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A ranger kneeling to touch a white rhino on the Ol Pejeta grassland

Experience

Rhino Conservation at Ol Pejeta

A day on a Laikipia conservancy built around black rhino, where the fences, the tracking teams and the two remaining northern whites are the point rather than a detour on the way to somewhere else.

Plan this experience
At a glanceOn land
How longTwo nights and upA full day on the conservancy; two nights and up to do it properly
How hardLightVehicle-based, with time on foot where the conservancy allows it
SeasonYear-roundLaikipia works year-round; the wet spells make the tracks slower

Ol Pejeta sits on the Laikipia plateau with Mount Kenya on the skyline, and it is a working conservancy rather than a park. The difference shows in the first hour. There are fences with gaps sized for elephant and closed to rhino, there are teams out on foot before you have finished breakfast, and the radio traffic is constant, and none of it is about you.

The conservancy runs one of the larger black rhino populations on the continent, and black rhino are the difficult ones to see: browsers, solitary, happiest in thick scrub. You go out with someone who knows where the animals fed yesterday and what the trackers logged this morning, and you spend the time it takes.

The two remaining northern white rhinos live here as well, guarded around the clock. Standing near them is not a game sighting. It is closer to visiting a room where something ended, and most people go quiet.

The conservation side

Beyond the game drives, the conservancy runs visits that put you with the people doing the work: the tracking teams, the veterinary side, the endless logistics of keeping an animal alive that people are still willing to kill. What is available shifts with the season and with what the teams are dealing with that week.

We ask Ol Pejeta what is running on your dates and what it costs, and we tell you before you book. The conservancy sets all of it, and we would rather confirm the current arrangement than publish one that has moved.

Good to know

  • Entry fees, activity prices and minimum ages are set by the conservancy and change. We confirm the current figures in writing when we book.
  • Access to the northern white rhinos is arranged case by case and is not guaranteed on any given date.
  • Two nights lets the conservation activities fall on a morning that works. One night usually does not.
  • Laikipia is high and cold at dawn. Bring more warm clothing than a Mara packing list suggests.

Conservancy entry fees, the cost and availability of behind-the-scenes conservation visits, whether the northern white enclosure is open to guests on any given date, minimum ages for walking or tracking activities, and vehicle rules inside the sanctuary are all set by Ol Pejeta and change. We confirm what applies to your dates in writing before you pay anything.

The radio traffic is constant, and none of it is about you.

Where to do it

Where we arrange rhino conservation at ol pejeta

Start from the destination, and we will build the days around this.

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Questions we are actually asked

What makes Ol Pejeta different from a national park?
It is a private conservancy, so the rules, the fees and the activities are set by the conservancy rather than by KWS. That is why you can sometimes do things here that a park would not allow, and why we confirm what is running before we build a day around it.
Can you see the northern white rhinos?
The last surviving northern whites live here under permanent guard, and visits to them are arranged by the conservancy on its own terms. Whether that is open on your dates, and what it costs, is a question we put to Ol Pejeta when we book rather than one we answer in advance.
Are you guaranteed to see black rhino?
The odds are good and the guides know where the animals have been, but black rhino are browsers in thick cover and no one promises a sighting. Most people who spend a full day here see rhino. Nobody who spends an hour should expect to.
Is this suitable for children?
The game drives suit most ages. Anything on foot, and anything behind the scenes with the conservation teams, carries a minimum age set by the conservancy, and we check the current requirement against the ages in your party before we commit to it.
How long do we need here?
Two nights is the sensible minimum, because the conservation side of the day runs on the teams' schedule rather than yours. On a one-night stop you get a game drive and not much else, which misses the reason to come.

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