Location

Ruma National Park is situated in Nyanza Province, Western Kenya, close to the shores of Lake Victoria, in Lambwe Valley in South Nyanza. 140 km from Kisumu, 10 km east of Lake Victoria and South West of Homa Bay and 425 km west of Nairobi. The Park covers an area of 120 square kilometers.

It was initially established as the Lambwe Valley Game Reserve in 1966 to protect its indigenous population of rare roan antelopes which exist nowhere else in Kenya. In 1983 it was gazetted as a National Park. It was renamed “Ruma” upon request of the local community.

The park is largely of black cotton soil with surrounding area settled with a mix of small scale cultivation and grassy pasture land.
Three main circuits which are motorable all year round, 4 wheel drive is necessary during the rainy seasons.
The Climate is hot and humid, mean annual rainfall is 1200 – 1600mm. The park has a humid climate, the long rains falling April-June and the short rains falling October-December
Wildlife in the park - Roan antelope (now unique to this park), leopard, buffalo, hyena, Rothschild's giraffe, oribi, Jackson and lelwel hartebeest, impala, bohor reedbuck, serval cat,  topi, baboons, vervet monkey, honey badgers, bush pig and many more.

The Park is an IBA area with over 400 species of birds recorded. It is renowned amongst ornithologists for its rare intra - African migrant, the blue swallow.

The vegetation in the Park is a classic image of East Africa with a land of rolling golden savanna dotted with picturesque acacias backed by dramatic hills and magnificent escarpment.It also has unique mosaic of riverine woodland and balanties trees.

The Park provides an unspoiled world for game lovers, bird watchers, tranquility and peace for meditation, historians, campers, team building, picnic, sundowners and scenic beauty.There are two campsites, Nyati campsite which is a special campsite and Fig tree campsite which is a public campsite and a backpacker’s haven.
Oribi guest house is a self catering guesthouse built on the Kanyamwa Escarpment. It has 3 bedrooms accommodating a maximum of 5 people with a full equipped kitchen.

Location

Nairobi National Park is a unique ecosystem by being the only protected area in the world close to a capital city. The park is located only 7 km from Nairobi city centre.

The savannah ecosystem comprise of different vegetation types. Open grass plains with scattered acacia bush are predominant. The western side has a highland dry forest and a permanent river with a riverine forest.  To the south are the Athi-Kapiti Plains and Kitengela migration corridor which are important wildlife dispersal areas during the rain season. Man-made dams within the park have added a further habitat, favourable to certain species of birds.

Major wildlife attractions are the Black rhino, lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, buffaloes, Giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, elands and diverse birdlife with over 400 species recorded.  Other attractions include the Ivory burning site Monument, Nairobi Safari Walk, the Orphanage and the walking trails at hippo pools. 400 migratory and endemic bird species.

Location

Extending for 1,000 square kilometres across the majestic hills of southeast Rwanda, Nyungwe National Park is the largest block of montane forest in East or Central Africa, and one of the most ancient, dating back to before the last Ice Age. A uniquely rich centre of floral diversity, the forest has more than 200 different types of tree, and a myriad of flowering plants including the other-worldly giant lobelia and a host of colourful orchids.

Nyungwe is most alluring for its primates:13 species in all, includin the chimpanzee, as well as the handsome L’Hoest’s monkey and hundred-strong troops of the delightfully acrobatic Angola colobus.

The most important ornithological site in Rwanda, Nyungwe harbours almost 300 bird species of which two dozen are restricted to a handful of montane forests on the Albertine Rift. The avian highlight of Nyungwe is the great blue turaco - an outlandish blue, red and green bird which streams from tree to tree like a procession of streamlined psychedelic turkeys.
 

Location

Set at a relatively low altitude on the border with Tanzania, Akagera National Park could scarcely be more different in mood to the breezy cultivated hills that characterise much of Rwanda. Dominated scenically by the labyrinth of swamps and lakes that follow the meandering course of the Akagera River, which flows into Lake Victoria and is hence the most remote source of the Nile, this is archetypal African savannah landscape of tangled acacia woodland interspersed with open grassland.

Herds of elephant and buffalo emerge from the woodland to drink at the lakes, while lucky visitors might stumble across a leopard, a spotted hyena or even a stray lion. Giraffe and zebra, and more than a dozen types of antelope inhabit the park, most commonly the handsome chestnut-coated impala, but also the diminutive oribi and secretive bushbuck, as well as the ungainly tsessebe and the world's largest antelope, the eland.

Camping alongside the picturesque lakes of Akagera is a truly mystical introduction to the wonders of the African bush. Pods of 50 hippo grunt and splutter throughout the day, while outsized crocodiles soak up the sun with their vast jaws menacingly agape. Lining the lakes are some of the continent’s densest concentrations of waterbirds, while the connecting marshes are the haunt of the endangered and exquisite papyrus gonolek, and the bizarre shoebill stork.

