Things To see

Nairobi
Nairobi, capital of kenya, is a lively, cosmopolitan and bustling city. The centre is modern and prosperous; services are well organized and efficient. The city sits at 1,870 m above sea level – from here it is a long and steady fall to the coast 500 km away.

Giraffe Center:
Giraffe center gives you closer glimpse of these amazing creatures. You will be amazed to learn more about this beast than you even dared to know. The centre has been set up as a breeding centre for the endangered rothschild giraffe, but now operates conservation/education programs for kenyan school children. There is good information on giraffes available here, and an elevated feeding platform where visitors meet the resident giraffes face to face. Hand feeding giraffes is an education in itself.

The Prater
Vienna’s prater boasts more than 250 attractions from the giant ferris wheel to nostalgic ghost trains, merry-go-rounds, go-cart rings, arcades, and stands for games of skill to ultra-modern rides. Also there are restaurants, cafés, snack bars, and beer gardens.

Masai mara national reserve:
This is the most popular of kenya’s parks, with very good reason. The mara covers some 1510 sq km ranging between 1,500 m and 2,100 m above sea level. The reserve receives a high rainfall as a result of the altitude and humidity of nearby lake victoria. It is an extension of tanzania’s serengeti national park.
The masai mara national reserve lies about 270 kilometers from nairobi, and takes about 5 to 6hours by road. There are scheduled flights, twice daily from wilson airport nairobi, which take about 40 – 45 minutes. If you can, time a visit with theannual migrationof hundreds of wildebeest gazelle and zebra as they move from the serengeti plains in january, having exhausted the grazing there, on their way northwards, arriving in the masai mara by about july-august. Once the mara’s new grass has been eaten, the wildebeests, zebra and gazelles retrace their long journey south to tanzania in october, where their young are born, and where the grasslands have been replenished in their absence.one of the highlights of the migration is seeing the animals crossing the mara river. There is much resident wildlife year round. The reserve is teeming with wildebeest, thompson’s and grant’s gazelle, zebra, buffalo, impala, topi, hartebeest, giraffe, eland, dik-dik, klipspringer, steenbok, hippo, rhino, elephants warthog, and bushpig. There are also large numbers of lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, wild dog, wildebeest and jackal, as well as smaller mammals and reptiles. In the mara river hippo and apparently sleepy crocodiles can be seen. The masai mara has a very high density of lion with about 500 in just over 1,500 sq km.
 

Balloon Safari:
Early in the morning, you will be woken and driven to the departure site. Once in the air, the view of the surrounding landscape, the rising of the sun between the mountains and the congregation of the animals at the river is beautiful. This all concludes with a champagne breakfast and memories of a lifetime.

Rift Valley:
The great rift valley is one of the most dramatic features on earth, stretching some 6,000 km from the dead sea in jordan down to mozambique in the south. In kenya, the rift valley starts at lake turkana in the north, and runs right through the centre of the country to lake natron just across the southern border in tanzania. Up to 100 km wide in places, the floor is littered with the famous rift valley lakes, such as nakuru, naivasha, baringo and bogoria, which are surrounded by fascinating cliffs, escarpments, rivers and arid plains. These support an enormous diversity of wildlife, birds, trees and plants.

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 alkaline lake. This is a shallow lake is about 60 square kilometers in size. Lake nakuru is 180kms about 2 & half hrs from nairobi.
Nakuru means “dust or dusty place” in maasai language. Lake nakuru national park, close to nakuru town, was established in 1961. It started off small, only encompassing the famous lake and the surrounding mountainous vicinity. Now it has been extended to include a large part of the savannahs. Currently, the fenced lake nakuru national park covers around 90 square miles. It has unusual but beautiful vegetation. The forest vegetation is covered with euphorbia, tall cactus like trees and acacia woodland. The forest region is a host to over 400 migratory bird species from around the world.
Along with pink flamingoes and pelicans. This exotic park boasts of a rich concentration of wildlife including black and white colobus monkeys and is also a rhino sanctuary. No where else will get a photo of a rhino with a back drop of pink flamingoes sifting food from a shimmering lake.

Lake Naivasha:
Lake naivasha is one of the few fresh water lakes in the rift valley and is 170 sq km lying at about 1890 m above sea level. Strong afternoon winds cause the lake to get suddenly very rough and the local masai called the lake nai’posha meaning ‘rough water’, which the british later mis-spelt as naivasha. Much of the lake is surrounded by forests of the yellow-barked acacia tree, full of birds and black and white colobus monkeys, once called ‘yellow fever trees’.
Over 400 birds have been recorded on the lake and it supports a large number of hippo . Lake nakuru is 110kms about 2 hrs from nairobi.
 

Crescent Island Game Sanctuary:
Morning and evening walks can be made here, a protected reserve where you can walk amongst zebra, antelope and giraffe that come to the water’s edge to drink. It is located at the eastern shore of the lake. It is not actually an island, as it is connected to the mainland by a slither of land.

Hell’s Gate National Park:
About 90 km from nairobi and 14 km southeast of lake naivasha is this national park, a major attraction in the rift valley. It is one of the few parks you are allowed to explore on foot, with bicycles and motorcycles allowed too, all offering excellent ways of exploring its 68.25 sq km. The flora is mainly grasslands and shrubland with several species of acacias.

