Kenya has attracted tourists and adventurers for centuries. One of the world’s most famous travel destinations, Kenya is renowned for its remarkable diversity of landscapes, animals and cultures. From vast plains to snow capped mountain summits, Kenya provides a striking backdrop for Africa’s most classic Kenya safari adventures.
Witness the Great Migration in the Maasai Mara. Hear elephants trumpet in Amboseli. Scout for rhinoceros making a comeback at Lewa sanctuary. At night, tucked beneath canvas under a canopy of stars, listen to a lion roar across the savanna. It’s all here in Kenya, Africa’s original safari destination.
Kenya’s tremendous biodiversity includes 25,000 different animal species. In the Maasai Mara, the plains darken during the annual wildebeest migration, with predators in stealthy pursuit. The reserve has plenty of cheetah but is above all the Lion Kingdom, with large prides holding court. Other carnivores include spotted hyena, jackal and bat-eared fox. The Mara is home to large grazing herds of zebra, giraffe, buffalo, gazelle and topi.
Hartebeest, water buck, dik – dik, duiker, klipspringer, oribi and the rare roan round out the antelope varieties. Crocodile and hippo are thick in the Mara and Talek rivers, while the acacia woodlands shelter 470 of Kenya’s 1100 bird species.
Amboseli National Park, famed for elephants, also has some endangered rhinos, which are seen more often at Lewa Conservancy, a project devoted to their recovery. Visitors to Samburu may see leopard and two endemic species found only in northern Kenya: Grevy’s zebra and the reticulated giraffe.
Explore the remote reaches of Kenya’s parks and enjoy day and night drives and bush walks in exclusive private reserves. The fabled Maasai Mara is the Kenyan side of Tanzania’s Serengeti. Wildlife is prolific here any time, but nothing tops the Great Migration, when nearly two million wildebeest and zebra follow the rains to new grass.
The region is also the traditional home of the Maasai, nomadic pastoral herders. Amboseli, watered by melting snows off imposing Mt. Kilimanjaro, supports abundant wildlife, including great numbers of elephant.
In the north lies arid Samburu, with unique species such as reticulated giraffe and Somali ostrich. To see endangered rhinoceros, don’t miss Lewa Conservancy, Africa’s most successful rhino sanctuary.
After being filled with the wildlife experiences in Kenya, cross to Uganda famously known for mountain gorillas and you can have pure Kenya Uganda gorilla safari. Uganda’s dense forests are home to over half the world’s 1004 or so mountain gorillas.
Mountain Gorillas are found in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. In these areas tracking takes place at 5 locations Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga, Nkuringo in Bwindi Forest and Ntebeko in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.
All locations combined give a total of over 18 gorilla groups, however the permit number are limited because only 8 people are allowed to visit a gorilla family per day for only one hour.
Gorillas display uncanny human characteristics. The close-knit family groups are headed by a silver back – a mature male – who selects places for the group to eat and sleep, and has many privileges, including the right to feed first. This privilege pays off for the rest of the family, as if the group is threatened, the silver back – weighing up to 120kg (260lbs) – will defend them to the death.
The endangered impressive Mountain Gorillas in Uganda don’t live in any zoo across the planet since they cannot survive in detention and thus there aren’t any known mountain gorillas surviving within zoos. These can only be found and seen in Africa in just three countries including Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
Usually, the Males are two times the size of the females, they may grow to 6 ft tall and even weigh 350 – 500 pounds. These are strong, with long arms and muscular. The males are referred to as the Silver back because as they mature the hair on their back turns somewhat silver, hence the name Silver backs. The strength of the males is ten times stronger compared to the strongest boxer, even taking steroids. The arms of silver backs can stretch to 7 feet
Mountain Gorillas possess longer plus darker hair compared to their lowland counterparts because they stay in colder climates and higher altitudes. Their life span is between 40 and 50 years.
The mountain gorillas mainly stay on the ground although they will climb a tree occasionally given that it can support them, however just like children, their young play in the trees. A fascinating fact is that Gorillas plus Humans are share 98% of their genetic composition.
