Rhino Country to Samburu

North of the equator the palette changes. Red earth, doum palms, and a river that dictates everything. You track black rhino on foot at Ol Pejeta and meet the last two northern white rhino on the planet. At Sasaab you sit above the Ewaso Ng'iro with a plunge pool and Samburu guides, looking for gerenuk standing on hind legs to browse. Then Namunyak, where a Samburu-run orphanage releases elephant calves back into 850,000 acres.

Best months

June to October and December to March. Northern Kenya sits above the migration calendar entirely, so timing here is about rainfall rather than herds. Laikipia and Samburu run hot and dry from June, with the Ewaso Ng'iro drawing everything to its banks. The green months of November and April bring dramatic light and very low occupancy.

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Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Day by day.

• Day 1 Nairobi

  Arrive and orientate

  Jomo Kenyatta arrival, transfer to Hemingways Nairobi. Afternoon at the Karen Blixen Museum or the Kazuri bead workshop. Guide briefing over dinner covering the northern circuit ahead.

• Day 2 Ol Pejeta Conservancy

  The last two northern whites

  Safarilink Wilson to Nanyuki, 45 minutes, then a 40-minute drive to Ol Pejeta Bush Camp. Afternoon with Najin and Fatu, the last two northern white rhino, and the chimpanzee sanctuary.

• Day 3 Ol Pejeta

  Track black rhino on foot

  Morning rhino tracking on foot with Ol Pejeta's monitoring rangers across 90,000 acres holding Kenya's largest black rhino population. Afternoon on the Ewaso Ng'iro frontage for lion and Jackson's hartebeest.

• Day 4 Segera

  Art, agriculture and regeneration

  Ninety-minute drive west to Segera Retreat on 50,000 acres of Laikipia. Afternoon in the sculpture park and botanical garden, then a game drive across reclaimed cattle rangeland.

• Day 5 Loisaba Conservancy

  Star beds above the Kiboko

  Transfer 90 minutes north to Loisaba Tented Camp on the escarpment. Afternoon camel walk or mountain biking on the plateau. Overnight on a Loisaba Star Bed, wheeled out under open sky.

• Day 6 Loisaba

  Elephant corridors and the Ewaso

  Morning tracking collared elephant with Loisaba researchers on the Ewaso Narok corridor. Afternoon horseback ride or a fishing session on the Ewaso. Sundowner at Kiboko rock.

• Day 7 Samburu

  Moorish house above the river

  Light aircraft Loisaba to Kalama airstrip, roughly 30 minutes. Transfer to Sasaab on Westgate Conservancy. Afternoon drive into Samburu National Reserve for the Ewaso Ng'iro riverine strip.

• Day 8 Samburu

  The northern specialists

  Full day for Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, gerenuk and Somali ostrich, five species found almost nowhere further south. Afternoon camel walk and a Samburu singing ceremony at dusk.

• Day 9 Namunyak Conservancy

  Reteti and the Mathews Range

  Transfer 90 minutes north to Sarara Camp in the Mathews Range, within 850,000-acre Namunyak. Morning at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, Africa's first community-owned orphanage, then the singing wells.

• Day 10 Departure

  Fly Sarara to Wilson

  Morning walk in the Mathews Range cloud forest, then light aircraft from Sarara airstrip to Wilson Airport, roughly 75 minutes. Cross-town transfer to Jomo Kenyatta.

What the price actually covers.

From USD 14,690 per person sharing. Permits, park fees and charter legs are inside that number, not added at the end. International flights and visas are not.

• Ol Pejeta, Segera, Loisaba, Westgate and Namunyak conservancy fees

• Samburu National Reserve county entry fees

• On-foot black rhino tracking with Ol Pejeta rangers

• Safarilink and light aircraft charters on all four internal legs

• Reteti Elephant Sanctuary contribution and Samburu guide fees