Ruma National Park

Ruma National Park lies in Lambwe River Valley between the Kanyamwa Escarpment and the Gwasi Hills, 10 km east of Lake Victoria in Homa Bay County. The park, 120 square kilometers in area, is a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). It is characterized by a mosaic of landscapes, ranging from riverine woodland and rolling savannah to magnificent escarpments and towering cliffs offering stunning views of Lake Victoria and the surrounding landscape.

It was named Ruma upon the request of the local community. The park is located in Western Kenya close to Lake Victoria, in Lambwe Valley in South Nyanza. The park covers an area of 120 kilometers. It has two gates, and the roads are three main circuits which are accessible by vehicles all year long.

A mosaic of landscapes, ranging from riverine woodland and rolling savannah to magnificent escarpments and towering cliffs, Ruma National Park promises undiscovered wildlife treasures and undisturbed peace.  It is also Kenya’s last remaining sanctuary for the endangered roan antelope.

Ruma lies on the flat floor of the seasonally watered Lambwe River Valley bordered by the Kanyamwa Escarpment to the southeast and by the volcanic plugs of the Ruri Hills to the north. Ruma’s birdlife is exceptional. The park is also the only protected area in Kenya where the globally threatened blue swallow, a scarce intra-African migrant, is regularly recorded.

Blue swallows, which depend upon moist grassland for both feeding and roosting, arrive in Kenya from their breeding grounds in Southern Tanzania around April and depart again in September.