Lex has just returned from hosting Irish guests on a journey through some of Kenya and Tanzania’s most spectacular wilderness areas.
From the Laikipia Plateau’s enigmatic black leopard, to the spectacle of the Great Migration’s calving season in the Serengeti, and a host of dramatic wildlife encounters in between, the trip turned out to be an emphatic reminder of why we regard this region as so special.
Part 1 of our trip report covers some of the many highlights from the Kenya leg of the journey.
Our journey began at Laikipia Wilderness Camp in the Laikipia Plateau, nestled in the shadow of the 5199-metre Mount Kenya. The Ol Doinyo Lomboro area of the plateau boasts a variety of semi-arid landscapes, ranging from ancient dryland forests, to rocky ridgelines and flat grassy plains. It is remarkably wildlife rich, containing the highest density of large mammals outside the popular Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Our stay at the exclusive-use Palm Camp allowed for optimal exclusivity and flexibility of times and activities, including walks and drives, bush dinners, swimming and fishing in the Nwaso Narok river and sleeping out under the stars. Opened in October 2023, the five-room tented camp is an enchanting addition to Lakipia Wilderness, offering scenic views over the river and a waterhole where large elephant herds come to drink.
The area is well known for its leopards — we were fortunate to spend time with seven different individuals! This included particularly special sightings of a female leopard with her nine-month-old cub, and a large male hunting Günther’s dik-dik.
We saw seven individual leopards during our time in Laikipia. Photo: Lex Hes
On the final night drive, the radio crackled with an exciting call; Laikipia’s famed black leopard female Giza, had been spotted. Her full name – Giza Mrembo – means “beautiful darkness” in Swahili – and we could see why as we turned around the bend to arrive at the sighting. In the warmth of the spotlight, her coat glowed in shades of iridescent purples and blues as she strolled regally through the bush, giving our guests and Lex the opportunity to photograph this rarest of encounters. Excitingly, Giza recently gave birth to two spotted cubs.
The enigmatic Giza. Photo: Lex Hes
Our evening ended in spectacular fashion, as we watched the dik-dik-hunting male leopard finally succeed in his endeavour and drag his kill away.
We spent plenty of time with Laikipia’s other wildlife, including reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, Grevy’s zebra, Beisa oryx and Jackson’s hartebeest and were also treated to sightings of the rare zorilla (or striped polecat), a nocturnal species not commonly seen elsewhere.
The wildlife experience was rounded off by fascinating birdlife, with sightings of Somali ostrich, white-bellied go-away bird, eastern chanting goshawk, pygmy falcon, yellow-necked spurfowl, three-banded courser, greyish eagle owl, black-faced sandgrouse, Donaldson Smith nightjar, Von der Decken’s hornbill, and rufous chatterer.
From Laikipia, we traveled south to the 70 000-acre Mara North Conservancy, located on the northwestern edge of the main reserve. Private conservancies such as these are much quieter from a tourism traffic perspective, pairing the intimate wilderness connection we hold dear with some of the Mara ecosystem’s prime game viewing.
The verdant landscapes of the conservancy, with its waving green grasslands dotted with patches of forest and thickets, was a pleasing contrast to the drier, more open Laikipia. We stayed in Elewana Elephant Pepper Camp, which, set in a shady forest of pepper bark and fig trees, spoilt us with symphonic bird choruses around the campfire in the early mornings.
The bulk of the wildebeest migration was in the southern Serengeti, but we still encountered some resident herds, along with large herds of buffalo and zebra, and pods of Maasai giraffe, on the plains.
We had several incredible lion sightings, including quality viewing of three cubs awaiting their mother’s return from a hunt one afternoon.
The three lion cubs await the return of their mother from a hunt. Photo: Lex Hes
The long-legged, graceful serval is a shy and reclusive feline, so we were especially privileged to witness interactions between a mother and her two small kittens. One morning, we saw the adult walking back to the kittens with a large rat in her jaws. A pair of jackals trotted out from the bush towards the mother, prompting her to dart off into a thicket of long grass. She returned to the kittens without the rat, settling down to nurse them, as the jackals lost interest and wandered off. After some lovable grooming, the mother casually led her young back to the grass thicket, where they were allowed to take the cached rat. This fascinating and heart-warming morning was aptly described by one of the guests as something straight out of a David Attenborough documentary!
The calmest moment of an intriguing morning spent with a serval and her two cubs. Photo: Lex Hes
A breakfast on the banks of the famous Mara River, teeming with hippos and crocodiles, was a memorable experience. Unlike the dramatic wildebeest crossings seen later in the year, the river was calm, offering a tranquil setting to observe the wildlife.
Another thrilling sighting was one of the largest tuskers in the Mara, a majestic male elephant named Fred.
The guests wrapped up the Kenya leg of their journey with a new-found appreciation for the stunning diversity of the country beyond the Mara. Conservancies such as Laikipia and Mara North play a critically-important role in expanding the size of protected areas, while giving guests the time and space to deeply connect with the wilderness, away from tourist crowds.
*Click here for Part 2, as Lex leads the guests across the border into Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater and southern Serengeti.
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