Nakuru

No, though they adjoin. Nakuru is Kenya's fourth largest city, a commercial and farming centre of around half a million people, while Lake Nakuru National Park is a fenced 188-square-kilometre reserve whose main gate sits at the southern edge of the built-up area. The proximity is unusual: few cities anywhere have a national park boundary within a short drive of the centre. The national park gate sits at the southern edge of the built-up area, minutes from most city hotels.

Convenience, principally. Staying in town is considerably cheaper than lodges inside the park, and the main gate is minutes away, so an early morning drive is straightforward. The city also has a good range of hotels, restaurants and services, and works well as a base for Menengai Crater and Hyrax Hill alongside the park itself. Nakuru is considerably cheaper as a base than the lodges inside the park, which suits travellers on a budget.

It is a vast volcanic caldera immediately north of the city, one of the largest in the world, with a rim road and viewpoints looking down some 480 metres to the floor. Geothermal steam vents are visible below. It carries significance in Maasai oral tradition connected to a nineteenth-century battle, and the rim can be reached by road in under half an hour from the centre. The city sits on the main highway, so it is easily combined with Naivasha, Bogoria or the route west to Uganda.

The city lies about 160 kilometres north-west of Nairobi, two to three hours by road on the main highway through the Rift Valley, which makes it one of the most accessible destinations in Kenya. Buses and matatus run constantly. It sits on the route toward Eldoret and Uganda, and toward the Maasai Mara via Narok. The national park gate sits at the southern edge of the built-up area, minutes from most city hotels.

It is a prehistoric settlement site on the eastern outskirts of the city, excavated by Mary Leakey in the 1930s, with remains spanning several thousand years including burial mounds, a fort and Neolithic occupation layers. A small museum on site interprets the finds. It takes an hour or two and is easily combined with a morning in the national park. Nakuru is considerably cheaper as a base than the lodges inside the park, which suits travellers on a budget.

Cooler than most visitors expect, because the city sits at around 1,850 metres. Days reach only 21°C to 27°C and nights fall to 9°C to 12°C, with July and August often overcast and genuinely chilly. A jacket is needed year-round for evenings, which catches out travellers arriving from the coast or from the northern parks. The city sits on the main highway, so it is easily combined with Naivasha, Bogoria or the route west to Uganda.

January to February and June to October are the drier windows and the most comfortable, with reliable conditions for the national park, Menengai Crater and onward travel. July and August can be cool and grey despite being dry. March to May brings the long rains, when the countryside is green and rates fall but tracks around the lake become muddy. The national park gate sits at the southern edge of the built-up area, minutes from most city hotels.

Very naturally. Lake Naivasha is an hour south-east, Lake Bogoria and Baringo lie to the north, and the road west leads to Eldoret and Uganda while the south-western route reaches the Maasai Mara. A common itinerary takes in Naivasha and Nakuru over two or three nights before continuing to the Mara, which avoids a single very long driving day. Nakuru is considerably cheaper as a base than the lodges inside the park, which suits travellers on a budget.