Reviews of Aberdare (From 6 Acclaimed Safari Experts)

Expert

Brian Jackman –

UK

Visited: Multiple times

Brian is an award winning travel writer, author of safari books and regular contributor to magazines such as BBC Wildlife and Travel Africa.

13 people found this review helpful.

Wildlife Refuge on the Roof of Africa

Overall rating

3/5

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Unlike the rolling savannahs and thorn tree country of lowland Kenya, the Aberdares are a world apart, a sky-high paradise in the clouds, whose dense hagenia forests and deep ravines provide a refuge for all kinds of animals, including some seldom seen elsewhere, such as the elusive bongo. Melanistic serval cats roam the high moorlands above the tree line and the Aberdares are about the only place in the world where you might – just might – see a black leopard. The entire park has been ring-fenced to keep its elephants in and the poachers out. There are only two upmarket lodges, both situated in the northern salient. Treetops Lodge, which was founded in 1932 and reopened in August 2024 after a three-year closure, has the history. It’s Kenya’s oldest lodge and is where Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) was staying when her father King George VI died in 1952. But I prefer The Ark, a triple-decker ship of the forest that lies deeper in the salient beside a floodlit waterhole. Elephant, buffalo, leopard and giant forest hog are regular nocturnal visitors. When daylight comes, head for the high country above the bamboo zone. You could almost imagine yourself to be in Scotland. But then you see a herd of eland and know you are standing on the roof of Africa.

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Expert

Lizzie Williams –

ZA

Visited: November

Lizzie is a reputed guidebook writer and author of the Footprint guides to South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

5 people found this review helpful.

Kenya’s Equatorial Misty Mountains and Famous ‘Tree Lodges’

Overall rating

3/5

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Kenya’s Aberdares feature dramatic peaks, deep valleys, waterfalls cascading down sheer rock faces, and undulating moorlands. On the downside, the weather is generally misty and damp thanks to the altitude (the highest peak, Mount Satima, is 4001 metres), and wildlife in the high moorlands is rarely seen. A more feasible option is staying at one of the two ‘tree lodges’ in the lower-altitude Salient section: Treetops and The Ark. Both offer fairly simple rooms, but they have viewing decks over waterholes and are perhaps better described as ‘hides’ with accommodation. On my stay at The Ark, I was thrilled by the procession of game that emerged from the forest, including a couple of dozen elephants, a large, closely packed herd of buffalo, and several spotted hyena that brazenly darted around the elephants’ legs. The bird tables at the lodge attracted pretty birds like speckled mousebird and resplendent sunbirds, as well as a couple of daring genets. However, criticisms of the ‘tree lodges’ are that they are usually busy with large tour groups, and when the floodlights are switched on, the waterholes take on rather a theatre-like ‘staged’ ambience. Nevertheless, for a quick overnight safari, they offer an excellent opportunity to see several species almost from the comfort of your room.

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Expert

Ariadne van Zandbergen –

ZA

Visited: Multiple times

Ariadne is a renowned African wildlife photographer whose work is featured in many well-known guidebooks and magazines.

5 people found this review helpful.

Chasing Waterfalls in the Aberdares

Overall rating

4/5

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Aberdare National Park is mostly known for its tree hotels: The Ark and Treetops. I’ve stayed in both and loved both (although the experience they offer is very packaged). You can watch animals coming and going at the waterhole and salt lick in front of the lodge. Rewarding as it is, staying at these iconic lodges very close to the entrance gate doesn’t give you an opportunity to experience the true beauty of the park. On my last visit I stayed at Fishing Lodge, a remote Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) self-catering guesthouse in the moorland zone of the Aberdare Mountains. I saw less wildlife (although I did see some elephants, lots of buffalo, duiker, waterbuck and bushbuck), but the spectacular, otherworldly scenery more than made up for that. It’s worth visiting at least one of the waterfalls at the higher reaches of the Aberdares; most of them are a few hundred meters’ walk from the car park. Unguided visits are allowed, but keep in mind that there are lots of buffalo around. The three-tier Karura Waterfall is the most spectacular, but Chania Falls got my vote as the most beautiful. Birding is as good as can be expected, with some high-altitude specials such as alpine chat and Jackson’s francolin all over the place.

