Africa

There’s nowhere like it on the planet for wildlife, wild lands and rich traditions that endure. Prepare to fall in love.

IMPALA SANCTUARY

Since there were no safe parking spots, we stayed overnight at the Impala Sanctuary in Kisumu. This 1-sq-km sanctuary is home to a small impala herd and provides substantial grazing grounds for local hippos. In addition to the impala, there are cages of other Kenyan antelope and monkeys...

KERICHO TEA FARMS

The pretty good road from Nakuru brought us to the cooler and hilly area around Kericho. The town remains a mesmerizing wallpaper-worthy sea of greens in the landscape and is home to several tea farms and factories. One of Kenya’s largest exports and oldest industries is its black tea...

NAKURU

Nakuru is the biggest city in the Rift Valley. It lies near the Mau Escarpment on the north shore of Lake Nakuru, near the heart of the Kikuyu people’s homeland. It is the fourth-largest urban hub in Kenya, lying 1850m above sea level. This was a town formed in 1904 by the British...

LAKE NAKURU NP

We arrived late in the afternoon at Lake Nakuru, and it took us quite some time to get approval from rangers to park there overnight. This park is among Kenya’s finest national parks, flanked by rocky escarpments, pockets of acacia forest, and at least one waterfall. The park is...

LAKE NAIVASHA & OLOIDEN

Today, we hired a small car with a driver (half day 2000 KES) to explore the surroundings of Lake Naivasha and Lake Oloiden. Lake Naivasha, hugged by grassy banks and shingled with cacti and sand olive trees, is the Rift Valley’s highest lake (1884m above sea level). You can hire a...

HELL’S GATE NP

Late afternoon, we arrived at Elsa Gate of the dry, dusty, but infinitely peaceful Hell’s Gate National Park. It is a rare Kenyan park made for bicycles and walking. Large carnivores are rare, so we rented bikes (800 KES) and paid a cycling fee (250 KES) and a park entrance fee (28...