Location

The Lumo Community Wildlife Sanctuary lies at the heart of the Tsavo eco system, surrounded by Tsavo East and West including Jipe national parks and the Taita Game Sanctuary. It is composed of three group ranches ( Lualenyi, Mramba and Oza), all of whom have elected to pool their natural resources in the interests of sustaining this unique wilderness area. The area is a vital wildlife corridor for the animals of Tsavo East and West, an ancient elephant migratory route and an important breeding site for lions.
Fact File

Altitude: 150-1,800 metres above sea level.
Area: 125,000 acres.
Location: South-west Kenya, inland from the coast.
Distance from Nairobi: 360 km south of Nairobi, 200 km north west of Mombasa
Vegetation: The area features over 1,000 plant species and a mixed habitat of bush, grasslands and acacia woodlands dotted with baobab, ivory palm, saltbush, doum palm, tamarind and fig trees.
Climate: the area has a typical savannah climate.
Fauna: lion, leopard, cheetah, serval cat, civet, bat eared fox, buffalo, giraffe, elephant, baboon, waterbuck, Coke's hartebeest, eland, gazelle, zebra, mongoose, hyrax, dik dik, porcupine, and oryx, the unusual aard-wolf, and both striped and spotted hyena
Birds: The prolific bird life features 600 recorded species.
Roads: The roads are well graded, maintained and signposted. Drivable all year with little black cotton.

The area is surrounded by the North and South Pares Mountains (70 km distant), Kasigau ( 50km) Mount Kilimanjaro (80 kms away), the West Usambara Mountains and the Taita Hills.
The landscape is composed of rolling savannah and remnants of ancient highland tropical rainforest.
The habitat includes the Mwashoti, Mwakitau and Ndola Hills and Lion Rock, all of which are important breeding sites for lion.

Beautiful birds
Highlights of the birdlife include those of the semi-arid zone, such as ostrich and golden pipit while, perhaps the most conspicuous, are the white-headed buffalo weaver and the brilliantly plumaged golden-breasted starling. Raucous hornbill are also prevalent as are such hole-nesting birds as parrot, barbet and roller.

Location

Ngamba Island is part of the Koome group of islands located in Lake Victoria. It is approximately 23 km south-east of Entebbe. It consists of approximately 100 acres, of which 98 acres is forested and separated from the human camp by an electric fence. The northern part of the island is generally flat, rising gently to an altitude of approximately 3800 feet above sea level to the south. The island is largely forested with gaps of grassland covering approximately 10% of the island.

The Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary was established in October 1998 to care for orphaned chimpanzees that have been rescued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority from poachers and/or traders, with no chance of survival back to the wild.

The northern part of the island used to be inhabited by a local fishing community. The community had cleared approximately 2 acres of forest and selectively logged large trees from the more proximal parts of the forest. One acre of this area is now used as camp quarters for staff and researchers, whilst the remaining area, located between the forest and the viewing platform is where the chimpanzees are fed during the day.

Ngamba Island provides an excellent secondary forest habitat for the chimpanzees and other wildlife species including fruit bats, spiders, fish eagles, hippos (the only three in the area), otters, a crocodile(!) and monitor lizards.

Location

Oldoinyo Lengai is a volcano in the Eastern Rift Valley, North Tanzania. Its name means ‘Mountain of God’ in the language of the Masai people.
Oldoinyo Lengai is of particular interest to geologists because it is the world’s only active volcano that erupts natrocarbonatite lava. It is also the only active volcano in this part of the East African Rift Valley, though there are many older extinct volcanoes in this region. Oldoinyo Lengai rises about 2000 metres above the Rift Valley floor to a height of approximately 2886 metres.

Location

Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest mountain at 5,895m, only 3 degrees south of the Equator, yet crowned with a permanent icecap. The National Park covers an area of 1,864 sq. kms extending from 1,824m to the summit at 5,895m.
Often the only visible sign of the mountain is the great, snow-mantled shoulder of Kibo and rugged crags of Mawenzi thrusting through a ring of cloud.
At lower altitudes the park consists of mountain rain forest, giving way to scrub then alpine moorland and finally glaciers. On the moorland are found the extraordinary giant groundsel and lobelias that have seemingly evolved in response to freezing cold at night and hot tropical sun by day. Game includes eland, colobus and blue monkeys and the rare Harvey's and Abbott's duiker.

Location

Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary is located in the Kwale District of Kenya's Coastal Province, and is a mere 45 kilometers southwest of Mombasa. The sanctuary has an area of 36 km², and it, along with the adjacent Shimba Hills National Reserve combine to form the Shimba Hills
Ecosystem.

Mwaluganje is characterised by rolling hills, steep ridges, cliffs and winding water shades. A forested area of approximately 23,736 hectares, comprising of Shimba forest, Mkongani West, Mkongani North, and Mwaluganje forest, also surrounds it. The Mwaluganje forest is part of the current sanctuary.

The ecological attractions in Mwaluganje are diverse with scenic beauty such as the great natural forests, awe-inspiring cliffs and the views of the Indian Ocean. Other natural attractions are "God's Bridge," "Time Rock" and the traditional shrine that characterizes the sacredness of the community.

The sanctuary was created in 1993 to conserve the serene surroundings, which house the rare and endangered African elephants, moist deciduous forest, riparian vegetation, and other special attractions available in the ecosystem.

Location

The Kisite & Mpunguti Marine Park and Reserves are located on the south coast, 40km from Mombasa town in Kwale District of coast province. The ecosystem covers a marine area with four small islands surrounded by coral-reef. Kisite island is covered in low grass and herbs while Mpunguti Islands have dense coastal equatorial forest.
Major attractions include the coral gardens and it is an important site for snorkelling, diving and bird watching. In the Kisite - Mpunguti Marine Park and National Reserves some of the commonly seen fish include: large numbers of pelagic fish, butterfly, parrot, rockcod, angel, manta ray. Turtles, dolphins, reef sharks are also seen. The pristine coral varieties are impeccable; corals like staghorn, brain, liliac-blue, mushroom, and lavender present unique photo taking opportunities. The colorful beauty of the coral, complimented by the large number of yellow and red tuna and snappers are unmatched.