Kenya: Ol Pejeta, Samburu and Laikipia

1. Day 1: Arrive in Nairobi

   Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to your hotel in Nairobi

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Nairobi
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) at any time of day. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall and takes you to the hotel; allow up to an hour, because Nairobi traffic can be slow. The city sits at about 1,700 m, so evenings are cool even this close to the equator. If you land early, rest after the long flight or take a taxi to the Nairobi National Museum on Museum Hill. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the week: how we seat the 4x4s so everyone has a window, what to pack for cold nights at Ol Pejeta and hot days in Samburu, and the 15 kg bag limit on the flight home. Then we drive about half an hour into the city centre, past Uhuru Park and the office towers, for a welcome dinner at a local restaurant: nyama choma, Kenya's grilled meat, with kachumbari salad, sukuma wiki greens and ugali.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in central Nairobi, with transfers

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   

2. Day 2: North across the equator to Ol Pejeta

   Nairobi to Thika, Karatina and Nyeri, then Nanyuki and Ol Pejeta Conservancy

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Ol Pejeta
   Day 2 details

   After breakfast at about 7.30 we leave Nairobi in our own 4x4s with your driver-guides, heading north on the highway past Thika and its pineapple and coffee farms. The road climbs through the green, crowded hills of the central highlands around Karatina and Nyeri, with tea and banana plots on every slope, and Mount Kenya, at 5,199 m the country's highest peak, shows ahead if the cloud lifts. We stop for coffee on the way and cross the equator near Nanyuki, about four hours and 220 km from Nairobi in all. Ol Pejeta Conservancy lies just beyond the town, between the Aberdares and Mount Kenya, on open plains at about 1,800 m. Lunch is at our camp, then an hour free. In the late afternoon we go out on the first game drive, looking for elephants, buffalo, Jackson's hartebeest and our first rhinos as the light turns gold over the mountain.

   Included

   • Drive from Nairobi to Ol Pejeta with your guide and driver-guides
   • Lunch and dinner at the camp
   • Late-afternoon game drive in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, conservancy fee included

   Free time: An hour free after lunch

   Activity: About 4 hours on the road, on tarmac, broken by a coffee stop.

   

3. Day 3: Ol Pejeta: rhinos by day, the bush by night

   A full day in Ol Pejeta Conservancy

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Ol Pejeta
   Day 3 details

   We drive out at first light, when the plains are cold and the animals are moving, to look for black rhinos in the whistling-thorn scrub and white rhinos grazing in the open. Ol Pejeta is one of the largest black rhino sanctuaries in East Africa, and the conservancy's rangers guard every animal. Mid-morning we visit the Endangered Species Enclosure, where the last two northern white rhinos, both female, live under armed guard; a keeper explains the work to save the subspecies. Then we stop at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, the only place in Kenya to see chimpanzees, all rescued animals, from a raised walkway. Lunch and the middle of the day are at camp. After an early dinner we go out again on a night drive with a spotlight, looking for the animals of the dark: hyenas, bat-eared foxes, genets, white-tailed mongooses and, with luck, a lion or leopard on the move.

   Included

   • Morning game drive in Ol Pejeta
   • Endangered Species Enclosure and the northern white rhinos, with a keeper
   • Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary
   • Night game drive after dinner
   • All meals at the camp

   Easier option: Skip the night drive and stay by the fire at camp.

   More active option: A morning walk with an armed conservancy ranger in place of the early drive, where the conservancy runs it (confirmed at booking).

   Free time: Middle of the day free at camp

   Activity: The night drive lasts about 2 hours and gets cold at this altitude; bring a fleece and a hat.

   

4. Day 4: Down to the dry north and Samburu

   Ol Pejeta to Nanyuki, Timau and Isiolo, then Archers Post and Samburu National Reserve

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Samburu
   Day 4 details

   A short drive at first light for a last look at the rhinos, then breakfast and we head north. Past Nanyuki and the wheat farms of Timau the road swings around the northern shoulder of Mount Kenya and drops away, mile after mile, to the hot, dry country around Isiolo, more than a thousand metres lower: the green highlands give way to thorn scrub, red earth and the first herders with camels. It is about three hours and 160 km, all tarmac, to Archers Post and the gate of Samburu National Reserve. Our camp is on the bank of the Ewaso Ng'iro, the brown river that is the only permanent water in the reserve, and the doum palms and acacias along it are where most animals come in the dry season. Lunch is at camp, followed by a free early afternoon in the shade, then a late drive along the river as elephants walk down to drink and the hills turn pink.

   Included

   • Short early drive in Ol Pejeta
   • Drive north to Samburu with your guide
   • Lunch and dinner at the river camp
   • Late-afternoon game drive along the Ewaso Ng'iro, reserve fee included

   Easier option: Skip the early drive and have a slow breakfast at camp.

   Free time: Early afternoon free at camp

   Activity: About 3 hours on the road, on tarmac. Samburu is hot at midday, often over 30 C.

