kenya
Left : A Samburu warrior looks out across the eastern scarp of the Great Rift Valley in northern Kenya Previous pages : An adult male lion in Maasai Mara National Reserve
Kenya has been one of Africa ’ s top destinations since Arab traders began traveling to the country in the first century , leaving their legacy on the Swahili-imbued culture of the coast . Modern tourism boomed from the 1980s and today ’ s visitors come as much for iconic wildlife and wild places as they do for the sparkling Indian Ocean .
Kenya ’ s mosaic of diverse habitats draws myriad species , including the famous Big Five : elephant , lion , leopard , buffalo and rhinoceros . The country ’ s national parks showcase dramatic landscapes , from the craggy peaks of Mount Kenya — Africa ’ s second-highest mountain — to the sweeping savannahs of the Maasai Mara , home to one of the world ’ s most spectacular natural phenomena : the Great Wildebeest Migration .
Much of Kenya ’ s wildlife lives outside the unfenced national parks , however , making it vulnerable to poaching and human-wildlife conflict . Local communities are key to conservation here , among them the renowned red-robed Maasai pastoralists who are as much a part of the landscape as the lions and elephants that share their land .
Since the 1970s , some 200 conservancies have been set up across the country . These are areas of land — sometimes private ranches , sometimes parcels of individually or communally owned pastures — joined together to help protect
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