Where Safari
Began

Amboseli

Kajiado County

Habituated elephant families studied since the 1970s walk metres from vehicles guides know each animal by name. Kilimanjaro frames every photograph on clear mornings before 10am.

Best time: Jan – Feb  ·  Jun – Oct

Tsavo East & West

Coast & Eastern Provinces

Kenya’s largest park red-dusted elephants, enormous herds, and far fewer vehicles than the Mara. Tsavo West’s Mzima Springs has an underwater chamber where hippos drift past at eye level.

Best time: Jun – Oct

Hell’s Gate

Naivasha

The only park in Kenya where you walk and cycle freely among giraffes and zebras no guide needed. A gorge hike descends through volcanic rock warmed by geothermal steam.

Best time: Jan – Mar  ·  Jun – Oct

Lake Naivasha

Southern Rift

Crescent Island is the only place in Kenya where you walk freely among giraffes and wildebeest with no fence and no vehicle. Hippo boat rides at dusk bring you within metres of surfacing pods.

Best time: Year-round

Laikipia Plateau

Central Kenya

Kenya’s densest concentration of endangered species outside national parks black rhino, wild dogs, Grevy’s zebra, and the world’s last two northern white rhinos at Ol Pejeta.

Best time: Jun – Oct

Samburu

Northern Kenya

Five species found nowhere else in Kenya reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, Grevy’s zebra, Somali ostrich, and beisa oryx. For anyone wanting the full picture of Kenya, Samburu is essential.

Best time: Jan – Feb  ·  Jul – Oct

Lamu Island

Northern Coast UNESCO

No cars. No motorbikes. The best-preserved Swahili old town in East Africa 700-year-old streets, carved doorways, wooden dhows in the harbour every morning at dawn.

Best time: Jan – Mar  ·  Jul – Sep

Watamu

North Coast Kilifi County

Whale sharks gather offshore Oct to Mar and you can snorkel beside the world’s largest fish in waters reached by walking off the beach. The 12th-century Gedi Ruins are 20 minutes inland.

Best time: Oct – Mar  ·  Jun – Sep

Nairobi National Park

7km from CBD

The only national park inside a capital city on earth lions, black rhino, and cheetah against the Nairobi skyline. A dawn drive fits any itinerary.

Sheldrick Trust

Karen 11am visit only

Orphaned baby elephants rescued from the wild come out for a mud bath every day at 11am. Adopt one before your visit and meet your elephant in person.

Giraffe Centre

Langata Open daily

Endangered Rothschild’s giraffes come to a raised platform at eye level and feed from your hand. Under 800 exist in the wild the centre has returned over ten to Kenyan reserves.