Kenya The History of Kenya National Parks of Kenya Provinces of Kenya City Of Kenya Famous places information

National Parks of Kenya


Aberdare National Park

  It contains a wide range of landscapes, mountains that rise up to 4200 meters above sea level, valleys intersected by streams, rivers and waterfalls, bamboo forests and rain forests. Animals such as lions, the leopards and monkeys are easy to find, rare sightings include the golden cat and the bongo-an antelope who lives into the bamboo forest. The park has also a large population of black rhinos and over 250 species of birds among which the hawk, the goshawk, eagles and the plover.

Amboseli National Park

  It covers an area of 392 square kilometers and is part of the Amboseli ecosystem. There are large concentrations of wildlife and has 5 main habitat: open plains, acacia woods, marshes, rocky land covered with thorny bushes and wetlands. The landscape is dominated by the Mount Kilimanjaro.

Mount Kenya National Park

  Only the western part is located in Central province, the park was declared a UNESCO cultural heritage in 1997. Here is a great variety of habitats, from high forest, bamboo, and alpine moorland and glaciers.
The Mount Kenya is an imposing extinct volcano and the park of 715 square kilometers includes a variety of habitats, from the highest forest to bamboo, moorland and alpine glaciers.


Hell's Gate National Park

  With an area of 68.25 square kilometers, is characterized by the geological landscapes and diversity of topography. Here you can see the two extinct volcanoes Olkaria and Hobley's and a wide variety of wildlife, but also the rare specimen of eagle lammergeyer.

Ndere Island National Park

  Is a small island of 4.2 square kilometers in the Winam Gulf of Victoria Lake. Since 1986 il no longer inhabited. Here you can find a remarkable wildlife including hippos, swifts, the Nile crocodiles, fish eagles. In the park were introduced about 50 impales.


Kerio Valley National Park

  Is a deep valley with semi-tropical vegetation. As the main attractions are the crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes, pelicans and little grebe but also the beautiful landscapes.

Nakuru Lake National Park

  Strongly alkaline, has 62 square kilometers, and includes areas of marsh and grasslands alternate with rocky cliffs, forests of acacia and euphorbia forests. Its shores are sometimes populated by more than one million flamingos and is one of the rhino sanctuaries in Kenya.

Malka Mari National Park

  Located along the river Daua on the border between Kenya and Ethiopia, on Mandera plateau. Was declared in 1989 for its high concentration of wildlife but has not been developed. Most of the area is made up of land covered by bushes and meadows bordering with palm trees along the river. The area is considered a site for its endemic plants.


Marsabit National Park

  With an area of 1,500 square kilometers, lies in a forest mountain that rises like an oasis in the desert and is the only permanent source of water in the region. It has three spectacular crater lakes that provide habitat for the variety of birds. The park is also known for the large elephants as the famous Ahmed, an elephant that came with a 24-hour protection by a presidential order. Ahmed, who boasted some of the biggest tusks ever recorded, died at 55 years old, and his body was preserved and is now on display in the National Museum in Nairobi.


Meru National Park

  With an area of 870 square kilometers is one of the lesser known parks of Kenya. It has a wide range of wild animals such as elephants, hippos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, black rhinos and some antelope.


Mount Longonot National Park

  With an area of 52 square kilometers, the park is occupied in most of the part by the Mount Longonot, a volcano rising up to 2776 meters above sea level. The crater has an impenetrable forest and stony soils have little vegetation.


Maralal National Sanctuary

  Is located along the suburbs of the Maralal town and here you can see the wild animals as impales, zebras, baboons and buffaloes, but also leopards, elephants and hyenas in their seasonal migration from the north.

Nairobi National Park

  With an area of 117 square kilometers, is the only protected area in the world with a variety of birds and animals so close to a capital. The park is one of the main attractions for visitors to Nairobi. They are the predominant open grass plains and scattered acacia bushes. The western part has an upland forest and a river with a river forest in the south. The dams built by humans have added a further favorable habitat for some species of birds and aquatic species, and during the dry season draws herbivorous animals that depending on water. Migratory birds from the north cross the park especially during the end of March and April. The park is also one of the successes of Kenya for the rhino sanctuaries that already has generated a reserve for the reintroduction of the species.


Ruma National Park

  It was created to protect the Roan antelope that is not found anywhere else in the country. The terrain is largely a black clay soil and the surrounding area is a mix of small-scale farming and pasture grass.


Tsavo East National Park

Is a popular park for the tourists, here you can see herds of elephants, rhinos and other animals.

Tsavo West National Park

With an area of 7065 square kilometers it represent about 30% of the parks of Kenya. The habitat of the park include open plains and savannas bushes, acacia forests and rocky ridges, river vegetation and groves of palm trees, hills and mountain forests. Towards the Chyulu Hills, the park, of volcanic origin, contains lava flows and ashes cones. In the north of the park are located the Mzima Springs where the water gushes from beneath a ridge of lava and a series of pools.

Sibiloi National Park

 It is one of the most kept secret in Africa. For the most part oh it, is a semi arid desert with beautiful pink flowers and shady trees. The most striking feature is the Lake Turkana with its green algae that inspired the name of the lake in Jade Sea. The lake is one of the largest alkaline lakes in the world. Declared National Park in 1973 to ensure the protection of the many fossil sites in the area and to conserve the endemic flora and fauna. The lake provides refuge for populations of crocodiles and tortoises with soft shells, but also for several species of waterfowl and fish. The combination of wildlife and the prehistory, it makes this park unique and has been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage .

