The Masai Mara Game Reserve

The Masai Mara National Reserve is administered by the local county council. It is probably the most famous and most visited reserve in Kenya. It offers breathtaking views (seen in the film ‘Out of Africa’, much of which was filmed here)an extraordinary density of animals including the “Big Five” and many varieties of plains game.

Samburu National Park

Offers unique vistas of rounded, rugged hills and undulating plains. The mix of wood and grassland with riverine forest and swamp home to a wide variety of animal and birdlife, Buffalo Springs records over 365 species of bird. Game viewing and visibility is excellent: Reticulated Giraffe, Grevy’s Zebra, elephant, oryx, Somali Ostrich, hippo, crocodile, gerenuk, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah and hyena.

Amboseli National Park

Amboseli is famous for its big game - elephants, lions and cheetahs are the main attractions - and for its great scenery beauty.Amboseli embodies five main wildlife habitats, plus a generally dry lake-bed - Lake Amboseli. These are open plains; extensive stands of yellow-barked acacia woodland; rocky, lava strewn thorn-bush country; swamps and marshes; and at the western end of the reserve, above Namanga, the massif of Ol Doinyo Orok rising to over 2,760m (8.300ft) and still for the most part zoologically unexplored.

The Tsavo East and West National Parks

“Full of wild beasts, such as rhinoceros, buffaloes and elephants” from a missionary’s diary written in 1849.Later in 1900 the notorious “Man Eaters of Tsavo” man-eating lions preyed on the railway linesman building the great Uganda Railway in 1900. The carriage from which they pulled a traveller is on display in Nairobi Railway Museum. Tsavo-West has important historic connections as a major battleground in World War I where British and Germany troops battled for supremacy.

Lake Nakuru National Park

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.

Aberdares National Park

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.

Mount Kenya National Park

At 5,199m high, Mt. Kenya is East Africa’s second highest mountain. It offers easy or challenging ascents with superb scenic beauty. To the Kikuyu tribespeople it is the home of the Supreme being: Ngai, a name also used by the Maasai and Kamba tribes. In traditional prayers and sacrifices, Ngai is addressed by the Kikuyu as Mwene Nyaga: Possessor of Brightness. The names comes from Kere Nyaga the Kikuyu name for Mt. Kenya, meaning Mountain of Brightness – Ngai’s official home.

Lake Baringo & Lake Bogoria

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.