Why? When you are driving along in the outback looking at the landscape and animals, you certainly know you are in the middle of something special. I've done the Safari rally, which is always held in Kenya, seven times now. There is one place, the Eldama Ravine, which is about 100km north of the equator. You start at something like 2,200m above sea level and finish at around 1,000m. At one point, you drive along the top of a precipice - either side of you is an almost sheer drop. You know you are on top of the world there - and you don't need nerves of steel for that journey: you just need to concentrate like hell to make sure you stay on top of it and not at the bottom of it.
The best thing: You can be in what you think is the middle of nowhere, yet get out of your car and within a minute or two there will be at least a dozen Masai around you. Few speak English but they are all very friendly. They get excited by the car. If you lift the bonnet, they all peer in. They probably don't have a clue what they are looking at but they take a very big interest.
My ideal day: I'd head straight to the coast and and take a boat to Lamu Island. I've been there twice after the rally and it is stunning, with 11 miles of virgin beach. About 10,000 people live on Lamu and there are a few mopeds but just one car, owned by the governor. Nothing else with any engines, basically.
My advice: If possible, don't stay in Nairobi. Get out of the city with one of the private safari operators, or just go and camp out at night on your own. It's not unsafe. In fact, in Kenya you are far less safe in the middle of Nairobi than in the middle of nowhere.
Getting there: Cheapflights.com offers flights by various carriers from Gatwick or Heathrow and Nairobi, starting at around £345 return.
Richard Burns is hoping for a fourth consecutive win in the four-day Network Q Rally of Great Britain, which gets underway on Thursday (Nov 22). His virtual alter ego appears in Sony's WRC World Rally Championship game, released on November 30 for PlayStation2.
