This route links five parts of Kenya over thirteen nights. It opens in Nairobi, where savannah runs up against the city’s southern edge, then climbs to the Laikipia Highlands and the Borana rhino conservancy. From there it moves into the Mathews Range forest, down to Naboisho Conservancy on the edge of the Maasai Mara, and ends among the Loita Hills.
The pace shifts as you go. Borana is horse riding, walking and rhino tracking on a private conservancy; Kitich does away with the game drive and explores on foot; Naboisho allows off-track driving and night drives that the reserve cannot. The stays are family-run lodges and small camps, closing on a lightweight mobile camp in the Loita Hills.
You begin in Nairobi, a highland capital where lion, black rhino and resident herds of zebra and giraffe move across grassland on the city's southern edge. With a day here you can visit the Giraffe Centre, which runs a breeding programme for Rothschild's giraffe, or the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which raises orphaned elephant calves at the park's edge. Manzili House is a Lamu-inspired family home in the Karen suburb, below the Ngong Hills, built with artisans brought up from Lamu Island. White living spaces open onto a central courtyard and pool, and the in-house chef cooks to order.
In the Laikipia Highlands you spend three nights on a private rhino conservancy, where the dropped boundary with neighbouring Lewa forms a single landscape of more than 92,000 acres, home to over 200 black and white rhino. Rangers monitor the animals daily and you can track individuals on foot. Because Borana is private, days go beyond drives into night drives, off-road approaches and horse riding among zebra and giraffe. Borana Lodge sits terraced above the Samangua Valley in eight cottages of local stone and cedar, with a dam below drawing elephant, giraffe and baboon through the day.
Four nights in the Mathews Range are spent on foot, moving through indigenous montane forest and along the seasonal Ngeng River, tracking elephant sign and following birdsong rather than a road. The forest holds more than 350 recorded bird species and over 150 kinds of butterfly, with elephant, buffalo and bushbuck in the glade below. Between walks you swim in natural rock pools and can fly-fish the streams. Kitich Camp does away with the game drive entirely; its canvas tents string along the river glade beneath the canopy, each with a veranda facing the valley.
On the edge of the Maasai Mara you spend three nights in Naboisho, co-owned by more than 500 Maasai landowners, where visitor numbers and vehicle density are capped. Lion, cheetah, leopard and elephant move through the country, and guides can leave the track to follow a cheetah, something forbidden in the national reserve, with drives running on after dark and walking safaris on foot with an armed guide. Kicheche Valley Naboisho is an owner-run camp of six octagonal tents on a wooded hillside, each raised on its own platform and turned east across the valley.
The trip closes with two nights in the Loita Hills, staying under canvas after the drive down from Naboisho. This is a lightweight mobile camp rather than a permanent property, set up for the stay and kept simple, so the country around it stays the focus. It brings the route to a quiet end in a different part of Kenya, away from the conservancies that came before, with the days shaped by where the camp is pitched.
Ed Charles, BBC Producer
Fitzroy are true specialists in accessing the wilderness. They know where to go and importantly, when to go there. Highly recommended.
01 of 11
kenya
Seven nights walking the forests of Northern Kenya, from a fly camp to Kitich Camp and the canopy suites of Sarara Treehouses.
01 of 13
kenya
Thirteen nights across Kenya, linking Amboseli under Kilimanjaro, the Mara North plains and Borana's rhino country.
01 of 11
kenya
Seven nights linking Nairobi National Park, Lake Naivasha and the northern Maasai Mara conservancies, then Karen.
rated five stars by our clients
our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
Every journey starts with a conversation. We favour a direct, personal approach: understanding your vision before anything else.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape a journey that is both thoughtfully considered and expertly delivered.
Get in touch to start planning yours.
