Highlights
Best Things To Do in Kenya
Kenya is a special place. It’s the birthplace of the safari, not to mention one of the most beautiful countries in Africa. It’s also a destination for the highly active, whether you’re watching wildlife...
Best Things To Do in Tanzania
Tanzania doesn’t mess around when it comes to big-name landmarks. At least four of its major attractions – Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater – would find their way onto most...
Best Things To Do in Zanzibar
Zanzibar is a magical destination. Lapped by the Indian Ocean, this legendary Spice Island is blessed with countless postcard-perfect tropical beaches. It also offers coral gardens swirling with colorful...
Best Things To Do in Stone Town
Stone Town is as enjoyable as it is compelling. This Swahili port was for centuries the hub of a trade network that extended across the Indian Ocean to Arabia, Asia and beyond. At the heart of Stone Town...
Best Beaches in Tanzania
Tanzania is a fantastic beach destination. Whether you’re after a post-safari seaside break or a full beach holiday, the possibilities are endless. Most visitors opt for Zanzibar Island, which is encircled...
Best Beaches of Zanzibar
Zanzibar is East Africa’s top beach destination. This Indian Ocean island off Tanzania is known for its characterful Stone Town, fragrant spice plantations and biodiverse coral reefs. But for most visitors...
Go Hot-air Ballooning in the Masai Mara NR
The Masai Mara National Reserve is one of the most beautiful, wildlife-rich places in Africa – from any angle. But drifting above the Mara’s savannah grasslands and the woodlands that shadow the Mara...
Carnivore Restaurant
Carnivore could just be Nairobi’s most famous restaurant, and it’s a remarkable place to visit. Opened in 1980, it made its name serving game meats – here you could order wildebeest, zebra and even...
Meet a Giraffe at Nairobi’s Giraffe Centre
Down a quiet side road in the Nairobi suburb of Langata, the Giraffe Centre combines fun with an important and serious conservation message: it’s an all-too-rare combination, and the center does it well....
Gaze Upon Lake Naivasha’s Rift Valley Waters
Unlike many other lakes in the Rift Valley, Naivasha is a freshwater lake, and this has always given it a character and appeal that no other Kenyan lakes can match. It gets really busy, especially on weekends,...
Dote on Baby Elephants at Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Tucked away in a back corner of Nairobi National Park, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is one of Nairobi’s most memorable attractions. Here at this elephant orphanage, you’ll get to hang out with baby elephants,...
Enjoy the Urban Vibe of Arusha
Arusha is often referred to as the safari capital of Tanzania. For good reason. This well-equipped city, situated a short drive west of the gateway Kilimanjaro International Airport, is the main hub for...
Glide Above the Wilds of Tanzania in a Balloon
The Serengeti National Park is one of the world’s most exciting ballooning sites. For one, it is only from the air that the vast scale of this national park’s endless plains can be fully appreciated....
Immerse Yourself in Bustling Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam stands on a deep natural harbor on the Tanzanian mainland, 30km/19mi southwest of Zanzibar Island. It was founded in the 1860s by Sultan Majid of Zanzibar, who also gave the city its name...
Discover Mysterious Lake Natron
Lake Natron is a narrow and exceptionally alkaline lake set in the semi-arid Rift Valley east of Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Overlooked by the active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai, its boiling hot, extremely...
Nungwi Beach
From a modest dhow-building village in the 1990s, Nungwi has blossomed into a fun-loving holiday town with a population of 30,000, making it Zanzibar’s second-largest settlement. In fact, Nungwi ranks...
Eating & Drinking on Zanzibar
Zanzibar has one of East Africa’s most lively culinary scenes. The island is well known for its seafood and traditional Swahili dishes, but it also hosts a cosmopolitan range of international restaurants....
Browse the Stalls of Bustling Darajani Market
Colorful Darajani Market, also known as Marikiti Kuu (‘Great Market’), has been the commercial hub of Stone Town since the late 19th century. Situated on the east side of Stone Town, it is a fascinating...
Feast on Grilled Seafood at Forodhani Gardens
Forodhani Gardens is a delightful spot. Occupying a prime position on Stone Town’s historic waterfront, this oasis of greenery is a fun place to chill out and watch the passing parade. Joggers loop around...
Visit the Fabulous Freddie Mercury Museum
Freddie Mercury is Zanzibar’s most famous son. The flamboyant Queen frontman was born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town in 1946, and for the next eight years his family lived in a two-story house 100m/328ft...
Stroll Around the Historic Old Fort
The Old Fort is the longest-surviving building in Stone Town. Also known by the Swahili name Ngome Kongwe (literally ‘Old Castle’), this imposing construction is one of the most distinctive architectural...
See the Old Slave Market & Anglican Cathedral
Zanzibar today is famed for its sun-drenched beaches, biodiverse coral reefs and atmospheric old Stone Town. For much of the 19th century, however, the island was infamous as the hub of a brutal trade...
Walk the Atmospheric Old Alleys of Stone Town
Stone Town is an atmospheric enclave of traditional Swahili architecture and culture set at the heart of modern Zanzibar City. For centuries, this cosmopolitan port on the west coast of Zanzibar Island...
Where To Stay on Zanzibar
Most visitors to Zanzibar book their accommodations in advance, so it is worth giving consideration to what kind of experience you’re looking for. Some people, for instance, would regard a couple of...
Enjoy Elephants and Mt Kilimanjaro in Amboseli NP
Africa’s tallest summit, Mt Kilimanjaro, is actually in Tanzania, but the best views are from Kenya’s Amboseli National Park. Amboseli belongs among the elite of East African safari parks. Although...
