Kenya

Mbita and Rusinga Island (connected by a causeway) are delightful and great places to draw near to Lake Victoria. Tiny, languid and rarely visited, they offer a glimpse of an older Africa – an Africa that moves to the gentle sway of the seasons rather than the ticking of a clock. This is the sort of place where schoolchildren abandon their classes to watch you pass by and old women burst into song at your arrival.

Nanyuki serves as a gateway to the Laikipia plateau, one of Africa's most important wildlife conservation areas. Despite being a market town, it is probably the most cosmopolitan city in the area outside of Nairobi, with its share of international tourists (here to climb Mt Kenya or to visit the myriad safari parks), British Army soldiers (there is a training facility nearby) and Kenyan Air Force pilots (this is the site of the country's main air-force base).

Lake Nakuru is among Kenya's finest national parks. Flanked by rocky escarpments, pockets of acacia forest and at least one waterfall, the park is gorgeous year-round and is home to both black and white rhinos, lions, leopards, hippos and endangered Rothschild's giraffes. Rising water levels in 2014 forced the park's famous flamingos to flee (although a small number had returned at the time of research), and the lake is now hauntingly surrounded by drowned trees.

Dream of Africa and chances are that you dream of the Masai Mara. This huge expanse of gently rolling grassland – specked with flat-topped acacia trees and trampled by massive herds of zebras and wildebeest – is the ultimate African cliché. But for once the reality lives up to the image and the Masai Mara, which comprises not just the famous reserve but also around a dozen community conservancies, several group ranches and numerous Maasai villages, is for many people not just the highlight of their Kenyan adventure but the very reason they came in the first place.

From the hypnotic port city of Mombasa south to the border with Tanzania, this stretch of Kenyan coast is anything but ordinary. Where else can you see snow-white beaches framed by kayas (sacred forests), soft-sailed dhows and elephant watering holes, all in one day, returning by night to your digs along one of the most beautiful beaches in Africa?

På det nyöppnade boendet Nay Palad bor man mitt i naturen, omringad av Kenyas rika djurliv. Bygget som liknar ett gigantisk fågelbo ger besökare enastående vyer över savannen i Laikipia, ett populärt safariområde där elefanter, noshörningar och giraffer strövar.

Set against the backdrop of Mt Kenya, the Laikipia plateau extends over 9500 sq km of semi-arid plains, dramatic gouges and acacia-thicket-covered hills. This patchwork of privately owned ranches, wildlife conservancies and small-scale farms has become one of the most important areas for biodiversity in the country, boasting wildlife densities second only to those found in the Masai Mara. It's the last refuge of Kenya’s African wild dogs and it's here that some of the most effective conservation work in the country is being done. Indeed, these vast plains are home to some of Kenya’s highest populations of endangered species, including half of the country’s black rhinos and half of the world’s Grevy’s zebras.

Welcome to the wilderness. Tsavo West is one of Kenya’s larger national parks (9065 sq km), covering a huge variety of landscapes from swamps, natural springs and rocky peaks to extinct volcanic cones, rolling plains and sharp outcrops dusted with greenery.

With its centuries-old Swahili settlements, a couple of gorgeous beaches, and culture and architecture distinctive from what you encounter elsewhere along the Kenyan coast, Lamu is beguiling. Whether you're looking to lose yourself in the fragrant labyrinth of tiny streets in Lamu Town and spend hours admiring carved Omani and Swahili doorways, or whether you're looking for a peaceful beachfront stay replete with yoga, art and fusion food in Shela village, Lamu has something to satisfy most travellers.

East Africa's most cosmopolitan city, Nairobi is Kenya's beating heart, an exciting, frenetic concrete jungle that counterpoints the untrammelled natural beauty to be found elsewhere in the country.