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Days 5-7
Ol Malo, Northern Frontier

After a decent breakfast, a private charter will swoop in to collect you and fly you northwards to your next destination, Ol Malo Lodge. The flight time up the Rift Valley and across the Aberdare Mountains will be about an hour and a half.
Ol Malo is the private home of Colin and Rocky Francombe. Thanks to their incredible hospitality and good taste, Ol Malo Lodge has a reputation for being one of the most beautiful, small and exclusive lodges in Kenya. The name means Greater Kudu, the most elegant of the dry country antelopes. It perches on an escarpment overlooking East Africa’s northern wilderness of wild mountains and deserts. This is a very special destination.

Rocky and Colin’s conservancy has excellent wildlife and you can explore the area by luxury safari vehicles, by day and night, and on foot. Alternatively, you may just want to relax by the stunning infinity pool and while away a couple of very happy days with a good book. In other words, you can be as active or as inactive as the mood takes you.

The Francombes have lived midst the Samburu tribe, the more traditional cousins of the more famous Masai tribe, for many years. Over this period they have struck long lasting relationships with these proud pastoral people and staying at Ol Malo gives you a very fine and rare opportunity to really see the Samburu in their element. Their Morani warriors will take you out on walks. They’ll skilfully lead you past the wildlife whilst at the same time introducing you to their folklore and their traditional knowledge of bush medicine.

For the children there is an extraordinary opportunity to engage with the Samburu L’chekuti’, the ‘children who look after the livestock in the pasture fields’. When they are not attending school or taking care of the livestock, Ol Malo encourages all children in the area aged between 4 and 10 years to come to the Sampiripiri Arts Workshop where they can paint and have fun. Over the years it has become clear that these children, who live in such a dry, brown landscape, love to paint with the cleanest, brightest primary colours.

To date more than 600 children have been kept healthy and happy due to this programme. The programme started with a handful of children in 1999, and now an average of 50 children attend the workshop every day, in rotation - over 300 children every week. On the day they attend the Ol Malo Sampiripiri Workshop each child is fed, receives a medical check-up, and goes home with a box of food to last until the following week. The Ol Malo Charitable Trust collects and preserves a number of the children’s paintings in the Ol Malo Arts Collection, thereby creating a record of their culture and environment through their own eyes. The Ol Malo Trust markets and sells a number of the works, to help raise money for the program.

 

 

 

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Day 8-10
Laragai Private House, Borana Conservancy

You’ll fly south by private charter across Laikipia to Laragai House.

The Laikipia region is a broad swathe of game rich grasslands and hills that reach Mount Kenya to one side and the wild deserts of the north to the other. Outside of the Maasai Mara, Laikipia can boast the greatest wildlife experiences in Kenya.

Your destination is Laragai House, the former private home of our friends, the legendary Cecil family. They have been heavily involved in Africa for many many years and Laragai House is very much a product of their love for the continent. Set on the edge of the Mokagodo escarpment, the house has the most spectacular views of both the Northern Frontier and Mount Kenya. This will be your base for the next couple of days and a better location or more suitable home does not exist.

The house herself is large and luxurious with a magnificent heated infinity pool and pool house. You’ll have it exclusively. There are spacious guest bedrooms, most with en suite bathrooms, a giant bath and super shower. The house also enjoys a decent tennis court.

The main focus of the house is a huge, baronial sitting room with great open, inglenook fireplaces at each end and a stunning deck that opens out over the escarpment. Beautifully decorated yet wonderfully cosy and comfortable, it is a fabulous place to kick back and relax. There is even a games and television room for those that want and an excellent masseuse who uses home produced organic essential oils.

The house is actually located on a large private conservancy called Borana. Borana has been the home of very close friends of ours the Dyer family since the 1920’s.

Having originally started the area as a cattle concern they all but hunted out the animals in the early days, as was typical for the era. In the last twenty years they have turned their energy to conservation and are now one of the country’s great success stories. They have a thriving predator population, copious herds of elephant and a plethora of plains game and smaller beasts. The game viewing in this region really is exceptional and you’ll go out each day to observe it both in custom built safari vehicles and on foot. You’ll also have a string of home reared ponies that are another wonderful way to explore the bush. We have horses to suit all riding standards.

