Kenya Travel Guide

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Top Things to See

Amboseli
This park lies on the Tanzanian border 220km (140 miles) from Nairobi. Marvel at fine views of snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain (5,895m/19,340ft).

Bomas of Kenya
At this cultural center, a short distance outside Nairobi's city center, you can see displays of traditional dancing and explore mock-ups of traditional village homes (www.bomasofkenya.co.ke).

Great Rift Valley
Take in the sweeping views from the road between Nairobi and Naivasha. Here the 2,000m- (6,560ft-) high escarpment walls plunge to the flat-bottomed valley floor below, which is dotted by a small string of volcanoes and brackish soda lakes.

Laikipia Plateau
Discover a recent conservation success where former farmland has been opened up as game sanctuaries and stocked with big game including the Big Five: elephant, buffalo, lion, rhino and leopard. The old farmsteads have been converted into delightful, luxurious accommodation (www.laikipia.org).

Lake Nakuru National Park
Witness thousands of flamingos fringing the edge of the lake in pink. It is also one of Kenya's best rhino sanctuaries and you may spot a leopard in the giant yellowwood acacia trees.

Lamu Island
Lamu Town is an old Swahili city with many historic mosques and fine old Arab houses with impressive carved wooden doors: highlights include the Lamu Museum, the Swahili House Museum and the Fortress.

Masai Mara National Reserve
Be fascinated by the great migration - the constant clockwise motion of an estimated 2 million wildebeests and zebras who arrive in the Mara from late June onwards, heading south again in September. The Masai Mara also has the largest population of lions in Kenya.

Mombasa
Enjoy the city's Arab flavor in the Old Town with its narrow, crowded streets, watch the sailing dhows in the Old Harbour and catch the sound and light show at Fort Jesus, now a museum.

Nairobi’s museums
Browse the ethnographic and archaeological exhibits of the National Museum (www.museums.or.ke) or go to the Karen Blixen Museum (www.karen-blixen.dk), which occupies the farmhouse made famous by the author's book, Out of Africa.

Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage
Watch baby elephants play at this important sanctuary, where orphaned and abandoned elephants are hand reared before being re-released back into the wild. See www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org).

Top Things to Do

Climb Mount Kenya
At 4,986m (16,358ft) above sea level, this extinct volcano is the second-highest mountain in Africa. The Mountain Club of Kenya (www.mck.or.ke) runs mountain huts and publishes guides for climbers.

Dhow cruise
Spend an evening afloat on a romantic dhow (traditional Arab sailing boat), feasting on a delicious seafood dinner and watching the moon rise over Mombasa’s old harbor (www.tamarinddhow.com).

Feed giraffes
At the Langata Giraffe Center near Nairobi, you can feed the resident Rothschild giraffes from a giraffe-height tower (www.giraffecenter.org), visit a bird sanctuary or follow a nature trail.

Fishing
Try your hand at deep-sea fishing, which is at its best along the Kenyan coast between July and April. Sailfish, marlin, swordfish, kingfish, barracuda and tuna are all abundant.

Ice skating
East Africa's first ice-skating facility, the Solar Ice Rink at the Panari Sky Center in Nairobi, can accommodate 200 skaters and measures 1,400 sq m (15,000 sq ft) (www.panarihotels.com).

Hot air ballooning
Float over herds of game in the Masai Mara National Reserve. The hour-long trip sets off at dawn and ends with a champagne breakfast. Almost all the lodges in the reserve offer this experience.

Shopping in Mombasa
Biashara Street is a great place to buy kikoi and khanga cloths. Makupa Market, off Mwembe Tayari is the main city market. Serious souvenir shoppers should also head for Bombolulu Workshops and Cultural Village, where disabled men and women produce high-quality leatherwork, jewelry and other crafts.

Watersports and beaches
Go scuba-diving, snorkeling, sailing, waterskiing, swimming and surfing on Kenya's Coral Coast. The most popular resorts near Mombasa include Bamburi, Kikambala, Kilifi, Malindi, Nyali and the 10km- (6-mile) long, dazzlingly white Diani Beach.

Wildlife-watching
You can spot a full range of savannah animals in the Nairobi National Park, only 8km (5 miles) from the city center. Kenya's first national park, today it still looks much as it did in the early photographs - wild, undulating pasture.