The Maasai Mara
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is Kenya's most famous safari area: rolling grass plains, the Mara River and some of the best big-cat viewing in Africa. From about July to October it hosts the Great Migration. Around the reserve, private conservancies offer quieter game drives and activities like night drives and walks. See our Maasai Mara guide.
Amboseli
Amboseli National Park is known for its big elephant herds and the classic view of Kilimanjaro rising behind them — the mountain is in Tanzania, just across the border. Swamps fed by Kilimanjaro's snowmelt draw wildlife through the dry season.
Tsavo East and Tsavo West
Together, Tsavo East and Tsavo West form one of the largest protected areas in Africa. Tsavo East is flat and open, famous for elephants coloured red by the dust; Tsavo West is volcanic, with lava flows, hills and the clear springs of Mzima. Both feel wild and uncrowded.
Samburu
In the dry north, Samburu National Reserve follows the Ewaso Nyiro river through semi-desert. It is home to the "Samburu Special Five" — Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, gerenuk and Beisa oryx — species rarely seen further south.
The Rift Valley lakes
- Lake Nakuru National Park — a soda lake known for flamingos, with a rhino sanctuary and tree-climbing lions.
- Lake Naivasha — a freshwater lake with hippos, boat trips and walks on Crescent Island.
- Hell's Gate National Park — gorges and cliffs where you can walk and cycle among zebra and giraffe.
- Lake Baringo — excellent birding, visited on our northern circuit.
The central highlands
- Aberdare National Park — misty forests, waterfalls and the famous "tree hotels" where you watch animals at a floodlit waterhole at night.
- Mount Kenya National Park — Africa's second-highest mountain; see climbing Mount Kenya.
Nairobi National Park
Nairobi National Park is a real wildlife park on the edge of the capital — lions, rhinos and giraffes with skyscrapers behind them. Ideal for an arrival or departure day. See our Nairobi guide.
How to combine them
- 3–4 days: Amboseli, or the Maasai Mara, from Nairobi.
- 7 days: Amboseli, the Rift Valley lakes and the Maasai Mara.
- 8–9 days: add the Aberdares and Samburu in the north.
See our Kenya safaris and all Kenya destinations.
