Continent Africa

Capital Nairobi

Country Area 224,080 sq miles

(49th)

Population (2014) 44,037,656

(31st)

Currency Kenya Shilling

Time Zone EAT (UTC +3)

Drives Left Hand

Dialing Code +254

Nairobi National Park is a national park in Kenya.

Established in 1946, the national park was Kenya's

first. It is located approximately 7 kilometers (4 mi)

south of the centre of Nairobi, Kenya's capital

city, with an electric fence separating the park's wildlife

from the metropolis. Nairobi's skyscrapers can be seen

from the park. The proximity of urban and natural

environments has caused conflicts between the animals

and local people and threatens animals' migration

routes.

Mount Kenya National Park, established in 1949,

protects the region surrounding Mount Kenya. Initially

it was a forest reserve before being announced as a

national park. Currently the national park is within the

forest reserve which encircles it. In April 1978 the area

was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The

national park and the forest reserve, combined, became

a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley soda lakes at an

elevation of 1754 m above sea level. It lies to the south

of Nakuru, in the rift valley of Kenya and is protected

by Lake Nakuru National Park. The lake's level

dropped dramatically in the early 1990s but has since

largely recovered. Nakuru means "Dust or Dusty

Place" in the Masai language. Lake Nakuru National

Park, close to Nakuru town, was established in 1961. It

started off small, only encompassing the famous lake

and the surrounding mountainous vicinity, but has

since been extended to include a large part of the

savannahs. Lake Nakuru is protected under the Ramsar

Convention on wetlands.

Amboseli National Park, formerly Masai Amboseli

Game Reserve, is in Kajiado District, Rift Valley

Province in Kenya. The local people are mainly Masai,

but people from other parts of the country have settled

there attracted by the successful tourist-driven

economy and intensive agriculture along the system

of swamps that makes this low-rainfall area one of the

best wildlife-viewing experiences in the world with 400

species of birds including water birds, pelicans,

kingfishers, crakes and 47 types of raptor. 240

kilometers (150 miles) southeast from the capital

city Nairobi, Amboseli National Park is the second

most popular national park in Kenya after Maasai Mara

National Reserve and the visit can easily be done in a

weekend.

The Maasai Mara National Reserve (also knownas Masai Mara and by the locals as The Mara) is alarge game reserve in Narok County, Kenya,contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in MaraRegion, Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasaipeople (the ancestral inhabitants of the area) andtheir description of the area when looked at fromafar: "Mara," which is Maa (Maasai language) for"spotted," an apt description for the circles of trees,scrub, savanna, and cloud shadows that mark thearea. It is globally famous for its exceptionalpopulation of lions, leopards and cheetahs, and theannual migration of zebra, Thomson's gazelle, andwildebeest to and from the Serengeti every yearfrom July to October, known as the Great Migration.