Kenya National Parks

Fresh-water Lake Naivasha, only 80km (50 miles) from Nairobi, is a bird-watcher’s paradise. It is also the most beautiful of Kenya’s Rift Valley lakes with its fringing banks of featherly-headed papyrus, secluded lagoons and channels, blue water-lilies and the Crescent Island Wildlife Sanctuary. Waterbirds exist in grat variety and abundance. Fish Eaglesand Ospreys are resident, … See Details

Lake Baringo, one of Kenya’s Rift Valley Lakes, north of Nakuru, possesses two major ornithological attractions. These are Gibraltar Island with the largest nesting colony of Goliath Herons in East Africa, and the escarpment immediately west of Campi ya Samaki on the western side of the lake, the home of Verreaux’s Eagle, the rare Bristle-crowned … See Details

Marsabit National Reserve, an area of some 2, 070sq km (800sq miles) in Kenya’s Northern Region, consists of a forested mountain which rises like an oasis in the midst of a desert wilderness, a spectacular group of volcanic craters of which Gof Bongoli is the largest and most dramatic, foothills of rugged grandeur and black … See Details

The Kakamega Forest lying east of Kamkamega town-ship is an area of immense ornithological interest. The forest is West African in character and many birds occur there that are not found elsewhere in Kenya. See Details

Lake Bogoria, known previously as Lake Hannington, in Kenya’s Rift Valley is a region of great scenic beauty. To the east steep hills descend abruptly to the lake shore, whilst along the western shores, which are flatter, are a series of spectacular hot springs. The Reserve includes the entire lake and its immediate surrounds and … See Details

This is a shallow alkaline lake in southern Kenya just north of the Tanzanian border and 113km (70 miles) from Nairobi. Water birds are abundant including the Chestnut-banded Sand Plover which is not found elsewhere in Kenya. The road to Magadi passes over the south-eastern end of the Ngong Hills at 2,134m (7,000ft), and then … See Details

Olorgesailie National Park is a 21-hectare (52-acre) prehistoric living site of hand-axe man, 67km (42 miles) from Nairobi on the Naiobi-Magadi road. It has been developed as a field museum with hand axes and other tools preserved in situ, together with fossils of associated extinct mammals. The site was developed during the early 1940′s by … See Details

The Shimba Hills National Reserve near Kwale, 56km (35 miles) south of Mombasa and within easy range of the Kenya south coast holiday resorts, is famous for its Sable Antelopes – the only reserve in which these animals occur. The Shimba Hills Reserve embraces an area of upwards of 310sq km (120sq miles) The Reserve … See Details

The Aberdare National Park, established in 1950, comprises an area of 590sq km (228sq miles). This includes the moorlands and part of the forest of the Aberdare Mountains, for the most part over 3,000m (10,000ft). The famous Treetops Hotel, 19km (12 miles) from Nyeri, is situated in a salient of the Park which extends down … See Details

The Samburu Game Reserves are the most accessible of the Northern Frontier faunal sanctuaries, 343km (213 miles) from Nairobi, 53km (33 miles) north of Isiolo township, over good roads. For those who prefer to travel by air there is a landing strip near the Samburu Lodge. The Samburu Reserve covers an area of 104sq km … See Details

Three islands lie within the boundaries of this Marine National Park, one of which, Kisite Island, is or was the breeding ground of colonies of Roseate and Sooty Terns. Before the Park was established these colonies were raided frequently so that in recent years relatively few birds have appeared during May to September. It is … See Details

Nairobi National Park is unique. Nowhere else in the world does there exist a wild life reserve with such a variety of animals and birds so close to a major city. Only four miles separate the centre of Nairobi from the Park where game animals, and the large carnivores which prey upon them, exist today … See Details

The Meru National Park, an area of some 1,813sq km (700sq miles) to the north-east of Mount Kenya, possesses several special attractions for the visitor. Firstly it is part of the domain made famous by Elsa the lioness, whose association with this wild and lovely country is well known through Joy Adamson’s books. An excursion … See Details

It is convenient to treat both these Parks as one unit as they are incorporated in the same Marine National Reserve. A visit in a glass-bottomed boat over the coral gardens, as they are called, is a highlight of any holiday visit to Kenya. The best time to make the trip is at low tide … See Details

The Gedi National Park, situated on the Kenya coast 19km (12 miles) south of Malindi, is a ruined city of Islamic origin dating from the thirteenth century. The Great Mosque, portions of the palace and other dwellings have been partly restored, and deep wells cleared of vegetation which formerly choked them. An information center displays … See Details

Fort Jesus, a seventeenth century Portuguese fort overlooking the Indian Ocean at Mombasa, was designated a National Park in 1958. Much reconstruction work has been carried out and a historical museum established, in which displays illustrate the culture of the coast from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century. Two birds of special note may be … See Details

The Tsavo National Park, a vast arid region of 20,807sq km (8,034sq miles), is Kenya’s largest wildlife stronghold. The Park comprises a diversity of habitats, open plains alternating with savannah bush and semi-desert scrub; acacia woodlands; rocky ridges and outcrops, and more extensive ranges and isolated hills; belts of riverine vegetation; palm thickets; and on … See Details

The Mount Kenya National Park was established in 1949 and covers an area of 588sq km (227sq miles), the park boundary being the 3,364m (11,000ft) contour. It comprises small sections of the higher forest and bamboo-hypericum zone, alpine moorlands, glaciers, tarns and glacial moraines. It is dominated by the twin peaks of the mountain, Batian … See Details

Amboseli is justly famous for it’s big game – elephants, lions and cheetahs are the main attractions – and for it’s great scenic beauty. The 3810sqkm (1,259sq miles) of this National Park and Game Reserve embody five main wildlife habitats, plus a generally dry lake-bed, Lake Amboseli, from which it takes it’s name. These are … See Details

Lake Nakuru, the world-famous haunt of flamingos, is a shallow alkaline lake in Kenya’s Rift Valley, some 62sq km (24sq miles) in extent, immediately south of Nakuru township. A first-class tarmac highway connects Nairobi with Nakuru, the 156-km (97mile) road link passing down the forested Kikuyu Escarpment with fine views over the Kedong Valley and … See Details