The Jewel of EAST AFRICA!
Each of these has its own page: what it is like, when to come, and the trips that visit it.
First safaris, big cats, the migration, photography
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.
Elephants, photography, short trips from Nairobi
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.
Second safaris, rare species, travellers avoiding crowds
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.
Families, birders, anybody tired of sitting in a vehicle
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.
Landscape, black rhino, walking, quieter safaris
Tsavo West is the handsome half of Tsavo — hills, lava flows and green scrub instead of flat red plain. Mzima Springs pushes fifty million gallons of clear water out of the ground every day, and an underwater chamber lets you watch hippo and crocodile from below the surface. The rhino sanctuary here is one of the few places in Kenya to see black rhino.
Safari and beach trips, elephants, wide-open country
Tsavo East is vast, flat and red — the elephants here are stained by the dust and look it. It is the park you cross on the way between Nairobi and the coast, which makes it the natural way to put a safari in front of a week at Diani or Watamu.
Layovers, first and last days, families, short time
The only national park in the world inside a capital city. Lion, rhino, giraffe and buffalo on open plains with Nairobi's skyline on the horizon — and you can be back at the airport in forty minutes. It is the half-day that rescues an arrival or departure date nobody knew what to do with.
Rhino, conservation-minded travellers, walking safaris
Ol Pejeta is a working conservancy on the Laikipia plateau with Mount Kenya behind it. It holds the largest black rhino population in East Africa, the last two northern white rhino on earth, and a chimpanzee sanctuary. Because it is private land, you can track rhino on foot and drive at night — neither of which a national park allows.
Rhino, short add-ons, birders
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.
Second safaris, rare forest species, something different
The Aberdares are cold, wet mountain forest and moorland — nothing like the plains below. The lodges here are built over waterholes and you watch from a balcony instead of a vehicle, often after dark, which is when the elephant, buffalo, giant forest hog and the occasional bongo come in.
Active travellers, families with teenagers, cyclists
Hell's Gate has no big predators to speak of, which is the whole point: you cycle and walk through it. Red cliffs, steam vents and a gorge you climb down into on foot, with zebra and giraffe watching from the track. It is an hour from Naivasha and the most active day on a Kenyan itinerary.
Birders, geology, travellers who have already done the big parks
Bogoria is the one with the geysers. Jets of boiling water and steam come straight out of the lake shore, and the alkaline water behind them often carries the biggest flamingo flocks left in the Rift Valley. It is a detour off the Nakuru road and a strange, memorable hour.
Repeat visitors, solitude, rhino
Meru is where Elsa the lioness of Born Free was raised and released. It is well watered, green and almost empty of other vehicles — thirteen rivers, doum palms, and a rhino sanctuary inside the park. For a traveller who has done the Mara and wants wilderness without a crowd, this is the answer.
Trekkers, acclimatising before Kilimanjaro, mountain birders
Africa's second highest mountain, and the one you can climb without technical gear. Point Lenana at 4,985m is a long trek rather than a climb, through bamboo, giant groundsel and glacial tarns. The forest on the lower slopes holds elephant and buffalo, so the first day is a game walk in all but name.
Hikers, day trips from Nairobi, active itineraries
A dormant volcano two hours from Nairobi with a path right around its crater rim. The climb takes about four hours return and the view down into the forested crater floor, and out across Lake Naivasha, is the reward. It is the best half-day of exercise in the Rift Valley.
Private trips, cheapest first. Prices are per person and every route can be changed.
Day trip in Nairobi, Kenya.
3 Days
8 Days
11 Days Exploring Kenya and Tanzania
Welcome to Motherland, Kenya!
Its beautiful, its serene, its diverse, and her heritage adds to the mix of the best experiences to ever yearn for on an African safari. Let us take you to a first-hand eventful game drives, create memories, and experience the beauty and many unexplored wonders of Kenya.
Do you know there's only one white giraffe, and is found in Kenya? Have you witnessed the wonders of wildebeests in R. Mara? Come! Let us take you there!
Tell us when you can travel and how long you have. We will put a route together and price it honestly — including the bits that are not worth doing.
