Laikipia Kenya’s Rift Valley Conservancy Area

One of the perfect places for a camelback safari, the Laikipia Plateau is a perfect wildlife destination to visit on your Kenya safari holiday tours. This is also one of the significant rhino sanctuaries, and it also has elephants, buffalos, cheetahs, lions, and leopards.

With more than 500 bird species, this place will dwell in your heart for years to come. You can also head for drives and walks with the guides and if you are looking for some adventure activities, you can experience lion tracking. There are also traditional villages that you can visit and get to know more about the place and history. If you are on a tour to Kenya, do not miss out on this safari destination.

Laikipia County lies directly north of Nairobi, and has a fascinating history of myriad people, from all walks of life, finding their way here. Many of these settled here to farm, with vast expanses of land being put aside for cattle ranching or coffee plantations. What absolutely fascinated me during my time here was the coexistence of domesticated animals and the wild. Livestock roams freely, while lions watch lazily from the shade beneath the umbrella-thorn (or Acacia tortilis) trees that dot the undulating landscape.

The views across the land will quite simply take your breath away, with the scenery quite unlike anything I had ever seen before. The contrast to the Masai Mara National Reserve was surreal. Where before there had been rolling stretches of green, grassy plains and the snaking Mara River, now there were groves of fever trees, rolling hills, and rocky outcrops. The excitement of discovering as yet unseen animals around every corner was palpable.

Where to go in Laikipia Kenya

Solio Rhino conservancy

Providing repose, Solio Reserve and Conservancy is considered to be one of the best reserves where you can spot innumerable black and white rhinos that are preserved here. The only lodge in a conservancy, it offers a unique experience with abundant spotting of wildlife.

Loisaba Conservancy

Loisaba is a 57,000-acre private protected wildlife conservancy and working ranch located in the Northern Laikipia rift valley zone in East Africa’s safari paradise destination Kenya. The conservancy has two permanent rivers and abundant permanent springs making Loisaba a top safari destination for wildlife throughout the year.

Lewa Conservancy

While this massive 222-sq-km conservancy, just south of Isiolo, could boast about its luxury lodges, stunning scenery, and astounding wildlife activities, it’d rather talk about its community and conservation projects, which invest around 70% of its annual US$2.5-million-plus budget into health care, education and various community projects for surrounding villages. Remaining funds for further conservation and security projects.

Borana conservancy

One of the longest-standing conservancies in the area, the Borana cattle ranch (now the Borana Conservancy), owned by the Dyer family for three generations, turned its focus onto wildlife and community projects in 1992. The Conservancy offers many activities, including mountain biking and wildlife viewing, but you’ll have to stay at the Lodge to take part.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Ol Pejeta Conservancy was once one of the largest cattle ranches in Kenya but is now a 365-sq-km, privately-owned wildlife reserve. It markets itself as the closest place to Nairobi where you can see the Big Five and possesses a full palette of African plains wildlife, including a healthy population of rhinos.

When to visit the Laikipia plateau

You can go on safari at Laikipia Plateau year-round. But in terms of the weather, the Dry season (June to September) – along with a period of diminished rainfall at the end/beginning of the year (December to February) – is the best time to visit.