Attractions: National Parks

National Park – 767 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

The Aberdare National Park is part of the Aberdare Mountain Range, a fascinating region of Kenya. According to traditional Kikuyu folklore they are one of the homes of Ngai (God).

Mountain ranges and peaks soar to around 12,900ft (3,930m) giving way to deep V-shaped valleys with streams and rivers cascading over spectacular waterfalls – this area is a must for landscape lovers. From its vital catchment area the Aberdare Rainforest feeds the entire local and Nairobi water supply. Above the forest is a belt of bamboo, a favourite haunt of the Bongo, a rare and elusive forest antelope. At 10,000ft (3,000m), the bamboo gives way to moorland, home to eland, spotted and melanistic serval cats. Other features are the giant alpine varieties of lobelia, groundsel and heather. Ideal for walking, picnics, camping and trout fishing in the rivers, the moorlands are reminiscent of the European highlands.

Deep ravines cut through the forested inclines, through which hidden trout streams flow and waterfalls cascade down hundreds of feet of rock face.
Above the forest stretch miles of open moorlands,broken by lichen – covered rocky outcrops, hills and crags,thickets of giant heath and tussock-grass bogs.

In the forest are red Duiker, suni, Bushbuck – some of the old males are nearly black – Elephant, Buffalo, Giant Forest Hog, Leopard- all black examples have been recorded – and colobus monkey.

The moorland thickets are the home of Bush Duiker and Black – fronted Duiker and also the Black Rhino.

Bird life is abundant and varied. Perhaps the most conspicuous group is the sunbirds. Four species may be seen – Tacazze sunbird, brilliant metallic violet and bronze with a black belly; Golden-winged sunbird, scintillating coppery-bronze with golden yellow edged wings and tail; the emerald green Malachite Sunbird, and the tiny double collared Sunbird with metallic green upperparts and throat and scarlet chest band.

Game birds include Jackson’s and Scaly Francolins in the forest and the very local Montane Francolin on the moorlands. Birds of prey are specially interesting and crowned and Ayres’ Hawk Eagles, Mountain Buzzard, Rufous-breasted Sparrow Hawk and African Goshawk are usually to be seen.

Birds in the higher moorland are the Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird – but rare here than in Mount Kenya – The tame and confiding Mountain or Hill Chat, Augur Buzzard, Slender-billed Chestnut-wing Starling and White-naped Raven.

There is a variety of accommodation. Treetops tree-house lodge and the Ark, a lodge built in the shape of Noah’s Ark. Night gameviewing is provided by the lodges in the Salient area of the Park with excellent sightings of elephant, buffalo, lion and rhino, drawn to the waterholes and saltlicks each evening.

Overall within the Aberdare National park there are two lodges (total 219 beds), three self-help band sites (total 18 beds), eight special campsites (requiring advance booking) and one public campsite (moorland). There are five picnic sites.

National Park – 417 Sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

The Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve near the Malindi and Watamu Reserves and Parks is the largest surviving coastal dry forest in East Africa. The forest provides important habitat for its unique and endangered birds, insects and animals.

Game to view includes: the extremely rare Arder’s Duiker, the rare Golden-Rumped Elephant Shrew as well as the Sokoke Scops Owl, Clarke’s Weaver, African pitta, sokoke pipit, green barbet, nicator, amani sunbird, scaly babbler and other rare birds, plus over 80 species of butterfly.

Guided walks through the forest can be arranged for interested small groups.

The Reserve has no accommodation facilities, but there are many at the nearby Watamu and Malindi.

National Park – 120 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Ruma National Park was created as a reserve in 1966 to protect the only remaining habitat of Roan Antelope, the park is in the Lambwe Valley in South Nyanza, 140kms. From Kisumu town. The 120sq. kms. Park is a mix of rolling savannah, woodlands, rivers and hills. Its main attractions are game viewing, birdwatching, hiking and walking and fishing in the rivers.

Game to view include: Bohor Reedbuck, Rothschild’s Giraffe, Jackson’s Hartebeest, Roan Antelope, buffalo, leopard, serval cat and hyena, as well as diverse birdlife.

There is no hotel/lodge accommodation in the Park, but it has two campsites.

National Park – 5 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Offers excellent viewing and photography and is an important breeding place for crocodiles

National Park – 39 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

National Park – 4.2 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

It is only 4.2sq kms an island just off the northern shore of Lake Victoria, opened in November 1986. Ndere means ‘Meeting Place’ in the language of the local Luo tribe. According to Luo folklore, Kit Mikayi, mother of the tribe, rested up near Ndere after her long journey south down the Nile Valley. She found the lush shoreline so pleasing that she and her people stayed.

