With a little planning, even a five-day safari in this spectacular country can offer something different every day - be it changes in landscape, altitude, temperature, style of lodge or camp, activities, the wildlife or vegetation. However, two to three days in one location will allow you to partake in most of what it has to offer. I discovered just how much there is to a Kenyan safari and returned with the knowledge that there is still so much more!

Day One
The contrast from the bustling, urban altitudes of Nairobi, one hour's flight away, to the shimmering, tawnyplains of Meru in the Northern Frontier District was marked. At just a few hundred feet above sea level, Meru is hot and dry. Elsa's Kopje was a cool sanctuary in which to relax and acclimatise to Kenya's tropical heat.

Meru is to be savoured for its breathtakingly wild and isolated beauty. The vast plains are dotted with Doum palms and Baobab trees, and low rocky outcrops break the skyline. Thirteen rivers cut lush green ribbons through the dry landscape, offering an extreme variety of habitats for the bird and animal life.

The park has a fascinating history. It was made famous in the 1960s by Born Free, the story of Elsa the orphaned lioness who was reared by George and Joy Adamson and returned to the wild in Meru. In the 1980s the park suffered a massive onslaught of poaching. This has left the animals shy and cautious.

Although not the best game viewing in Kenya, Meru offers scenery, history and activities. These include river rafting, fishing, bush breakfasts, picnics and sundowners. We stopped for a drink on the banks of a river to watch the sun go down, the full moon rise and to feel the hot African night settle over the wild plains. Back to camp where the evening meal was served either in the dining area or beside the pool, where the growl of the lions can be heard more easily.

Day Two
It is a one hour twenty minute flight to the Mathews mountain range. At an altitude of 4500ft, this rugged region is noticeably cooler and greener than Meru.

There followed a 30-minute drive to the Kitich camp. Kitich has six double tents, all pitched under mature indigenous trees which keep the camp shady and fresh, even in the heat of the day. Guests can gather in the large homely mess tent for viewing the wildlife that comes to the river to drink, particularly during the dry season (February - March). Meals are prepared and served by Samburu staff in their traditional decorative shukas and beads.

The birdlife at Kitich is dazzling. A recent count recorded 186 varieties of birds around the camp. Twitchers will get no peace: the birds beckon with their brilliant plumage and enchanting calls... and they start very early.

Thirty-four kilometres of footpaths have been cleared around the camp following the trails made by elephants. Walks vary from 40 minutes to all day and are always escorted by the guide, a Samburu tracker and an armed KWS ranger. A 15km radius around the camp is totally private so you won't meet anyone else. You are sure to encounter many varieties of game, including lion, buffalo and elephant, not to mention the ever-present birds, fabulous flowers, orchids and trees.

After lunch we went for a short afternoon walk in the cool shade of the forest to a spot on the river where the water has formed a huge rock pool. Here it is safe to swim as there are no crocs or hippos in the Mathews mountains. We returned for a hot shower under our buckets and a sundowner watching the buffalo and elephants drinking at the river. Dinner was served with good wine by candlelight.

Day Three
From Kitich we took a 35-minute flight to Lewa Downs in Laikipia. Again the scenery was different, with wide-open plateaux, hilly gorges lined with Yellow Fever trees and Mount Kenya resplendent on the distant horizon. Even as we came into land there were giraffe and zebra grazing beside the airstrip and on the drive to the house we spotted elephant, waterbuck, impala, warthog and rhino. Once a 6000-acre cattle ranch, Lewa is now a model of successful conservation and breeding of wild species, including white and black rhino and Grevy's zebra. It translocates game to other less-stocked areas and has an established Community Development Project employing the local people in furniture-making and weaving.

Wilderness Trails can accommodate up to 12 guests in comfortable, homely cottages. The open dining area overlooks the river at the bottom of a ravine. The food at Lewa is all grown organically on the ranch. There is a tennis court for those with enough energy to play in this rarefied altitude of 5300ft, and a lovely swimming pool overlooking the river ravine.

Because Lewa Downs is a private ranch, guests are able to do game walks accompanied by a trained tracker/guide. However, I opted for an evening horseback ride, which was a wonderful experience.

Next morning I got up at 6am to go on a walk on which we were able to get close to the game and watch the sun rise. We returned in time for breakfast, before driving the hour and half to Nanyuki.

Day Four
A 55-minute flight took us southwest from Nanyuki to Rekero, just beyond the northern boundary of the famous Masai Mara Reserve. At 3500ft the Mara is hot but the game is so abundant there was still plenty to be seen: Thomson's gazelle, impala, Grant's gazelle, buffalo and wildebeest - even at midday.

Rekero has five comfortable cottages, simply decorated and homely in style. From my private verandah I could watch the birdlife and game at the waterhole. At night it was subtly lit so guests could watch the animals, which frequently include leopard, coming down to drink. Elephant and lion are regular visitors to this pan, especially during the dry season (January - March). I was woken in the night by a buffalo eating the plants under the window of my cottage.

I had tea on the verandah and then went on a game drive onto the famous Mara landscape: huge African skies and vast savannah plains with acacia trees silhouetted against the horizon. We quickly spotted a pair of lions and then went in search of cheetah, but soon yielded to a G&T whilst watching the sun sink in all its African splendour.

The next morning I set off at 6.30 on a game walk outside the National Reserve. As much a way of exercise as seeing game, the walk was also an opportunity to learn about the culture of the Maasai and Ildorobo tribes that have inhabited the Mara for centuries. Our guides explained their way of life, their bushcraft, herbalism and their tracking and hunting techniques.

During the three-hour walk we encountered (among other creatures) a large family of elephants and several giraffes before arriving on the grassy banks of a gorge where breakfast awaited us. Sated, we returned to Rekero by vehicle and after a quick transfer to the airstrip were airborne.

Day Five
When I got off the plane in Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro rose from the horizon, its snowcap shimmering in the heat waves that bounced off the dusty plains - spectacular, surreal and incredibly beautiful. The tip here is to take your pictures of the mountain when you can, because the clouds roll in very quickly and in no time at all the highest mountain in Africa can, quite literally, disappear before your eyes.

The transfer from the airstrip to the lodge incorporated a short game drive in which I saw several groups of elephant. Flat with a few small hills, Amboseli is a vast, shimmering landscape with swamps fed by underground springs from the melt waters of Kilimanjaro. This means that even in the dry season there is water enough for hippos and a vast variety of water birds to survive.

Tortilis camp is set on the slope of a hill that looks straight onto Mount Kilimanjaro. Built with local materials, the style is very African, with 17 tents under thatch on wooden platforms. Each is set in its own private area in the shade of the Tortilis acacias after which the camp is named. After tea we went for a walk with a Maasai guide. The sun was setting and a thunderstorm was unleashing all its power away in the distance. Black clouds smouldered against the golden, glassy light of the sunset. And then the smell of rain on dust rose from the parched earth and there was no mistaking we were in Africa.

The rain never caught up with us and we continued our walk, spotting game and birdlife along the way. We were met by a vehicle and driven to a high hill, where sundowners were ready for us to toast the dying day and the fading pink cap of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was a fitting way to end a truly Kenyan safari.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Twelve: Summer 2000 Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)