6 Days Ol Pejeta Samburu and Aberdare Safari

On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, complete immigration and collect your luggage before meeting your local representative in the arrivals area. Transfer to your Nairobi hotel, where you can check in and settle into your room after your journey.

The rest of the day is free to rest at the hotel. Enjoy a quiet afternoon in the lounge or gardens, or use the hotel facilities if you arrive early enough. Your safari briefing introduces the route, the next morning’s departure and the places you will visit with your guide.

In the evening, have dinner at the hotel or choose a nearby restaurant, depending on your arrival time. Settle in for an overnight stay in Nairobi before the wildlife journey begins.

Meal plan: Breakfast only where included in the confirmed arrival-night booking; lunch and dinner at own expense unless quoted.

After breakfast, depart for Ol Pejeta Conservancy in the Mount Kenya region. Pass cultivated highlands and small towns on the journey toward Laikipia, stopping for a comfort break before continuing to the conservancy.

Arrive at your camp for lunch and check-in. In the afternoon, set out on a game drive through open grassland and acacia woodland, with a particular focus on Ol Pejeta’s black and white rhinos.

Look for elephants, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes and antelopes as your guide explains the conservancy’s wildlife protection work. Scan the plains and woodland edges for lions and other predators, and pause at water points to watch animals coming to drink. Clear weather may reveal views of Mount Kenya beyond the conservancy.

Return to camp before dusk for dinner and an overnight stay. Specialist conservation encounters can be added by prior arrangement and are separate from the standard game drive.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast, continue north toward the Samburu and Buffalo Springs reserves. The highlands gradually give way to drier country, with rocky hills, thorn scrub and wide plains marking the approach to northern Kenya.

Arrive at your selected camp for lunch and check-in. Your accommodation determines whether the afternoon drive takes place in Samburu or Buffalo Springs, with the corresponding reserve entry included in the confirmed arrangements.

Head out to look for the region’s distinctive dry-country wildlife: reticulated giraffes, Grevy’s zebras, Beisa oryx, gerenuk and Somali ostriches. Explore riverine vegetation as well as open ground, watching for elephants, lions and leopards in the shade.

Return to camp before darkness for dinner. Enjoy the evening sounds of the bush and an overnight stay in the reserve area.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Leave camp early to explore the reserve in the cooler morning hours. Follow tracks through acacia woodland and dry open country, looking for elephants and predators before the heat builds. Continue toward the river corridor, where vegetation attracts wildlife from the surrounding plains.

Your guide will help you identify the northern species often called the Samburu Special Five: Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, gerenuk and Somali ostrich. Watch for gerenuk standing on their hind legs to browse and giraffes feeding among the thorn trees.

Return to camp for lunch and time to relax. In the afternoon, set out again to explore another part of the booked reserve, allowing time to watch animals at river crossings, shaded resting places or open grazing areas.

Return before nightfall for dinner and an overnight stay. A visit to a Samburu community is an optional, separately arranged experience.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast, leave the northern reserve region and travel toward the Aberdare highlands. Watch the scenery change from dry plains to farms, forested slopes and cooler mountain country.

Follow The Ark’s reception and transfer arrangements, with lunch served according to the lodge’s schedule. Continue into the forest to the lodge and settle into your cabin overlooking the surrounding woodland.

Spend the afternoon at the viewing decks and windows facing the waterhole and salt lick. Watch for elephants, buffaloes, bushbuck and other forest animals emerging from cover, with time to observe their behaviour as they feed, drink or interact.

After dinner, return to the viewing areas for a different view of the waterhole in the evening. Wildlife comes and goes freely, so part of the pleasure is waiting quietly and seeing what appears. Overnight at The Ark.

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast at The Ark in the Aberdares, meet your guide and begin the road journey back to Nairobi. Enjoy a final view of the surrounding landscape as you leave the safari region, with a comfort stop along the route.

Continue through rural towns and farmland toward the capital. Your guide will arrange the journey around your confirmed drop-off and flight time, with a lunch stop or packed meal where included in the booking.

On reaching Nairobi, transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your onward flight, or to the city drop-off point stated in your arrangements. Say farewell to your guide at the end of your Kenya safari.

Meal plan: Breakfast; lunch where included in the confirmed safari package. Dinner is not included unless quoted.