Famous Game Reserves Of Kenya
There are a number of national parks to explore and experience in Kenya. From the large numbers of elephants on view at the Amboseli National Park to the stunning views available at Mt. Kenya National Park, you’re sure to find something new and exciting at each one you visit!
1. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
The magnificent Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya is on the wishlist of wildlife lovers around the world. Famous for the Great Migration from July through October, when thousands of wildebeest, Thomson’s gazelle, and zebra travel between here and the Serengeti plains, this park offers some of Africa’s best wildlife viewing. The park protects the “Big Five,” and is known for its large numbers of predators such as lions, cheetahs, and leopards, while hippos and crocs thrive in the Mara River. The red-cloaked Maasai people who live in the park add a fascinating cultural component. In their language, Mara means “mottled,” perhaps for the shadows cast by shifting light through the acacia trees on the cloud-streaked horizons, making a hauntingly beautiful canvas for photographers.
2. Aberdare National Park
Aberdare National Park is well known for majestic peaks, moorland, deep ravines, streams and cascading waterfalls define its spectacular landscape.
The park is an ideal park for topography enthusiasts and bird watchers who also want a chance to view elephants, black rhinos among other animals
Many Kenyan animals can be seen here including African elephants, lions, rhinos, black leopard and the elusive bongo antelope. Two of Kenya’s best safari lodges are located in Aberdare National Park – Treetops and The Ark, both provide excellent game viewing at night over the watering hole.
3. Nairobi National Park
This is a major Kenya attraction for tourists to Nairobi, offering them a chance to enjoy Kenya’s wildlife from within a capital city.
The park is located less than 10 miles from Nairobi city, it is also a rhino sanctuary and you are guaranteed to see a black rhino within. You will also have an opportunity to see buffalo, zebras, wildebeests and a host of birdlife.
4. Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, presides over this diverse park, which is famous for its large herds of elephants. This is Kenya’s second most popular national park after Maasai Mara National Reserve. Five different habitats lie within its borders, including a swamp system, dense woodlands, savannah, and the dried-up bed of Lake Amboseli. Thanks to these contrasting ecosystems, wildlife is varied and abundant with plenty of big cats, such as cheetah and lion, as well as waterbuck, gazelle, impala, and more than 600 species of birds. Elephants bathing in red dust against the dramatic backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the iconic images photographers might capture during the dry season at this famous park. Visitors here also have the chance to visit a Maasai village near the park and learn about this fascinating tribe, who live around the park’s borders.
5. Tsavo East National Park
Tsavo East National Park is a very popular park for tourists from Kenya’s coast. The Park is approximately 100 miles less from Mombasa.
This is the park where you can see the famous Man-Eaters of Tsavo, as well as elephants, rhinos, birds and many more wildlife.
6. Tsavo West National Park
With a capacity of 30 percent of Kenya’s total park area, Tsavo West National Park is Kenya’s one of the largest national parks. The park is easily accessible from the Mombasa-Nairobi highway and borders Tanzania.
This park offers tremendous views of a landscape packed with diverse wildlife habitats, acacia woodlands, rocky ridges, isolated hills, mountain forest and semi-desert scrubs
7. Mount Kenya National Park
Mount Kenya lies within the Mount Kenya National Park which is Kenya’s highest mountain. The park flourishes with pristine wilderness, fauna, glaciers, snow-capped peaks and flora.
Mount Kenya is an ideal park for hiking and mountain climbing, as well as for viewing some of Kenya’s rare and endangered animals.
The park was created to encourage tourism, to preserve the area’s natural, outstanding beauty, and to conserve the animal habitat and protect it as a water catchment area. The Park is in between Kenya’s other safari parks Meru National Park and Aberdare, Samburu
8. Lake Nakuru
Lake Nakuru National Park is just about 95 miles northwest of Nairobi.
For the lovers of bird watching, Lake Nakuru is home to over 400 bird species, including both the greater and lesser flamingoes, as well as home to White Rhinos.
The Lake is easily accessible by road from Nairobi. It is famous for its flamingos but is also home to other bird species including African fish eagles and pelicans. Surrounding the lake are woodlands and grassland inhabited by Rhinos and Lions.
9. Samburu Reserve
Samburu National Reserve is located in the Samburu district of Kenya.The Park is Semi-desert that has remained almost undisturbed for many years by mankind
The park is an ideal retreat for those who enjoy natural and calm serenity.
A home to “Elsa the Lioness “is full of birdlife and Kenyan game animals, and is a great park to spot Kenyan Leopards that are elusive
The reserve is well known for its rare species of animals unique to the park, such as: the long necked gerenuk, Grevy’s zebra, Baisy Oryx and reticulated giraffe. Kenya leopard in this area is often known to visit the park in the evening mostly.
The other wildlife present in the park includes Hippos, cheetahs and lions, as well as elephants and buffalos.
Birdlife is as plentiful as wildlife at Samburu National Reserve, which boasts over 350 different species of birds including vultures, kingfishers, marabous, bateleurs, guinea fowl, and Somali ostriches.
10. Meru National Park
Meru National Park is noted for its fauna and natural beauty. It has many swamps and rivers lined with palms, as well as mountains and woodlands. The area is the setting for Joy Adamson’s book “Born Free”,which later became a successful film. The park is home to the big five among other wildlife.
Game viewing here includes elephants, hippos, cheetahs, lions and also some rare antelope, including the Lesser Kudu, duiker and dik-dik, a tiny African antelope that stands just twelve inches high and is notoriously shy.
In this Park, animals are easily spotted from safari vehicles and, because the park is less visited than some of Kenya’s better-known parks. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded in Meru National Park, including the Peter’s Finfoot, the Pel’s Fishing Owl, kingfishers, rollers, bee-eaters, weavers and starlings.
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