Ol Pejeta Conservatory

A not-for-profit wildlife conservancy in Central Kenya's Laikipia County, Ol Pejeta is where we learned how to manage life in tent camps, as well as participate in game drives. It was our baptism by fire, and we dove right in.

We checked into the Sweetwaters Tent Camp mid-afternoon February 6, enjoying its incredible views of Mt Kenya and the wildlife literally on our front lawn drinking from the water hole.

The level of comfort here (it’s a luxury tent camping my friends) was mind boggling. They even put hot water bottles in your bed at night to ward off the cold nights. Hot and cold running water, private baths, king beds with excellent linens. It’s a 5-star comfort in the middle of the bush.

As soon as we unloaded our luggage (one carry on and one backpack each) we were back in the land cruisers and off on our first, official game.

What an event that was. We saw an incredible array of wildlife that very first afternoon. Cape buffalo, elephant, impala, giraffe, ostrich, even bat nests in the trees. We saw zebras, Thompson gazelles, and of course, the big one Ol Pejeta is famous for, the black rhino.

After that game drive, back at camp, two customers came up to me and said “if we don’t see another animal on this entire trip, what I saw today made this trip worth the cost”. It was that amazing.

We enjoyed dinner in the bush, a fantastic buffet complete with freshly grilled bore sausages, chicken, snapper, and more. Who knew the food would be so good?

The next morning we were up, enjoying a fantastic breakfast spread, and then off on another game drive. We said, “we can’t imagine that today will be as great as yesterday”. It was.

We enjoyed the songs performed for us by our Tour Director and game driver/guides standing on the Equator marker. These guys aren’t just incredibly well informed, they’re loads of fun as well.

The highlight today was a zebra fight that went on forever. Those guys get rough. That was followed by a mother elephant, her three-year-old calf and her newborn coming to the water hole.

We enjoyed a chimp sanctuary, and then were able to visit a rhino encampment where we were allowed to hand feed and pet a black rhino. We learned about all of the animals as well as the conservation programs in place at Ol Pejeta, returned to camp, enjoyed another terrific meal, and off to bed early as we were departing shortly after sunrise the next day.

The number and variety of wildlife we saw on those dusty plains was astonishing. We were already totally enamored with Kenya.

*Ol Pejeta is home to the last two remaining White Rhino’s on earth. They are both female and are under 24-hour guard. We were allowed to observe them, and were saddened by the fact that during our lifetimes the White Rhino will become extinct.