Bordering the capital city of Nairobi, in beautiful Kenya, the Nairobi National Park is one of Africa's smallest parks and one of the only parks on earth to be in such close proximity to a city centre. It boasts a large and varied wildlife population, amid wide open grass plains against a backdrop of city scrapers. The park is home to one of Kenya's most successful rhinoceros sanctuaries with the world's highest concentration of black rhinoceros. Its wetland areas are abundant with birdlife boasting over 400 bird species. Visitors can enjoy the many facilities the park has to offer such as scenic picnic sites, well-positioned campsites, and hiking trails. Commonly spotted species include lion, hyena, warthog, zebra, giraffe, ostrich, gazelle, buffalo, and sometimes if you're lucky, leopard and cheetah.
The Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy lies nestled in the Matthews Mountain Range, spreading over 340,000 hectares at the heart of Kenya. The conservancy is run by the local Samburu community, said to be one of the lost tribes of Israel who celebrate Judaic culture and live in close harmony with the land, plants, and animals. The landscapes here, characterised by mighty purple peaks, vast bushlands and forests of cycad and juniper, have slowly welcomed back several threatened animal species, and visitors can look forward to seeing buffalo, leopard, lions, Grevy's zebra, De Brazza monkey, reticulated giraffe, kudu, and wild dog. In the northern part of the conservancy, the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary is home to orphaned elephants. Activities not-to-be-missed at Namunyak include guided forest walks, night-time game viewing, birdwatching, and taking part in Samburu traditional activities.
Situated in southwest Kenya, the Mara North Conservancy is a beautiful private wilderness area spanning more than 30 000 hectares. It is home to a spectacular array of plants, reptiles, birds and mammals; including elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah and large concentrations of wildebeest, zebra, gazelle and other migratory wildlife. Leopard Gorge, in the heart of the conservancy, is famous as the setting of countless BBC Big Cat Diaries and National Geographic documentaries. Neighbouring the well-known Maasai Mara National Reserve, this conservancy is vital for sustaining the famous Serengeti wildebeest migrations as well as the endangered African wild dog and black rhino.
