THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY PARKS/HISTORICAL SITES

Lake Nakuru National Park
This Park is a beautiful with its acacia forests and the most easiest accessible without or with a vehicle of your own. The Park is the world famous and largest flamingo concentration. The lake is believed to have about two million flamingoes and other bird species. There's also a good number of mammals as well such as hippos who snort and splash by day and graze by night at the northern end. The park is also a Rhino sanctuary. More recently, a number of black rhino's have been relocated from less safe parts of Kenya. Other wild animals include lions in the Lion cave, giraffes, buffalo’s, impala, zebra and leopards. There are no elephants in this park.

Lake Elmenteita
Like Lake Nakuru, Elmenteita is a shallow, soda lake with a similar ecology. Flamingoes live here, but in nowhere near the same numbers as at Nakuru. Elmenteita is not a national park, so you can walk around it and there are no entry fees. The easiest way to get there is to take a Matatu along the Naivasha to Nakuru road and get off at one of the signpost viewpoints on the escarpment above the lake

Lake Magadi
This is the most southerly of the Rift Valley lakes in Kenya and is very rarely visited by tourists because of its remoteness. Like most of the Rift Valley lakes, it is Soda Lake and supports many flamingos and other water birds. It also has a soda extraction factory, hence the railway line there. Magadi is quite different from the lakes to the north as it is in a semidesert area. Temperatures hover around the 38 degrees mark during the day and much of the lake is a semisolid sludge of water and soda salts. There is a series of hot springs around the periphery of the lake. The town of Magadi is purely a company town, owned and built by the multinational, ICI.

Lake Naivasha
Lake Naivasha is one the Rift valley's freshwater lake and its ecology is quite different from that of the soda lakes. Its home to an incredible variety of bird species and a focus of conservation efforts in Kenya. This lake currently covers about 170sq km. Since it's a freshwater lake, which can be used for irrigation purposes, the surrounding countryside is a major production area of flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables as well as beef cattle for domestic consumption and export. South of the Lake is the Hell's Gate National Park which is well worth exploring and one of the few national parks in which you're allowed to walk. On the eastern side of the lake is Crescent Island, a bird sanctuary which you can visit by boat.

Lake Bogoria/ Baringo & around

Lake Bogoria Reserve
This shallow soda lake has an estimate of about one million flamingoes that have come from other lakes. Pure boiling springs, so admirable to see. The lake covers an area of 30sqkm and a depth of 9metres approaxmately. There are hot springs and geysers about three quarters of the way along the lake going south. It is also a deeper freshwaterlake and it has hot boiling springs.The land to the west of the lake is a hot and relatively very barren wilderness of rocks and scrub, could be lucky to spot herds of Thomson's gazelle and greater kudus,or impalas.like other soda lakes in Kenya, Bogoria has no outlet and so the intense evaporation has led to high levels of salts and minerals. The result is that the lake supports no fish at all, but is ideal for blue-green algae, which is the staple food of the flamingos.

Lake Baringo
Lake Baringo is a fresh water lake, and covers an area of 170 sqkm and 12 m in depth. Situated 15km North of the Marigat town the centre of Baringo at the Kampi ya Samaki Village this is the centre of exploring Lake Baringo. However, the water levels has shrunk several meters from the original level due to drought epidemic in the region. Despite all this, Lake Baringo with its two beautiful Islands (Kikwe and Parmalok) inhabited and encircling mountains,offers spectacular views that are really inspiring, as well as daily boatrips.

MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE

Masai Mara Game reserve is the highlights of Kenya's Wildlife and the most Popular reserve among Kenya Parks. With many great views, the world famous live immigration of the wild beasts from Serengeti plains into the Mara through July to October, the beauty scenic of the Mara River and the Hippos at the Hippo Pool.

The magnificent views of the wildlife, the hot air balloon readily available, all are a great fascination and very much alive in the Mara game reserve! Masai mara is not the biggest of all parks but the concentration of the wildlife in this reserve conjures all park within Kenya and very much visible.
There is plenty of accommodation available at the Mara and the categories differ from luxury tented camps, Lodges, and campsites.

MOUNT KENYA NATIONAL PARK

This offers excellent game viewing, mountain climbing and breath taking scenery that includes glaciers, tarns and peaks. There are also mineral springs, dry upland forest covers the mountain.

ABERDARE NATIONAL PARK
This park lies at altitude of about 2,134-4,(268m)within the Mt. Kenya Region. It’s beautiful with waterfalls and sensational views more than compensating for comparatively scarce wildlife Buffalo, Elephants and Colobus are often seen. There are two lodges, three self help bandas, and eight special campsites. The Ark and Treetops serves as the only lodges in this park although very expensive but exclusive. In the campsites there is a long-drop toilet and cold water for washing. It’s advisable to bring your own drinking water and remember bottled water.
Jagged snow capped summits of Africa’s second highest mountain, 5199m (17,058 ft) dominate the horizon of this park. Lying astride the equator, Mt. Kenya hosts a variety of flora and fauna, including the bongo, black rhino, bush pig and other wildlife. Also available are, climbing and hiking facilities.

