A shallow soda lake ringed by acacia and yellow-barked fever trees, fenced right around — which is why it works as a rhino sanctuary. Both black and white rhino are here in numbers, along with Rothschild's giraffe and the lions that have taken to climbing trees. It is ninety minutes from Naivasha and slots into almost any Kenya route.
Every one of these is something we run here, not a stock list.
Prices are per person and include your vehicle, guide, park fees and accommodation. Every one of these can be changed — they are starting points.
8 Days
11 Days Exploring Kenya and Tanzania
The time you spend in Lake Nakuru National Park is sure to be memorable. The park is most famous (and rightly so) for how easy it is to see black and white rhinos here, as well as the populations of lions (including some that, unusually, like to climb trees) and endangered Rothschild's giraffes. You've also a chance to see flamingos, leopards and plenty of birds. You might also fall in love with the pretty combination of lake, acacia forest, and dramatic escarpment.
Most safaris here combine two or three of these.
The Mara is the northern end of the Serengeti ecosystem, and the single best place in Africa to watch big cats hunt. Between July and October around a million and a half wildebeest and zebra cross the Mara River into it. The rest of the year it is quieter, cheaper, and still holds the highest density of lion, cheetah and leopard in Kenya.
Amboseli is where you photograph elephants with Kilimanjaro behind them. The swamps fed by meltwater off the mountain hold big herds year round, the plains are open and dusty so nothing hides, and it is close enough to Nairobi to be worth three days on its own.
Samburu is the dry north, and the wildlife is different for it. Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, gerenuk and Somali ostrich live here and almost nowhere else in Kenya — guides call them the Samburu Special Five. The Ewaso Nyiro river keeps it all alive and draws elephant down to drink all afternoon.
Naivasha is the freshwater lake in the floor of the Rift Valley, ninety minutes from Nairobi. You get out of the vehicle here: a boat among the hippos, a walk or a cycle on Crescent Island among giraffe and zebra with no predators to worry about. It is the day that breaks up a driving safari.
Tell us roughly when you can travel and how long you have. We will tell you honestly whether Lake Nakuru National Park is the right call for those dates — and what it costs.