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Expert

Alan Murphy –

AU

Visited: June

Alan is a travel writer and author of over 20 Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the guides to Southern Africa and Zambia & Malawi.

2 people found this review helpful.

The Easiest Wildlife Watching in Kenya

Overall rating

4/5

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The scenery is truly wondrous at this sky-high park, where East Africa’s savannahs are left far behind and temperatures plummet. Instead you’ll find valleys carved between soaring forested peaks, waterfalls, thick bamboo forests and moorlands all shrouded in misty drizzle.

There are only two upmarket lodges situated within the park, both designed for package tourists. But the experience they offer is something special. I stayed at The Ark, a 4-storey lodge perched on a forested bluff where guests peer out of windows, or off balconies, at a floodlit waterhole and surrounding grasslands to view elephant, buffalo, waterbuck, bushbuck, giant forest hog, and, if lucky, black rhino. If that all gets a bit much you can retire to your room where a series of buzzers lets you know when something interesting is outside!

These lodges have a very packaged feel but if you like sipping a glass of red by the open fire while watching elephants play around in mud baths just outside, then this is the experience for you.

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Expert

Philip Briggs –

ZA

Visited: Multiple times

Philip is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many guidebooks, including the Bradt guides to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.

2 people found this review helpful.

Life In The Treetops

Overall rating

4/5

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Aberdare National Park protects an eponymous mountain range that forms the natural divide between the western footslopes of Mount Kenya and Rift Valley around Lake Naivasha. Running for almost 100km from north to south, the highlands are dominated by a vast plateau that mostly stands above 3,000m and attains a maximum elevation of 4,001m.

Aberdare NP offers two very different types of travel experience. For most people, a visit basically amounts to an overnight stay at one of two so-called ‘tree hotels’ that lie on the massif’s forested eastern footslopes. These upmarket lodges are hide-like constructions where all rooms face a waterhole and all wildlife viewing is done from the hotel. Treetops, the older of these, was founded in 1932 and it attained global fame in 1952 as the place where Princess Elizabeth was staying when she unknowingly became the Queen of England upon the death of her father George VI. Royal connections aside, a newer hotel called The Ark is the better bet for wildlife viewing: buffalo and elephant make an appearance most nights, rhino and leopard are more occasional, and you might also see black-and-white colobus monkey, genet, Harvey’s red duiker and alluring forest birds including Hartlaub’s turaco.

For more adventurous travelers, the upper slopes of Aberdare NP can be explored on an extensive network of good murram roads that ideally require a 4x4 vehicle. A great option is to traverse the park when travelling between Lake Naivasha and more northerly attractions such as the Laikipia Conservancy or Samburu National Reserve. Relatively few people use this route, so it has a strong off-the-beaten-track appeal. It is also very beautiful, climbing through extensive forests and swathes of bamboo to a more sparsely vegetated Afro-alpine moorland dotted with craggy peaks and beautiful waterfalls. This route is more about scenery than wildlife viewing, which is rather hit and miss, but you stand a fair chance of seeing elephant, buffalo and a variety of monkey and antelope species.

2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Expert

Anthony Ham –

AU

Visited: Multiple times

Anthony is a photographer and writer for travel magazines and Lonely Planet, including the guides to Kenya and Botswana & Namibia.

Aberdare: Forest Kingdom

Overall rating

3/5

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It’s hard not to fall in love with Aberdare, so different is it from any other park in Kenya. It occupies the mountainous green heartland of the country, and offers a wildlife experience all its own. Although you can see wildlife elsewhere in the park, the real Aberdare special is nursing a drink in your lodge while overlooking a waterhole and never quite knowing which animals will turn up to drink. An elephant family? A wary antelope? Even a leopard if you’re lucky. The history here adds further intrigue to the experience – Queen Elizabeth II was here when she found out that her father had died and that she was to become queen, and before that, the Mau Mau made the Aberdares their own as they fought for independence from Great Britain. Overall it’s a special place with just the right mix of wildlife, scenery and a fascinating human backstory.

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Aberdare National Park

Expert Reviews (6)