Widely regarded as one of East Africa’s most dynamic and cosmopolitan cities, Nairobi sits along the Nairobi River and serves as Kenya’s capital and largest urban centre, acting as a major gateway for safari travel across the country. The city features a growing café culture, active nightlife, and cultural landmarks such as the National Museum of Kenya and the Karen Blixen Museum. Just outside the city centre lies Nairobi National Park, where wildlife, including lions, giraffes, and buffalo, roam against a backdrop of skyscrapers — one of the rare cases in the world where a major national park borders a capital city. Visitors also often stop at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage for close encounters with rescued calves.
Situated in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, around 90 kilometres north-west of Nairobi, Naivasha is a lively town that serves as the gateway to Lake Naivasha, one of the country's most important freshwater lakes. The surrounding Lake Naivasha basin is a popular base for exploring volcanic landscapes, nature reserves and national parks. Visitors can take boat trips across the water to spot hippos and a wide variety of birdlife, walk among free-roaming giraffes, zebras and antelope on Crescent Island, or explore the dramatic gorges and cliffs of Hell’s Gate National Park on foot or by bicycle. Surrounded by acacia woodland and Rift Valley escarpments, the region offers a distinctive blend of outdoor adventure, wildlife encounters and natural beauty.
Nakuru is a fascinating city on the shores of western Kenya’s Lake Nakuru. The capital of Nakuru County located in the Great Rift Valley, about ten kilometres from the massive Menengai Crater. A hiking trail leads up to the rim of this ancient caldera, offering bird’s eye views over the lake and surrounds, and then plunges 400 metres down to the floor below, where visitors can walk among ancient forests. Lake Nakuru National Park, surrounding Nakuru, is home to exceptional birdlife, as well as over 50 varieties of mammals including lion, leopard, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, rhino, antelope and various primates. History and culture enthusiasts should make sure to visit the incredible Hyrax Hill prehistoric site.
Resting in the Kenyan Rift Valley, Lake Baringo National Park features a large freshwater lake. Considered Kenya’s most popular bird watching site, it is home to at least 470 of the country’s 1200 known avian species. Pelican, cormorants, fish eagles, and flamingos are among the most common birds sighted on and around the lake, which also provides a habitat for crocodiles and hippos. Boat trips are the best way to explore this aquatic park and its three islands. Don’t miss a visit to Baringo Community Museum and Reptile Park, which displays several species of snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and tortoises.
Sandwiched between the Cherangani and the Tugen Hills, the Kerio Valley National Reserve mirrors the Lake Kamnarok National Reserve over the crocodile-abundant Kerio River. The impressive Kerio Valley is 1300 metres deep, which results in a diversity of environments and vegetation, ranging from the forests on the upper slopes to the typically dry northern Kenyan thorn bush in the valley. The reserve is home to elephants, buffalo and a wide variety of bird species. Visitors can look forward to a wide selection of wonderful activities including: excellent game viewing, camping under the vast Kenyan sky, and hiking along numerous nature trails through the impressive dramatic scenery.
Resting on the shores of the magnificent Lake Victoria, the laidback port city of Kisumu is the third largest city in Kenya. This city features wide streets, fine colonial architecture and boasts great viewpoints over the lake at Hippo point and Dunga Hill Camp. It is home to the Kisumu Impala Sanctuary, which shelters herds of free roaming impalas and zebras as well as an animal orphanage caring for lions, cheetahs, leopards, baboons, duikers, hyena and buffaloes. Visitors to the city can look forward to an array of wonderful attractions including: the Kisumu Museum, which displays local cultural artifacts and the nearby Ruma National Park, which protects the only indigenous population of rare roan antelopes within Kenya and features sheer cliffs, diverse wildlife and many species of bird.
One of Kenya’s most iconic natural wonders, the Masai Mara National Reserve stretches across more than 1500 square kilometres in the country’s southwest. The park shelters a remarkable array of wildlife, including elephant, lion, leopard, and buffalo that roam its savannahs, while crocodile and hippopotamus inhabit the Mara River. Birdwatchers will delight in the presence of more than 450 resident species. Yet the true spectacle is the Great Migration, named one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. Each July to September, roughly 1.7 million wildebeest trek from the parched plains of Tanzania’s Serengeti to the greener grasslands of the Masai Mara, followed by zebra, antelope, and predators such as lion, hyena, and cheetah. The sight, sound, and raw energy of these vast herds are a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any traveller.