It is home to a variety of birds including fish eagles and a dense population of swifts. Hippo and crocodiles, including the lesser known Spotted Crocodiles, are a familiar sight. 50 impala have been introduced to the woodland which fringes the shores.

Attractions include hiking, walking, traditional fishing, boat safaris and picnics.

No accommodation is available.

National Park – 188 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Nakuru provides the visitor with one of Kenya’s best known images. Thousands of flamingo, joined into a massive flock, fringe the shores of this soda lake. A pulsing pink swathe of life that carpets the water, the flamingo are a breathtaking sight.

The lake has become world famous for these birds, who visit the lake to feed on algae that forms on the lake bed. They move back and forth, feeding and occasionally and spectacularly taking to flight, filling the sky over the lake with colour.

Nakuru has more than just flamingos. This is a major National Park and an important sanctuary for Rhino. Both Black and White Rhino are found here, and are often seen resting under acacias by the Lake shore.The park abounds with game. There are huge herds of waterbuck, zebra, buffalo, the endangered Rothschild Giraffe and more. This is one of your best chances of seeing Leopard in Kenya, and there are several large prides of Lion.

Exploring beyond the lake is always rewarding and there are forests, cliffs, waterfalls and more to be found here.

National Park – 68 sq km – Managed by Local Authorities

Despite its name, Hell’s Gate is an ideal family gateway for a day trip from Nairobi or stopover en-route to Lake Nakuru or the Masai Mara, located just beyond Lake Naivasha. Famous for its natural hot geysers, eagle and vulture breeding grounds, visitors have the choice of driving, walking, camping, cycling and rock climbing within the park. Horseback safaris can also be arranged.

Special location to view include Fischer’s Tower, formerly a volcano’s plug, the Central Tower and Njorowa Gorges. Two extinct volcanos: Olkaira and Hobley’s are worth a trip. Natural steam vents rise from fissures in the volcanic rock. Obsidian, a striking black glassy rock formed from cooled molten lava is a feature of this landscape.

Game to view includes: hyrax, buffalo, Masai Giraffe, eland, Coke’s Hartebeest, lion, leopard and some cheetah.

A haven for ornithologists and rock climbers , the cliffs of Hell’s Gate are breeding grounds for vultures, Verreaux’s Eagles, Augur Buzzard and thousands of swifts; 103 species of bird have been recorded in the park. Hell’s Gate has three campsites.

National Park – 1,570 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Sibiloi National Park is one of the world’s greatest treasures, where the proof of man’s origins was found. It was originally established by the Museum of Kenya to protect unique prehistoric and archaeological sites.

In the 1960’s Dr. Richard Leakey led an expedition to this remote area near Kenya’s border with Ethiopia, and discovered some of the earliest hominid traces ever at Koobi Fora now credited as some of the most important paleontological finds of the 20th century.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s over 160 fossil remains of early man including Homo Habilis and Homo Erectus were discovered, placing man’s origins to three million years. Over 4,000 fossil specimens of mammal and stone age artefacts have been discovered here.

The locations of the most important finds can be visited. Four particular treasures are: the shell of a giant tortoise dating back 3 million years, a set of jaws over 5ft. long from a crocodile believed to have been over 45ft. in length and the extinct Behemoth, forebear of the elephant with massive tusks, both dating back 1.5 million years and the hominid (early man) finds.

Game includes the rare Striped Hyena, leopard, lion, cheetah, hippo, plains and Grevy’s Zebra, topi, oryx, Lesser Kudu and Grant’s Gazelle.

Enquiries and applications for permission to visit this park should be addressed to the warden.

Wildlife Sanctuary – 877 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Dodori National Reserve was opened in 1976 to preserve a breeding ground for the East Lamu Topi, pelicans and with other local birdlife. Covering 877sq. kms with views of Dodori River and creek outlet with the densest, most varied species of mangrove forest in Kenya. Lion, Lesser Kudu, giraffe and hippo are also common to this Reserve.

Birds already noted are palmut vulture, Southern branded harrier eagle, honey buzzard, brown hooded kingfisher, European and carmine bee-eaters, brown breasted barbet and violet breasted sunbird.

There is no accomodation in this park.

National Reserve – 1,806 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Losai National Reserve was opened in January 1976. It is a wild, semi-desert landscape characterised by rocky hills, plains and river woodlands which snake along the seasonal rivers. The scenic beauty is breathtaking; game to view includes elephant, Greater and Lesser Kudu, Gerenuk and Grants Gazelle.

It is accessible at present during the dry season in four wheel-drive vehicles. The fauna is similar to that of the drier areas of the Marsabit reserve.

To visit the park you have to contact the warden.

National Park – 1,500 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

“This place is God’s gift”

Marsabit is a forested mountain which rises spectacularly from the middle of a desert wilderness and provides the only source of permanent surface water in the region. It has three beautiful crater lakes within a myriad of resident birdlife. The most scenic is Lake Paradise, made famous in the early films and writings of Martin Johnson and Vivien de Wattville.

