Kenya's beauty, diversity are irresistible

The bull elephant, his massive ivory tusks glistening in the rain, warily regarded the Land Cruiser as if it were some sort of enemy beast.

He immediately and defensively raised the flaps of his ears, at the same time making a couple of short steps toward us. For a moment, no one in the Land Cruiser breathed.

And then, all at once, the elephant, astonishingly swift for his size, began lumbering closer to the vehicle.

"He's coming after us!" someone yelped to the driver. "Go! Drive! Get out of here!"

The driver, a Maasai tribesman, punched the gas pedal, and the Land Cruiser shot off down a dirt-and-gravel road, leaving the bull far behind.

This close encounter with nature was on Lewa Downs, a 55,000-acre private wildlife conservancy hidden away just north of the equator in Kenya's heartlands. The reserve, peppered with acacia woodlands, is home to not only elephants but also a melange of rare and endangered exotic species, including the black rhino, Grevy's zebra and the sitatunga, an aquatic antelope partial to watery swamps.

Lewa Downs is but one of a number of wildlife sanctuaries in Kenya. This is a land that revels in warmth, from its friendly people to its rich culture to its spectacle of wildlife.

Kenya has dozens of cultures, tribes and sub-tribes that date back to the beginning of mankind. Two major languages distinguish more than 70 tribal groups: the Bantu, which includes the Meru and Kikuyu, and the Nilotic, which includes the Maasai and Samburu.

Kenya was colonized over the past couple of centuries primarily by the British, and the blending of its tribal societies with the Europeans helped the country evolve into a distinct multiculturalism. Additionally, the coastal region of Kenya is home to the Swahili people, whose language and customs are deeply rooted in Arabic.

But the utter surprise of Kenya is not entirely in its diverse culture but its range of topographical and climate extremes. The land is of great contrasts: about one-third is covered by the grasslands of the savannah, another third is dusty and dry desert, and then the remainder is cool highlands, deeply wooded forests and jagged snow- capped mountains, with its centerpiece the 17,000-foot Mount Kenya.

Kenya is a veritable fountain of jewels: Eden-like gardens of wildly growing and blazingly colorful bougainvillea and jacaranda are everywhere, their blossoms, in gemstone shades of amethyst, ruby and sapphire, so profuse that it seems as if a flowery mist has settled upon the land.

And as a finishing touch, Kenya's coastline, scalloped by the warm winds and amazingly translucent emerald waters of the Indian Ocean, is set in a series of coral reefs and pearl-soft beaches. Says Patrick Nightingale of his homeland, "Without a doubt, Kenya is one of the most spectacularly beautiful places in the world. I have been all over Africa, and there is no comparison."

Kenya is, of course, most widely known for its fusion of wildlife.

The Swahili word for "journey" is "safari," and no place conjures up images of a safari more than the Maasai Mara. As your plane glides onto a dusty airstripyou quickly realize the land is not bare: it comes alive, slowly at first, and then forms a natural circus of exotic animals. "The best thing about the Mara," begins Sean, a young journalist from Toronto, "is that there's no telling what's going to come crashing through the brush."He's right. This is the same Africa as it was thousands of years ago, and nothing you have read or seen prepares you for that close encounter with a herd of elephants or troop of giraffes bounding across the dusty savannah, a pride of lionesses grooming their playful cubs, a bloat of hippos lazily sunning themselves on a river bank, or a crowd of monkeys or baboons chattering away in a stand of acacia.

If you're fortunate enough to visit the Mara from July to October, then you may find yourself smack in the middle of the great wildebeest migration. The wildebeest, about 2 million strong and including a convoy of thousands of zebra and gazelle, storm into the Mara from Tanzania's Serengeti to graze the rich grass and water they need to survive.

Ever mindful of effective conservation efforts, the Kenyan government banned hunting in the 1970s. Now Kenya is home to more than 80 major animal species, including the "Big Five" -- lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard, any or all of which you're likely to see in national parks, reserves and private sanctuaries.

Not all of Kenya is wildlife and ecotourism, however. Nairobi, a city of 3 million that serves as Kenya's capital, is a maelstrom of activity. The city is the backyard of Karen Blixen's Bogani, the coffee plantation featured in her memoir "Out of Africa," and Nairobi's mysticism also supplies the fodder for several Hemingway stories.

In the chilly highlands near the Great Rift Valley, you'll find places like Lake Naivasha, Crescent Island and Hell's Gate, where you'll learn firsthand why Kenya is a great country for bird watching, with hundreds of vividly feathered species like cuckoos, bee-eaters and sunbirds flitting about.

And along the palm-fringed coast, you can visit the Gedi Ruins, a 15th-century rock-and-stone village ruled by a sultan, explore the tropical forests of Arabuko Sokoke or dine aboard an authentic Arab dhow as it sails the waters around Mombassa's Old Town and Fort Jesus. As night falls on the African bush, a chorus of big cats blends with the bellows of hungry crocodiles, the roars of elephant and the lyrical chants of Maasai warriors. As you listen to these sounds under a wide-open sky brightly lit by starry constellations, you realize why Hemingway and Blixen passionately embraced this land and all the poetic wildness it has to offer.

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