Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Ol Pejeta is a private, non-profit conservancy on the Laikipia plateau, with Mount Kenya rising to the east and the Aberdare range to the south. It holds the largest black rhino population in East Africa and is the only place in Kenya where chimpanzees can be seen — not as native wildlife, but at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, which gives refuge to animals rescued from the black market in West and Central Africa. It is also where the last two northern white rhino on earth are protected under continuous armed guard. Because it is private land rather than a national park, Ol Pejeta permits activities that reserves do not: night drives, guided walks, lion tracking and, at some properties, horseback riding.

Why visit Ol Pejeta

• The largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, with white rhino also present in good numbers.
• Home of the last two northern white rhino in the world, protected around the clock.
• Night drives, guided bush walks and lion tracking, which national parks do not allow.
• The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, a refuge for rescued chimpanzees from outside Kenya.

Wildlife

Black and white rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah and buffalo, along with Jackson's hartebeest, Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe and large herds of plains game. The conservancy runs working cattle alongside wildlife, which is central to its conservation model. Chimpanzees at Sweetwaters are rescued animals in a sanctuary and are not wild Kenyan wildlife.

• The largest black rhino population in East Africa
• The last two northern white rhino on earth
• Lion, leopard and cheetah on open Laikipia grassland
• Grevy's zebra and reticulated giraffe at the southern edge of their range
• Rescued chimpanzees at the Sweetwaters sanctuary

Best time to visit

Good year-round thanks to the altitude and reliable grazing. June to October and January to March are driest. Mount Kenya is most often clear early in the morning.

Year-round; June–October and January–March are driest.

Things to do

Game drives

Day drives across open Laikipia grassland, with Mount Kenya on the skyline.

Night drives

Possible because this is private conservancy land — good for aardvark, porcupine and hunting predators.

Guided bush walks

On foot with an armed guide, at a pace that reveals tracks and smaller species.

Chimpanzee sanctuary visit

A visit to Sweetwaters, usually an optional separately paid activity.

Rhino tracking

Conservation-led activities focused on the conservancy's rhino programme.

How long to stay

Two nights makes proper use of the conservancy's extra activities. One night works as a stop between Samburu and the Rift Valley lakes.

What it combines with

Ol Pejeta sits between Samburu and Lake Nakuru and is the usual middle leg on a northern Kenyan circuit that ends in the Maasai Mara.