Skip to main content

Shimba Hills National Reserve

Shimba Hills National Reserve

History

Shimba Hills National Reserve is a National Park in the Coast Province of Kenya in Kwale District of Coast Province, 300 km2, 33 km from Mombasa and 15 km from the coast. The National Reserve is mainly an area of coastal rain forest. Over 50% of the 159 rare plants in the country are found in Shimba Hills especially the endangered species of cycad and orchids. It is a home for butterflies and birds.

The gazette of Shimba Hills as a National Forest was in 1903 and grassland areas were incorporated in 1924. The reserve was double gazetted as the Shimba Hills National Reserve in 1968 Mkongani West Forest Reserve and Mkongani North remain as Forest Reserves to the west of Shimba Hills. On the north of Shimba Hills lies Mwaluganje Forest Reserve.

Shimba Hills is rich in flora and fauna and is the home for many African elephant in Kenya. Bushy tailed mongoose, sable antelope, elephant shrew, black and rufous etc are among other animal species found there. In addition, it is a home for birds and local species such as Croaking Cisticola, Zanzibar Red Bishop and red necked spurfowl.

Traveling

To get to Shimba Hills take a ferry at Likoni, cross. This is where Tiwi and Diani beaches can be found. Take the main A14 coast road 10km southwards until you join the main road. Follow the road climbing Kwale Town (C106). The main gate is located at 1 km from the C106 road and 3 km from Kwale.

Weather

The weather is mostly moist and hot but with strong sea breeze and frequent mist and cloud in early mornings. The annual rainfall is between 855mm and 1682mm with mean temperature of 24.2 degrees centigrade.

Tourists who are planning to visit Shimba Hills should expect to go camping, trekking and game viewing hence they should carry drinking water, camera, hat, sunglasses, guidebooks, binoculars, picnic items and basic camping equipment for those intending to sleep overnight etc

Animals

The animals you will see include Elephants, Sheldrick Falls, Mwaluganje Forest, Sable Antelope, Giraffes, Leopard, Genet, Waterbuck, Buffalo, Civet cat, Hyenas, African Bush Baby, Monkey, Black and Red Shrew, Greater Galogo, Black-faced Vervet Monkey, Sykes Monkey, Blue Duiker, Coastal Black and white Colobus.

In addition there are 111 birds species of which 22 are coastal endemic including Falcon, Cuckoo, Guinea fowl, Kenya Crested, Greater, African Hawk, Ostrich Eagle, Crowned, Hornbill, Blue, Quail, Sunbird, Uluguru. Shimba Hills also houses reptiles like Python, Gecko, Lizard, Cobra and insects like Butterflies, Mosquito and Beetle.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nyama Choma Recipe

Preparing Nyama Choma Nyama choma is roasted meat and is extremely popular because of the availability of cheap meat in the country. It is usually served in adult parties with beer. Ingredients 1. Salt and pepper to taste 2. 3 pounds beef short ribs Steps to follow Start by seasoning the ribs with salt and pepper. Get a grill with charcoal or gas over medium high heat and grill for 1 hour. If you are not comfortable with the grill, try using the oven as an alternative and live it there at about 300 F for one and a half hours. The meat should be ready, just use your good judgment. Serve with Ugali
17 comments
Read more

Cabbage with Ugali Recipe

Ugali Preparing Ugali Ugali which is pronounced “oo-ga-ly” is a staple starch component made of grinded maize flour and water which is eaten in East Africa that is Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Congo, Swaziland, Namibia and Botswana. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda mainly refer it as Ugali while the other countries have their own name for it. Ingredients Maize flour (Corn flour) 4 cups of water (950 ml) Accompanying meat and/or vegetables i.e. Beef or chicken stew Steps to follow Measure at least 5 cups of water in the cooking pot and start boiling. Add the maize flour slowly while stirring with a wooden cooking stick/utensil. This can take to about 15 minutes of slowly adding maize flour and stirring and then adding more when necessary. Continue to add maize flour while stirring until the dough thickens. Most people like hard Ugali while others like it soft. Hence, just cook to desired texture. To know that Uga...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lewa Children’s Home

Lewa Children's Home History Lewa Children's Home provides a loving environment, nutritious food, clean water, education and support for abandoned, orphaned or abused children in a family setting. It is headed by Spokesperson, Phyllis Keino who has been caring for orphaned Kenyan children since 1964. It follows that Phyllis Keino's philosophy is that education is the most important gift you can give a child, which has been an inspiration to so many people in Kenya and around the world. In order to share in this philosophy there are ways to contribute one being stock donation and any other type of donation. It is located in Eldoret adjacent to the KipKeino School built by "Bread and Water Africa" and the Baraka farm. The main reason was to allow children to be a walking distance from the school. At the moment Lewa Children's Home cares for 94 children, 47 children within the home and another 47 assisted within their respective communities. There is a...
1 comment
Read more