Aberdare National Park: The Highland Kenya Safari Most Travelers Miss
Absolutely Kenya’s greatest attraction is how different one day can be from the other. In all my 40 years guiding safaris across East Africa, no place changes so radically. It’s magic: After a week in hot, humid semi-arid bushveld bingo!: you can be in the frost of a precious highland rain forest! Astounding.
Unfortunately, many tourists visiting Kenya only visit the incredibly impressive Mara and the unique Samburu- gorgeous eco-systems, but they only scratch the surface of what Kenya has to offer.
Why Aberdare National Park Belongs on Your Kenya Safari
Sitting in the Kenyan central highlands roughly 100 miles north of Nairobi, Aberdare National Park covers 296 square miles of mountain forest, bamboo zones, and high-altitude moorland. Elevations range from around 6,500 feet to over 13,000 feet at the summit of Ol Doinyo Lesatima - making this one of the few Kenyan parks where you'll need a fleece and a torch as much as a sun hat and binoculars.
Quick facts: Aberdare National Park
Location: Central Kenya, ~100 miles north of Nairobi
Size: 296 sq miles (767 km²)
Elevation: 6,500–13,120 ft (1,980–4,000 m)
Established: 1950
Best for: Highland forest, rare antelope, mountain birding, the Ark tree hotel
Pairs well with: Nairobi, Samburu, Mount Kenya, the Maasai Mara
The Drive North: From Nairobi to the Kikuyu Highlands
The vast Aberdare National Park is a wonderful addition to a Kenyan safari, often working perfectly after visiting Nairobi’s National Museum (an absolute must!) The drive north out of the city is, itself, deeply interesting as the urban development of highrises, highways, and malls continue to expand each year. Eventually, as you enter the Kikuyu highlands, you start to enter the territory of rare monkeys and dinosaur-like birds.
A perfect first destination is the Aberdare Country Club, sister hotel to The Ark tree hotel. Both properties have been recently refurbished with new, modern bathrooms and better furnishings. The country club is situated on one of the most beautiful sites in Kenya, high in the mountains with grand views everywhere. Massive amounts of bougainvilleas and other flowering trees attract dozens of sunbirds and giant mountain birds like the turaco and silvery-cheeked hornbill.
What you’ll find at the Aberdare Country Club
The grounds (including the golf course!) are teeming with slightly tamed game. Warthog, bushbuck, eland, baboon and colobus monkey lounge on the gorgeous grounds or simply come walking down your pathway!
Horse back riding is a popular activity here with expert guides who routinely help guests trot among giraffes and zebras! The cool nights in this highland forest are punctuated by mists and the occasional screaming of the tree hyrax.
A Day in the Aberdare Highlands: Bamboo, Waterfalls, and Wildflowers
My safaris in the Aberdares always include a long all day game drive up to Chania Falls around 10,000′ in the beautiful tundra. At any time of the year this drive is spectacular, starting at around 6600′ and reaching 11,100′ where the great waterfalls of the park form the Ewaso Nyrio River which drops onto the desert and dies shortly thereafter.
But as the rains begin, so many beautiful wild flowers appear! These are mostly endemic, and you will see splashes of red, yellow, blue and purple at almost every turn. Some of the heather will even display its white bubble blooms. The great bamboo forests start revealing new lemony shoots and the forest seems to teem with colobus, warthog, bushbuck, waterbuck, and even buffalo.
A favorite activity for the last morning at the Aberdare Country club is an early morning special game walk with a professional guide. Without elephants or lions, this area poses little risk to travelers under the protection of an accomplished walking guide. Expect to see giraffes, zebras, kudu, warthog, impala and much more.
The Ark Tree Hotel: Where the Wildlife Comes to You
After a robust breakfast, it’s then time to game viewing your way to The Ark. The beauty of this highland rain forest immediately appears right after entering the national park. Gargantuan trees are covered with moss and squawking hornbills and other unusual birds fill the branches. You might see elephants pretty quickly, along with buffalo and warthog. This enormous park has all the big-game but is important because of its rare monkeys and high altitude birds and antelope.
We have been staying at The Ark tree hotel for nearly fifty years. Here the traditional format for game viewing is upended as the animals come to you! The lodge is built over a natural water hole and salt lick. Flood lights which don’t bother the animals turn on at dusk and a never-ending parade of Africa unfolds throughout the night. A buzzer near your bedside wakes you to anything spectacular, but many find it difficult to leave the viewing areas for the sleep which comes so easily in the cold mountain air.
EWT clients have seen amazing sights over the years including hyaena stalking bushbuck, and the quite prized sighting of the giant forest hog. The hog is the largest pig on earth and it’s restricted to the threatened highland rainforests of Africa.
