Travel reviews by Ms A. from Manchester

"For both my landing night room and my day room before departure, Four Points was quick to check-in and very helpful with the shuttle to the airport for departure.

Rooms were very clean and quiet. The free bottles of water in the room are excellent for avoiding tap water.

This is a convenient stop between the international airport and Wilson."

"Everything about Lewa Wilderness is top notch, from the rooms to the staff and guides to the food and the view. I expected it to be excellent and had high expectations and I was very happy that I was blown away by my time here.

The hillside cottages are huge, well-appointed and very comfortable. Beds are comfortable and covered with mosquito netting. I loved both coming back at the end of the day to a fire in my fireplace and also sitting out on the balcony midday reading or napping in the sun.

There are various activities on offer here. I did mostly game drives, including a night drive which did not disappoint (successful leopard hunt!) but I also did a walk and visited the camp’s garden. The walk was far more strenuous than I was prepared for, and I only went up, not down, the very tall hill across from the hillside cottages. Reminder that you’re already at 5600 feet altitude before you make the decision to “walk” up that hill!

Meals here are spectacular, and no wonder. Lewa Wilderness is trying to be self-sustaining with their fruit, veg and even some fish. A visit to their very impressive garden speaks to that commitment. Harry the chef has grand ideas and plans that he will no doubt deliver on, but in the meantime every meal has the freshest, tastiest ingredients put together in very inventive ways. I ate a LOT but it was extremely well done!

Game drives are wonderful and really what drew me here. I so wanted to see rhino in their natural environment, and Johnson really delivered on that in spades, as well as most of the northern five and big five (for those who keep track of that sort of thing!). He is a very skilled guide, fun to spend long days with and eager to share his knowledge. I really enjoyed my time with him. How he found some of those lions in such tall grass remains a mystery!

Moosh, the camp manager, sets the tone from the top with a welcoming, positive atmosphere. Everyone I encountered followed through on that. I can’t thank them enough for a wonderful stay!"

"Even having visited two other Kicheche camps, I still felt as though I was getting a unique experience at Kicheche Laikipia. Sure, it maintains the same high quality accommodation and experience, but it also has its own unique aspects that make it stand out.

The tents and common areas are set around a watering hole, at which it seemed Anita the camp manager managed to schedule daily lunch performances by herds of elephants each day. Uncannily, just as we sat to eat each day, here came the elephants. And the staff were just as excited and interested in them as we were.

Anita brings her years of experience to the camp and fosters positivity among the staff which results in a positive guest experience. I felt she really cares for the team and they respect her enormously. As a solo traveler, I was honored to eat with her for a few meals (this camp did not do communal dining while I was there…I could go either way on that) and learned quite a bit about the camp, the area and her history, all of which was enormously entertaining.

The game drives here were simply wonderful. I came here to see the rhinos as I’d only had experience with them in Nairobi National Park before. We found them and in very good numbers and they were always so relaxed and calm, which was good to see. Peter is an outstanding guide. He was born and raised locally and is so proud of Ol Pejeta. His knowledge of the wildlife, the particular individuals and their histories adds to the experience. I’d been warned not to expect either cheetah or leopards in Ol Pejeta, “they’re just not seen” everyone told me. Yet, somehow Peter and I found them both within 2 days! First a big male leopard after our sundowners casually strolling the road and then a male cheetah, all on our own. What was notable though is Peter was just as excited about it as I was, maybe more so! That’s the kind of guide I want to be with, every single time! Kicheche has a gem in Peter!

One significant point about game driving here is I saw almost no other vehicles the entire time we were out. For the cheetah, we notified another Kicheche vehicle, and that was it. It is so peaceful and relaxing, especially if you are used to the craziness found at other places. It also allows you to just sit at a sighting and take it in, without feeling like you’re crowding or otherwise disturbing the wildlife.

The tents are very comfortable and spacious, as all Kicheche tents are. I enjoyed my view of the watering hole. It’s a bonus to have in-tent charging for phone and batteries 24x7 as well as potable water all the time in reusable bottles.

I will most definitely return, it was a most memorable three days."

"Full disclosure, I’m a repeat guest of Kicheche Valley and when I put this itinerary together with Richard, it was the only “sure thing” I knew I wanted. I so enjoyed my time here last year that I needed to return, and I’m so glad I did.

Kicheche’s accommodations are excellent. The tents are large and well-appointed. No bucket showers here. 24x7 in-room charging stations, new ceiling fans, fresh drinking water for your reusable bottle. Absolutely no complaints at all!

Kicheche honored my request for Twala as a guide again and I’m thankful they did! I had amazing sightings with Twala last year and I did again this time. Things were made much more difficult with the heavy rains, flooding, mud and all that that does to wildlife, making sightings that should be easy a bit more difficult. Never mind though, Twala still delivered….mother cheetah with 4 cubs, mother leopard with a little cub, mother lion with 3 cubs, large lion pride of 15+…the list goes on. I was spoiled for choice (it’s a tough call when you have to decide between cheetah cubs and leopard cub on the same drive!).