One of the really magic qualities of Borana is that the ranch is an accredited member of the Eco Tourism Society of Kenya, is certified organic and it plays an extremely active role in regional conservation. Michael Dyer, the oldest son, spends much of his time working with community development initiatives on health, education and environmental initiatives. All retained revenue from Laragai goes directly back to conservation and community development.

We have also arranged for you to go on to the Lewa Conservancy where, with the support of various benefactors, Royal and otherwise, our friends the Craigs have become one of the country’s great conservation success stories. Having originally hunted out the rhino themselves, they now have over sixty, both black and white, on their property. They also have a thriving predator population and a plethora of plains game and smaller beasts. We’ll arrange for you to be able to visit the rhino orphans that are kept there – this a real treat for children and adult alike.

We can also arrange for you to visit local schools that we are involved in helping. This gives a marvellous opportunity for the kids to interact with other kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Day 11
Homeward bound or coastal extension as follows:

A charter plane will carry you to the provincial airstrip of Nanyuki to connect with the schedule to Nairobi where you’ll either have a dayroom at a hotel and can do any last minute shopping or you can connect with the pm flight to the Indian Ocean as an extension.

 

 

 

 

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Extension
Manda Bay, Lamu Archipelago

A plane will collect you from Wilson, Nairobi’s internal airport, and fly you across Eastern Kenya to the magic and beauty of the Indian Ocean.
After landing at the airstrip, it is a short 200 metre walk to the jetty where a speed boat awaits you to whisk you to your destination, the delightful Manda Bay.

Manda Bay is located on the North-Western tip of Manda Island, which forms one of the many unspoilt, idyllic islands found in the Lamu archipelago. It is run by good friends of ours. Surrounded by miles of soft white snd Manda Bay is the perfect retreat for families and honeymooners. The cottages are all in keeping with the local landscape and are constructed using local materials. Six of the rooms are set right on the seafront and five are set in-between and slightly behind on higher ground. All the cottages have large ceiling fans and en-suite bathrooms. They all have their own private veranda overlooking the Indian Ocean. The central dining and bar area is also crafted using Lamu furniture and overlooking the bay is a separate lounge area.

Manda Bay has its own completely fabulous, private 60ft traditional dhow “Utamaduni” which is excellent for use as a base for day sorties;  perhaps you fancy visiting nearby Pate island which is steeped in the history of the coast and has an extraordinary atmosphere of times long past. Naturally it makes for the perfect sundowner sailing experience as well.

It is also well worth making the speedboat trip across to Lamu Island. Lamu is an incredible island that resulted through a combination of trade and Islam. Trade provided wealth, Islam the requirement of canon law that Friday noon prayer be held in a mosque of permanently settled location. All the elements were there to build up a small city-state. Monsoon winds supplied the energy and the building materials of coral and mangrove were available on the shore. Lamu’s economy today is still dominated by fishing, mangrove cutting and shipbuilding.

The town of Lamu is a world heritage sight. With only one car on the island, owned by the District Commissioner and only able to drive up and down the quayside, the only traffic you may come across is a donkey winding its way down a lane carrying produce of some description.

As with all good safaris, the personal attention to detail is both discreet and attentive.

All the food is delicious and of course most of it comes fresh out of the ocean - freshly caught Tuna, Mangrove Crab or Prawns are the order of the day, but individual needs and flexible mealtimes are designed to fit in with your requirements.

Take your days as they come and how the mood suits you. Exploring nearby mangrove creeks and long-left ruins, visiting the many islets or deep sea fishing for the elusive Marlin or Sailfish are just a few of the great options. Marine life abounds with regular sightings of Dolphins, Turtles & the occasional Humpback whale. One can also windsurf, water ski and kayak – options abound. Please see invoice as to what is included and excluded in the price.

A really lovely thing about Manda is that all the family can enjoy the Robinson Crusoe lifestyle as beaches slope gently so there is easy, safe snorkelling and it being the Indian Ocean, the water is warm, gentle and clear.

Final Day        Homeward Bound

You’ll get the evening flight back up to Nairobi where you’ll be taken out to supper before being taken on to Jomo Kenyatta Airport for your homeward flight.

