Excursions from Nairobi
Whether you want a simple day trip, a weekend away or a holiday in the national parks or on the coast - we can arrange it. We also have sister hotels in most of the major parks, so that you can continue with the Serena Experience.Here are some ideas:
Weekend excursions to the National Parks
Kenya is famous for her national parks and reserves, which are administered by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and rank as some of the finest in the world. They exist as total wildlife sanctuaries where human habitation is prohibited and animals can roam wild and free. The following parks and reserves are the closest to Nairobi.
Hell's Gate National Park - 100 km from Nairobi
Hell's Gate is one of the few remaining places in Kenya where you can walk and mountain bike (bikes for hire at the gate) unguided amongst herds of gazelle, antelope and zebra. A compact park with plenty of biodiversity and excellent birdlife, it features dormant volcanoes, hot springs, geothermal geysers, cliffs, ravines and volcanic plugs.
Lake Nakuru National Park - 160 km from Nairobi
Lake Nakuru is world famous for the flocks of lesser flamingos, which frost its blue shores sugar pink. It also plays host to over 400 species of bird life, being second only to Lake Baringo as the most prolific ornithological site in Kenya.
Mount Kenya National Park - 175 km from Nairobi
Home to the highest (5,199m) mountain in Kenya, Mount Kenya National Park contrasts warm savannah with glaciers and snowstorms. Both the Kikuyu and Masai regard the mountain as the home of their Supreme Being, Ngai, and on her slopes the plants grow 100 times bigger than they do elsewhere. Mount Kenya is also one of only a small number of great mountains whose summit is accessible to non-climbers.
Visit the Serena Mountain Lodge, which stands on the slopes of the mountain.
The Aberdares National Park - 180 kms from Nairobi
Gazetted in 1950 this park is one of the oldest in the country and famous as the place where Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II whilst staying in the original Treetops Lodge. Its prize inhabitant is the Bongo Antelope, it is also home to the second largest population of indigenous black rhino; and features miles of high moorland scenery, tumbling waterfalls and sensational views.
Tsavo East National Park - 230 km from Nairobi
A true wilderness evoking vivid memories of Africa's forgotten grandeur and encompassing arid plains, savannah and scrubland. There are over 8,000 elephants in some of the largest herds in the country and Tsavo entered ‘frontier' lore at the turn of the century when two maverick ‘man eating' lions devoured over 50 Indians working on the Kenya Uganda Railway.
Tsavo West National Park - 230 km from Nairobi
It also offers a glorious diversity of habitats but the biggest attraction by far is Mzima Springs, a fount of cool clear water that has gushed hundreds of miles from beneath Mount Kilimanjaro before bursting out of the rocks at Mzima at the rate of 250 million litres a day.
Visit Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge, which is located within the park.
Amboseli National Park - 230 km from Nairobi
Amboseli provides the classic Hollywood image of Africa: vast herds of buffaloes and elephants ranging across the open plains and set against the glorious backdrop of a snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro. At 5,896 meters, the ‘Shining Mountain' is the highest freestanding mountain in the world and is topped by one fifth of all the ice in Africa.
Visit Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge, which is located within the park.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve - 270 km from Nairobi
Often described as the greatest of nature's stages, the Masai Mara, with its huge dramatic skies, is perhaps the most popular of all Kenya's game parks. The landscape, which is mostly savannah, hosts around 22 families of lions and 3,000 elephants while the Mara River is one of the best places to observe crocodiles and hippos.
Visit Mara Serena Safari Lodge, which is located within the reserve.
Kenya Wildlife Service information
For further information on Kenya's national parks and reserves contact: www.kws.org or Email tourism@kws.org or by calling Tel: (Nairobi)+254 (0)20 600800, 602345.
