Overview
The Aberdares and Mt. Kenya National Park
To get to these two adjacent parks, which act as the biggest water catchments biodiversity areas and provides a third of the water supply to the city of Nairobi, you drive through vast plantations of Tea, Coffee, Pineapples and the recent introduction of floriculture. A lot of green houses dot your travel to the forest area. Kenya at the moment is the biggest exporter of Roses in the world.
The Ark and The Treetops
These two hotels are set on the mountain slopes at altitudes of over 7000ft above sea level. The Treetops offers high altitude game viewing including animals that are rarely encountered elsewhere such as the giant forest hog, bush pig, tree hyrax, large spotted genet and the elusive bongo found in the steep hillsides and thick forests. These mountains have not been tamed into farmlands. Leopards, buffalos and elephants inhabit the forests and on the high, misty moorlands are lions and antelopes. You may see four species of vivid Sunbirds, Hartlaubs, Turaco and Red Headed Parrots. As evening falls and the temperatures drop, blazing fireplaces are there to give you a warm welcome from the chill. These lodges, both overlooking popular waterholes, give you access to the secret nocturnal world of the Aberdares. Wildlife can be observed from three different levels including an outside view point, where you can relax with a soothing cup of tea, warm and cozy. These ‘tree lodges’, as often called in safari vernacular, serve as excellent places to see wildlife since they have been built along migratory routes between the highlands and the lowlands.
Buffalo Springs and Shaba & Samburu Reserve
These are in the Northern Frontier Districts. The road leading to the Northern Frontier is one of the most scenic routes in Kenya, offering breathtaking views from various angles of the snow-capped peaks of Mount Kenya. An extinct volcano, its twin peaks of Nelion (17022ft) and Batian (17058ft) are an imposing challenge for experienced climbers. The varied vegetation changes to semi desert bush and semi arid forest. The wildlife found here is plentiful and very unlike those native to other game parks. Animals unique to this region are the Beisa Oryx, Grevy’s Zebra, the Reticulated Giraffe and the Gerenuk (giraffe necked gazelle) often seen standing on its hind legs to feed. The Somali Ostrich with their distinctive blue legs are also exclusive to this region. Other animals inhabiting the lush bush are Buffalo, Cheetah, Leopard, Lion, Elephant, Gazelle, Impala, Waterbuck, Klipspringer, Dikdik, a variety of Monkeys and over 100 species of birds including the migratory ones.
Samburu Serena Lodge
This is an exotic and very African lodge, built of natural stone and surrounded by tall trees, lush established gardens and pools of lily pads.The dinning area opens to a terrace lounge overlooking the river, with a luxurious swimming pool and several grassy game viewing areas. Elephant families, Crocodiles and Leopards languidly stroll along the other side of the river.
Samburu Intrepids Tented Lodge
This is a luxurious tented lodge perched on the banks of the Uaso Nyiro River in the heart of the Samburu National Reserve. It offers 27 modern tents with a private view over the wildlife rich riverbanks. The spacious tents boast the very latest in luxury camping, with soft four-poster beds, handsome mahogany closets and writing desks and ensuite bathrooms with steaming hot showers. The bathrooms also offer twin washbasins, flush toilets and sockets for shavers and battery charging. The river-front dining desk and open-air lounge area add to the exotic out in the wilderness experience, but with all the lavish comforts of any luxury hotel. Sample a drop of heaven in Kenya’s northern deserts.
Amboseli National Park
This park is in the South Western part of Kenya at an altitude of 3280ft. The climate is often warm with dry days, cool nights and low humidity. South of Amboseli is Mt. Kilimanjaro. Early European explorers met derision and disbelief when they reported a snow-capped mountain close to the Equator. Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa standing at 19,340ft. Luxurious accommodation in Amboseli Serena lodge, Oltukai Lodge and Tortilis Camp. Rooms at Ol-Tukai Lodge offer a panoramic view of landscape and wildlife with the magnificent snow-capped Kilimanjaro offering a most glorious backdrop. The lodge is camouflaged in a forest of yellow barked acacia trees and palms with spacious quest chalets built from local gum trees and pale slates featuring a sitting area and bedroom. There is a lovely swimming pool overlooking the wetlands, where occasional parades of Elephants and Zebras come into view.
