Kenya & Tanzania National Parks & Game Reserves
Kenya & Tanzania National Parks & Game Reserves, “You can’t make everyone happy,” they say. Well, “they” haven’t been to Kenya and Tanzania’s beautiful national parks, because these parks really do have something for everyone.
When you see lions roaming the vast savannahs or antelope bounding through the cool rainforests, or when you see birds and baboons in the tropical jungle or dolphins jumping around you in a beautiful marine reserve, these national parks are a wonder that keeps life going and amazes everyone who visits.
Think about going down into the Ngorongoro Crater, a lush, secret place where thousands of animals live safe from the outside world because the walls of an extinct volcano surround them. Or, you can drive for ten minutes from a world-class city to Nairobi National Park, which is full of wildlife and has buildings in the background of the giraffes.
It’s possible to find what you’re looking for in the parks of Kenya and Tanzania. And even show you some amazing things you might not have thought of before.
The annual movement of millions of animals looking for food and shelter is the most amazing wildlife show on Earth, and you can see it at the Masai Mara and Serengeti national parks. Watch as huge groups of wildebeests thunder across the Mara River, with some of them falling victim to the crocodiles that are swimming below.
In these national parks, there are lots of different ways to see wildlife. You may have seen pictures of game drives and walking safaris. But what about a safari where you ride your bike past the zebras feeding in Hell’s Gate Park or your horse past the rhinos at Lake Naivasha Park?
There are some parks that aren’t good for standard safaris or seeing wildlife. Visit Mt. Longonot National Park and hike up the dead volcano for a different experience. Or, go to Mt. Kenya National Park and climb up the second-highest mountain in Africa to see the glaciers and lakes.
Next, go the other way. At Kisite Mpunguti Marine Park, you can swim or dive with dolphins, turtles, and other sea creatures that sparkle. This water preserve is close to many of Kenya’s beach towns, making it easy to get away for a short time.
But if you’d rather see fish moving in lakes and streams that are as cold as ice, you must go to Aberdare National Park. Most people don’t think of this paradise as an African park. It has waterfalls, cool mountain breezes, and thick jungle, however.
Tourists love seeing the wildlife in these beautiful parks, but the parks also protect the animals, especially the ones that are in danger of going extinct.
The rhinos at Ol Pejeta Wildlife Sanctuary are safe from hunting, which means that their numbers will grow. The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary is also here, and it takes in chimps that are alone or hurt. In Kenya, that’s the only place where you can see these smart animals act out.
The rhino refuge in Tsavo West National Park is another safe place for them to be. In this park, which is one of the biggest and oldest in Kenya, about 80 of these rare animals are safe.
Everyone comes to the parks to see the “Big Five” animals of Africa, but the birds can be just as beautiful. Get ready to be amazed as you see thousands or even millions of bright fuchsia flamingos eating at the alkaline lakes in Kenya’s Lake Nakuru National Park and Tanzania’s Lake Manyara National Park. They are often seen with large groups of pelicans, cormorants, storks, and herons. A lot of different kinds of birds live in all of the parks.
Kenya and Tanzania have a lot of parks, so tourists often miss the areas that are farther away. Two things, though, make that wrong: There is a lot of wildlife in these places, and there are almost no other people there. You and the animals are the only ones there.
One place like this is Meru National Park. Forests, rivers, and rolling green hills, along with the animals that live in them, make up this wild and beautiful park. It was here that Joy Adamson, who was in “Born Free,” let Elsa the cougar go back into the wild.
Tarangire National Park is Tanzania’s big treat that not many people know about. During the high season, you might see more elephants (3,000) and lions (over 700) than in some well-known parks.
And if you want to see elephants, you should go to Amboseli National Park. The park is small, and there are a lot of them, so you are sure to see these beautiful animals.
When you visit Africa’s parks, you have to meet the people who have lived on and around these places for hundreds of years. You can meet the Samburu people, see a village, and learn about their way of life and customs at Samburu National Park.
You can have similar conversations with the Maasai people in their towns near Serengeti Park and Masai Mara. This is another way to get a real feel for Africa.
You will get to see all the amazing things that these national parks have to offer, from the moonlike peak of Mt. Kenya to the underwater kaleidoscope of Kisite Mpunguti Marine Park to the sound of millions of horses moving to an old call in the Serengeti.
