Laikipia Plateau
Most first-time Kenya travelers go directly to the Mara and never make it to Laikipia. Those who do discover a landscape that consistently produces the most memorable experiences of a Kenya trip: camelback safaris through open bush, sleep-outs at Loisaba’s star beds above a waterhole, rhino tracking on foot, and a sense of remoteness that the Mara’s popularity makes increasingly difficult to find.
Lamu Archipelago
The Kenyan coast’s finest destination sits at the northern end of the coast, a UNESCO World Heritage site of narrow coral-stone lanes, carved wooden doors, and donkey traffic in a town that has no cars. Lamu’s Swahili culture dates to the fourteenth century and survives in a form largely unchanged by the resort development that has reshaped much of the East African coast.
Samburu National Reserve
Three hours north of Nairobi by air, Samburu sits in Kenya’s arid north and supports a collection of wildlife species found nowhere else in the country, the so-called Special Five: Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, Somali ostrich, and gerenuk. The landscape is dramatically different to the Mara’s open grassland, with doum palms lining the Ewaso Ng’iro River and dry thornbush stretching to the horizon. For experienced safari travelers wanting something beyond the standard Kenya circuit, Samburu delivers a different register.