Samburu National Reserve

Kenya

　　The most popular park in northern Kenya, Samburu's dominant feature is the Ewaso Ngiro River, which slices through the otherwise bone-dry country. The river acts as a magnet for thirsty animals, and large numbers of elephants, Grevy's zebras, giraffes and lions gather along the riverbanks. ...

Aberdare National Park

Kenya

　　Herds of wildlife thunder over an open African horizon, elephants emerge from a thicket of plants and the mysterious black rhino munches tranquilly on leaves. This is Aberdare National Park, packed with 300m-high waterfalls, dense forests and serious trekking potential. Also commonly seen here are buffaloes, black rhinos, spotted hyenas,...

Galana River

Kenya

　　Running through the heart of the park and marking the northernmost point in the park that most visitors are allowed to visit, the Galana River, which combines the waters of the Tsavo and Athi Rivers, cuts a green gash across the dusty plains. Surprisingly few visitors make it even this...

Lamu Museum

Kenya

　　The best museum in town (and the second best in Kenya) is housed in a grand Swahili warehouse on the waterfront. This is as good a gateway as you’ll get into Swahili culture and that of the archipelago in particular. Exhibitions focus on boat-building, domestic life and weddings, the intricate...

Amboseli National Park

Kenya

　　Amboseli belongs in the elite of Kenya’s national parks, and it’s easy to see why. Its signature attraction is the sight of hundreds of big-tusked elephants set against the backdrop of Africa’s best views of Mt Kilimanjaro (5895m). Africa’s highest peak broods over the southern boundary of the park, and...

Impala Sanctuary

Lake Victoria

　　On the road to Dunga, this 1-sq-km sanctuary is home to a small impala herd and provides important grazing grounds for local hippos. In addition to the impala, there are cages of other Kenyan antelope and monkeys, but frankly it's an awful lot of money to pay for what is...

Kisumu Museum

Lake Victoria

　　The town museum is fairly old fashioned, but includes a lot of information. It's best enjoyed with a guide, who can give you more background on the three sections. The first covers western Kenya’s three principal linguistic groups: Luo, Bantu and Kalenjin. The second is a traditional Luo homestead. The...

Ndere Island National Park

Lake Victoria

　　Gazetted as a national park in 1986, this 4.2-sq-km island has never seen tourism take off. It is forested and very beautiful, housing a variety of bird species, plus occasionally sighted hippos, impalas (introduced) and spotted crocodiles, a lesser-known cousin of the larger Nile crocodiles. 　　There's nowhere to stay and,...

Kisumu Main Market

Lake Victoria

　　Kisumu’s main market is one of Kenya’s most animated markets and certainly one of its largest – it spills out onto the surrounding roads. If you’re curious, or just looking for essentials such as suits or wigs, it’s worth a stroll around. ...

Kilifi Creek

North Coast

　　This might be the only place where we wouldn't mind being up the creek without a paddle. It's just gorgeous, from the cliffs jutting up out of the water, to the hermit crabs scooting along the shoreline. Boat hire can easily be arranged, and there are lots of lovely spots...

Mnarani

North Coast

　　The partly excavated, atmospheric ruins of the Swahili city of Mnarani are high on a bluff just west of the old ferry landing stage on the southern bank of Kilifi Creek. The best-preserved ruin is the Great Mosque, with its finely carved inscription around the mihrab (prayer niche showing the...

Bofa Beach

North Coast

　　Bofa Beach is a wide slash of white sand, with swaying palms and rolling Indian Ocean surf. It's the stuff of which fantasies are made. A path to the left of Kilifi Bay Beach Resort takes you there. ...

Vuma Cliffs

North Coast

　　Just outside the village of Takaungu, you fly on the back of a motorbike down dirt roads, past spiky fields of sisal and giant baobabs towering above maize crops. Abruptly, the land ends in jagged black coral cliffs, pounded relentlessly by the rolling waves of the Indian Ocean. It's a...

Watamu Marine National Park

Watamu

　　The southern part of Malindi Marine National Park, this reserve includes some magnificent coral reefs, abundant fish life and sea turtles. To get here to snorkel and dive, you’ll need a boat, which is easy enough to hire at the KWS office, where you pay the park fees, at the...

