Nairobi & Rift Valley: Includes the Masai Mara National Reserve

by Lizzie Williams

Overview

From the bustling, cosmopolitan capital of Nairobi to the wonderful scenery of the Rift Valley, find great places to stay, eat and sleep, plus detailed coverage on the amazing array of wildlife and activities this country has to offer. Features an Essentials section with practical tips to help plan a trip, detailed information on attractions and comprehensive listings of where to eat, sleep and have fun.

• Essentials section with tips on getting there and around

• Up-to-date recommendations of great places to stay and eat

• Highlights map of the region plus detailed street maps where relevant

• Slim enough to fit in a pocket

Loaded with advice and information on how to get around, this concise Footprintfocus guide will help travellers get the most out of their trip to Nairobi and Rift Valley without weighing them down.

The content of FootprintFocus Nairobi and Rift Valley guide has been taken from Footprint's Kenya Handbook.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781908207951
Publisher:	Bradt Travel Guides Ltd
Publication date:	09/19/2012
Series:	Footprint Focus
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	114
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Originally from London, Lizzie has worked and lived in Africa for 14 years. Starting out on trips across the continent as a tour leader on overland trucks, she has sat with a gorilla, slept amongst elephants, fed a giraffe and swum with a hippo and is now something of an expert on border crossings and African beer. For Footprint she is author of South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Tanzania; has written the only country guide to Nigeria and the first city guide to Johannesburg for Bradt; is author of the AA Spiral Guide to South Africa and Africa Overland, a glossy look at the overland route from Nairobi to Cape Town, is co-author of the DK Eyewitness to Kenya, and has contributed to Turkey and Egypt for Rough Guides. She has written various online African destination guides for leading websites in the UK and US including Frommers, British Airways and World Travel Guide.net. When not on the road, Lizzie lives in Cape Town.

Read an Excerpt

Nairobi, capital of Kenya, is a lively, cosmopolitan city that sits at

1870 m above sea level. The centre is modern and prosperous.

Businessmen and women talking on mobile phones walk the

pavements alongside Masai warriors with long, ochre-stained

hair; tourists mingle with busy traders and commuters; markets

sell traditional handicrafts in the shadow of office towers, and

life goes on at a frenetic pace. Housing and other facilities have

failed to keep up with the rapid population growth, and shanty

towns in the outskirts are the inevitable result. By contrast, there

are leafy upmarket suburbs and modern shopping malls, and the

city is home to a large international community. Unfortunately

Nairobi has also attracted fame for its high crime rate, and visitors

should exercise caution at all times. Nevertheless, there are many

interesting things to do and see. Nairobi is home to some of the

best restaurants and shops in East Africa, Nairobi National Park is

within sight of the city, and there are a number of other wildlife

attractions just a stone’s throw away.

The Great Rift Valley is one of the most dramatic features on

earth. In Kenya, it starts at Lake Turkana in the north, and runs right

through the centre of the country. Up to 100 km wide in places,

the floor is littered with lakes, such as Nakuru, Naivasha, Baringo

and Bogoria, which are surrounded by cliffs, escarpments, rivers

and arid plains. These support an enormous diversity of fauna and

flora. In the south of the region the Masai Mara is one of the most

exciting game parks in the world, teeming with wildlife and the

site of the quite spectacular wildebeest migration. It is also the

place in Kenya where you are most likely to see lions. The scenery

is wonderful too, with Mount Kilimanjaro acting as the perfect

backdrop to miles of arid savannah plains covered with fragile

grasslands and scrub bush.