Kenya : 10 Secret Places

Gedi Ruins and Sokoke Forest

North of Mombasa, within walking distance of Watamu's immaculate beach, the jungle-clad Gedi Ruins consist of the extensive remnants of one of the many medieval Swahili city-states which once studded the East African coast. The stuff of Lost City fantasies, Gedi is overhung with an aura of mystery that is amplified when you realise its existence went unrecorded in any contemporary document.

An added attraction of Gedi is the opportunity to glimpse the localised golden-rumped Elephant shrew bouncing daftly along the forest paths, while the adjacent Sokoke forest provides sanctuary to the rare Ader's duiker and endemic Clarke's weaver and Sokoke scops owl.

Lake Victoria

Africa's largest body of water, Lake Victoria, is divided between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, with only the Ugandan portion receiving much in the way of tourism. The main Kenyan port, Kisumu, is a sizeable, friendly city and useful base for ferry trips to places such as Kendu Bay (crater lake with resident flamingos), Rusinga Island (birthplace and mausoleum of the assassinated politician Tom Mboya) and, pictured, Homa Bay (travel for its own sake, but why not?).

With a vehicle, the remote Ruma National Park, home to unusual species such as Rothschild's giraffe and Kenya's only Roan antelope, beckons. So, too, does the Thimlich Ohinga enclosure, a ruined medieval city reminiscent of Great Zimbabwe. For anglers, birders and misanthropists, the highly regarded and utterly exclusive Mfangano Island Camp on the eponymous island is the region's one upmarket retreat.

Olorgasailie

Two hours' south of Nairobi along a decent surfaced road, yet epochs away in mood, Olorgasailie is one of East Africa's most important early hoately rustic and cheap (bring a sleeping bag), with hyaenas and lions providing a lively nocturnal soundtrack.

Siawa Swamp National Park

Kenya's smallest national park forms an obvious extension to a trip to Kakamega. Consisting of an area of swamp overlooked by wooden viewing platforms and enclosed by riparian forest, this is one of the best places in Africa to see the semi-aquatic Sitatunga antelope and white-bearded De Brazza's monkey, along with several other primates. Top birding, too (look out for the bright purple Ross's turaco) and a secluded camp site you're almost certain to have all to yourself.

Kericho

Characteristic small-town Kenya, the emphatically un-touristy centre of Kericho lies at the economic heart of the country's tea-growing region. Kericho is of interest more as a gateway to the west than as a destination in its own right, though the drive up from the Rift Valley is scintillating, and the close-by Chagaik Arboretum (an enclave of tropical jungle surrounded by orderly tea plantations) is a reliable spot for Colobus monkeys and forest birds.

The rickety old Tea Hotel on the edge of town is an irresistible low-key, low-cost colonial hangover; the local bars, as in all small towns, are as good a place as any to meet Kenyans working outside the tourist industry. For curio-hunters, nearby Kisii, famed for its soapstone carvings, is worth a diversion.

Pate Island

The largest island in the Lamu archipelago, easily reached by ferry from the absorbing Swahili town of Lamu, Pate was formerly an important city-state and Islamic centre. Today it supports some of East Africa's remotest, least-visited and most fascinating settlements - none more so than Pate town itself, a tiny maze of winding alleys and three-storey homes which rises like a misplaced city centre from the surrounding mangroves, palms and crumbling walls of the synonymous medieval town.

There is no electricity in Pate, no alcohol, and just one informal guesthouse. Expect to be led by hand to admire the recently installed public telephone on an hourly basis, and for any unfamiliar device - camera, binoculars - to attract hordes of merry children yelling 'Telephone, telephone!' The most bizarre and time-warped settlement in East Africa? Without a doubt. Rather wonderful, too.

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