KENYA NATIONAL PARKS AND RESERVES
Kenya National Parks (Game Areas)
Aberdare National Park
The park is a part of the Aberdare Mountain Range, lying about 80 miles north of Nairobi. The spectacular scenery includes cascading waterfalls and a diverse eco-system of dense rain forest, a bamboo belt, and at 10,000 feet, moorlands. Wildlife abounds in the forest including elephant, buffalo, black rhino, lion, leopard and various antelope. Monkeys can be seen in the canopy.
Amboseli National Park
Amboseli means “place of water” in Masai and although the park appears to be dry and dusty, numerous underground streams feed two clear-water springs in the heart of the park. The park is dominated by the snow-capped Mt. Kilimanjaro and is an important homeland for the Masai. Wildlife is plentiful and elephant, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, buffalo, rhino, lion, leopard and antelope may be seen.
Masai Mara National Reserve
The Mara is regarded as Kenya’s finest wildlife park. It is certainly the most famous and the most visited. It offers breathtaking scenery and prolific wildlife. The gentle rolling grasslands seem to teem with animals in every direction. This is particularly true when the migrating herds of wildebeest arrive, usually between July and October. Even when the vast herds have left, the park supports a year-round population of lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo and zebra while the rivers are home to hippos and crocodiles.
Samburu National Reserve
The reserve lies 200 miles north of Nairobi in the lands of the Samburu people. The rugged hills and undulating plains are home to a wide variety of animals including elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena and species that are found only north of the equator, including Gravy’s zebra, Beisa onyx and reticulated giraffe.
Tsavo East National Park
Tsavo East is one of Kenya’s oldest and largest National Parks. Only a small area is open to the public, the rest is true wilderness. Biologically diverse, the area consists of open grasslands and plains alternating with savanna and semi-arid acacia scrub and woodlands. Wildlife includes elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, and a wide range of plains game.
Tsavo West National Park
The park lies 150 miles from Nairobi, just off the main Nairobi/Mombasa road. The area is scenically attractive with landscapes ranging from mountains, river forests and lakes to wooded grasslands. Wildlife is plentiful and includes all the major big game. Bird life is also prolific with over 600 species identified. Fed by underground streams, the Mazima Springs are a major attraction, both for wildlife and tourists.