Naivasha

Elsa Gate is off Moi South Lake Road about 2 km from the main strip. Hire a bike at the gate for roughly KSh1,000 a day and ride 7 km past Fischer's Tower through zebra, giraffe and buffalo to the gorge. Non-resident entry runs around KSh3,500, citizens a few hundred. Gates 06:00 to 18:00; take two litres of water.

At the far end of Hell's Gate, past the Ranger Post. The narrow red gorge with hot seeps is genuinely spectacular and genuinely dangerous in rain — flash floods have killed visitors here. Guides charge KSh1,500 to KSh3,000 per group and are compulsory in practice. Do not enter if the sky upstream is dark.

Boats leave from the jetties along Moi South Lake Road; expect KSh4,000 to KSh6,000 an hour for the boat, split between passengers. Crescent Island is a private sanctuary where you walk unfenced among zebra, wildebeest and giraffe with no big cats present. Landing fee is roughly KSh4,000 for non-residents. Go at 16:00 for the light.

Longonot gate is about 25 km southeast of the lake strip, signposted off the old Nairobi highway. It is a steep 3.1 km grind to the crater rim and a further 7 km loop around it — five hours for the full circuit, three if you turn back at the rim. Park entry around KSh2,500 non-resident. Start by 07:00; there is no shade at all.

Moi South Lake Road, about Kilometre 19. The lakeside house where Joy Adamson lived is now a conservation centre and the famous afternoon tea on the lawn — colobus monkeys in the fig trees, cake and a documentary — runs around KSh2,000 to KSh2,500. Sittings are usually 15:00 to 17:00. Book the same morning by phone.

Any jetty between Kilometre 12 and 20 on Moi South Lake Road works. Fish eagles, pelicans, pied kingfishers, herons and, when the water is right, hundreds of cormorants on the drowned fever trees. A boatman for a dawn hour costs KSh4,000 to KSh6,000; agree the price and route before you push off.

From Nairobi it is 90 km on the A8: about 1 hour 40 minutes by car via Limuru and the escarpment viewpoint, longer if trucks are grinding up Mai Mahiu hill. Matatus and shuttles leave Nairobi from the River Road and Cross Road stages for KSh400 to KSh700 and drop at Naivasha town; from there a matatu down Moi South Lake Road costs KSh100 to KSh200 but stops running around 19:00. A taxi from Naivasha town to the middle of the strip is KSh1,500 to KSh2,500. There is no useful public transport between lodges after dark — either have a car, or accept that you are staying in for the evening.

You can, and thousands do it every weekend, but it is a long day. Leave Nairobi by 06:30, cycle Hell's Gate in the morning, take a boat at 15:00 and drive back by 19:00. The problem is Sunday evening traffic on the escarpment, which routinely adds ninety minutes. One night on Moi South Lake Road costs less than the stress.

Yes. Hippos leave the water at dusk to graze on the lawns and paths, and they will charge anything between them and the lake. Every camp employs night askaris with torches for exactly this reason. Stay inside after dark unless escorted, do not photograph them from close range, and never camp on a worn hippo path — the staff will show you where those are.

It is a different thing entirely: no lions, so you cycle and walk among zebra, giraffe, buffalo and warthog at ground level, with the red cliffs and steam vents behind. As a wildlife park it is thin. As a two-wheeled morning, it is one of the best days in Kenya. The gorge walk is the highlight, weather permitting.

June to October and January to February are dry and reliable; the tracks in Hell's Gate are firm and the gorge is safe. April and May bring the long rains, when the gorge can flood and the shore roads turn to mud. Bird numbers are best from November to March when the migrants arrive. Midweek stays are 30 to 40 percent cheaper than weekends year-round.