A four-poster bed under mosquito netting on an open terrace, lit by lanterns at dusk

Kenya · 5 days

Samburu Celestial Safari

Five days built around the night sky. Samburu sits at the dark end of the Bortle scale and on the equator, so both hemispheres are overhead at once. Two Saruni Basecamp camps, open-air star beds, and Samburu guides who read the sky differently.

Duration: 5 days, 4 nights · 2 flights
Where: Kenya
Experiences: Road Safaris
Board: All-inclusive
Price: FromUSD 4,095per adult sharing

At a glance

Where the nights go

4 nights across 2 places · 2 flights · All-inclusive. Drawn from the draft day-by-day below.

Overview

The shape of the journey

Northern Kenya has some of the darkest skies left. Samburu sits at the bottom of the Bortle scale, which is the astronomer's way of saying nothing man-made is bleeding into the view, and it sits on the equator, which means the northern and southern constellations are both up. That combination is rare enough that people plan a trip around it.

NairobiKalama ConservancySera Conservancy

Saruni Basecamp sells this as two nights in each of two camps rather than a fixed daily programme, so it comes in two pairings. Both start at Basecamp Samburu in Kalama, where the star beds are. The first finishes at Saruni Samburu, high above the plains, and adds a sunrise walk up Mt Ololokwe and an evening with Samburu elders. The second finishes at Saruni Rhino in Sera, further out, darker, and with rhino tracked on foot by day. The published rate assumes the first; the second is priced on request.

Book it in a dry season. June to October is warm and cloudless; December to March gives you more dramatic skies and better game.

Where you'll stay

The camps and hotels

Basecamp Samburu

An eco-built camp in Kalama with Mt Ololokwe filling the view and elevated star beds cut into the slope. Two nights here, and the nights are the reason.

Saruni Samburu

A lodge high above the plains with access to Kalama and the Samburu National Reserve. The elevation that makes the daytime view is what makes the stargazing.

Saruni Rhino

The alternative second camp, an intimate conservation camp in Sera, under doum palms above a dry riverbed, where the nights are darker still and rhino are tracked on foot by day.

Day by day

How the days run

A proposal, not a timetable. The routing, timings and inclusions are confirmed in writing before you pay anything.

Day 1Flight
Nairobi, then Kalama
Flown north to the Kalama airstrip and driven in to Basecamp Samburu. An afternoon drive in the conservancy, then the part of the day this trip is actually about: dinner, and the sky.
Basecamp SamburuAll meals
Day 2
Kalama by day, the Milky Way by night
Game drives for elephant, big cats and the Samburu Special Five, and a guided walk if you want one. After dark, the star beds: open air, no roof, and a guide who will tell you what the Samburu call what you are looking at.
Basecamp SamburuAll meals
Day 3
Move to the second camp
A transfer to Saruni Samburu, up on its ridge above the plains, or on to Saruni Rhino in Sera if you have taken the wilder pairing. Either way the afternoon is a drive, and the evening is the sky again from somewhere new.
Saruni Samburu or Saruni RhinoAll meals
Day 4
Ololokwe, or rhino on foot
At Saruni Samburu: a sunrise climb on Mt Ololokwe, a drive into the Samburu National Reserve, and an evening of storytelling. At Saruni Rhino: an afternoon tracking black rhino on foot, and a night in the riverbed under a sky with nothing in it.
Saruni Samburu or Saruni RhinoAll meals
Day 5Flight
Depart
A morning drive to the airstrip and the flight back to Nairobi. Reteti, the sandgrouse gathering at dawn and the Samburu singing wells are all bookable additions if you want to stretch the trip at either end.
Breakfast

What's covered

Inclusions and exclusions

In line with the itinerary above. Your written quote is the version that counts.

Included

Full-board accommodation with soft drinks, house wines, selected beers and house spirits
Shared day and night game drives in open-sided vehicles, and a guided walking safari
Bush meals, picnic excursions and sundowners
Return airstrip transfers, selected laundry, internet, VAT and taxes
One afternoon rhino tracking session, on the Saruni Rhino pairing

Not included

Daily conservation fees, quoted separately
Premium spirits, wines, champagne and beers
Spa treatments, cultural village entry fees and additional rhino tracking sessions
Exclusive use of a vehicle, private guides, gratuities and anything of a personal nature

Price & terms

What it costs

FromUSD 4,095per adult sharing

What this price covers

Rates are per person sharing unless the line above says otherwise.
Prices move with the season and with availability, and are held only once your quote is confirmed in writing.
The day-by-day above is a draft. Final routing, timings, inclusions and any park or permit fees are confirmed with your quote.

Before you go

Worth reading before this trip

The best time to visit Kenya, month by monthJanuary and February, then July to October, are the months we send most people.
Safari packing list for KenyaA working checklist for a week on safari in Kenya: the bag, the layers for a cold six o'clock start, optics, health and documents, with quantities for seven nights and what changes by season.
Kenya safari cost: where the money goesWhat you pay for on a Kenya safari, why two similar weeks can differ threefold, who sets the park fees, and how to get more from the same budget.
Practical facts by countryPlugs, currency, time zone, driving side, SIM, tipping and tap water.