Twala is very personable and experienced. He knows the wildlife really well and knows how to find them even when rangers can’t! He also has an innate sense of how the cats in particular will move. I was well positioned for photos a couple times as we waited for lions to come out of deep bush or leopard to come down out of a tree. It only makes my photos that much better!

One “above and beyond” story though…on my first night, the camp inadvertently forgot to pack the gin for my sundowner. No worries, I will just drink my water, I said. Twala snuck away for a couple minutes while the rest of us were chatting and watching the sun go down and within 10 minutes another Kicheche vehicle pulled up with my gin. He didn’t have to make that happen, but he did. That’s the kind of thing that makes a difference.

A special note about the chef here…he does a wonderful job with feeding vegetarians! I ate better than I do when I cook for myself and with a lot of very inventive dishes. I hope to be motivated enough to try to replicate them myself.

I’m already planning next time, and Kicheche Valley is already on my itinerary."

"For both my landing night room and my day room before departure, Four Points was quick to check-in and very helpful with the shuttle to the airport for departure.

Rooms were very clean and quiet. The free bottles of water in the room are excellent for avoiding tap water.

This is a convenient stop between the international airport and Wilson."

"Four Points Nairobi Airport is extremely convenient upon landing and as a day room (I was there as a guest for both purposes). It is not even 5 minutes from the international terminal, and within airport security, so it cuts down on the inconvenience of having to go through the perimeter security.

As with any other Four Points, it is pretty non-descript and standard accommodation. It was clean and comfortable, and I slept well and had a good shower, about all I had time for the night I landed before heading out on safari 6 hours later. For my day room, I also ate at a hotel restaurant which was convenient and good. I did notice it to be quite loud in the room though, hearing noise from neighboring rooms and in the hallway, so light sleepers should take note. No noise at all from the airport, which is remarkable!"

"My only regret about my stay at Laikipia was that I didn't stay longer. The time I had available for safari only afforded me 2 nights there. I wish I had at least one or two more.

Laikipia Wilderness is a very comfortable camp, ideally located near the river (but not on it) and not as flashy as some other safari camps but still pretty nice. My tent was huge with a nice double bed and a day bed out on the veranda where I'd pretend to read (nap!) during midday siestas. There was an outdoor bathroom, my first, that was pretty cool. Everything was clean, tidy and really comfortable. My first night there was quite loud, with a nearby hyena den being quite active and leopards going through camp as well as lions roaring nearby.

The draw for me here was leopards, and in particular the melanistic leopard, and I was lucky enough to see the melanistic leopard on 3 out of 4 game drives. I also saw a very large male leopard on one night drive. Lots of plains game and some of the Northern Five. I heard a lot of lions but we never found them while I was there (other guests did). The foliage is quite low to the ground and tough to navigate and see through, not open like the Mara is. The wild dogs had been in the area the day before my arrival, but did not surface again while I was there (we tried radio pinging the collared ones, to no avail).

Simon was my guide and he was excellent. He knew what cats and particularly the leopards meant to me and he bent over backwards to deliver on the sightings. He was great to chat with too; I learned a lot about guiding and his experience in Laikipia. I would definitely request him again if I return to LWC.

The food here is great. As a vegetarian I ate very well. I like the camp's schedule of a small bit of breakfast to get you going pre-sunrise and a proper brunch around 11:30. No stopping in the middle of a game drive mid-morning for breakfast. That works out really well!

I think there is a lot more on offer here than just game drives. Had I had more time perhaps I would have walked or done something else, but my focus was really on the cats."

"Oh how I wish I'd had longer at Sarara, but not for the reasons one might think. Beyond the wildlife, Sarara is much more a cultural experience. It's one of the only opportunities I've had to really immerse myself in a tribal culture. In retrospect I wish I'd given up a game drive and instead done more cultural activities.

Driving to Sarara is a game drive in itself and in my opinion, all the game you're going to see on a game drive, you'll see driving to and from camp. What a game drive offers you is the opportunity to really slow down, process what you're seeing, learn from your guide, and maybe even get out of the vehicle and walk around. We tried to track down a cicada so I could see where all the noise was coming from! I also noticed, for the first time in 6 safaris, that giraffes both swallow down their cud and pull it back up to keep chewing...and you can see it moving up and down via their neck muscles. I was fascinated...how did I not notice this before? And one highlight of a game drive for me was sundowners in a dry river bed, it was like a beach with no water, just really very cool.

Lions and leopards are around, though not often seen. On a walk, we saw fresh tracks of at least two lions and two leopards right behind camp. Boris the resident bull elephant gets up close and personal, as I found out one afternoon as I sat and watched him from the bench in my tent and he was not 6 feet away, happily munching away on branches!

The cultural activities I did were memorable: a visit to Singing Wells (impossible to describe, just go!), a visit to Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, a beading session with two local women, a village visit, and an early morning hike behind camp up into the hills with my Samburu guide. I could have also gone to a local school and done some blacksmith work with a local man. I wish I had time to! Everything I did was so worthwhile, and I learned so much. It was worth every minute of my time!