Wildlife you might encounter at The Ark
Giant forest hog - the world's largest wild pig
Bongo antelope - one of Africa's rarest forest antelope
Black rhino - the Aberdares hold one of Kenya's most important breeding populations
Forest elephant - including the famous "rogue elephants" the area is known for
African golden cat (extremely rare; reported sightings)
Leopard, hyena, buffalo, and waterbuck
Hartlaub's turaco, silvery-cheeked hornbill, and 250+ other bird species
Don’t Skip Nairobi: The City Most Safaris Treat as a Layover
In addition to this magical forest, another aspect of Kenya that is often skimmed over in tourist itineraries is Nairobi itself. A safari is a large investment in time and money and so the common practice today, worldwide, is for tour operators to structure as compact and active tours as possible. I understand the reasons behind this, but a few “extra” days in Nairobi can make all the difference in physical comfort (jet lag is real and long flights are grueling) and your love and understanding for the country.
Some of the classic Nairobi tourist stops continue to be delightful hits:
The Karen Blixen House and nearby Giraffe Manor, where guests feed Rothschild's giraffe and learn about their fascinating biology
Kazuri Beads - one of Africa's great harambee success stories. Harambee means "self-help" in Swahili. Started nearly 40 years ago by two single mothers, the workshop now employs over 300 women and markets globally — gorgeous handmade jewellery, and ideal gifts
The Nairobi National Museum - an absolute must, and one I always recommend on the first or last day
In addition to the National Museum (mentioned above) Nairobi has many compelling art galleries, theaters, and a seemingly endless list of delicious and innovative restaurants.
The marvel of Nairobi National Park
And, of course, there is the marvel that carved on one little side – about a ninth of this rapidly growing metropolis’s bulging perimeter – is … absolutely unbelievably … a national big-game park.
Nairobi National Park is a legacy park to be sure. It hasn’t grown in size since it was first proclaimed in 1945 making it the oldest national park in Kenya. But neither has it shrunk, and that is truly incredible.
I once incorrectly predicted that it would. A highway was announced and work began that would have transected the park and I offered a sad lament but presumed it was inevitable. It wasn’t. Local conservationists prevailed!
And with these committed efforts by local conservation societies first modeled by Nature Conservancy, tracts of land on the opposite side of the park to the city have been secured as wildlife corridors into some of what’s left of Kenya’s wild Amboseli ecosystem.
In the years since my (thankfully wrong) prediction, there has of course been tension between developers and conservationists, mostly notably involving the Standard Gauge Railway in 2016 when the government announced plans to route the SGR through the park to connect Mombasa and Nairobi. However, after a public outcry, a compromise was reached to build the railway on an elevated 5.8-kilometer bridge supported by 190 pillars to allow wildlife passage underneath.
The story of Nairobi National Park continues to be one of local people working to find ways to live with local wildlife- an inspiration, and ideally a guide, for all of us everywhere.
Plan Your Aberdare Safari
The Aberdares are the kind of place that turns a good Kenya safari into a great one - a contrast that rewards travellers willing to look past the obvious itineraries. If you're considering a luxury Kenya safari and want to include the highland rainforest, the Country Club, and a night at The Ark, EW Travel has been designing these journeys for nearly half a century.
FAQs
-
Aberdare National Park is located in central Kenya, approximately 100 miles (160 km) north of Nairobi. It sits within the Aberdare Range - a mountain range running roughly north-to-south along the eastern edge of the Great Rift Valley, in Nyandarua County.
-
Two nights is ideal: one night at the Aberdare Country Club for the gardens, walking safari, and golf course wildlife; one night at The Ark tree hotel for the floodlit waterhole experience. Three nights allow you to add the full-day drive to Karuru and Chania Falls in the high moorland.
-
Yes, particularly for repeat Kenya visitors or travellers who want to experience an ecosystem completely different from the savanna parks. The Aberdares offer highland rainforest, bamboo zones, alpine moorland, and rare species - including bongo antelope, giant forest hog, and one of Kenya's most important black rhino populations - that you simply cannot see in the Maasai Mara or Samburu.
-
The park is open year-round. The dry seasons (late June to October, and January to February) offer the easiest game viewing and clearest mountain views. The "long rains" (March to May) bring the wildflower bloom in the moorland - spectacular for photographers and birders, though some tracks become difficult.
-
The park supports elephant, buffalo, leopard, black rhino, bongo antelope, giant forest hog, bushbuck, waterbuck, colobus monkey, and over 250 bird species. Lion sightings are rare. The park is best known for its forest and highland species rather than the classic plains game of the Mara.
-
The most common route is by road - roughly a 3-to-4-hour drive north from Nairobi via Nyeri or Naro Moru. Most safari operators include the transfer as part of a guided itinerary. Charter flights from Wilson Airport are also available for travellers combining the Aberdares with more remote parks.
-
The two classic properties are the Aberdare Country Club (just outside the park, with extensive grounds, golf, and walking safaris) and The Ark tree hotel (inside the park, built over a floodlit waterhole). Both have been recently refurbished. Together, they offer the most complete Aberdare experience.