Amboseli Serena Lodge
At Amboseli Serena Lodge, a Maasai theme dominates. The Lodges terracotta colors and rounded shapes, with a décor using natural material in extraordinary ways resemble the traditional dwellings of the natives of this area. This is a perfect example of how modernization can be harmonized with tribal settings. The pool, main bar and outdoor terraces overlook the green grasses of the lodge’s waterhole where herds of Elephant, Wildebeest and Antelope graze just a few feet away under a floodlight at night.
Tortilis Camp
A feeling of disbelief and awe hits you as you arrive at the breathtaking Tortilis Camp, facing this magnificent mountain as the sun dances on its white snowcap. Tortilis Camp is a charming, rustic, tented camp, shaded by a natural forest of Acacia Tortilis thorn trees after which the camp is named. The tents are large with emphasis on service and comfort. Each tent leads from a bedroom with expansive king-size or generous twin beds, through a dressing area into modern bathrooms with pressured hot showers and flush toilets.
Lake Nakuru National Park
Lake Nakuru, home to hundreds of thousands of flamingoes, is quite a sight to behold. The alkaline constitution of the lake supports a vast flowering of blue-green algae and diatoms on which the flamingoes live on. The waters are so rich that the birds assemble there in millions all year round.
The Lion Hill Lodge
The Lion Hill Lodge, perched high on a hilltop, enjoys a commanding view of the Lake. From the swimming pool you can see all the way across the park to the Lake, with its fluffy edging of pink flamingoes. Frequently, other animals are also in view, some coming right up to the edge that environs the lodge’s compound. The National Park is a sanctuary for the Rothschild’s Giraffe and the White & Black Rhinos.
Maasai Mara National Reserve – ‘Spotted Land’
Covering an area of some 1500km in the South Western corner of Kenya, the Maasai Mara is blessed with an astounding concentration of animals and panoramic vistas across plains that are dotted with woodlands. The Maasai Mara provides an experience unsurpassed. As the Northern extension of the Serengeti grassland, the reserve is host to the annual migration of over a million Wildebeest, the most awesome spectacle on planet earth. In “maa” the common language among the Maasai clans, the word ‘Mara’ means spotted – referring to the clusters of bush which dot the plains. A living tapestry of grassy savanna, spreading thorn trees, rounded hills and tall gallery forests provide a feast of wildlife drawing photographers and visitors from across the globe. In addition to the Wildebeest and hordes of Zebra, which join them in their annual pilgrimage for pastures, many species of plain animals are to be found all year through, including herds of Buffalo, Hartebeest, Impala, Zebra and Gazelle. Dense thickets of thorn bush sometimes reveal a browsing Black Rhino and a large number of Maasai Giraffes and Elephants are to be seen, usually near the riverine woodland. But it’s perhaps the predators that visitors come to see most of all in the Mara. The reserve hosts the country’s largest population of Lions and the open country is ideal for the Cheetah, Hunting Dogs, Jackals and Hyenas, which are frequently encountered, on the plains. Sarova Mara Camp is nestled overlooking endless game filled plains and shaded by dense forest canopy. This oasis of Hemingway-style tents is right in the middle of the Maasai Mara Reserve. Each luxurious tent affords total privacy and the privilege of sweeping views of the greatest grassland system on earth. Mara Serena Lodge, situated on top of a hill overlooking Mara River offers a spectacular view of the Wildebeest crossing during the annual migration. It also offers well-stocked shops for a few souvenir items to remind you of your African experience once you get home.Keekorok Lodge is well centralized and game viewing is ever so easy from there. Kichwa Tembo tented camp offers excellent experience in a tented camp.