Kakamega Forest
 Very little is known of this
forest. Kakamega Forest is situated in Western Province Kenya,
north-west of the capital Nairobi, and near to the border with Uganda.
It is said to be Kenya's last remnant of the ancient Guineo-Congolian
rainforest that once spanned the continent.Including reserves, the forest encloses about 230 square kilometres, a little less than half of which currently remains as indigenous forest. There are numerous grassy clearings and glades. The Forest's huge variety of birds, reptiles and insects make it a specialist eco-tourism attraction for bird-watchers and wildlife photographers. There is no major tourism, and the Kakamega Forest is not a safari destination. Large mammals are rare. Part of the forest also contain unique and rich highland ecosystems, but generally the fauna and flora of the Forest have not been comprehensively studied by science. The climate is very wet with over two metres of rain annually. The rainy seasons are April-to-May and August-to-September. The Kakamega Forest Reserve offers accommodations of a somewhat basic level for those interesting in coming here. You can choose to camp if you want to enjoy as much of the outdoors as possible, and the camp sites here are guarded, so you can rest assured and focus on having a great time. Bandas, which are a step up from camping, offer a cottage-like experience, and there are some basic chalets here that you can rent. Supposedly, some rather luxurious bandas are slated to be built here, so you might look into that if you are interested. Kakamega Town, which is the largest settlement near the Kakamega Forest, is found just to the south of it, and they include a few decent hotels and guest houses. |