Laikipia

Why go

Laikipia is the answer to "I have done the game drives, what else is there". Because the land is privately and communally held rather than gazetted as a national park, the rules are set by the landowners. That means walking safaris with armed guides, riding out among plains game, night drives after dinner, fly camping, and mountain biking.

It is also high — mostly between 1,700 and 2,000 metres — so it is cool, it is not malarial to the same degree as the lowland parks, and it is comfortable in the middle of the day. Families in particular do well here.

How the conservancies differ from each other

Laikipia is not one place. Lewa, on the eastern side, is a long-established conservancy with strong rhino numbers and is inscribed as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside Mount Kenya. Borana adjoins it, with the fence between them removed so the two function as one rhino range. Further west the conservancies get drier, wilder and quieter.

Some are working cattle ranches that also carry wildlife; some are pure conservation; several are community-owned. What they share is low bed density and guiding that is allowed to get you out of the vehicle.

What you can do here that you cannot do in a park

Walk. Properly — half a day with an armed guide and a tracker, learning what the ground tells you, rather than a fifteen-minute stroll near camp.

Ride. Some of the best riding safaris in Africa are here, for competent riders who can handle a horse that has just noticed a rhino.

Drive at night, which is when the aardvark, porcupine, genet and occasionally leopard on a kill are out.

Sleep out. Fly camping — a bedroll, a bucket shower and a fire under the stars — is straightforward to arrange on most conservancies.

Laikipia with children

Several Laikipia camps and houses are built for families: interconnecting rooms, exclusive use of a whole house, flexible meal times, and activities that do not require a six-year-old to sit still in a vehicle for three hours. Combine that with the cool climate and the shorter transfer from Nairobi and it is often our first suggestion for families with younger children.

What you will see

• Black and white rhino — Laikipia holds a significant share of Kenya’s rhino
• Elephant, with major movement corridors between conservancies
• Lion, leopard, cheetah and one of Kenya’s best regions for African wild dog
• Grevy’s zebra and reticulated giraffe, at the southern edge of their range
• Rarely seen at night: aardvark, porcupine, striped hyena, genet

Where to stay

• Owner-run houses taken on an exclusive-use basis — the classic Laikipia format, and excellent value for a family or a group of friends.
• Small conservancy camps with a guide assigned to you for the stay.
• Community-owned lodges where the conservancy fee is the community’s income.

Getting there

• Fly: about an hour from Nairobi Wilson to Lewa, Nanyuki or one of the private airstrips.
• Drive: four to five hours from Nairobi on mostly good roads, past Mount Kenya.

Plan my Laikipia safari