Cedar Retreat

Birdwatching your thing? Aberdare National Park is home to around 290 bird species, including hawk eagles, harriers and the rather exotically named golden-winged sunbird. There are endemic birds too – if you’re patient, the bright plumage of the Hartlaub’s turaco is quite a treat to see. When you have bigger wildlife in your sights, you can book game safaris deep into the protected park to see (hopefully) hyenas, rhinos and very rare black leopards. The northern moorlands offer fine wilderness trekking too, accessed from the Twin Rocks Parking Area (15 minutes’ drive). The craggy Dragon’s Teeth and Twin Peaks rocky outcrops make great day hikes, and if you’re a proficient technical climber, there’s a bolt route set into the sides of the latter. When that sounds a bit too hardcore, you can take a guided walk through the cedar forest encircling the site; there are tumbling waterfalls with plunge pools at their base for wild swimming adventures, and you’re almost guaranteed to see monkeys moving through the tree canopy.