Laikipia

This event took place in near total darkness, dimly illuminated only by the light of the moon (a day away from being full) and red-filtered spotlights trained on it by the specialist guides from Laikipia Wilderness Camp, where Kathy and I spent a couple of nights in early September.  

Even more remarkable was that we had seen Giza the previous night as well. As we were to learn during the course of our visit, Giza enters the Laikipia Wilderness conservancy most evenings after dark, to hunt (mostly dikdiks of which there are seemingly thousands in the area, but also impala), and if successful she takes the carcass into the adjacent Mpala ranch where she currently has two cubs secured in a rocky outcrop.  

For those of you considering visiting this camp in Laikipia in search of a black leopard, my best advice would be to plan on spending at least four or five nights – even a week. The black leopard situation is fluid at all times and may change literally overnight. To improve your chances, you can pay extra for a Black Leopard Private Vehicle or Black Leopard Shared Vehicle so that you will be given a priority slot at a black leopard sighting. To be sure, none of this guarantees a black leopard sighting as Giza is a wild animal.  

What guests at Laikipia Wilderness can look forward to with more certainty than seeing Giza hunting dikdiks, is a comfortable stay in a cozy tented camp and superb hospitality from a team of young managers and hosts, as well as a squad of talented chefs. The food was exceptionally good and the desserts absolutely impossible to turn down. Lunch on day one set the scene: choice of a vegetarian or chicken roll with a beetroot and grapefruit salad as well as a tomato, olive, onion and feta cheese salad. With focaccia bread on the side. Dinner was delicious with a perfectly cooked fillet of beef with peppercorn sauce, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potato, green beans and sautéed cauliflower. The vegetarian option was a mushroom Wellington. Dessert was the chef’s take on a South African classic – malva pudding. 

On our recent visit we had the best time ever with camp managers Louis and Sophie and hosts Amelia and Duke. Our guiding team of Patrick and Stephen were enthusiastic, didn’t miss a thing (we were the only vehicle with an unobstructed view of the black leopard kill) and they quickly picked up on our birding interest, helping us to rack up some 50 or so species without really going out of our way.  

First impressions of the camp were favorable: there was a good staff dynamic, the property had a real ‘home away from home’ feel with several friendly (albeit a bit dusty) dogs around. There is a spacious elevated lounge and dining area with a large verandah. Be sure to plan some time just sitting there – maybe with a cup of tea or something – looking out over the rugged Laikipia landscape. We often had elephants visible in the far background.  

The tents (there are 7) are fairly basic but quite comfortable with a good sized (brick enclosed) bathroom with a shower and flush toilet. The double bed had soft cushions and there is a small covered patio with two comfortable wicker chairs. 

Clearly Laikipia Wilderness comes into its own with the activities. Our very first afternoon game drive set the scene. It was nothing short of phenomenal with sightings of a striped hyena, shortly followed by an extraordinary sighting of three leopards (two of which were a mating pair). More than once the two adult leopards were less than ten feet from us. Even while mating.  

Our afternoon drive morphed into a night drive. Minutes after spotting a common genet we experienced the ultimate sighting of our entire trip: Giza, the black leopard referred to earlier. On the first night we observed her hunting, rapidly slinking through the grass, stopping briefly once or twice to smell something.  

General wildlife viewing in the conservancy was pretty good too with exceptionally good numbers of elephants around, lots of Burchell’s and a few Grevy’s zebra, plenty of reticulated giraffe, some Cape buffalo, impala, Beisa oryx, eland, spotted hyena and jackal. On our very last drive on the morning of our departure back to the USA, we came across two young leopard cubs tussling over the remains of a carcass. Our guides were as excited as we were to observe the two youngsters as it was the first time that they had seen them too! The guides were aware of the young leopards’ presence, but this was the first ‘public’ viewing. It augurs well for the future of the conservancy. There’s a new generation of leopards in the process of being habituated so future guests can enjoy the same sense of awe and appreciation which we experienced at Laikipia Wilderness during our stay. I think it was most fitting that the last few photos on my card were of leopards; they are clearly at the heart of the Laikipia Wilderness experience.