Originally part of a huge Reserve which took in Shaba, Samburu, Buffalo Springs and the Losai National Reserve, the mountain was made a National Reserve in its own right. It is a nomadic rangeland and the droughtland of the Rendille herdsmen. Its name means ‘Mountain of Cold’.

One of the area’s special residents was Kenya’s most famous elephant, Ahmed – decreed a protected animal by the Presidential Order of President Jomo Kenyatta in 1970. Ahmed, who boasted some of the biggest tusks ever recorded, had a 24 hour armed guard. When Ahmed died, aged 55, his body was preserved and is now on display in Nairobi National Museum.

Other game to view includes: Greater Kudu, Reticulated Giraffe, striped hyena, aard wolf, buffalo, bushbuck, leopard and caracal.
Over 370 species of birdlife have been recorded which include the Somali Ostrich, the rare Masked Lark and over 52 raptor species (eagle, buzzard, vulture). A special treat is the rare Lammergeyer Vulture. The area is especially good for butterfly viewing with a wide variety of species.

Accommodation is at the Marsabit lodge sited at the edge of the forest.

– 1,806 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Opened in January 1976 covering an area of 42 sq kms. 180kms from Nairobi. Its main features is the meeting of the Tana and Thiba Rivers within the Reserve and the Kaburu and Masinga hydro-electric dams.

Elephant are plentiful in the Reserve. Other game includes: buffalo, impala, hippo, baboon, Vervet and Sykes Monkey, warthog, bushbuck, waterbuck, hartebeest, lesser kudu, jackal. Crocodiles are found in the dams and rivers.

The adjacent mwea rice growing area attracts large numbers of water birds and waders.Birds of prey are a common feature in this reserve.

There is no hotel-type accommodation in this Reserve. There are two picnic sites: Gichuki Island and Hippo Point.

– 240 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

“A feast for the senses” said a visitor recently.

Kakamega Forest National Reserve is the only tropical rainforest in Kenya, left over from past millennia when dense rain forest stretched from West Africa, across Central Africa and into the highland areas on the west and eastern walls of the Great Rift Valley.

The forest has been a protected area of Kenya since its vital role in the eco-system was first recognised in 1933.

The sheer size and grandeur of these immense trees, some over a hundred years old, is impressive. The trees create a complete environment for the birds, insects, butterflies and wildlife, so plentiful in this area.

The forest includes some of Africa’s greatest hard and soft woods: Elgon teak, red and white stink woods and several varieties of Croton and ‘Aningeria altissima’. Splendid orchids sit amongst the branches of the larger trees. Walking beneath the lush forest canopy deep shade is pierced by flashes of colour, exotic birdcalls, the scents of wood, flower and moss. The best time to visit is during the rainy season, April to July, when the flowers are at their most beautiful.

There are 7kms. of trails with a team of ranger guides to escort visitors through the forest. The walk to Buyango Hill, the highest point in the forest, is a must for visitors. The indigenous trees lining the trails are identified on signs with their local and latin names.

The Reserve is twice the size of Nairobi National Park with 380 species of plants spread in swamps, riverine and hardwood forest areas, glades and the shallow forest around the edge of the reserve. 350 species of bird have been recorded including rare snake-eating birds. Butterflies and snakes normally only found in West Africa can also be seen, although visitors need have no concern about meeting them around every corner. Forest mammals include bushpig, grey duiker, civet, Suni, clawless otters and some fascinating nocturnal game: Ground Pangolin, porcupines and the occasional leopard.

Kakamega offers excellent primate viewing: Black and White Colobus are plentiful and the De Brazza Monkeys (known as ‘Karasinga’ in Swahili, thanks to its distinctive white beard) can be found in the adjacent Kisere forest area. Many rare species of primate are common here such as the Blue Monkey, frequently seen near the Ishiuki Falls, the Olive Baboon and the Red Tailed Monkey.

Accommodation is available within the Reserve: one guest house (total 8 beds), self-help bandas with 10 beds and two campsites. Other nearby hotel accommodation is available as well as the Rondo Retreat, recently opened to visitors, located inside the Reserve.

– 1,091sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Not only a traditional tourist circuit, this area is relatively known. It has a number of permanent rivers with woodland fringes and salty springs. Wildlife is plentiful: elephant, giraffe, buffalo, eland, oryx, impala, bushbuck, Greater Kudu, Grants and Thompson’s Gazelle, lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena and jackal.

There are crocodiles in the rivers and abundant birdlife much of which gathers on the bans of the Kerio River. There are no lodges or roads as yet within the Reserve.

