Kenya · East Africa
Laikipia and the northern conservancies.
Laikipia is a plateau of private and community conservancies north of Mount Kenya, and the centre of Kenyan rhino conservation.
Photo Steve Enoch / Unsplash
It is the part of Kenya that looks least like the postcard and often produces the most interesting days: horseback and camel riding, walking safaris, night drives, and species you will not see in the Mara — Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk and beisa oryx among them.
Ol Pejeta is the best known of the conservancies, and Samburu and Meru sit further north again in genuinely arid country.
How do you get to Laikipia?
By light aircraft from Nairobi's Wilson Airport to Nanyuki or to the conservancies' own airstrips, a flight of about an hour. The drive from Nairobi to Nanyuki takes three to four hours, and Samburu is a few hours further north by road.
What is Ol Pejeta Conservancy known for?
Rhino. It is the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, and it holds the last two northern white rhinos in the world, both female, under round-the-clock protection. It also has a sanctuary for rescued chimpanzees, the only place in Kenya to see them.
What are the Samburu Special Five?
Five animals of Kenya's arid north that are not found in the Masai Mara: Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, beisa oryx and the Somali ostrich. Samburu National Reserve, along the Ewaso Ng'iro river, and the northern Laikipia conservancies are where they are seen.
Is Laikipia better than the Masai Mara?
It is different. The Mara has the great plains herds and the big cats in numbers. Laikipia has rhino, the northern species, and the freedom of private conservancies: walking, horseback and camel safaris, night drives and far fewer vehicles. The two are often combined, with Laikipia first.
How long should you spend in Laikipia?
Three or four nights, or longer if Samburu is added. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is part of the Mount Kenya UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the equator runs through Nanyuki.
What is there to see in Laikipia and the northern conservancies?
What does Laikipia and the northern conservancies pair well with?
- The Masai MaraThe Mara is Kenya's flagship reserve and the northern extension of the Serengeti ecosystem, which is why the migration reaches it.
- Amboseli and the southern parksAmboseli is elephant country beneath Kilimanjaro, and gives the single most recognisable view in East Africa.
- The Kenyan coastThe coast is Swahili rather than safari — a distinct culture, architecture and cuisine along the Indian Ocean.
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