A return to kenya
In February 2025 we returned to Kenya, booking again with The Wild Source (www.thewildsource.com) for a two week vacation. Our itinerary was as follows:
- Day 1: Leave Boston on a daytime flight to London; sleep at the Sofitel by Heathrow Terminal 5.
- Day 2: Fly to Nairobi, sleep in 4 Points Sheraton by Kenyatta Airport
- Day 3: Fly to Ol Pejeta Conservancy, spend 3 nights at Ol Pejeta Camp (https://www.asiliaafrica.com/camps-lodges/ol-pejeta-bush-camp/)
- Day 6: Fly to the Maasai Mara, stay 3 nights at Rekero Camp (https://www.asiliaafrica.com/camps-lodges/rekero-camp/)
- Day 9: Drive to Naboisho Conservancy, stay at Naboisho Camp for 5 nights (https://www.asiliaafrica.com/camps-lodges/naboisho-camp/)
- Day 14: Fly back to Nairobi, overnight at Ololo Lodge (https://olololodge.com/)
- Day 15: Sheldrick's Elephant Orphanage and around Nairobi. Leave Nairobi late at night to return home.
Getting to Nairobi was quite an adventure, as at Heathrow we were pulled off the plane and returned to the terminal for extensive secondary screening of all of us. They said one of our carry-ons wasn't pulled aside for secondary screening when it should have been, but the response seemed excessive. And then, once we were on our way, it became clear that Simon was getting sick, and he would end up being very sick for the first 9-10 days of our trip unfortunately!
After about a 45 minute flight out of Nairobi, we arrived in Ol Pejeta and were greeted by our guide for the next 3 days, Cyrus. Our drive back to camp was filled with a variety of common game (gazelles, impalas, elands, etc). The main highlight was stopping at an artificial waterhole where a family of elephants was drinking. One surprising thing for me was that the vehicle we had was not fully open, but whether this was luck of the draw or due to the children it is hard to say.
Arriving in camp, we were greeted by the two managers, one of whom (Antony) we had met back in 2022. We recognized each other and had a good time catching up. Not only that, but at dinner that night we found out that one of the other guests had gone to elementary school right near Tom's childhood home. It's a small world! We were in family tent #1, which had a nice position right by the small river where we could sit and watch animals pass by.
Our afternoon drive began at 4PM, and in addition to some standard plains game the highlight were 3 lionesses that walking along the plains. This occurred relatively close to the entrance gate, so there were several other vehicles around, but nothing like we could see in other areas and certainly not enough to impact the sighting.
Once the lions had moved off we spent time with some giraffes as the sun set,.
The next morning we were up early, it had gotten quite cold in the night. Our phones said that it was 12C, but we could see our breath in the tent and it definitely felt colder! The cool weather meant there was some fog in the air, and we searched without much success for any subject to photograph in the moody air. Stopping near dawn with a nice view of Mount Kenya, Cyrus told us the legend of the mountain. A handful of impala were there so we managed to get some photos of them.
From there, we spent some time with a mother white rhino and her calf who were very relaxed around us. Leaving the rhinos we gradually made our way into a very quiet area, where we saw movement in the grass. Looking closer, we realized that it was a cheetah on the prowl. This was special as we were told that only 5 or so cheetahs are present in the conservancy, and they are not commonly seen.
Following a stop for breakfast, we then went to the chimp sanctuary that is located in the conservancy. Chimps are not native to Kenya, but rescued animals have been sent there over the years to allow them to live a semi-normal existence. We only saw 3 lazy animals due to the heat and strong sun.
In the afternoon, our goal was to go visit the northern white rhinos in the conservancy. There are only 2 of this species remaining in the world, and both of them are female, so scientists are working on IVF procedures to try to rescue the species. It was humbling to see them, along with their southern white rhino companion.
In this area there is also a rescued, blind black rhino. The kids really enjoyed feeding him! On our way back to camp some of us had a very brief view of a striped hyena, but it ran very fast and quickly disappeared in the long grasses.