– 107 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Most of the reserve is occupied by Lake Bogoria which is a spectacular sight, reflecting searing blue skies and the rose pink of flamingo. It has significant ornithological interest with 135 species of birds recorded. Like Nakuru, the alkaline lake waters grow blue-green algae which seasonally attract thousands of flamingo.

The surrounding bushed grasslands are home to a number of animals. The Reserve’s herd of the rare Greater Kudu makes it unique and other game to view includes: buffalo, zebra, cheetah, baboon, warthog, caracal, spotted hyena, impala, dik dik and many small mammals. The south shore has acacia-ficus woodland and to the north is a papyrus swamp.

Birds are in plenty . They include among others; little grebe, tawny eagle, pratincole, swift, little bee-eater, cape wigeon, yellow-billed stork, African spoonbill, augur buzzard, gabar goshawk, water dikkop, gret tit, starling, hornbill, crombec.

There is one lodge (8 cottages/78 beds), three public campsites near Emos Gate: Acacia campsite, River Campsite & Fig Tree Campsite, one professional campsite and one picnic site: Loburu Picnic Site at the geysers.

– 320 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Shimba Hills is an easy drive and offers beautiful, lush scenery. It has a unique and botanically rich coastal rainforest. Two of Kenya’s most beautiful orchids can be found here.

Another rare species, unique to the Reserve, is the Sable Antelope with its handsome near-black coat. Game includes: roan antelope, buffalo, elephant, giraffe, lion, leopard, bush baby, black faced vervet monkey, sykes’ monkey, black and white colobus, serval, duiker, suni, bushbuck The best places to see game are on the flat grasslands near the spectacular Sheldrick’s Falls and on the Lango Plains near Giriama Point with a tremendous view over rolling park land to the escarpment, from where you can look out to the Indian Ocean. There are a number of short walking trails at Elephant Lookout and Pengo Hill and the falls.

Birds are not common in this park.But during spring migration you may find lesser cuckoos, golden orioles, honey buzzard, European hobby, red-backed shrike, hawk eagles, red-necked spurfowl, guinea fowl, blue quail, crowned hornbill and others.

There is one lodge with 31 rooms, one self-help banda site with 8 beds and two camp sites.

National Park – 261sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

It is convenient to treat both these parks as one unit as they are incorporated in the same Marine National Reserve. Famous for their vast stretches of casuarinas fringed white sandy beaches, the coastal resorts of Malindi and Watamu are also world leaders in the accessibility, beauty and diversity of marine life which lives just off-shore on Barracuda and North Reef coral reefs and Turtle and Whale Islands;which is the nesting ground for roseate and bridled terns from June to September when they should not be disturbed and are protected by razor sharp rocks and rough sea.

Watamu Marine National Park and Reserve encompasses the Mida Creek mangrove forest where young coral begins its existence before the tides take it out to the reefs beyond. The forest roots are rich in fish, crabs, prawns and oysters and are also excellent for birdwatching. Tewa Caves, near the mouth of the creek, are partly underwater where Giant Groupers (up to 800lbs) co-exist with many other tropical fish species.
The low tide is best to make a trip. Floating slowly over the coral beds you get to see brilliantly coloured marine fishes of bizarre shapes,spiny fish urchins, brightly hued seas slugs, crabs and starfish.

Shore birds include; sanderlings, curlew sandpipers, little stints, whimbrel and greenshanks and three species of plovers: grey, great sand and mongolian sand.Non-breeding visitors include terns and gulls. They are; swift, lesser crested and saunders’ little terns and the sooty or hemprich’s gull.

On the mainland Giant Monitor Lizards, dik dik, Antelope, mongoose and monkey species.

The coral reefs are home to over 140 species of hard and soft corals. Their symbiotic relationship with the chlorophyll generating plants give the corals their spectacular night-time phosphorescent colours. The reef plays a diverse role. As well as bio-diversity strongholds, they are breeding grounds for fish and other marine life, a vital barrier against the force of the sea, protecting marine organisms and tourist recreation, they keep out dangerous sharks common to the deeper waters, and their colour and the exotic coral fish they support provides a major attraction for tourists. The historic Gede Ruins in Watamu offer an interesting excursion.

There is an excellent range of accommodation along this stretch of the Kenya coast.

National Park – 200 sq km – Managed by Kenya Wildlife Service

Mombasa Marine Reserve was formed first, to protect the previous coralheads and their resident marinelife from damage by over-fishing and trophy collecting (relics, shells, coral etc). Coral species include: branching (acropora), encrusting (turbinaria) and massive (porites).

The National Park opened recently with the support of local hoteliers to prevent further stripping of the natural treasures from the reef in order to preserve its ecological and tourist attraction. Beaches with marine park access: Nyali, Bamburi and Shanzu.