For the game, and for how well some of it is protected. The north holds rhinos and Grevy's zebra in numbers found in few other places, the Masai Mara has the wildebeest migration, and the Swahili coast gives a safari somewhere to end. Light aircraft out of Nairobi's Wilson Airport put all three within a single fortnight.

Is Lewa or the Masai Mara better for a first safari?

Lewa, unless the river crossings are the whole point of the trip. Its rhinos and northern species are there all year, so a first safari can be booked around the traveller's own calendar. The Mara wins in the weeks the crossings peak. With ten days or more, do both, Lewa first.

Do you need malaria tablets for Lewa?

Take advice, and assume yes. Lewa sits between 1,400 and 2,000 metres and describes itself as a low-risk zone, but the US Centers for Disease Control advises prevention for all of Kenya below 2,500 metres, game parks included. A travel clinic can prescribe the right tablets a few weeks before departure.

Do you need a visa for Kenya?

Most visitors need an electronic travel authorisation, the eTA, and the Kenyan government travel insurance sold alongside it, both bought online before departure. Most African nationals and those of some Caribbean countries are exempt from the eTA. Check etakenya.go.ke before booking flights, since the rules have changed more than once.

Boutique Hotels in Kenya - Safari Among Lewa's Rhinos

Where to stay in Kenya

Lewa is where we would start, and our address sits on an escarpment inside it. Elewana Kifaru House is five thatched cottages, one of them with two bedrooms, each with a four-poster and the plains in the window; kifaru is the Swahili for rhino, so nobody need ask what the guests come for. Until 2018 it took one party at a time, and six rooms do not make much of a crowd now. Members book it at rates we hold for the Club. There is an infinity pool for the hot hours between drives and a log fire in the lounge for after the last one.

How to see Lewa

Game drives go out in shared vehicles as part of the stay. An exclusive vehicle costs extra and is worth it for anyone with a long lens or small children, and so do horses and camels, the better way to get close to a giraffe. Ask the guides for the northern animals that the Mara lacks: gerenuk, reticulated giraffe, beisa oryx. The Grevy's zebra is the one to learn to tell apart. Late June is the time to avoid if you want the tracks to yourself, when the Lewa Safari Marathon raises money for conservation across the same ground.

Prince William spent part of his gap year here in 2001 and came back in 2010 with a ring, though he used it higher up, in a cabin on Mount Kenya.

When to go

The long rains fall March to May and the short rains October into December. July to September and January to February are the driest stretches and the easiest for game, though Lewa can be visited all year. The Mara's river crossings peak between late July and September, which is the one reason to fix a date.

Getting there, and the coast

Light aircraft leave Nairobi's Wilson Airport for the Lewa Downs airstrip daily and take about an hour, against about four hours by road. The same small planes make it simple to end on the Indian Ocean. Lamu is the one we would choose, the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa on UNESCO's account, with donkeys in its lanes. Mombasa has the Portuguese walls of Fort Jesus, begun in 1593, and an airport.