Shompole

Deemed as one of the great recent successes in Kenya. Formed in 2002 as a join business venture between the Masai Shompole tribe, who still own the land, and Art of Ventures, an external management firm, Shompole combines international standards of luxury and service whilst guaranteeing that the money paid goes back to the local community. The surrounding land ranges from arid salt savannah plains to lush swamp and riverine forest. With Lake Magadi to the north and Lake Natron just over the Tanzanian border to the south, the region has lion, buffalo, wild dog and elephant to offer the safari goer.

Amboseli

The park was made famous by the Amboseli Elephant Research Project and has tremendous herds that wander across the dusty pans. Lying in the lee of the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, the park is small compared with its neighbours at 392 sq km and, as Kenya’s next most visited park, can become very busy in high season. Meaning “salty dust” in Maasai, the park generally lives up to its name but provides the perfect habitat for a wide variety of birds and also boasts cheetah, lion, hippo, oryx, gerenuk and elephant shrew amongst the numerous Umbrella thorn.

Tsavo East and West

The two parks collectively make up 40 % of Kenya’s protected land, and, bisected by the Nairobi to Mombasa highway, they are also the most accessible. Whilst the parks are more accessible to Mombasa day trippers, both East and West have plenty to offer the more discerning traveller and, in the winter months, when the dense bush has died back a little very good populations of elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, and the best birding in Kenya after Naivasha. Topographically a series of lava flows the landscape rolls away from the eye to the vast distance.

The Chyulu Hills

Made legendary in African folklore through Hemmingway’s “Green Hills of Africa” and are a series of verdant, rolling, volcanic ridges. Not specifically an area for game viewing, it is possible to ride and walk amongst this blissful remoteness and stunning surrounds.