Watamu Turtle Watch

Watamu

　　This excellent organisation protects the approximately 50 hawksbill and green turtles that lay their eggs on Watamu Beach. The centre provides much-needed education in the local community about the fragility of sea turtles, and actively patrols for people selling turtle shell. At the trust’s rehabilitation centre you can normally see...

Bio-Ken Snake Farm & Laboratory

Watamu

　　This humble-looking place is one of the world's most renowned snake research centres. Bio-Ken specialises in antivenin research and acts as an emergency service for snakebite victims throughout the region. Passionate guides lead excellent 45-minute tours (included in the price), during which they introduce you to such deadly beauties as...

House of Columns

Malindi

　　This building is a good example of traditional Swahili architecture and contains a peculiar exhibit on marine ecology – on the first and only coelacanth ever to turn up in Malindi waters. ...

Malindi Pier

Malindi

　　This long tongue flicks out into the Indian Ocean. It's a low-key highlight of a stroll along Mama Ngina Rd. On weekends, families wander arm-in-arm and kids dress up and pose in makeshift photo studios. ...

Portuguese Church

Malindi

　　This thatched-roofed church gets its name because Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama is reputed to have erected it in the 15th century, and two of his crew are supposedly buried here. It’s certainly true that St Francis Xavier visited on his way to India. Go to the Vasco de Gama...

Malindi Museum

Malindi

　　Part of the Malindi Historic Circuit, this moderately interesting museum has some displays on underwater arachaeology along the Kenyan coast. Upstairs, you can delve into the world of the nine Mijikenda tribes that inhabit the coastal region between Tanzania and Malindi, and learn how they worship, whom they exorcise, and...

Vasco da Gama Pillar

Malindi

　　More impressive for what it represents (the genesis of the Age of Exploration) than the edifice itself. Erected by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama as a navigational aid in 1498, the coral column is topped by a cross made of Lisbon stone, which almost certainly dates from the explorer’s...

Malindi Marine National Park

Malindi

　　The oldest marine park in Kenya covers 213 sq km of powder-blue fish, organ-pipe coral, green sea turtles and beds of Thalassia seagrass. If you’re extremely lucky, you may spot mako and whale sharks. Unfortunately, these reefs have suffered (and continue to suffer) extensive damage, evidenced by the piles of...

Marafa Depression

Malindi

　　One of the more intriguing sights inland from the north Kenyan coast is Hell’s Kitchen or Nyari (‘the place broken by itself’). About 30km northeast of Malindi, it’s an eroded sandstone gorge where jungle, red rock and cliffs heave themselves into a single stunning Mars-like landscape. You can take an...

Swaminarayan Temple

Mombasa

　　The Swaminarayan Temple is stuffed with highlighter-bright murals that’ll make you feel as if you’ve been transported to Mumbai. ...

Lord Shiva Temple

Mombasa

　　Mombasa’s large Hindu population doesn’t lack for places of worship. The enormous Lord Shiva Temple is airy, open and set off by an interesting sculpture garden. ...

Jain Temple

Mombasa

　　This Jain temple caters to believers of Gujarati origin, and the ornamental interior, with niches filled with brightly painted figurines of deities, is well worth a peek. ...

Tusks

Mombasa

　　Giant replicas of elephant tusks form two arches above Moi Ave, welcoming visitors to the city. Next to them are Uhuru Gardens, a tranquil, green space of fountains and giant trees hung with fruit bats. ...

Old Law Courts

Mombasa

　　Dating from 1902, the old law courts on Nkrumah Rd have been converted into an informal gallery, with regularly changing displays of local art, Kenyan crafts, school competition pieces and votive objects from various tribal groups. ...

Mandhry Mosque

Mombasa

　　Founded in 1570, Mandhry Mosque in the Old Town is the city's oldest, and an excellent example of Swahili architecture, which combines the elegant flourishes of Arabic style with the comforting, geometric patterns of African design – note, for example, the gently rounded minaret. Not open to visitors. ...

