Safari to Tana Delta

beautiful sand dunes and fascinating local cultures

Tana Delta is is a remote, little-visited and particularly interesting section of the north Kenya Coast, lying roughly half way between Malindi and Lamu.

The Tana River rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya and creates a ribbon of green across five hundred kilometres of otherwise parched and largely empty semi-desert towards the coast.

As it approaches the ocean, the river fans out into an impressive delta, fringed by mangrove forests and surrounded by high sand dunes.

Around 80 km upstream from the coast lies the Tana River Primate Reserve, a relatively small area of protected riverine forest, which is home to a broad range of wildlife including a couple of very rare endemic primates.

The Tana Delta area is perhaps best suited to travellers who are more interested in continuing their safari whilst down on the Indian Ocean rather than a more conventional beach stay.

The one accommodation option in this area is the fabulously quirky Delta Dunes Camp, an upmarket but very outdoorsy beach hangout, set high on the dunes back from the beach and offering a wide range of land and ocean activities.

The usual stay duration is 3 to 6 nights, with access most commonly being by light aircraft from Lamu Island in the north, with which it is commonly combined in trips.

the best remote lodge on the Kenya Coast