The "tents" are unlike any I've had anywhere else. More like a cottage with screened walls. They are huge and have flaps opening to the front, which overlooked the valley and the sunrise each morning. The balcony had a daybed and small table and chairs and I'd have my coffee and biscuits there to watch the sun rise. The bed was comfortable and it was nice to sleep with the front flaps open to let cooler air in; it is so hot here in February! There is an indoor toilet, but the shower is outside via a rocky path to a separate area (fenced in so no human or creature can see you). It was glorious! This is a type of luxury I'm not used to on safari, but well worth it. I'd return in a heartbeat.

Robert the camp manager is a gem. He prevails over dinner and is the ultimate host. He made me (solo traveler) feel part of any group and made sure every whim was catered to. The food here is amazing, as a vegetarian I ate extremely well.

My most important takeaway though was learning from a fellow guest about the Sarara Foundation and all the work they do to support the Samburu in the area and the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. It is amazing, and very important, work, and now part of my charitable giving. I so enjoyed my time here, and that was due to the very significant efforts of my guide Daniel, manager Robert, Rashida and all of the other staff here, all local Samburu. I can't thank them enough."

"After 4 other times to the Mara, this was my first time at a Kicheche camp. I was enticed by Kicheche's reputation for high quality guiding and catering to photographers. While not a professional, I enjoy wildlife photography and wanted to take advantage of a guide's eye to better my photos.

I'd been to Olare Motorogi Conservancy many years ago, so I'm aware of how dense with big cats it is. And even now, it does not disappoint. I had several sightings of lions (large prides and lots of cubs), several cheetah and one gorgeous female leopard as well as a tiny leopard cub. For those not as cat-hungry as I am, there is plenty of other game around, from elephants, zebras, wildebeest, eland, etc. There's really never a moment here when you're not seeing anything interesting. But the cats *really* don't disappoint!

Dido was the camp manager when I visited and he is a great host and made me feel welcome and comfortable right away. Meals were excellent and I was very well taken care of as a vegetarian.

The tent was large and comfortable. In room power for charging batteries 24/7 is very helpful. Great showers (not bucket showers!) and bathroom area were clean and comfortable. There are toiletries (shampoo/conditioner, lotion, laundry powder) available so no need to pack your own.

Benja was my guide and while he was friendly and knew a lot, almost all of our sightings were from following other Kicheche vehicles, so we'd always be the third or fourth vehicle on a sighting. Only twice did we find something on our own, and then he'd call the other vehicles who showed up right away. This was not the case at the other Kicheche camp I stayed at, so I don't think this is usual practice. That said, I still saw a ton of cats and excellent sightings at that.

One issue I had was with another Kicheche Bush guide who, on the sighting of the female leopard, cut her off as she started to stalk an impala. We'd moved away from her to watch the hunt from afar, and he drove his vehicle literally into the bush where she'd started her approach. She abandoned the hunt at that point. The next day, the same guide showed up at a lone leopard cub sighting we were on and while we were nearly 100 yards out (binoculars barely picked this cub up), he pulled right underneath where it was perched on a rock waiting for its mother, spooking it back into the rocks. This isn't behavior I'd expect to see in the conservancies or from a Kicheche guide. I let camp management and Expert Africa know because I was very disappointed.

All in all, it was an excellent return to Olare Motorogi but for the two sightings I mention above."

"My new home away from home in the Mara! I'd visited Naboisho Conservancy several years ago at another camp and was eager to see how it had changed in the interim. To say Naboisho is wall to wall lions is an understatement! When I was there for 3 days, I saw over 65 individual lions! There are a few very large prides here, lots of young lions and several gorgeous males. I saw lions mating, lions fighting, lions playing, lions eating, lions sleeping. I spent nearly 90 minutes just watching a pride of almost adult lions playing and roughhousing, play fighting, and it was the highlight of my trip.

Twala was my guide here and while I thought I knew all I needed to know about safari, he taught me so much more. His patience and resourcefulness is top notch. He knows the resident wildlife here extremely well so can find cats based on what he knows about them from seeing them every day. He worked hard to find leopard for the couple I shared a vehicle with, but there are so many lions in Naboisho right now, that both leopard and cheetah are somewhat harder to find than in conservancies with fewer lions. I would definitely love to game drive with Twala again. We were on so many sightings just on our own, quietly enjoying the scene as it unfolded in front of us. It was heavenly! And my photos speak for his skill at lining up wildlife, light and action. Definitely a winner!

Minnie the camp manager is a gem. I don't think I've ever met a sweeter person and I truly believe she cares for each and every guest. She anticipates every need before I even know I need it! She must inspire her team well because every one of them was smiling, greeting me by name and eager to look after me from the minute I arrived.

The tent is very similar to the other Kicheche tent I was in. Well appointed, in room wifi and power for charging batteries, comfortable bed, a very welcome floor fan (it is hot here in February!), toiletries (shampoo/conditioner, lotion, laundry powder), in room water cooler, boots and umbrellas for rainy days. I loved the view over the valley here and enjoyed time in the common area as much as my own tent. It's really an amazing location.

I can't thank the team at Kicheche Valley enough for a perfect ending to my safari. I look forward to returning to Kicheche Valley!!"