Aberdare National Park is one of the most thrilling destinations to visit on your Kenyan safari, it is angelically placed along the foothills of the Aberdare ranges stretching 160 kilometers along the eastern Rift Valley region in western Kenya, the national park was first gazette in 1950 as a conservation area and declared a UNESCO world heritage site as a way of protecting animal species that call this home, it acts as a major water catchment area and it boasts the undestroyed forest along the slopes, in 1952 it so happened that Aberdare national park was the place where the Queen of England Elizabeth the 2nd learned of her father’s death, she stayed at the treetop hotel.
Aberdare National Park is home to a variety of animal species including the so-called big five of the wildernesses (African elephants, buffaloes, rhinos, Leopards,and Lions), other species present are warthogs, reedbucks, bushbucks, spotted hyenas, jackals, serval cats, blue duikers, black and white colobus monkeys to mention a few and over 250 species of birds have been recorded in the park, animals roam freely in the ecosystem right up to the waterholes of lodges, however the most are best viewed on game drives.
Game drives in Aberdare National Park are so adventurous, visitors get a chance to explore the different vegetational zones of the park, the open grasslands, and the forest area which seems to always be green, watching wildlife on open-roofed safari cars is so entertaining as you have enough space to view the game at safety as well as take photographs, the drives are the most popular activity done in sessions, in the morning at 6:00am, afternoon from 2:00 pm, evening times from 4:00 pm and night times in search of nocturnal species which commonly include cat and bush babies, the morning time is the best hour to search for game in the national park when animals are most active.
Game drives in Aberdare National Park last for 2-3 hours through the well-distributed trails of the national park, depending on guest preference it can be an all-day drive in the conservation area with packed lunch and breakfast, the drives offer the best wildlife experiences in the park, expect to encounter several animal species including wild dogs, mountain reedbucks, elands, to mention a few, game drives stretch from lower rain forest to the moorland, guests have a chance to take a hike on foot to the surrounding beautiful waterfalls, the sound of nature from the winds and birds is amazing.
Game drives in Aberdare National Park are best done during the dry season when the trails of the park are drier and easier to access, and the grasses in the low forest become thinner which makes it even better to view wildlife species, the wet season is possible to search for game as well except the fact that it comes with quite some difficult in road access.
In conclusion, game drives in Aberdare National Park can be done any time of the year, these are best explored along with other tourism activities of the national park.