Aberdares National Park:

Encompasses an area of around 715 sq km and is one of kenya’s only virgin forest reserves. The aberdares are the third highest mass in the country, with dramatic peaks, deep valleys, enormous spectacular waterfalls cascading down the rock face, volcanic outcrops of bizarre proportions and undulating moorlands. There isn’t a huge amount of wildlife (comparatively) although birdlife is rich, and the walks around the park offer tremendous views. Aberdare national park is 200kms about 3 hrs from nairobi.
The aberdares is a range of mountains to the west of mount kenya, running in a north south direction between nairobi and nyahururu (thomson’s falls). The aberdare salient is closed to the public and the animals can only be viewed from treetops or the ark. Access to these lodges is prohibited to private vehicles visitors are obliged to use the hotel bus.

Mount Kenya National Park:
This reserve is,715 sq km,which straddles the equator about 200 km(,3hrs drive)northeast of nairobi in central province. Mount kenya has a vital role in ecosystems in the area. It is kenya’s most important watershed and its largest forest reserve and the lower slopes make up the country’s richest farmlands. The dramatic landscape includes glaciers, moraines, waterfalls, precarious looking rock pinnacles and hanging valleys.
Mt kenya is an extinct volcano, some three and a half million years old with permanently snow-covered, ice-shattered peaks, mount kenya is the second-highest mountain (4508 ft )in africa after tanzania’s mount kilimanjaro. (19340 ft)
Mountain lodge:â hidden in a quiet forest glade within the mount kenya forest, mountain lodge offers the ultimate window on wild kenya safari. From the privacy of your room, steady streams of shy and magnificent creatures are drawn to the ancient waterhole. Located at 2194 meters on the slopes of mount kenya, serena mountain lodge is surrounded by a dense rainforest that comes alive at dusk with myriad of sounds that make the african bush so special and exhilarating; and this is just a sample of what to expect on a safari.

Sweetwater Tented Camps:
A sheltered oasis, clustered around a water hole and set in the pristine calm of the private ol pejeta conservancy, sweetwaters tented camp offers a charming blend of under-canvas ambiance and safari luxury. The camp lies at the centre of the 110,000-acre ol pejeta conservancy, which lies on the laikipia plains and 217 kilometers (3hrs)from nairobi.
Located on the plains of mount kenya, the camp features thirty-nine luxury tents, each with its own private veranda overlooking the water hole. The waterhole bar, built in the style of a game-viewing hide, overlooks the waterhole and offers unrivalled wildlife-watching.

Amboseli National Park:
Amboseli’s biggest draw is its location, with mount kilimanjaro providing a stunning backdrop. The whole park is dominated by africa’s highest mountain.by kenyan standards amboseli is a relatively small park (392 sq. Km). Amboseli is a 270km ,4 hour drive from nairobi.
Amboseli, meaning “salty dust” in the maasai language is an important rangeland for the masai culture whilst the ‘salty dust’ itself is volcanic ash from the eruptions of the mount kilimanjaro a millennium ago. Amboseli is a land of giants. Amboseli is renowned for its elephant populations and large herds, including some impressively tusked bulls are drawn to a series of large, lush swamplands. The sight of kilimanjaro high above herds of elephant crossing the plains of amboseli is a timeless african image.
A number of other unique animals also populate the area including lion, cheetah, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, rhino, wildebeest, gerenuks, impalas, gazelles, hyenas, baboons, bats and about 425 different species of birds.

Samburu national park:

Samburu forms part of a large complex of national reserve consisting of, the former, buffalo springs and shaba. It is 380 km ,6 hrs from nairobi
There are airstrips in both samburu with daily scheduled flights from nairobi. Theewaso nyiro river flows in samburu national reserve and is the lifeblood of the animals and the reserve. It is also a central feature of the landscape. Situated in the northern province of kenya, this game reserve is arid and home to a myriad of animals.
Samburu boasts the most unusual fauna of all east africa’s major savannah reserves. There is the densely stripedgrevy’s zebra(twice as heavy as the more familiar burchell’s zebra), the reticulated giraffe (neat, geometrically marked coat), the regalbeisa oryxand a comically long-horned race of the grant’s gazelle. The most unique of them all is thegerenukorantelope giraffe,distinguished by its extraordinarily distended neck and freakishly small head. It also possesses a unique manner of feeding; standing near-erect on its hind legs to stretch two metres above the ground and nibble on the leaves .

Mombassa:
Built on a 15-sq-km island, and linked to the mainland by a causeway and rickety old ferry, mombassa is kenya’s second biggest city and is east africa’s main port. It has a history dating back more than several hundred years when the persians, arabs, indians and chinese visited the east african coast to trade in slaves, skins, ivory and spices. The beaches are of fine white sand and there’s plenty of activities on offer from the resorts including diving and snorkeling, windsurfing and jet skiing.
Days are filled with sunshine and nights are balmy and warm with gentle sea breezes. The offshore reefs are alive with coral, myriad fish, sea turtles and dolphins. A wide range of world class resorts, allows visitors to relax and enjoy this natural paradise with the best standards of accommodation, service and cuisine.