ARABUKO SOKEKO FOREST /NATIONAL RESERVE

The Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is the largest remaining fragment of dry coastal forests that once stretched along a significant portion of the East African coastline.The forest is one of the largest and most intact coastal forests in East Africa. Situated just inland of the small beach town of Watamu, the 416km (41,600 ha) forest lies 180km north of Mombasa, between Malindi and Kilifi. Within the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve, a tiny percentage of the total area is gazetted as the Arabuko-Sokoke National Park in the north-western corner.It is a home for over 230 species of birds thus making it a best place for bird watchers.

Temperatures along Kenya’s coast can be sweltering at times, but beneath the towering boughs and thick canopies of Arabuko-Sokoke, this forest of rare riches offers a cool, shaded refuge for its unusual inhabitants. Three different types of forest predominate. Mixed forest typified by diverse tree flora extends across the wetter coastal sands in the east, while the Brachystegia (miombo) forests occupy the drier white sands in the forest’s centre. Finally, dense Cynometra occupies the majority of the forest on the red sands of the western edge of the park.Arabuko-Sokoke is home to herds of buffalo and elephant, restricted to a smaller section of the park by an electric fence to reduce human-wildlife conflict along the densely populated fringes of the forest.

Other notable mammal species include caracal, African civet, blue, red and common duiker, Garnetts and Zanzibar bushbaby, aardvark, Sykes’ monkey, yellow baboon and red-bellied and red-legged sun squirrel. Some even believe the forest is home to the elusive African golden cat, and recent camera trap projects have revealed that leopards occasionally move through the region.