Kenya’s Great Parks | Africa Travel Newsletter

by Leigh Kemp, 1 January 2007

My earliest childhood memories of Africa were based on East Africa. The iconic pictures of giraffe standing under an acacia tree and elephants framed by a background of Kilimanjaro were the images that shaped my African ideal. This was the Africa of Hemingway and Ruark, Hollywood's Africa, the land of the Great White Hunters. And Kenya was this dream.

Kenya is synonymous with big skies, vast landscapes, great herds and predators. It is where the romantic concept of safari was born and this was my idea of Africa before I discovered the wonders of Namibia and Botswana. Over the years stories of Kenya as an over-utilised destination with more tourists than wildlife filtered through and I began to question my desire to visit the country. It was to be many years before I had the opportunity to visit the place that formed my African ideas.

It was with some trepidation that I approached my first Kenya visit. I was guiding in Botswana at the time and was worried that my image of the African wilderness would be shattered when I witnessed the 'crowds' of tourists that apparently roamed the plains of East Africa. What I found exceeded my childhood dreams!

Parks of Kenya:

Shaped by the Great Rift Valley the parks of Kenya hold a rich array of wildlife and scenery from freshwater lakes and extinct volcanoes to dense forest and wide open savanna grasslands.

Masai Mara Game Reserve

Kenya plays host to one of the greatest natural spectacles in the world when the great wildebeest migration passes through the Masai Mara Game Reserve. The migration involves almost a million wildebeest, accompanied by zebra and gazelles, in constant movement following the seasons across the Serengeti / Mara system. It cannot be said exactly when the herds will pass a particular area as the movement is dictated by the rains.

Bordering on Tanzania's legendary Serengeti 'the Mara' is Kenya's most visited wildlife sanctuary. Rolling hills, flat-topped acacias and endless grasslands provide the backdrop to a vast array of wildlife.

My first experience of the Mara was in the month of March when the great herds were in the southern Serengeti but this did not make the experience any less incredible as, despite only hosting the great herds for a few months in a year, the Mara is one of Africa's top wildlife destinations year round. There are many species that range on the Mara permanently and with a high herbivore concentration there is a high predator population.

A comment from a guest on one of my tours summed it up very well when he remarked: 'When you said we would not see the migrations I thought it was pointless for us to travel to the Mara, but after seeing the abundance of wildlife I realize that it is not only about the migrations'.

Local culture can be experienced on a visit to one of numerous Maasai villages and although commercialism has reared its head in many of the villages it is still possible to get a good idea of Maasai culture.

Amboseli National Park

One of the iconic pictures of Africa - elephants walking against a backdrop of the snow-capped Kilimanjaro - originates in Amboseli National Park. This is the image, more than any other, that shaped my childhood dreams of Africa. The snows of Kilimanjaro may be thawing due to global warming but the image of animals framed by Africa's highest point continues to enthrall visitors. At times the mountain is covered by mist but then the imagination adds an extra dimension to the experience.

Relatively small at around 390 km² Amboseli is one of Kenya's most visited parks, although parts of the park have suffered recently due to drought, over-grazing and the excessive demand of tourism, resulting in areas becoming barren dust bowls. I found Amboseli to be the busiest park in Kenya, tourist wise, with vehicles literally racing from sighting to sighting but nevertheless the landscape and the wildlife made up for what the park lacked in human etiquette.

Samburu and Buffalo Springs

The Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves lie in the dry northern parts of Kenya. Although arid the area supports a great deal of wildlife including species not found in the southern parks, the Uaso Nyiro River flows through the area providing a lifeline for animals and allowing for excellent game viewing.

My favorite destination in Africa is wherever I am at the time, but occasionally some places stand out for unknown reasons and Samburu is one of those places. Maybe it is the idea of a life-giving artery flowing through a seemingly barren environment, or merely the variety and uniqueness of the wildlife, but Samburu is special. Samburu still haunts me today!

Some of the unique species found in the area include the reticulated giraffe with its distinctive patterning, unlike any of the other eight sub-species found in Africa. The largest African zebra, the Grevy's, has thinner markings than other zebra and the stripes do not extend onto the stomach. The gerenuk is a unique species of antelope having an extended neck, and a habit of standing on its hind legs when feeding, that allows it to reach the upper branches of trees and shrubs.

The area is also home to the Samburu people, the cousins of the Maasai, and visits to villages to experience the culture can be organized.

Mount Kenya

Straddling the equator, the snow-capped Mount Kenya is Africa's second highest point.

A botanist's dream, the area also boasts animal species such as elephant, rhino, buffalo leopard, bushbuck, several species of duiker, giant forest hog, and colobus and Sykes monkeys.

Mount Kenya is also ideal for walking and climbing enthusiasts, with the peaks one of the most sought-after conquests for adventurers. For the less adventurous the renowned Mount Kenya Safari Club, mecca of the rich and famous since its establishment in the 1950's, provides relaxed sophistication.

Tsavo National Park

Combining Tsavo East and Tsavo West, Tsavo National Park is one of the largest wildlife parks in the world and one of the oldest conservation areas in Kenya. With a landscape of volcanic cones, rock outcrops and lava flows, shaped by recent volcanic activity, the park is home to a wide variety and number of species including the largest elephant herds in Kenya.

The park is famous for its 'red elephants' - a coating on the skin from the dust of the red soil in the area. Species that can be seen in Tsavo include buffalo, rhino, giraffe, zebra, lion, leopard, cheetah crocodile and many varieties of antelope.

Many more parks

There are a number of other parks in Kenya including Nairobi National Park on the outskirts of the capital Nairobi where visitors can see a wide range of wildlife framed by the city skyline.

Lake Nakuru National Park is an ornithologist's dream, a shallow alkaline soda lake in the Rift Valley where more than 2 million flamingoes, and many other birds, can be viewed in season.

One of Kenya's most unspoiled parks is Meru National Park situated north east of Nairobi. With a variety of scenery from wooded slopes to open plains and a number of rivers flowing through, Meru hosts species including lion, cheetah, leopard, elephant, antelopes, buffalo and abundant crocodile and hippo. Meru is the setting for the legendary story 'Born Free'.

Epilogue

Kenya enthralled me. It more than lived up to my childhood dream. What I found was something beyond my imaginations!

I did see a giraffe silhouetted under an acacia tree and the elephants still walk against the backdrop of Kilimanjaro, but Kenya is more than postcard images. Kenya is a must for the safari connoisseur.

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