Kenya camping:The Kenya you have never seen.

Ask any tourist about Kenya and you will hear endless stories about Rift valley views, Lake Nakuru, Bogoria and Baringo. Others will tell you tirelessly about the famous parks and reserves while others will narrate from dawn to dusk about the recently graded seven wonders of the modern world, the wildebeest migration and masai mara ecosystem. Additionally, you will not miss a hundred more tell you about Lake Victoria, the worlds second largest fresh water lake. The narration will go on and revolve around what one saw or heard about the beaches of the Kenyan coast and the pride mountain, Mt Kenya. And the story ends here.

In the rush for wildlife, especially big five craze, there is another side of Kenya that you rarely get to see, starting with Western Kenya.

When you hear of port Florence, the name sounds like one of the many ports in the world. This is the current Lake Victoria's major town and the Kenya’s third city- Kisumu one of the major attraction site in western Kenya. Many know about it and scholars have written about it both locally and internationally with the local people having various authentic folk tales, myths and legends about its mother Lake Victoria.

The western Kenya includes important towns among them, Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia and Kisii among others. The Kenya’s agricultural back bone is found here. To the north, you enjoy fresh fruits and other farm produces from the fertile farm lands. To the south you view beautiful vast plantations of tea that are endless and the dedicated local people may insist you pick a few. Proceed to Kakamega forest. It is the only rain forest in Kenya and only found on this part of the country. Here you get to see many species of Fauna and Flora that can only be spotted in the Congo forests, which are thousands of miles from here.

This is definitely a living museum of unique and rare species, a treasure trove for nature lovers, bird watchers and an ideal place for holiday makers. A couple of primate species reside in this forest including black and white colobus monkeys and the debrazza monkeys. The sheer abundance of birds is over whelming and the beautiful chameleons that are often seen in the undergrowth are a great pleasure.

You can set camp on the forest edge and enjoy a great meal prepared by the safari cook. But at night the forest is a different world – the air fills with bats,  the silence is taken over by croak sounds of frogs, night birds and the unmistakable booming call of the giant forest squirrel, very interesting and appealing.

The forest has many walking trails. Though there is a vehicle circular, the forest is best explored on foot. It is such a fantastic place and you feel the urge to stay longer.

But you have Mount Elgon to visit too. Here lays an impressive craggy extinct volcano whose peaks are ideal for climbing. The many caves found here are collectively known as Elkony but the famous one is called Kitum. At night Elephants collect in this cave to lick natural salt from the walls of the cave. Here you witness ancient cave paintings on the walls. Hiking to the peak is very fulfilling.

These are some of other destinations that you would rarely find on the regular safaris, especially if coming back to Kenya for a second or third time.