MERU NATIONAL PARK
This Park lies at an altitude of 305m - 1,036m and covers an area of eight hundred and sqkm. It is 348km from Nairobi and was opened in 1968. This is on of the best-watered sanctuaries and it is situated on the slopes of Nyambene Mountain ranges, north East of Mt. Kenya. This park teems with a variety of wildlife that includes lion, elephant, cheetah, leopard, rare antelope, lesser kudu and duicker. The park is the home to the largest herds of Buffalo in Kenya. There is also an estimate three species of birds.

ABERDARE NATIONAL PARK
This park lies at altitude of about 2,134-4,(268m)within the Mt. Kenya Region. It’s beautiful with waterfalls and sensational views more than compensating for comparatively scarce wildlife Buffalo, Elephants and Colobus are often seen. There are two lodges, three self help bandas, and eight special campsites. The Ark and Treetops serves as the only lodges in this park although very expensive but exclusive. In the campsites there is a long-drop toilet and cold water for washing. It’s advisable to bring your own drinking water and remember bottled water.
Jagged snow capped summits of Africa’s second highest mountain, 5199m (17,058 ft) dominate the horizon of this park. Lying astride the equator, Mt. Kenya hosts a variety of flora and fauna, including the bongo, black rhino, bush pig and other wildlife. Also available are, climbing and hiking facilities

TSAVO NATIONAL

PARK.

Forming one of the world’s largest game parks is the combined area of Tsavo East and West. Adjoining this is the private game sanctuary of the Taita.The many wonders in this harsh countryside, include the "red Elephant", so called because of the red dust prevalent in the area. Another fascinating feature is the Mzima Springs, where crystal clear water gushes daily from underground.

At just over 20, 000 sq. km, Tsavo is the largest National park in Kenya, and for administrative purposes it has been split into Tsavo West National Park, with an area of 8,500 sq. km, and Tsavo East National Park, which covers 11,000 sq. km. The northern area of Tsavo West, west of Nairobi-Mombasa road, is the most developed and has some excellent scenery. It is particularly beautiful at the end of the wet season when things are green; at other times of the year it tends to be dusty and dry.

Tsavo East National Park
The southern third of this park is open to the public and the rolling scrub-covered hills are home to large herds of elephants, usually covered in red dust.
The Kanderi swamp, not far into the park from the main Voi gate and park headquarters, is home to a profusion of wildlife, campsite and the recent build Aruba Dam at 30km from the gate. It is the main attraction in this part of the park, and across Voi River.

AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK - Lying at an altitude of about 1,200m-1,400m it is Kenya's International biosphere reserve. This Park has an endless supply of water from Mt. Kilimanjaro offering the big five also a birdlife.
There are five lodges and two campsites inside the Park.

SHABA, SAMBURU AND BUFFALO SPRINGS NATIONAL RESERVES

Set in stark country in the hot and arid fringes of Kenya’s vast northern region along the Uaso Nyiro River. The river’s permanent waters abound with crocodile and hippo and attract plenty of wildlife including the peculiar Grevy Zebra, Gerenuk, Beisa Oryx and the comical Somali Ostrich, unique to these northern parts.

Shaba National Reserve, the most scenically beautiful, is where conservationist joy Adamson introduced her leopard, to the wild. Savannah grassland intrepersed with thorn bushes, becomes acacia woodland, giving way to isolated crags and natural springs cascading onto the riverbanks.

PRE-HISTORIC SITES

Olorgasaile Pre-Historic Site
Louis and Mary Leakey discovered this site in 1940. Hand axes and stone tools thought to have been made by Homo erectus around half a million years ago were unearthed. While casts of some are on display in the Nairobi museum, most have been left in place, protected from the elements by shade roofs.

Kariandusi Pre-Historic Site
This site is signposted off to the right of the main road on the way from Naivasha to Nakuru. Louis Leakey discovered this in the 1920s, although there is not much to see the museum is worth a look.

Menengai Crater
Rising up on the northern side of Nakuru is the Menengai Crater, an extinct 2490m high volcano. The crater itself descends to a maximum depth of 483m below the rim. To walk up the crater takes a couple of hours, and it really is up, but still a pleasant walk. The views back over Lake Nakuru are excellent, as are the views north to Lake Bogoria once you reach the top

MERU NATIONAL PARK
This Park lies at an altitude of 305m - 1,036m and covers an area of eight hundred and sqkm. It is 348km from Nairobi and was opened in 1968. This is on of the best-watered sanctuaries and it is situated on the slopes of Nyambene Mountain ranges, north East of Mt. Kenya.This park teems with a variety of wildlife that includes lion, elephant, cheetah, leopard, rare antelope, lesser kudu and duicker. The park is the home to the largest herds of Buffalo in Kenya. There is also an estimate three species of birds.