About photographing Giza: I’ve always known that night photography is not my forte and this visit reconfirmed it. Despite giving it considerable effort, I came up with exactly zero good or even decent photographs. A moving pitch black object in a mostly dark environment is a wildlife photographer’s nightmare. Next time, I will take a different camera and a shorter, faster lens.  

For information on how to best include a few days at Laikipia Wilderness on your next – or first – Kenya trip, call us at 1-800-513-5222 or email Bert at bert@fisheaglesafaris.com.

Header photo courtesy Laikipia Wilderness Camp

Unlike many of the game reserves in Southern Africa, the rhinos of Ol Pejeta, Lewa and other parts of  Kenya are not dehorned so you will see them running around with their completely intact, beautiful horns – ready to defend themselves when necessary. In most of the private conservancies in Kenya it is not unusual to see from five to seven or eight mammals at the same time. On more than one occasion we had rhino, buffalo, giraffe, gazelle, zebras and jackals in the same field of view. 

Just like the private concessions in Botswana, the Kenya conservancies offer a more exclusive safari experience as access is restricted and a wide range of activities are available including night drives, walking safaris and off-road driving. Where they  differ is the degree of community involvement. The Kenya conservancies operate as integrated conservation entities, managing a healthy habitat for wildlife and livestock. They work closely with surrounding communities in a manner which blends commercial income from tourism as well as agriculture.  

Another notable difference: on safari in Botswana it is often downright impossible to see signs of civilization as we know it anywhere in the private concessions in northern Botswana. No power lines, no fences, no water towers, towns or even villages. Not so in Kenya. Some of the private conservancies border on national parks while others are enclaves within populated areas. Take a few photos at Lewa or Ol Pejeta and invariably, there will be structures in the background. In essence, there is no difference in the safari experience whether you’re 5 miles or 50 miles from the nearest power line, but ‘civilization’ is all too visible in the East African conservancies.

It is of course part of the conservation model: a cooperative effort involving local communities to preserve suitable habitat for wildlife. To be successful, all the partners have to be winners. Which means there will be some agriculture going on, visible to the human eye mostly in the way of cattle herds or sometimes flocks of  sheep or goats. Beyond serving as the living livestock ‘banks’ for the local people (whose wealth is largely measured by livestock ownership) these animals contribute to the health of the habitat by keeping the grass short where and when needed and by supplying free natural fertilizer. Livestock – notably cattle- also provide an additional revenue stream for the conservancy.

One other thing about Ol Pejeta that is practically impossible to miss is the looming presence of Mt. Kenya, Kenya’s highest mountain peak, often clearly visible to the south. Sometimes shrouded in mist, sometimes not, Mt Kenya is always there like a watching sentinel, a visible reminder of the landscape diversity which Kenya is fortunate to have. Over the course of four days in Ol Pejeta we had some great views of the mountain, with the single most memorable moment being observing some zebras in the foreground, with a misty mountain behind. My photography skills for once didn’t measure up to the challenge – silhouettes are always tricky!

Ol Pejeta Bush Camp

Our first stop in the conservancy, Ol Pejeta Bush Camp, felt comfortable and warm from the word go. Sitting out on the verandah overlooking the Ewaso Nyiro River while being given the usual arrival briefing, a good sized herd of elephants was grazing right on the opposite bank of the river. Later on, we saw several buffalos and hippos from the same spot, and other guests mentioned a leopard which was seen walking there. The delicious al fresco lunch on arrival set the tone for the quality of the meals. We also liked our tented room – one of only eight in this small, solar-powered camp.  