Relax on Kenya’s Indian Ocean Beaches
If you could design a perfect coastline with all the necessary elements for the ideal beach holiday, it would look something like Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. Here is a world of palm trees and long, white-sand...
Track Down the Big Five on Safari in Kenya
The Big Five are top of many safari wish lists. But they’re just the start when it comes to going on safari in Kenya. When you’re out exploring wild Africa, there is no feeling to compare with the...
Trek the Trails of Kenya’s High Country
Because hiking is not allowed in most Kenyan parks, few visitors realize how many high-altitude foot trails the country has, and we’re not talking about Mt Kenya. You can hike into Uganda and back at...
Sail on a Traditional Sailboat Along the Coast
It’s one of the loveliest sights in coastal East Africa: a perfectly proportioned dhow, drifting offshore like a magical apparition of the Indian Ocean’s ancient trade in spices. But dhows are not...
Admire Perfect Sunrises at Diani Beach
Diani Beach doesn’t try to be anything it’s not. Unlike Lamu with its celebrated history, or the first-rate diving and snorkeling of Kenya’s far southern coast, Diani is, first and foremost, a classic...
Dive and Snorkel Along Kenya’s Indian Ocean Coast
From Lamu in the north to the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park in the south, and many places in between, Kenya’s offshore reefs promise some of the best diving and snorkeling anywhere along Africa’s...
Hike and Cycle Past Wildlife in Hell’s Gate NP
If you’ve spent any amount of time in Kenya’s other national parks and reserves, you’ll know how strange it feels to step outside your vehicle in Hell’s Gate National Park to walk, or to climb,...
Go Birding in Kakamega Forest
The first time many travelers arrive in Kakamega Forest, you can often see their disbelief. All of a sudden, Kenya is transformed, from a world of busy roads and big cities and savannah grasslands into...
Mix Wildlife and Culture on the Laikipia Plateau
High on the Laikipia Plateau in Kenya’s inner mid-north, a patchwork of community-run conservancies is offering an alternative type of safari to what you can find in the national parks. In places such...
Swap Crowds for Flamingos at Lake Bogoria NR
A lake filled with flamingos is an iconic image of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, and some of the biggest flamingo flocks are in Lake Bogoria National Reserve. It lies beyond the well-traveled routes through...
Search for Tree-climbing Lions in Lake Nakuru NP
There aren’t many places in Africa where lions climb trees, but it’s a special experience when they do and you happen upon them. Lake Nakuru National Park may be small, but it does pack in some amazing...
Roam Across the Remote North at Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana is a place of great and very special beauty. It’s an almost lunar landscape of deep yellow, red and orange earth surrounded by a turquoise sea hundreds of miles from the coast. It’s the...
Spend Time on the Soulful Lamu Archipelago
Lamu is a magical place. Much like Zanzibar in Tanzania, but without the crowds, this former spice-trading port has a beguiling mix of rich history, stunning beauty and so many landmarks, alongside relaxed...
Run a Marathon in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
There isn’t another marathon in the world like it. For a start, along most marathon courses, you don’t need to keep an eye out for predators or dodge an angry rhino. An annual event since 2000, this...
Visit the Maasai and Learn About Local Culture
Southern Kenya is the Maasai heartland, and from the Masai Mara National Reserve to Amboseli National Park, you can spend precious time in their company. This might include a visit to a Maasai village,...
Unwind in the Popular Beach Resort of Malindi
Travelers have been coming to Malindi for longer than anyone can remember. The town has been looking after travelers, especially Italians, in search of the perfect beach since the 1970s and it’s very...
Get Active on Manda Island in the Lamu Archipelago
You could disappear off the map onto any of the islands on the Lamu Archipelago and find yourself in your ideal island hideaway. But Manda Island, along with its lovely counterpart Manda Toto Island, is...
Escape the Crowds in a Masai Mara Conservancy
Surrounding the Masai Mara National Reserve on three sides, exclusive conservancies such as the Mara Triangle, Mara North and Mara Naboisho Conservancies take the best of the Mara and make it personal....
Follow the Great Migration in the Masai Mara NR
Imagine seeing so many animals that the Earth seems alive. That’s what happens when around 2.5 million wildebeest, zebra and Thomson’s gazelle cross into Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve and feed...
Get To Know Kenya’s Second City, Mombasa
Steamy Mombasa feels like no other city in Africa. From the 16th-century Unesco World Heritage–listed Fort Jesus keeping watch over the city to the tight tangle of lanes in the Old Town with their call-to-prayer...
Summit Mt Kenya, Africa’s Second-highest Peak
One of Africa’s most beautiful mountains, Mt Kenya is a sacred peak to locals and a climbing challenge without peer in the country. Aside from the views, which go on forever, this is an uplifting climb...
Ascend the Rift Valley Volcano of Mt Longonot
Volcanoes, extinct and dormant, run along Kenya’s Rift Valley like a dragon’s backbone. Most are for admiring from a distance, but Mt Longonot is a special place. In little more than an hour you can...
Visit Karen Blixen’s House and Museum in Nairobi
Karen Blixen (also known by her pen name, Isak Dinesen) was both celebrated author of the classic memoir ‘Out of Africa’ and a larger-than-life personality in colonial-era Nairobi. Played by Meryl...
Explore Nairobi, East Africa’s Cultural Capital
Nairobi can be one cool city. Yes, its reputation precedes it. And yes, its traffic can be awful. But this is a city with its very own national park where you can see wild lions and rhinos against a backdrop...
See Lions, Chimps and Rhinos in Ol Pejeta
You can do things in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, which is located high on the Laikipia Plateau, that you can’t do anywhere else in the country. You can track wild lions for a start, or go looking for black...