SHIMBA HILLS NATIONAL RESERVE

The Shimba Hills National reserve is located approximately 33 km South of Mombassa, in Kwale district of Coast Province. The Hills were gazetted as a National Forest in 1903. The grassland areas were incorporated in 1924 and many subsequent extensions took place to bring the Reserve to its present size. Most of the Reserve was double gazetted as the Shimba Hills National Reserve in 1968. A fenced elephant corridor connects the Shimba Hills with Mwaluganje Forest Reserve to the North.

Its climate is hot and moist but cooler than that at the coast with strong sea breezes and frequent mist and cloud in the early morning. Annual rainfall is 855mm-1682mm. Mean annual
The major attractions in this reserve are; the scenic landscape comprising of hills and valleys extending beyond the reserve boundaries, Sheldricks falls, Sable antelope, and the coastal rainforest.
The Shimba Hills have one of the largest areas of coastal rain forest in East Africa after Arabuko Sokoke. The vegetation consists of forested scarp slopes and undulating grasslands interspersed with woodland clumps and ribbons of riverine forest in the steeply cut valleys.