Famed Jungles to Experience the Celebrated Wilderness of Kenya

The spectacular sight of Wildebeest Migration, encountering the mighty Big Five of Africa, and getting acquainted with jungle tribes; with all this and much more, Kenya spells euphoria for nature buffs and wildlife aficionados. We have shortlisted some of the best places for a tryst with Kenya’s wilderness.

Masai Mara National Reserve

Named after the Masai people who have been living in the park for generations, it is the most famous place for watching Wildebeest Migration. It refers to the period, when thousands of wildebeest, gazelle, and zebra together move across the woodlands and even wade through the deadly crocodile infested waters of the River Mara. Masai Mara is also well known for frequent sightings of lions, leopards and cheetahs.

Tsavo National Park

This is the largest park in Tsavo. The park has been divided into two parts: Tsavo East and Tsavo West. Located midway between Mombasa and Nairobi, Tsavo East’s landscape is more conducive to spotting wildlife, and the jungle is especially popular for large herds of elephants. Tsavo West has a wetter landscape and the vegetation is denser. While, there is a lot of wildlife, usually the most easily spotted ones are crocodiles and hippos at Mazima Springs and birds of prey at Chaimu Crater.

Amboseli National Reserve

Amboseli means salty dust in the Masai language and it aptly describes the dry conditions here. The park is crowned by Mount Kilimanjaro: the highest peak in Africa. By way of wildlife, it’s considered to be one of the best places for watching large elephant herds from close quarters. Besides, there are lots of predators such as cheetahs and lions as well as tamer ones like gazelle, giraffe, eland, impala, and waterbuck.

Lake Nakuru National Park

Lake Nakuru National Park, with its huge flocks of pink flamingoes and other winged denizens, is a birdwatcher’s paradise. Over 450 bird species have been recorded at the park and the best place for bird watching is the lake itself. Besides birds, visitors may also spot white rhinos, waterbucks, pythons, warthogs, lions, and leopards. The landscape of the park is quite diverse and includes woodlands, lake, sweeping grasslands, and rocky cliffs.

Samburu, Buffalo Springs, and Shaba National Reserves

These three wildlife reserves are located along the banks of the palm fringed Ewaso Nyiro River. As the wildlife across all these reserves depends upon the River Ewaso Nyiro, many of the animals have adapted to the dry conditions. These include the long necked gerenuk antelopes, Grevy’s zebras, and Somali Ostriches. While, you are here, check out the Sarara Singing Wells (watering holes). The Samburu warriors haul water from these wells for their cattle, while singing traditional songs.