 

 

 

 

 

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Logistics

Payment

We require a deposit of 50% to confirm a booking. The balance is payable 90 days before planned departure date.

Owing to the small size of our trips, payment is non-refundable.  We recommend trip insurance to cover any unexpected cancellations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Days 2-4
Private Luxury Mobile Camp, Maasai Mara

After a slap up breakfast, you’ll be driven the short distance to Wilson, Nairobi’s internal airport, where you’ll climb aboard your plane for the hour flight across the Rift Valley and down to the Maasai Mara.

This reserve is one of Africa’s greatest parks though it suffers a rather unfair reputation for being crowded. This certainly does not have to be the case as we have built you your very own exclusive camp “under canvas” in a carefully selected, private area of the Mara. In custom made safari vehicles you’ll be able to extensively explore the wildlife teeming region.

This is the ultimate and most exclusive form of safari and you certainly will not be forfeiting on comfort or luxury. Best of all, luxury mobile camping is ecologically ideal as we leave no permanent fixtures and allow the environment to remain as pristine as we first found it. This is also a feature the kids will love both from an excitement point of view and from the fact that the staff will spoil them rotten. There will always be someone to kick a football, bake a pizza with or play volleyball with while Mum and Dad have a siesta. We will also provide nannies on request.

Each tent is set with campaign furniture and hand woven rugs in warm organic colours to blend in with the environment. Your personal tent steward will make sure that the Egyptian cotton sheets on your large, comfortable bed are freshly ironed and that a hot water bottle is slipped beneath your duvet on a chilly night. While you are at supper, he will have turned down your bed, slipped in a hot water bottle and drawn around your mosquito net.

The arched windows and the front entrance of your tent feature special netting to allow the breeze to pass through your tent when you are resting without you being bothered by occasional insects. On your verandah are two director’s chairs and a butler table for you to enjoy a drink whilst catching up with your book or watch animals wending their way across the savannah.

Your tent steward will be at hand to make sure that your naval bucket shower is mixed to the perfect temperature for whatever time of day or night you choose to bathe. You have a fully flushing, ceramic toilet and even running water in your basin.

Your tent attendant will also take care of your laundry which will be delivered, weather permitting, to your tent each evening, pressed beautifully by an old fashioned charcoal iron. He will also take any shoes that require cleaning in the evening returning them to you with your morning tea or coffee.

Your tent is solar powered so that you have two bright bedside reading lamps and an overhead light in your bedroom and bathroom that you can switch on or off by remote control from the comfort of your bed.

Three main meals are served each day. The best safari plan is that played by ear so we will improvise to suit your schedule and will even prepare delicious picnics for you to take with you in to the bush if you so choose.

Otherwise meals are taken in our large candle lit mess tent. There is a small reference library for you to browse and a variety of board games for the competitive spirit. 

Our delicious meals are prepared with the very freshest ingredients and we will gladly observe any special dietary preferences. Our expert cooks take full advantage of vegetables and salads that are in season and are up before anyone else in camp to bake the finest breads and pastries for your breakfast.

House Wines, house spirits, beers and soft drinks are included in the tariff and we are able to source a number of cellar wines and spirits at your request. All are served in the finest crystal glass with a clink of ice - a welcome luxury in the bush.

We involve as many community initiatives as possible. For example, we have Rwandan refugees hand crafting our rugs and bed covers; we have a group of Samburu ladies making our leatherwork and beading our furnishings; we have Maasai and Samburu warriors to keep watch in the camp at night.

The wildlife is abundant and the swaying grasslands ensure that animals are never out of sight. Elephants browse amongst the large herds of wildebeest and topi, eland and buffalo, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle. The plains offer a rich variety of food for the dominant predators: lion; leopard; hyena and cheetah. In the Mara River, hippos submerge to snort and grumble while crocodiles sunbathe, mouths agape, on the riverbanks.

There are also options for a morning balloon safari:

As the balloon is inflated against the first rays of sunrise your pilot will go through safety procedures.  It’s then time to climb aboard.  Once aloft, the balloon floats gently over the plains, giving a bird’s eye view of the game below as the sun creeps slowly over the horizon. 

After around one hour the balloon lands and nearby breakfast is already being prepared with a glass of champagne to kick start your morning.