After leaving our first port of call, Sweetwaters, at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy we were met by Andrew from Kicheche Laikipia Camp. Andrew is a great ambassador for Kicheche camps and set the standard for the rest of our trip, being a delightful and knowledgeble person. He just showed us what care Kicheche put in to choosing their staff!
Kicheche Laikipia Camp
The safari camp itself is charming with gorgeously stylish and spacious tents in beautiful surroundings. The safari camp managers Andy and Sonja Webb are, in my opinion, amongst the top managers to be found anywhere in Africa. I first met them in Zimbabwe (Spurwing Island, Lake Kariba) in 1994 so we do go waaaay back together but there are other reasons for my recommendation too. Andy is a top class guide and naturalist and Sonja excels as a chef and helps with formulating the menus and food ideas not only for Kicheche Laikipia but the other camps as well.
We went off to explore those wonderful surroundings on an afternoon game drive with the very knowledgeable Andrew. I was so delighted when we came upon a female black rhino with calf being shadowed by a male black rhino. They never allowed us to get close and I felt the rhino ‘trio’ were very much in charge of how much they allowed us to encroach into their personal space. This was truly my ultimate highlight out of all the game viewing I did throughout my trip to Kenya. There was just something about that little rhino family that made such an impression on me. Even beating my later sightings of the Big Five – many within close range too.
I would like to mention also the visit of Giles Preetejohn who came to camp that evening and gave us a fascinating talk about Ol Pejeta. Giles is the Ol Pejeta Boran cattle manager and he explained how well the agricultural side of the conservancy is working with tourism. Giles is very personable, knowledgeble and charming and has the added advantage of being a fourth generation Kenyan, born and bred in the country.
Serena Mountain Lodge
After a good nights sleep I headed off. My next stop was a completely different experience altogether as I headed off to the Serena Mountain Lodge on the slopes of Mount Kenya. After a three hour drive we started climbing up through the forested foothills of this most significant mountain when the rain started. It is obvious that the area gets a fairly high percentage of rain as the landscape is so green, lush and fertile which gives the area its serene beauty and its cool climate, a welcome relief from the savannah heat.
The Serena Mountain Lodge is a tree lodge built up high on stilts. Treehouse hotels and lodges are few and far between but offer unparalleled game viewing from their high vantage points. There are a couple of others in Kenya including Treetops and The Ark but Mountain Lodge is the most spacious of all. The rooms are en suite with balconies facing the floodlit waterhole and they all offer consistently good game viewing.
My afternoon at Mountain Lodge was spent on a very interesting guided forest walk. We were all kitted out in wellingtons and long hooded raincoats appropriate for our weather that day! Our guide was Benson, an absolute mine of information and he led us through the forest explaining about the flora and fauna of the forest. He also told us about the history of the area and the Mau Mau rebellion (1953-1956) when Mount Kenya had featured strongly as a stronghold for the Kikuyu tribe. We all enjoyed a suprising “tea break” in a clearing in the middle of the forest where we had a choice of either ‘brown’ or ‘white’ milk?? Brown milk was in fact brandy which made for the liveliest tea I have ever drunk! The local bird life very excellent and we spotted many different species as well as small adapted forest antelope such duiker, bush buck, and a large family of Sykes monkey swinging in the trees.
We all gathered again for supper before enjoying a talk given by Benson in the theatre. Later on a couple of us decided to go ‘night game viewing’ and we took the underground tunnel to the special hide which is set about 15 yards in front of the lodge. It was fascinating watching the animals through the bars of the hide at ground level as they wandered past totally unaware of our presence. We spotted male and female waterbuck, a very busy mongoose, spring hare, bushbuck etc. One of the great options at Mountain Lodge is that you can ask the night ranger to let you know if any leopard were sighted overnight and they will wake you up especially. All guests are given this option but as it happened, on this night, the local leopards were keeping a low profile.
Posted by Lily.