Mombasa Marine Park and Reserve

Is a reserve with magnificent resources such as submerged reefs, coral gardens, the mangrove and a high diversity of fish, marine mammals, turtles and birds. On the north the reef has a lagoon with a depth of 5 m at high tide and in the center of the lagoon are corals dominated by the fish. The reefs are submerged by the waters of the River Sabaki in the rainy seasons and at that times the visibility of coral reefs in the park is not so good.

Kisite Marine Park and Mpunguti Reserve

The Kisite Park covers an area of 11 square kilometers and the Mpunguti Reserve 28 square kilometers, including a marine area with four islands surrounded by coral reefs. Kisite is a small coral island exposed at low tide. The other three islands Mpunguti ya Juu, Mpunguti ya Chini Liwei and the Jahazi are covered with low vegetation and are not a significant support for wildlife or birds. In the surrounding waters are coral gardens and a large variety of fish.


Arabuko Sokoke Forest

 Is the largest remains of the forests that once dominated the coast, contains a large number of species, here are rare or endemic species of birds, mammals and butterflies.

Victoria Lake

  The lake attracts a wide variety of aquatic birds, and the Kenyan part of the lake contains some islands with simple fishing villages.

National Marine Parks



Malindi Marine National Park

With an area of 10 square kilometers of the Park and 200 square kilometers of the Reserve it has strongly developed tourist facilities. There are several agencies that offer rental boats to enter the Marine Park and there are a number of companies along the beach that offer water sports facilities. The place is ideal for scuba gear and are easily accessible from the offices of water sports.

National Reserves



Arawale National Reserve

  With an area of 533 square kilometers, was declared in 1974 as the only place for the conservation of the population of endangered Hirola (a kind of antelope), the Grevy Zebra, the African wild dog and cheetah. There were also shown signs of presence of the African elephant.

Boni National Reserve

  With an area of 1339 square kilometers has been declared in 1976 as a sanctuary for elephants in the dry season, unfortunately, their population was reduced because of the poaching. The Boni Forest is an open canopy for the indigenous and part of the mosaic of the coastal forest, it is home to many species of plants that are among the highest in the world. The animal species found here are hippos, warthogs, buffalo, carnivores such as the African wild dog and the wolf of land. Extremely rare is the African elephant.

Dodori National Reserve

  With an area of 877 square kilometers, it preserves a breeding ground for the pelicans and other local birds and it's the more dense mangroves forest of Kenya.

Kakamega Forest National Reserve

 It covers an area of about 240 square kilometers and it was established to protect the unique tropical forest of medium height in Kenya. The size and dimensions of the trees in this forest are impressive. The trees create an ecosystem for birds, insects and wildlife. It also includes some of the most hard and soft woods of Africa and also beautiful orchids. It has 380 species of plants which grow in swamps and hardwood forest, 350 species of birds and many rare species of primates.

Kora National Reserve

  With an area of 1787 square kilometers, was officially declared a national park in 1990 after the assassination of George Adamson (one of the Founding Fathers of the conservation of wild fauna and author, buried in the park next to lion Boy) from poachers. In the park there is a wide variety of vegetation and animal species like the caracal, the cheetah, the elephant, the hippopotamus, the hyena, the leopard, the lion, the leopard, and several kinds of antelope.

Masai Mara National Reserve

 

Established in 1961 to protect the wildlife from hunters, the Masai Mara is the reason for many visitors to come in Kenya. The beauty of its fauna is famous throughout the world. Hosts a surprising concentration of wildlife, here you can see the Big 5 animals, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, giraffes, impales, baboons, buffaloes, zebras, elephants, warthogs, hippos and crocodiles and more than 450 species of birds. The Mara River is the backbone of the reserve, crossing from north to south and is the natural barrier surpassed every year by migratory herds in search of better pastures. The reserve has no fences, so you can see how the fauna interact with the nomadic Masai tribe.

Rahole National Reserve

It offers a wide range of plains and a good vision of birds, crocodiles and hippos.

Tana River Primate National Reserve

  With an area of 17 square kilometers, was made in 1976 for the protection of swampy forests of the lower Tana River and the two primates threatened with extinction, the Tana Mangabey and the Tana Red Colobus. The lush fragments of the river forest are the only remains of the west African forest. Here are 262 species of birds and at least 57 species of mammals, as the extremely rare white-winged Apalide.

Shimba Hills National Reserve

  The reserve is a plateau that rises from coastal plains and surrounding escarpment that rises from about 120 to 300 m, an area of coastal rain forest, woodland and grassland. There are more than 50% of rare plants in Kenya and some species of orchids and Cycalides in danger. Into the reserve there are about 700 elephants and conflicts between humans and elephants has reached critical levels due to the damage to vegetation caused by these large animals. Here is the only population of Sable antelope.

South Kitui National Reserve

  With an area of 1833 square kilometers was inaugurated in 1979. It is known as home to many primates, is also home to other animals like lions, leopards, elephants, hippos, rhinos blacks, giraffes, zebras, gazelles and others. Despite its great variety of species, attracts only a limited number of visitors due to the popularity of the nearest Amboseli and Tsavo National Park.

National Marine Reserves



Kiunga Marine Reserve

  It contains about 50 limestone islands and coral reefs of the Lamu Archipelago. The size of the islands vary from a few hundred square meters to more than 1 square kilometer . The larger islands are covered with thorny climbing vegetation. To the smaller islands are nests for the migratory birds. There are precious coral reefs, sea grass meadows and extensive mangrove forests.