On our very first game drive in Ol Pejeta we encountered a remarkable number of rhinos including several black rhinos and one group of four white rhinos. It was no different the following morning and, without having to try too hard, I captured some of my best photos of both black and white rhinos in at least a decade. Over sundowners that afternoon a large male white rhinoceros appeared on the scene while we were watching four white rhinos grazing. The new arrival became agitated and ended up in an altercation with the largest individual in the group of four. As the light slowly faded, the two rhinos were still in a standoff, head to head, their massive horns just inches away from each other.

Kicheche Laikipia

What would be better than spending a few days at Kicheche Laikipia camp in Ol Pejeta? Combining it with a few days at a Kicheche property in the Masai Mara to qualify for Kicheche’s ‘stay 6, pay 5 nights’ special offer. Top-notch guiding, excellent all-around hospitality and thoughtfully designed rooms at all of the Kicheche properties make for a fun and absorbing safari experience with lots of animals and few other vehicles to be seen.  

At Kicheche Laikipia we felt at home right away, with every member of the team doing whatever they could to make our short stay special. The attention to detail, the ‘make your own pizza’ lunch, the sense of privacy and exclusivity with just six rooms tucked away into a dense thicket. From the cozy dining tent we observed a good number of animals coming to drink at a pond, a hundred meters or so from camp. Among others we saw eland, buffalo, elephant, many birds, impalas and gazelles – all while enjoying Kicheche’s excellent food. 

Our afternoon game drive out of Kicheche was another winner with several more excellent rhino sightings and finding a large pride of 26 lions – with lots of cubs of various ages. It was as entertaining and downright spectacular as any experience we’ve ever had with a group of big cats. Observing the youngsters ‘hunting’ each other, recognizing the affable attitude of particularly the adult females towards the young ones, letting the babies crawl all over them. Above all, seeing right there in front of us how cohesive they were as a pride, with muted contact calls and visual contact keeping them all moving as one, apparently all on their way to some predetermined spot. We were not unhappy to see the last couple of tails disappear into a thicket. We enjoyed our views and took our videos and photographs. It was time to let the lions be lions in private.

Sanctuary Tambarare

An extended game drive on our first day at Sanctuary’s Tambarare Camp illustrated just how diverse the Laikipia plateau can be. This beautiful expanse of broad, undulating plains, rolling hills and scattered rocky outcrops offers something new and interesting around every corner. Driving from the open savannah area into a huge whistling acacia thorn tree forest, we suddenly started seeing lots of small groups of the stunning reticulated giraffes. Without doubt my favorite of the giraffe species with their boldly delineated orange-red spots, separated by cream-colored lines.  

Later on during the same drive, we were watching a large pride of lions which had brought down a buffalo the previous night. As the sun was setting, several of them made their way to a watering point, one after the other. Just then, a black rhino started heading for the same trough and it initially made a mock charge towards one of the lions. When a couple of the other lions showed up the rhino figured that discretion was the better part of valor and it disappeared. Our guide didn’t think that the lions would actually have taken a serious interest in the rhino, but it certainly got us to pick up our binoculars.

Our tented room at Tambarare was just about perfect. Elegantly appointed with just enough space, it had a separate shower and toilet, his and hers wash basins, ample luggage space, recharging points, and adequate lighting. And lo and behold, there was an electric blanket which we put to good use. The level of food and service at Tambarare was top-notch and we were totally spoiled with the choices and options. A specially prepared dish with ugali and maharagwe (essentially red beans in a coconut-based sauce) was outstanding!  

Being close to the equator, there are no wild swings between summer and winter days and summer and winter weather in much of Kenya. Altitude is generally a more important weather determinant than anything else. Being at an altitude of more than a mile high, Tambarare and for that matter all of Laikipia is always temperate and generally quite nice, with daytime highs around 80F and average lows rarely below 50F. 

Our team at Fish Eagle Safaris have been including a few days in the Laikipia region with several Kenya itineraries lately, with great success. If you’re considering an East Africa or Kenya trip, please reach out to Jason at jason@fisheaglesafaris.com for some suggestions on how – and when – Laikipia might best form a part of your trip.