Wildlife & Wilderness
Wildlife and Wilderness (14 days/ 13 nights)
Day 1: The uneven peaks of the Ngong Hills, the famous mountains whose slopes hosted the famed “Out of Africa” love affair, hem the sunset of your first night in Kenya. On the veranda of Hogmead, a cosy country house fringed by a giraffe sanctuary, you might encounter the host, Jay McLeod, ensconced by the fireplace to welcome you and amuse you with his inexhaustible tales of Africana.
Day 2: Before you know it, the highlands of Rwanda spike up beneath your plane. At Parc des Volcanoes, you’ll begin your quest for the contented gorilla families that inhabit these mountains. In the sunken garden of Virunga Lodge, you find yourself in the midst of a panorama of volcanoes, far from the bustle of Kigali.
Day 3 & 4: Adjust your eyes to the shadows of the forest as you hike the trails surrounded by furtive wildlife – buffalo, golden monkeys and elephant lurk in the undergrowth. You’ll encounter the enigmatic gorillas, munching leaves and shaking the canopy as they move through the branches.
Day 5: A sombre reminder of the violence the Rwandan people inflicted on each other, the Genocide Museum will teach you about what happened in and around Kigali in the harrowing year of 1994. But you’ll fly out, over streets restored to order and peace, towards Mount Kenya.
Day 6 – 7: Loisaba, on Laikipia Plateau, is a working ranch where a natural balance between wildlife and farmed livestock is maintained. In the saddle, you’ll ride close to herds of elephant, zebra, impala and Thompson’s Gazelle. You can also burn some energy as you explore this vast wilderness; quad-bike, mountain-bike, kayak or hike through the thousands of fecund acres. Drive out as the sun sets to see the stars come into being. This innovative lodge encourages you to gaze at the firmament from your pillow in its Star Beds – suspended above the swirling Ewaso N’giro river, with only a pale gauze between you and the cosmos.
Day 8 & 9: Sway across the escarpment in harmony with the gait of your camel train to Ol Malo House. Resident guide and astute tracker Andrew Fracombe will lead you in pursuit of wild dogs and prides of lions on foot through dense bush. Intensify the thrill of the wild by spending the night in the Leopard Blind, audaciously close to these nocturnal cats. And when you’ve tested the thresholds of your daring, release the tension with a massage in the infinity pool while you survey the wide, wild horizon.
Day 10 – 12: Fly away, cross the equator and find yourself in the heart of Maasailand. In this private conservancy within Amboseli National Park, you’ll have exclusive access to roam 275,000 acres beyond the Chyulu Hills as guests of Richard Bonham at Ol Donyo Lodge. Galloping towards the sunrise across the savannah, you’ll spy Kilimanjaro on a clear morning. In log-jam hide the cheetahs, lions and wildebeest will amuse you with their antics without being aware of your presence. Dine in the lantern light of the wide veranda before retiring to your room with its private plunge pool.
Day 13 & 14: Finally, back in Nairobi, you can browse the local galleries and craft shops for safari mementos. The little orphaned elephants, cared for by the Sheldrick Trust will pose playfully for your last reel of film. At the boutique Karen hotel, Giraffe Manor, you find yourself gazing yet again at the now familiar backdrop of the imposing Ngongs. The endless neck of the rare Rothschild’s Giraffe seems to extend beyond the gabled roof of this 1930s former family home. The diffident warthogs shoot their tails vertically in the air and dash in to the scrub as you bid them farewell, but it’s only because they are sad to see you go.