Nestling on a hillside above the Ewaso Narok River, the family-owned Laikipia Wilderness Main Camp offers authentic, adventurous safari experiences. Steve Carey and his wife came to Kenya from Zimbabwe in the early 2000s to manage Sosian Lodge, from where they went on to build their own camp on the neighbouring Ol Doinyo Lomboro Ranch - Laikipia Wilderness. Guests should not visit Laikipia Wilderness expecting too much structure or sophistication, it is more for independent and experienced guests, who enjoy the camp's focus on bush adventure, game viewing and plenty of walking.

Laikipia Wilderness Main Camp consists of six tents with open-air bathrooms that are set across a hill. The tents sit on elevated platforms made out of wood or stone and feature a private verandah to the front. Four of the tents are suited for families and provide space for two additional twin beds in an extra tented bedroom that is attached to the main bedroom. One of the family tents is extra large and designed for families with up to four children.

The main area provides a variety of dining locations with breakfast usually taken outside on the deck. Meals and bush dinners are usually a fun affair with communal meals and lots of story telling. The large outside deck provides plenty of space to sit around the fire in the evening and enjoy some pre-dinner drinks. On top of a rock above camp, a swinging bench offers a 360-degree view of the Laikipia landscape with the impressive skyline of Mount Kenya on clear days. The central area of the camp has WiFi. Please note that the owner's dogs do live in the main camp.

There are scheduled flights from Nairobi Wilson airport to Nanyuki or Loisaba Airstrip (45 minutes), followed by a 2-hour vehicle transfer from Nanyuki, respectively a 1-hour transfer from Loisaba. A charter flight can be arranged for Sosian airstrip from where it is only a 30-minute drive to camp.

Ol Doinyo Lomboro Ranch is located in Central Laikipia with the most spectacular variety in landscape. The low-lying land around the Ewaso Nyiro River is bordered by vibrant ridgelines dotted with ancient dryland forest remnants. In contrast, the plateaus of the western ridges which advertise the edge of the great Rift Valley, form flat grassy plains with brilliant escarpment views. Laikipia Expeditions today offers three different locations, the Laikipia Wilderness Main Camp, Laikipia Wilderness River Camp and Laikipia Wilderness Palm Camp.

Laikipia Wilderness has become famous for its African wild dog sightings and the super rare black leopard, and photographers visit from all over the world to capture images of them. Originally captured on camera by Will Burrard Lucas in 2019, these melanistic cats are seen fairly regularly, especially one female who was born and raised less than 100m from camp. To increase your chance to see the black leopard, you may want to book a so-called Black Leopard private vehicle (BLPV) or join the Black Leopard shared vehicle (BLSV) which will be given priority on black leopard sightings (vehicles must be booked in advance). Normal vehicles will be rotated into a sighting once there is space.

There is a good chance to see some elephant, lion, leopard and the Beisa oryx, eland, Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, jackal, aardwolf, striped and spotted hyena, zebra, hippo and buffalo and about 350 recorded bird species.

Day and night game drives, guided walks, biking, wild dog and lion tracking, fishing, bush dinners, rock scrambling, rafting, swimming and playing in the river.

Sleep-Outs are an option for longer stays. The team likes to kick this off with a bush dinner cooked on the fire coupled with drinks and stories before climbing into bed. An armed guide will stay with guests all night. Bed in this case is a warm cozzie bedroll on a stretcher bed placed on a platform above the ground and the option of sleeping outside or under cozy roof cover. In the morning, the team will wake you up with a hot cup of tea or coffee and a light breakfast prepared on the fire before you start your morning activity (walk or game drive).

SwissAfrican Travel Service
Dammstrasse 27
8702 Zollikon
Zurich, Switzerland


Telephone: +41 (0)44 451 40 51