An African safari built to show you Kenya through its landmark parks, its shifting landscapes and a rhythm that balances exploration, rest and wildlife.
Before you settle on dates, read the best time of year to travel and what Kenya offers through the year.
The map follows the day you are reading: the route, how far you drive each day and where you can stop to buy supplies before entering a park.
Airport welcome and private transfer to the Best Western Plus Meridian Hotel. A day to recover from the international flight.
The country's gateway and the only large city on the route. Jomo Kenyatta airport sits 15 km from the centre.
Road transfer
Nairobi → Naivasha
Drive through the Great Rift Valley in a 4×4 Land Cruiser. Boat trip on the lake to watch birds and hippo, then a cycling safari through Hell's Gate National Park, among volcanic rock formations.
A freshwater lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley, with hippo and more than 400 bird species.
The road leaves Nairobi across the highlands and drops down the Great Rift Valley escarpment. It is the short leg of the trip and the one with the first big view: have the camera to hand before the viewpoint, not buried in a bag.
Where to stock up along the way
Nairobi
The only large city on the trip. This is where you change money, buy a local SIM card and sort out anything still outstanding.
Great Rift Valley viewpoint
The classic stop on the way down the escarpment, with craft stalls and the first wide view of the valley. There is no supermarket.
Naivasha
A lakeside town with supermarkets and pharmacies along the main road.
Road transfer
Naivasha → Lake Nakuru
Transfer to Lake Nakuru and a photographic game drive, with rhino, birdlife, lion, giraffe and leopard.
A fenced park around an alkaline lake. It is a sanctuary for both white and black rhino.
A short, paved leg along the valley floor. Nakuru is a large city: if you are missing anything from a pharmacy or need cash, it is the last comfortable chance before the north.
Where to stock up along the way
Naivasha
A lakeside town with supermarkets and pharmacies along the main road.
Nakuru
Kenya's fourth city. The last place with large pharmacies and several cash machines before heading north.
Road transfer
Lake Nakuru → Ol Pejeta
Drive to Ol Pejeta, in the Mount Kenya region. Game drive in the conservancy, home to a black rhino sanctuary and rescued chimpanzees, with a real chance of the Big Five.
A private conservancy at the foot of Mount Kenya, cut in two by the equator. A sanctuary for rhino and for rescued chimpanzees.
You skirt the Aberdare range to the north and cross the equator just before arriving: Ol Pejeta is cut in two by it. It is a good three hours of mountain road, so you set off early.
Where to stock up along the way
Nakuru
Kenya's fourth city. The last place with large pharmacies and several cash machines before heading north.
Nyahururu
A highland town on the road to Nanyuki. A technical stop to stretch your legs and fill up.
Road transfer
Ol Pejeta → Samburu
North into semi-arid country for a photographic game drive among reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, beisa oryx, lion, leopard and elephant.
A semi-arid reserve on the Ewaso Ng'iro river. Home to the five northern species you will not see in the savannah.
Samburu sits some 900 metres lower than the rest of the route: the landscape shifts from savannah to semi-desert and the temperature climbs noticeably. Nanyuki is the last town with a supermarket; past Isiolo there is nowhere to buy anything.
Where to stock up along the way
Nanyuki
A town at the foot of Mount Kenya, right on the equator. It has supermarkets and outdoor shops: the best place to restock before Samburu.
Isiolo
The last town before entering Samburu. Past here, the shops run out.
No transfer: a full day in Samburu.
Game drive at first light, breakfast and a slow morning. Afternoon drive exploring different corners of the reserve.
Road transfer
Samburu → Nairobi
Overland return by Land Cruiser, roughly six to seven hours, and transfer to the airport for the flight home.
The country's gateway and the only large city on the route. Jomo Kenyatta airport sits 15 km from the centre.
The long day of the itinerary: six to seven hours on the Mount Kenya road, with technical stops in Isiolo and Nanyuki. If your flight home leaves at night, you head out of the reserve after breakfast.
Where to stock up along the way
Isiolo
The last town before entering Samburu. Past here, the shops run out.
Nanyuki
A town at the foot of Mount Kenya, right on the equator. It has supermarkets and outdoor shops: the best place to restock before Samburu.
What is already taken care of in this package. International flights and insurance are quoted separately.
Wildlife and landscapes from the parks and reserves on this itinerary.
Four steps to a finished itinerary. None of them commits you to anything.
01
Rough dates, how many are travelling and what you would like to see. That is enough to start: the exact itinerary comes later, not first.
02
We set up calls before the trip to clear up doubts and decide with the full picture: accommodation category, pace of the route and what to expect from each park on those dates.
03
The day-by-day itinerary, with the actual lodges and the price per person. Reviewed with you, with nothing buried in the fine print.
04
We change whatever needs changing until it fits. Payment can be made in interest-free instalments, and we are with you before, during and after the trip.
Send us your dates and how many are travelling and we will put together a proposal for The Wild North of Kenya, explained clearly from start to finish.
