Kenya’s elephant country

Stepping off the plane from Nairobi into the "furnace-like heat" of Kenya's Samburu National Reserve is "like landing on another planet", says Brian Jackman in the Daily Telegraph. Here in the heart of the country's arid northern territory, mountains "rise out of the endless sea of bush like tombstones out of the desert".

Samburu boasts its own "special five" animals – gerenuk, oryx, reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich and Grevy's zebra – but above all, this is "elephant country".

At Sasaab, the "ultimate safari-chic hideaway", you can watch the great beasts while sipping Pimms by the infinity pool, as they come down to the river nearby – although the view you'll get during a joyride in the lodge's 1935 Waco Classic biplane is more exciting still.

J&C Voyageurs (01373 832 111) has week-long safaris for two incl. flights from £3,717pp. ·