The Shimba Hills National Reserve is located just 40 minutes drive from the beautiful Diani beach, just past Kwale town. It is a very striking reserve being densely forested and having spectacular views down to the Coast and even as far as Chale Island. It is home to the rare Sable Antelope and is the only park in Kenya where these spectacular animals can be seen. Other animals in the reserve are: Elephants, Warthogs, Buffalo, Kongoni, Giraffe, Impala, Bushbucks, Red, blue and common duikers, Suni, Leopards, and plus a wealth of birdlife as well as butterflies and many smaller insects. The Shimba Hills Conservation Area covers approximately 250 square kilometers and consists of: – Shimba Hills National Reserve (gazetted in 1968), Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary (Community conservation project) and Mkongani forest reserves. The Shimba Hills rise abruptly from the Coastal Plains to form a table plateau surrounded by an escarpment rising from 120m to 450m above sea level. The plateau arose due to a geological lifting process 2-10 million years ago (during the Pliocene period) and is composed of sedimentary rocks containing petrified, fossilised forest wood as can be seen both in the Mwaluganje sanctuary and the Shimba Hills Reserve. This ecosystem is of immense global significance and has just been designated one of the top 25 biodiversity hotspots requiring special global nattention. This is mainly due to the extraordinary plant diversity in the region: No of plant species recorded (2003): 1311 Endemic species, 282 Rare species, (internationally) 57.