5. Day 5: Samburu: looking for the special five

   Samburu National Reserve and Buffalo Springs National Reserve

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Samburu
   Day 5 details

   We leave camp at first light with coffee, because the cool hours after dawn are when Samburu's animals are most active. The aim is the special five, the northern species most safari-goers never see: Grevy's zebra, with its narrow stripes and white belly, now endangered; the reticulated giraffe, marked like a net; the beisa oryx; the gerenuk, which stands on its hind legs to browse; and the Somali ostrich, with its blue-grey legs. Elephants cross the river in family groups, and lions, leopards and cheetahs are possible, never promised. Breakfast is back at camp, then the hot middle of the day is yours: rest in the tent, read by the river or watch from the camp deck. In the late afternoon we cross the Ewaso Ng'iro into Buffalo Springs National Reserve on the south bank, with its springs and open grassland, and stay out until the light goes.

   Included

   • Dawn game drive in Samburu National Reserve
   • Late-afternoon game drive in Buffalo Springs National Reserve, reserve fees included
   • All meals at the river camp

   Easier option: Skip the dawn drive, sleep in and join the afternoon drive.

   Free time: Middle of the day free at camp

   Activity: Each drive is about 3 to 4 hours on rough tracks.

   

6. Day 6: A Samburu village and a slow afternoon

   Samburu National Reserve and a Samburu village near Archers Post

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Samburu
   Day 6 details

   A dawn drive first, into the corners of the reserve we have not yet seen, perhaps towards the Koitogor hills, where leopards are sometimes seen in the rocks. After breakfast we drive a short way out of the reserve to a Samburu village, arranged with the community, for about an hour and a half. The Samburu are herders, related to the Maasai, and their name was given to the reserve that sits on their grazing land. Villagers show us inside a house of sticks, mud and hides, explain how the cattle, goats and camels are kept in thorn enclosures at night, and talk about school, water and the rains; you can ask anything, and the fee goes to the community. Lunch is back at camp, then the afternoon is free: sleep, swim if the camp has a pool, or watch the river. The evening drive is optional, so if you want a quiet evening at camp, take it.

   Included

   • Dawn game drive in Samburu National Reserve
   • Visit to a Samburu village, community fee included
   • Late-afternoon game drive (optional to join)
   • All meals at the river camp

   Optional experiences

   • Late-afternoon drive in Shaba National Reserve, east of Samburu (price confirmed at booking)

   Easier option: Skip the evening drive and stay at camp.

   Free time: Afternoon free at camp

   Activity: About an hour on foot in the village, on dusty ground; bring a hat.

7. Day 7: Back up to Laikipia

   Samburu to Archers Post and Isiolo, then a conservancy in northern Laikipia

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Laikipia
   Day 7 details

   A short last drive along the river at first light, then breakfast and we leave Samburu, climbing back towards the Laikipia plateau, about three and a half hours and 150 km depending on the conservancy, with a stop to stretch our legs. Laikipia is a patchwork of ranches and community conservancies between Mount Kenya and the Rift Valley, much of it unfenced, where elephants, wild dogs and Grevy's zebra move freely and the rules allow walking and night drives. Our camp is in a conservancy in the north, on the edge of Samburu grazing land, and you get a different feel from the parks: few other vehicles, wide views, and kopjes, the granite outcrops that rise from the bush. Lunch is at camp, then the afternoon is free until about 4 pm, when we go out on a drive with the conservancy's guides and stop on a ridge for a sundowner before dinner.

   Included

   • Short early drive in Samburu
   • Drive to northern Laikipia with your guide
   • Lunch and dinner at the camp
   • Afternoon game drive and sundowner, conservancy fee included

   Optional experiences

   • Camel walk with a Samburu herder, where the conservancy offers it (price confirmed at booking)
   • Night drive, where the conservancy runs one (price confirmed at booking)

   Free time: Early afternoon free at camp

   Activity: About 3.5 hours on the road, the last part on gravel.

8. Day 8: On foot in Laikipia, then fly to Nairobi

   A walk in the conservancy, then Nanyuki airstrip by light aircraft to Wilson Airport, Nairobi, and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 8 details

   At about 6.30 am, with coffee and a biscuit, we set out on foot with a Samburu guide and, as conservancy rules require, an armed ranger. For two to three hours we walk at an easy pace across the plain, reading tracks in the dust, learning which plants are food, medicine or toothbrush, and seeing giraffe, zebra or elephant from the ground, which feels very different from a vehicle. Walks go out only in a group, and you can swap for a short drive instead. Back at camp there is a full brunch, then we pack and drive about an hour to Nanyuki airstrip. Here we say goodbye to our driver-guides, who drive back to Nairobi with any luggage over the flight limit. The scheduled light aircraft takes about 45 minutes to Wilson Airport in Nairobi, and your guide sees you to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) by mid-afternoon and checks your flight before saying goodbye.

   Included

   • Guided walk with a Samburu guide and a ranger
   • Brunch at the camp
   • Scheduled flight, Nanyuki to Wilson Airport, Nairobi
   • Drop-off at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)

   Easier option: Take a short morning drive instead of the walk, or sleep in.

   Activity: The walk is 2 to 3 hours on flat, dusty ground; wear closed shoes. Book a flight home leaving after about 7 pm.

Wildlife and weather: July to October is the long dry season: cool mornings at Ol Pejeta, hot days in Samburu, and animals gathered along the Ewaso Ng'iro, the only permanent water in the reserve. January and February are hotter and also dry, with clear views of Mount Kenya. March to May brings the long rains and November and December the short rains, when tracks turn to mud and the river can flood, so we run then only as private trips.

• Nairobi1 night
• Ol Pejeta2 nights
• Samburu3 nights
• Laikipia1 night