacks. The system increases the time needed to go through the formalities for park access, makes journey planification more difficult and hinders freedom of movements. If you have no card, you must look for a POI to obtain one. If you don't have enough balance, you must look for a POS to reload the card. Of course, both are not usually where you would like them to be, at the park gate. If you load just the amount required for the visit, you must surrender the card on exit, so again you will need to reach a POI to obtain a new card for your next park. And if you load in excess, you risk losing your money, since there is no refund. The new system penalizes the independent traveller, a frequent impression when it comes to Kenya's tourism policies.