Location: Mweiga – near Nyeri
Total beds: 96
Total rooms: 48 with shower
Facilities: swimming pool; 2 dining rooms, curio shops; golf course; fishing; riding; airstrip; horse riding, 2 tennis courts, night game drives, bush banquets Possibly the best buffet lunch in Kenya. Best known as rendezvous for visitors to The Ark, but extremely comfortable country house hotel in its own right. Fine aviary.

Just a three hour drive from Nairobi on a good paved road, the Aberdare Country Club nestles on the slopes of Mweiga Hill.

All the rooms and cottages have spectacular views of the plains below, the Aberdare Mountains to the west and Mount Kenya to the east. With an enviable reputation for hospitality and excellent cuisine, the club is a popular weekend resort for Nairobi residents.

The club's wildlife sanctuary abounds with the thompson's and grant's gazelle, zebra, giraffe and the more elusive leopard. You can ride or walk through the unspoilt paradise, play a round of golf, fish for trout or just relax by the pool or in the beautiful gardens.