Laikipia Plateau
Former colonial ranches turned laboratory of African conservation: Laikipia holds more rhinos than anywhere else in East Africa — and the world's last two northern white rhino females.
Suggested stay — 2 nights
North-west of Mount Kenya, the Laikipia plateau has reinvented the safari: no national park here, but a mosaic of private and community conservancies where ranching and wildlife coexist. The most self-drive-friendly, Ol Pejeta, is a concentrate of stories: East Africa's largest black rhino sanctuary, home of Najin and Fatu — the planet's last two northern white rhino females, under permanent armed guard — and the country's only chimpanzee sanctuary.
Laikipia is also the gateway to the northern species you won't find in the Mara: the fine-striped Grevy's zebra, the geometrically patterned reticulated giraffe, the blue-necked Somali ostrich. Nights are cold (you camp at 1,800 m, equator or not), the tracks well maintained, and the visit is paid by the day like a park — with activities impossible elsewhere: walking safaris, night drives, meeting the anti-poaching dog units.
Don't miss
- Najin and Fatu, the last two northern white rhinos, in their guarded enclosure at Ol Pejeta
- The black rhinos ranging free in the conservancy — East Africa's highest density
- The Sweetwaters chimpanzee sanctuary, unique in Kenya
- Mount Kenya clear at dawn from the conservancy's plains
Our tips on the ground
- Book Ol Pejeta's camping online well ahead (Ewaso or Hippo Hide sites): pitches are few and completely without infrastructure — full self-sufficiency required.
- The northern-white-rhino encounter is booked as a separate paid activity: the morning slots go first.
- Nanyuki, thirty minutes away, is the circuit's best staging town: supermarkets, serious garages, fuel — top up completely before the bush.
Our flagship guide — €29
Guide available“Kenya on Your Own”, the complete edition, is out
10 chapters: day-by-day itineraries, driving and transport, a costed budget and checklists — the same method as our Namibia guide.
The guide is currently written in French — an English edition is in the works.
Before you go
Readers' questions about Laikipia Plateau
Can you do Ol Pejeta self-drive?
Yes — it is one of the few Laikipia conservancies open to private vehicles: day entry (around USD 90/adult), mapped and well-signed tracks, loops doable without a guide. The special activities (northern white rhinos, chimpanzees, night drives) are booked separately at the visitor centre or online.
Does Laikipia replace or complement the Masai Mara?
It complements it: fewer visible big cats than the Mara, but guaranteed rhinos, the northern species, and a different philosophy — active conservation, diluted tourism, encounters with the field teams. On the road to Samburu, or as a loop from Nairobi via Nyeri, the stage adds a dimension the southern savannah doesn't have.