Places to see: Africa

SWEETWATERS GAME SANCTUARY

Area: 90,000 acres

The privately owned 22,000 acre Sweetwaters game reserve and chimpanzee sanctuary has an abundance of wildlife and tropical vegetation and enjoys magnificent views across the bush to the snow-capped peaks of Mt. Kenya. It boast all of the "Big 5" game - Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Leopard and Buffalo. Only 2.5 hours or 250 kilometers north of Nairobi on a good highway, the reserve is easily accessible and has the highest density of wildlife per square kilometer.

There are many advantages to visiting this private reserve. As it is a private reserve, guests can enjoy special activities such as night game drives, game walks and horseback game rides. The reserve boasts abundant wildlife - over 400 species of birds, lion, elephant, rhino and cheetah to name just a few. The night game drives allow sightings of the elusive leopard and other nocturnal species.

The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary opened in 1993. Lonrho Africa, the Jane Goodall Institute and Kenya Wildlife Services established a facility to receive and provide sanctuary and housing to an original group of 3 chimps orphaned at a young age by the bush-meat trade. The aim of the champanzee sanctuary project was to set up a colony where chimps could be introduced, rehabilitated and taught to fend for themselves in an area similar to their natural living conditions.

MERU NATIONAL PARK

Area: 870 square kilometers
By Road : 8 hours from Nairobi
By Air: Nairobi/Meru/Nairobi, accessible by scheduled flight on Sun/Wed/Fri

The Park is most famous as it is the setting for Joy Adamson's book "Born Free" - the story of the Adamson's life and research amongst lion and cheetah.It is an especially wild and beautiful area of Kenya, straddling the equator and bisected by 13 rivers and numerous mountain-fed streams. It has diverse scenery - woodlands to wide open plains with wandering riverbanks dotted with doum palms. Game includes : lions, elephants, cheetah, leopard and some of the rarer antelopes, lesser kudu, duiker, dik dik - one of Africa's smallest antelopes. The rivers abound with hippo and crocodile. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded including - Peter's Finfoot which inhabits the Murera and Ura Rivers, the Pel's Fishing Owl, kingfishers, rollers, bee-eaters, starlings and numerous weavers

SAMBURU, BUFFALO SPRINGS & SHABA NATIONAL RESERVES

Area-(Samburu): 104 square kilometres
Area-(Buffalo Springs): 131 square kilometres
Area-(Shaba): 145 square kilometers
By Road : 5 hours from Nairobi
By Air: Daily Nairobi/Samburu/Nairobi

All three Reserves offer unique vistas of rounded and rugged hills and undulating plains. The mix of wood and grassland with riverine forest and swamp is home to a wide variety of animal and birdlife. Game viewing and visibility is excellent. Game includes the following animals unique to this area - Reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, Somali ostrich, gerenuk. Other animals include elephant, oryx, hippo, crocodile, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah and hyena. Recently (January 2002), in a radical departure from its instincts, a lioness protected a baby oryx, which it would ordinarily have killed for a meal, escorting it around the Samburu wildlife reserve. Unfortunately the oryx fell prey to another lion and was killed. The same lion adopted another baby oryx a few days later, however the Kenya Wildlife Society had to intervene as the oryx was too weak to survive and they separated the couple?. is this the end or will the tale continue? Shaba National Reserve, known as the "Born Free" country is a semi desert reserve, located some 100 kms north of the equator, was made famous by Joy Adamson and her lioness Elsa. The park is also notable for its hotsprings.

LAIKIPIA GAME SANCTUARY

Area: 800,000 hectares
By Road : 7-8 hours from Nairobi
By Air: Accessible by private charters

The Laikipia plateau in Central Kenya is the last stronghold of romantic East Africa with vast open ranches, shadowed by snow-capped Mount Kenya and home to many communities including the Laikipia Maasai and the Samburu.The plains are fed by the Ewaso Ny'iro and the Ewaso Narok rivers and one can often see the "Big 5" (rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo). The district is also a home to endangered animals such as the black rhino, Jackson's Hartebeest and more. It also boasts the biggest herds of elephant outside the National Parks. Wild dog, leopard, lion, cheetah and other predators hunt the plains game such as impala, gazelle, reticulated giraffe, Grevy zebra, Somali ostrich, Beisa oryx (endemic to the North of Kenya) and gerenuk.

Subscribe here to our monthly newsletters

Your Name
Email Address