Kakamega

Kakamega is unlike anywhere else in Kenya: the country’s only tropical rainforest and the last fragment of the ancient Guineo-Congolian forest that once stretched across Central and West Africa. It was gazetted as a trust forest in 1933, and in 1985 its northern section was further protected as a national reserve. Although the wider ecosystem covers about 238 square kilometres, less than half remains intact indigenous forest today.

It is a designated Important Bird Area and a haven for seven primate species, including the rare De Brazza’s monkey, alongside butterflies, snakes and more than 380 recorded species of trees. Here the experience is quiet and close, with birdsong and monkey calls overhead and light filtering through the canopy, which makes Kakamega a refreshing change of pace from the open plains of a classic safari.

Kenya Wildlife Service notes that its forest and mountain parks are an exception to the dry, warm conditions of most of its parks. It gives July to March as the main season and April to June, the long rains, as the low season, when roads may need four-wheel drive. The Kenya Meteorological Department adds a second rainy season from October to December, so expect trails to be wetter at those times.

From Nairobi the most direct road route runs via Nakuru along the A104 towards Timboroa and then by the C36 to Kapsabet, joining the Kisumu–Kakamega road; from Eldoret, the C39 road via Kapsabet is the shortest way. The reserve lies outside Kakamega town on the road towards Webuye and Eldoret. There are scheduled flights to Kakamega, and visitors can also fly to Kisumu or Eldoret and continue by road.