MERU NATIONAL PARK

Set on the lower slopes of Mount Kenya, Meru National Park is perhaps best known for being the place where Joy Adamson's lioness 'Elsa' was returned to the wild. It is entirely unspoilt and has the most scenically diverse variety of landscapes and habitats. At the Rojewero confluence the Tana screams over Adamson's Falls before snaking its way to the Indian Ocean. This marvelous wilderness is home to a great many species of animals including Beisa Oryx, lesser kudu, gerenuk and eland, as well as the Big Five. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded, including the very rare Peter's Finfoot.

MARALAL
Perched on the edge on the forested hills, Maralal has all the aspects of a frontier town. A few pepper trees line the two dusty main streets as do colorful warriors who lean against the run-down 'duka' stores. There is a small lively market and a private game park with large herds of eland. Maralal mainly serves as a base for camel trekking, bush walking and white-water rafting on the Ewaso Nyiro River which is a couple of hours drive away.

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The town is also home to 'Kenyatta House' a significant national monument where Kenyatta was detained prior to his release. The colourful Samburu tribe spreads from here into the higher Lerogi plateau rimmed with cedar forests and the arid scrubland to the north.

MARSABIT NATIONAL RESERVE
One of Kenya's most northerly wildlife reserves, Marsabit is a green forested mountain oasis around Marsabit Mountain. Rising out of hot inhospitable desert, the mountain gives shelter and relief with its many volcanic craters filled with freshwater lakes. Below, the forests give way to acacia dominated Savannah and arid bushland. Night sees mists clamp down on the forest which supports elephant, buffalo and the greater kudu.

MOUNT KENYA - Kenya's highest mountain, (5,199 m/ 17,058ft) with its snow-capped peaks in stark contrast to the dry grassland all around is a sight to behold. Both of Africa's highest mountains are extinct volcanoes - in this case the remains of the core.

Equally intriguing is the fact that the bulk of this colossal diamond straddles the Equator. The twin peaks Batian and Nelion soar above Mt Kenya National Park- one of the world's highest.

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SAMBURU AND BUFFALO SPRINGS NATIONAL RESERVES

Rugged and remote, these wildlife reserves lie within the fascinating semi-desert area of Kenya's Northern Frontier District. The Samburu National Reserve - a lava plain with steep-sided gullies and rounded hills- is physically dramatic with the great Ololokwe table mountain in the background. The central feature of the reserve is the winding and looping Ewaso Nyiro river. On either side the river, a green ribbon presents a gallery of forest acacia, doum palm and Tamarind, which act as host to a multitude of birdlife. Some of Kenya's rarer species like the long-necked gerenuk, Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, beisa oryx and blue-shanked Somali ostrich can be seen here. The Buffalo Springs Reserve butts onto Samburu in the south and is more or less an extension the same kind of environment. This reserve is bounded in the north by the Ewaso Nyiro which doesn't reach the sea but buries itself into the Lorien Swamp to the east .

SHABA NATIONAL RESERVE

A small gem in the wildlife wilderness, this reserve takes its name from a cone of volcanic rock. The formidable lava flow that the traveler has to cross to reach this remote and isolated wilderness is plain evidence of the fiery intensity of Shaba's upheaval. Shaba is one of Kenya's most pristine game reserves, with untouched scenery and other unspoilt splendours. The central attraction here is again the sauntering Ewaso Nyiro on its way to the Lorien Swamp. The riverine swamp stands out in stark contrast to the rugged and pitted tracts which make up most of the sanctuary, and it is here that one can catch sight of leopard. With four springs, Shaba is better watered than its neighbouring reserves of Samburu and Buffalo Springs.

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