Kenya
Community-owned wilderness and East Africa's first black rhino tracking on foot
Sera is a community-owned conservancy in the arid lands east of Samburu, and it represents one of the more significant conservation stories in northern Kenya. In 2015 black rhino were returned to community land here for the first time in decades, and Sera became the first place in East Africa where visitors can track black rhino on foot with the rangers who protect them. The country is raw and empty — rocky ridges, dry riverbeds and thorn scrub running to the horizon — and visitor numbers are very low. It is a destination for travellers who have already seen the classic parks and want something wilder and more remote.
Black rhino are the reason to come. The conservancy also holds elephant, reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, beisa oryx, gerenuk and lion, though densities are lower than in the national reserves and sightings require patience and good tracking.
June to October and December to March, when the country is driest and tracking conditions are best. It is hot throughout the year.
June–October and December–March.
Two nights minimum given the distance involved, and three is better if rhino tracking is the main reason for going.
Sera is normally reached via Samburu and appears on longer, more specialised luxury northern routes that finish in the Greater Maasai Mara.
Go there
1 route in the Citrus catalogue include Sera Conservancy.
Planning questions
Yes — Sera was the first conservancy in East Africa to offer it, guided by the community rangers who monitor the animals. Whether a tracking walk succeeds on any given day depends on rhino movements, wind and conditions.
