Route Details

There’s no other capital quite like Nairobi…

Rise and shine: it’s your first morning in Africa.

A vast wilderness, Meru National Park features jungle, coursing rivers, swampland, khaki grasslands and gaunt termite cathedrals, all intertwined under a seemingly endless African sky. Little visited and utterly unspoilt, few places are comparable.

Meru was brought to fame in the 1960s through Joy Adamson’s best-selling book, Born Free, the true story of Elsa the lioness, and her release into the wild. The 1966 feature film of the same starred Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, and was the first of its kind to depict wild animals as endearing creatures, whose plight the audience could sympathise with. George Adamson continued to work with lions, living to the south of Meru National Park, until his death in 1989. Both Joy Adamson, and Elsa the lioness, are buried there.

Elsa’s Kopje is in the heart of the park, perched around the rocky Mughwango hill and offering 360 degree views that stretch from the 17,000 foot peak of Mt Kenya to the east, to virtually infinity to the west. Below the hill is the site of George Adamson’s camp, and the hill was the playground of Elsa the lion. There is a fertile spring to the east of the hill and guests can watch vast herds of elephant, buffalo and giraffe make their way across the plains below. Elsa’s Kopje is one of only two lodges in the National Park, and so guests will have this vast wilderness practically to themselves.

Be prepared: your alarm will ring rudely early.

But it’s worth the 5am wake-up to get out for that morning game drive when the plains are a-stir, the animals most active, the big cats returning from a night on the hunt.

Meru has enormous diversity of habitat and wildlife, from cool forests at 3400 ft to the west, dropping down to 1000 ft semi-desert plains with giant baobab and commiphora trees. It has thirteen clear spring fed rivers lined with palms and riverine forest, and home to basking hippo. This is lion and elephant country, but you’ll also discover rare species including caracal, the beautiful Lesser Kudu, aardwolf, and over 400 species of birds. The park also has an 84 sq km rhino sanctuary housing over 60 black and white rhino.

There’s time to relax back at camp – with a swim, a massage, a good book in the sun – before a buffet lunch. Then prepare for your most intimate encounter with the bush: local guides, who know almost every blade grass, will lead you on a walking safari; you’ll follow animal tracks, taste bush herbs, revel in the tiny details, perhaps encounter something larger… It’s a fresh, thrilling perspective.

As the day draws to a close, raise a classic African Sundowner. Nothing says safari like an ice-cool G&T, sipped as the sun disappears, before a private dinner under the stars.

Take it all in.

Take it all in, before venturing out in the camp’s custom-designed 4WDs for one last game drive. Then we’ll whisk you to the airstrip for a seamless and spectacular flight to Loisaba Conservancy on the Laikipia Plateau. With the second-highest density of wildlife in the country and a groundbreaking attitude to conservation, this is one of the most exciting destinations in Kenya.

You’ll be met like a VIP and plunged right into the action: the transfer from airstrip to Loisaba Tented Camp doubles as a game drive. Laikipia is one of only a few places in Africa where wildlife numbers are on the increase, and a huge array of animals – from the Big Five to endangered Grevy’s zebra – might be spotted.

Gold Eco-rated Loisaba Tented Camp sits perched on the edge of an escarpment, with unhindered views over rolling river valleys, rich forests and open plains to Mt Kenya. Intimate and elegant in design, the camp is also a hub for cutting-edge conservation. Find out more over drinks and dinner, before retiring to your tent, where floor-to-ceiling windows invite the outside in and the night sky views are unmatched.

There’s nothing quite like stepping out into the wilderness at dawn

After lunch, the choice is yours. Head out on a game drive for more marvellous wildlife-spotting – rarities like patas monkey, reticulated giraffe or wild dog might be seen. Try casting a line in Loisaba’s great rivers. Or pay a visit to the conservancy headquarters to meet the sniffer dogs and the anti-poaching team to find out how they safeguard the wilderness.

End the day the only way: with Sundowners as the sun sinks and dinner under the stars.

Loisaba Conservancy, Laikipia & Masai Mara National Reserve.

Your ride from the airstrip to Sand River Masai Mara Camp, a secluded spot in the southern area of reserve, is your first game drive: don’t be surprised if you meet most of the Big Five before lunch. Even if you don’t, your afternoon game drive might oblige: these acacia-dotted plains are dense with game. Keep your eyes peeled for lion, leopard and cheetah, hyena, giraffe and elephant, and 500-plus species of bird.

Raising a classic Sundowner in this classic tranche of wilderness is the perfect way to toast the day. Returning to Sand River Masai Mara is the icing on the cake – there are few more elegant places to stay than this camp, which oozes 1920s glamour. The Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards 2020 named it one of the 50 Best Resorts in the World and seventh best in Africa.

Nowhere in Africa is wildlife more abundant than the Masai Mara National Reserve

The area is culturally fascinating too. Much of the Greater Mara-Serengeti Ecosystem falls under the ownership of Masai communities, and a village visit – to see traditional Maasai homes and rituals, or even (for the kids) to try warrior training – makes for an eye-opening afternoon. There’s also the chance to visit a local school supported by Land & Life Foundation so you can see its work in action.

Of course, you might enjoy your best sightings without going anywhere at all. The Sand River Masai Mara, overlooking its namesake river, sits right on the annual migration route, so the drama may play out just beyond your verandah.

Enjoy your last few hours, gazing out from camp across the watercourse and riverine forest.