Spice Market

Mombasa

　　This market, which stretches along Nehru and Langoni Rds west of the Old Town, is an evocative, sensory overload – expect lots of jostling, yelling, wheeling, dealing and, of course, the exotic scent of stall upon stall of cardamom, pepper, turmeric and curry powders, with stalls along Langoni Rd selling...

Fort Jesus

Mombasa

　　This 16th-century fort and Unesco World Heritage treasure is Mombasa’s most visited site. The metre-thick walls, frescoed interiors, traces of European graffiti, Arabic inscriptions and Swahili embellishment aren’t just evocative, they’re a palimpsest of Mombasa's history and the coast writ in stone. You can climb on the battlements and explore...

Kongo Mosque

Diani Beach

　　At the far northern end of the beach road (follow the faded sign behind the Jacaranda Resort) is the 16th-century Kongo Mosque – Diani’s last surviving relic of the ancient Swahili civilisations that once controlled the coast, and one of a tiny handful of coral mosques still in use in...

Colobus Conservation Centre

Diani Beach

　　Notice the monkeys clambering on rope ladders over the road? The 'colobridges' are the work of the Colobus Conservation Centre, which aims to protect the Angolan black-and-white colobus monkey, a once-common species now restricted to some 5000 monkeys in a few isolated pockets of forest south of Mombasa. It runs...

Kaya Kinondo

Diani Beach

　　This forest, sacred to the Digo people, is the only one of the area's sacred forests that's open to visitors. Visiting this small grove is a nature walk, historical journey and cultural experience. As you make your way across tangled roots and chunks of ancient coral, the guide points out...

Bomas of Kenya

Nairobi

　　The talented resident artists at this cultural centre perform traditional dances and songs taken from the country’s various tribal groups, including Arabic-influenced Swahili taarab music, Kalenjin warrior dances, Embu drumming and Kikuyu circumcision ceremonies. It’s touristy, of course, but still a spectacular afternoon out. The complex consists of a number...

Go-Down Arts Centre

Nairobi

　　The Go-Down Arts Centre, a converted warehouse in Industrial Area, contains 10 separate studios and is a hub for Nairobi's burgeoning arts scene, bringing together visual and performing arts with regular exhibitions, shows, workshops and open cultural nights. ...

Kazuri Beads & Pottery Centre

Nairobi

　　An interesting diversion in Karen, this craft centre was started by an English expat in 1975 as a place where single mothers could learn a marketable skill and achieve self-sufficiency. From humble beginnings, the workforce has grown to over 100. A free tour takes you into the various factory buildings,...

Karen Blixen's House & Museum

Nairobi

　　If you loved Out of Africa, you'll love this museum in the farmhouse where author Karen Blixen lived between 1914 and 1931. She left after a series of personal tragedies, but the lovely colonial house has been preserved as a museum. Set in expansive gardens, the museum is an interesting...

Giraffe Centre

Nairobi

　　This centre, which protects the highly endangered Rothschild’s giraffe, combines serious conservation with enjoyable activities. You can observe, hand-feed or even kiss one of the giraffes from a raised wooden structure, which is quite an experience. You may also spot warthogs snuffling about in the mud, and there’s an interesting...

National Museum

Nairobi

　　Kenya’s wonderful National Museum, housed in an imposing building amid lush, leafy grounds just outside the centre, has a good range of cultural and natural-history exhibits. Aside from the exhibits, check out the life-size fibreglass model of pachyderm celebrity Ahmed, the massive elephant that became a symbol of Kenya at...

Nairobi National Park

Nairobi

　　Welcome to Kenya’s most accessible yet incongruous safari experience. Set on the city’s southern outskirts, Nairobi National Park (at 117 sq km, one of Africa’s smallest) has abundant wildlife that can, in places, be viewed against a backdrop of city skyscrapers and planes coming in to land – it's one...

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Nairobi

　　Occupying a plot within Nairobi National Park, this nonprofit trust was established in 1977, shortly after the death of David Sheldrick, who served as the antipoaching warden of Tsavo National Park. Together with his wife, Daphne, David pioneered techniques for raising orphaned black rhinos and elephants and reintroducing them into...