The next morning we went off in a new direction. There were a lot of interesting sightings, although they were generally far and/or brief. A spotted hyena den with brief views of some babies; bat-eared foxes; a jackal with larger puppies; and lots of rhinos, although generally white rhinos lying around being lazy. There were also a couple of young male lions we saw that seemed to be stalking prey, but they headed off in a direction we couldn't follow so we moved on, stopping to enjoy a brief visit with a mother black rhino and her calf.
Because we were doing a night game drive later that day, we spent the afternoon in camp. There was a lot of activity in camp, from a female bushbuck with a calf, to various birds in the trees.
We spent most of the afternoon on our deck watching the animals pass on the other side of the river, dodging some quite heavy rain showers that hit off and on. Elephants, giraffes, waterbuck, and so on made a steady stream, but the real highlight were a male and female lion who spent some time relaxing in the bushes.
The night game drive ended up being just Sophie and Tom, as Simon was feeling too sick and so Edith stayed behind with him. It was quite quiet, lots of sleeping and relaxing animals, including three lionesses, some black and white rhinos, and several elephants.
It was already time to leave when the next morning dawned. One complication was that with all the rain from the day before made the airstrip in the Conservancy too muddy for airplanes, so we had to go to a paved one farther away. It was interesting to travel through Nanyuki, the major town in the area, and then to see the golden zebras that were on the grounds of the alternate airstrip.
After bidding Cyrus a fond farewell, we boarded our flight for a 55 minute voyage to the Maasai Mara. It was interesting to watch the vegetation change as we traveled across the county. Upon landing we met up with our guide from last year Jackson, who we were excited to see once more.
It was a short trip to camp, but even so we managed to catch a handful of giraffes and a grumpy male elephant.
We arrived at Rekero Camp just before lunch, and were shown around the newly refurbished camp. The camp has a very nice position right by the Rekero river, which in season allows for river crossings to be seen from the main lounge.
We spent the afternoon enjoying camp, with the bright equatorial sun the tent here got quite hot as a big part of our tent (family tent #1) got full sun in the afternoon. So we were happy when 4PM rolled around, and after a quick stop for afternoon snacks we were off. It was clear that the grass here was very high in most places, which was going to be a challenge! A brief stop at a hyena den gave us a couple of youngsters, but they were shy and we soon left them
From there we went off to where some lions had been seen earlier in the day. We found all 4 of them after quite a bit of searching, but they were asleep in the long grasses. As the sun began to set they started to move, but only reposition themselves.
While debating how long to stay Simon decided he wasn't feeling well and that we should return to camp, so we started to make our way back. This was a very lucky suggestion, as when we neared camp we saw something in the road in front of us. It was a leopard, known as Bella2, who was known to have cubs in the area but who hadn't been seen for a while.
After spending some time alone with her, Jackson called in the other two vehicles from our camp, and we got to spend the rest of the evening with her. Luckily an active leopard helped Simon forget about his sickness!
The next day was Valentine's day. Everyone but Tom wanted to sleep in, so we had a relaxing morning around camp. Rekero has a nice seating area that is over the river, and some of us sat out there until it got too hot, although there weren't too many animals around. It was very hot here, much different from Laikipia, with a high of 32C. The heat meant we had a very quiet start to the afternoon, with just some giraffe and buffalo in the area.
Finally, we came to area where a pride of lions had been observed. They were quite far off the road, but the vehicles that were already there had gone off-road to see them. We ended up following those cars, but not long after we got there word came over the radio that the rangers were on the way. Since we weren't supposed to be off the road all the guides quickly returned to the closest track. However, when the rangers showed up they eventually said it was fine to go back, so we spent the rest of the evening with the lions.
The next morning was quiet, the long grasses really made for challenging conditions. The highlight of the first couple of hours were three male lions, but they were on the other side of the Mara River in any area we couldn't access so we enjoyed them through the binoculars.
Finally after breakfast Jackson heard about a mating pair of cheetahs, so we headed off in that direction. We found the female lying in the shade of a bush, barely visible, so we went off the find the male. He was a relatively young male named Olomunyak, who happened to have a tracking collar. This was the first time we'd seen a collared cheetah. He normally is found in a neighboring conservancy, and seemed to be on his way there. However, he also looked very hungry, and a herd of Impala nearby gave us some hope. He eventually did chase after them, but came up empty and then headed off in an area we couldn't follow.
