Reviews of Aberdare (From 5 Acclaimed Safari Experts)

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.

1 person found this review helpful.

Life in the Treetops

Overall rating

3/5

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Bush Vibe:

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For most visitors, myself included, a visit to this montane park really means a visit to one of two so-called ‘tree hotels’ (hide like construction where all game viewing is done from the hotel and all rooms face a waterhole) that lie on its forested lower slopes. Treetops is the older of these, founded in 1932, and having 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 good game viewing, with buffalos, elephant, rhino and various antelope making an appearance most nights, and lion and leopard also regular visitors. Other forest wildlife likely to be seen at The Ark includes the lovely black-and-white colobus monkey, a beautiful spotted cat-like predator called a genet, Harvey’s red duiker, and some alluring birds.

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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.

4 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 wildlife 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 too 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

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.

10 people found this review helpful.

Wildlife Refuge on the Roof of Africa

Overall rating

3/5

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Bush Vibe:

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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 places to stay, both situated in the northern salient. Treetops Lodge has the history. It’s Kenya’s oldest lodge and is where Princess Elizabeth was staying when her father 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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