Western Kenya

The world-renowned Masai Mara National Reserve needs little in the way of introduction. Its tawny, wildlife-stuffed savannahs are familiar to anyone who has watched nature documentaries. Reliable rains and plentiful vegetation underpin this extraordinary ecosystem and the millions of herbivores it supports. Wildebeest, zebras, impalas, elephants, Masai giraffes and several species of gazelle all call the Mara home. This vast concentration of game accounts for high predator numbers, including cheetahs, leopards and the highest lion densities in the world.

Created in 2011, the 222-sq-km Naboisho Conservancy is one of the Mara's youngest. It's also one of the best, with excellent camps, fabulous predator and other wildlife viewing, as well as picturesque, classic Mara landscapes of whistling thorn, open grasslands, rolling hill country and riverine acacia woodlands. Little wonder, then, that Naboisho won the prestigious Overall Winner of the African Responsible Tourism Awards in 2016, as well as sharing the Wildlife Conservation Prize with Ol Pejeta Conservancy. If you were looking to choose one place for your safari of a lifetime, Naboisho would have to be on the shortlist.

Kakamega Forest Reserve is the more degraded area of the forest, yet it's the more popular area with tourists. The five-hour return hike to Lirhanda Hill for sunrise or sunset is highly recommended. An interesting short walk (2.6km) to a 35m-high watchtower affords views over the forest canopy and small grassland.

North of Kitale, the small, rarely visited Saiwa Swamp National Park is a real treat – as long as you're not here for the Big Five, this is a chance to tick off some real safari highlights. Originally set up to preserve the habitat of Kenya’s only population of sitatunga antelope, the 15.5-sq-km reserve is also home to blue, vervet and de Brazza’s monkeys and some 370 species of birds.

Mbita and Rusinga Island (connected by a causeway) are delightful and great places to draw near to Lake Victoria. Tiny, languid and rarely visited, they offer a glimpse of an older Africa – an Africa that moves to the gentle sway of the seasons rather than the ticking of a clock. This is the sort of place where schoolchildren abandon their classes to watch you pass by and old women burst into song at your arrival.

As a source for world-class athletes, the town of Iten, 36km northeast of Eldoret and 2400m above sea level, has few peers. Over the past three decades, it (and the St Patrick's High School in particular) has produced a staggering number of world champions and Olympic medalists. These days, world-class athletes and runners on a pilgrimage converge on HATC, either to train or just hang out with the world's best.

Kericho is a haven of tranquillity and one of Kenya's most agreeable towns. Its surrounds are blanketed by a thick patchwork of manicured tea plantations, each seemingly hemmed in by distant stands of evergreens, and even the town centre seems as orderly as the tea gardens. With a pleasant climate and a number of things to see and do, Kericho makes for a very calming couple of days.

Straddling the Ugandan border and peaking with Koitoboss (4187m), Kenya’s second-highest peak, and Uganda’s Wagagai (4321m), the slopes of Mt Elgon are a sight indeed – or at least they would be if they weren't buried under a blanket of mist and drizzle most of the time. While there are plenty of interesting wildlife and plants here, the real reason people visit Mt Elgon National Park is to stand atop the summit high above Kenya and Uganda.