Kenya

Classic routes

• 🦁The Mara, the Serengeti & Zanzibar11 days · Maasai Mara → Arusha → Serengeti → Ngorongoro Crater → Stone Town

🏙️ Nairobi & the Central Highlands

The capital, where flights from India land, with a national park on its edge, the elephant orphanage and the Giraffe Centre; then north into cool green highlands: the tree lodges of the Aberdares and the trekking routes up Mount Kenya, Africa's second-highest mountain.

• NairobiLions Under the Skyline, Orphaned Elephants and Giraffes at the Window2 days · best June – October, January – February
• Mount KenyaAfrica's Second-Highest Mountain, on the Equator2 days · best January – February, August – September
• 🌲Aberdare National ParkMisty Moorland, Waterfalls and a Night by the Waterhole1 day · best June – September, December – February

🦏 Laikipia & Samburu

The plateau north-west of Mount Kenya and the dry bush beyond it: Ol Pejeta's rhino sanctuary and chimpanzees, private conservancies with night drives and walks, and Samburu's riverine reserve with the northern "Special Five" (Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, Somali ostrich, gerenuk).

• Ol Pejeta ConservancyRhinos, Chimpanzees and Mount Kenya on the Horizon2 days · best June – October, December – March
• Samburu National ReserveThe Northern Special Five Along the Ewaso Ng'iro2 days · best June – October, December – March

🦁 Rift Valley & Maasai Mara

Down the Rift Valley escarpment from Nairobi: the hippos of Lake Naivasha and the Hell's Gate gorge, rhinos at Lake Nakuru, and the Maasai Mara, Kenya's great big-cat reserve, where the Great Migration crosses the Mara River from about July to October.

• Maasai MaraThe Great Migration and Big Cats on the Open Plains3 days · best July – October (migration), January – March
• Lake NakuruRhinos, Flamingos and Tree-Climbing Lions in the Rift Valley1 day · best June – October, December – March
• Lake NaivashaHippos, a Gorge to Cycle Through and Walking Among Giraffes2 days · best June – October, December – March

🐘 Amboseli & Tsavo

The south, between Nairobi and the coast: Amboseli's elephants beneath Kilimanjaro, and the vast Tsavo parks either side of the Mombasa road and railway, with red-dusted elephants, lava flows and the Mzima Springs. Easy to combine with a beach week.

• AmboseliElephant Herds Beneath Kilimanjaro2 days · best June – October, January – February
• Tsavo East & WestRed Elephants and Lava Country on the Way to the Coast2 days · best June – October, January – February

🏝️ The Coast

The Indian Ocean coast: Mombasa's Fort Jesus and Old Town, the white sand and reef of Diani to the south, the marine park and Swahili ruins of Watamu and Malindi to the north, and the car-free Swahili island town of Lamu near the Somali border. Warm all year; driest from December to March.

• MombasaFort Jesus, the Old Town and Swahili Food on the Island2 days · best December – March, July – October
• 🏖️Diani BeachWhite Sand, Kitesurfing and Dhows to the Kisite Reef3 days · best December – March, July – October
• Watamu & MalindiMarine Park Lagoons, Swahili Ruins and Turtle Beaches3 days · best December – March, July – October
• ⛵LamuA Swahili Stone Town with Donkeys, Dhows and No Cars3 days · best November – March, July – September