Kenya National Parks and Game Reserves
Tsavo East National Park
On the road between Nairobi and Mombasa, Tsavo East is to the east. It is the same distance from both cities.
Tsavo West National Park
Together, Tsavo West National Park and its neighbor, Tsavo East National Park, make one of the biggest national parks in the world.
Kakamega Forest Reserve
When you walk into the Kakamega Forest Reserve’s thick, dark jungle, you feel like you’ve been taken back to old Africa. Sounds of birds singing, monkeys talking, and croaking frogs can be heard as you move through the thick canopy of this tropical jungle. In this secret gem of Kenya, the air is full of butterflies and a sense of close, beautiful beauty.
Amboseli National Park
Amboseli National Park is right next to Mt. Kilimanjaro to the northwest, on the border between Kenya and Tanzania.
Lake Bogoria National Reserve
Imagine a lake high in the mountains in a volcanic area close to the equator that is full of bright pink flamingos all the time. There are hot springs all around this lake and in the surrounding areas that make the already dreamy atmosphere even better. On top of that, you can see many bubbling geysers exploding along the lake’s edges and from inside it.
Shimba Hills National Park
The Shimba Hills are linked to the Mwaluganje Forest Reserve in the north by a fenced-off elephant passage.
Nairobi National Park
Black and white rhinoceroses, many kinds of birds, big cats like lions, leopards, hyenas, and cheetahs, and big grass-eaters like eland, cows, zebras, and wildebeests. There is also a monument to the ivory burning site, walking trails at hippo pools, the Nairobi safari walk, and large picnic areas.
Masai Mara Game Reserve
The Masai Mara Game Reserve is in the Great Rift Valley in southern Kenya. It shares a border with Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.
Lake Nakuru National Park
In the park, you can often see the rare Rothschild giraffe and the endangered black and white rhino. You can also see big groups of Cape buffalo roaming through the grasslands and forests.
Lake Naivasha
Birds that live in Lake Naivasha are famous all over the world. Along the lake’s edges you can also see hippos, zebras, giraffes, colobus monkeys, buffalo elands, impalas, waterbucks, and other animals that eat grass.
Hell’s Gate National Park
This is the only national park in Kenya where you can go on an organized walking safari or ride a bike and see Zebras, Giraffes, and Gazelles.
Samburu National Reserve
The southern corner of the Samburu District is where the Samburu National Reserve is located. It is in Kenya’s Rift Valley area.
Aberdares National Park
It’s cool and foggy. Along the dry northwest hills, it rains an average of 1,000 mm a year, while up to 3,000 mm fall in the southwest.
Ol Pejeta Wildlife Sanctuary
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a wildlife sanctuary that covers 360 square kilometers and is in the central Kenyan county of Laikipia.
Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve
About 110 km north of Mombasa, in the middle of the land between Kilifi and Malindi is Arabuko Sokoke.
Kisite Mpunguti Marine Park & Reserve
It is 6 km from the coast of Kenya, at Shimoni, and 8 km north of the border with Tanzania.
Meru National Park
Meru National Park is a savanna park located 35 km east of Maua town in the plains to the northeast of the Nyambene hills.
Mt. Kenya National Park
Mt. Kenya is a huge, dead volcano that stands tall in the Kenyan Highlands, which are east of the Rift Valley.
Tanzania National Parks
Mt Kilimanjaro National Reserve
The African mountain top. The world’s tallest rock that stands alone. There is a huge volcano called Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It is a sign of grandeur, majesty, and power.
Arusha National Park
Forests in the mountains. Lots of grasslands. Moorlands in the Alps. And the beautiful Mt. Meru. Arusha National Park is one of the most beautiful and different parks in Tanzania. You can enjoy all of these beautiful scenes in one day.
Ngorongoro Crater
The Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s biggest intact volcanic caldera and a world heritage site. It is also often called the “eighth wonder of the world.”
Serengeti National Park
The Serengeti is Tanzania’s oldest and most famous national park. It is also a world heritage site and was recently named the seventh wonder of the world.
Lake Manyara National Park
A beautiful lake that runs for 50 km along the base of the rusty-gold, 600-meter-high Rift Valley cliffs. Ernest Hemingway said it was “the loveliest place I had seen in Africa.”
Tarangire National Park
The sixth biggest national park in Tanzania is Tarangire National Park, which is in the Manyara Region.