Following lunch and a siesta in our hot tent, we were back out at 4PM where we found a pride of 6 female lions resting by the road. Regular, if minor, movement gave us hope that they might do something interesting, but it seemed they were quite settled in.
As we were debating where to go, Jackson heard from a friend that there were a couple of servals that had been seen. So we headed off that way, finding one in the long grass. It was nice to see, but hard to follow in the grasses. Eventually it settled down, and if we hadn't known it was there we clearly would have missed it. So after a few photos we decided to let it relax.
We returned to the lionesses on the way back to camp but they still weren't moving, so we called it a night
The next morning was already our last at Rekero, and we decided to head out early with a goal of finding male lions. Instead, it was still very quiet in the long grass, with the highlight being a herd of elephants eating their way along in the pre-dawn light. Otherwise, the morning was quite slow.
Leaving camp, we headed east toward our next stop. After a while, the grasses became remarkably shorter, and all of the herbivores that had been missing during the past three days became apparent. It was impressive to see the the mixed groups of animals together. Upon leaving the reserve (technically an hour after our permit allowed, but we managed to get out with no issues), we headed toward Naboisho Conservancy. As we entered the conservancy, Jackson received a call that a leopard was active, so we headed over there quickly. We saw him quite well, although he was in an area of tall grass so it wasn't always clear.
Once he was settled up in a tree, we moved on, heading to camp for a late lunch. After relaxing for a few hours, Simon decided he wasn't up to going out again so just Tom and Sophie for the evening drive. Originally the goal was to find a female cheetah, but after lots of searching it was clear she wasn't around. So the next stop was a large thicket where the guides were confident three male lions had retreated after winning a fight against some other males in the morning. Several guides set up strategically to find them if they came out, and as the sun set one male appeared and walked along the plains, providing a nice show.
After a night filled with lion roars, we set out early in the morning to try find those animals. Originally we had no luck, but after a while we found a splinter group of the largest pride in the conservancy (the Ilkisiausiau pride). They had one small cub with them, and we got to watch the entire group play together briefly.
In the conservancies, one major difference is the land is mixed use, so a couple of hours after sunrise many herds of cows enter the land. This generally means that the lions become quite scarce, hiding in the bushes until the late afternoon when the humans and their animals depart. This group did just that, and so we moved on after they disappeared from sight.
At breakfast we heard that there was a collared cheetah (the same one we saw before?) and a leopard with two cubs that were around. Jackson asked if we preferred to eat or go, to which Simon replied "screw breakfast let's go for the cheetah!" So we finished eating quickly, unfortunately the cheetah had moved to another conservancy so we struck out. Spending some time with a small herd of elephants that were drinking and taking a mud bath was a nice consolation.
For the afternoon, the plan was to leave at 4 and then slowly drive around seeing what we could find until the day started to cool down and the lions from the morning would come out. Making our way through a very bushy area we found one male lion from the Maji ya Fisi (Swahili for "Hyena Water") pride. He teased us a few times making it look like he was going to get up, but eventually fell sound asleep.
Making our way out to the plains, we found the lions out and about. In particular one adolescent was trying to stalk some gazelles, although they were well aware of him or her an so it was more playtime than a serious attempt.
When other members of the pride came out they were clearly headed in a specific direction, and so we followed them to where some other pride members had recently killed a wildebeest. At its largest the Ilkisiausiau pride counts over 40 members, a lone wildebeest will not go far in feeding all of them. So many impressive snarls and fights ensued, although with the dwindling light getting photos was a challenge.
The next morning we went to look for these lions, but apart from a couple of sleeping ones we did not have any luck. Instead, Jackson heard over the radio of a nearby leopard with a kill, so we headed there. She had started eating on the ground, but unfortunately the hyenas in the area knew of the kill and not long after we arrived on came and stole it from her. We watched her for a while as she attempted a couple of tries to sneak in and reclaim her kill, but eventually she gave up as more hyenas appeared.
It was to be a morning of action, as Jackson then heard from a ranger friend about a mother giraffe who was protecting her baby giraffe, which unfortunately was already dead, from several types of scavengers. We arrived to find a single lioness, many hyenas, and some jackals all trying to sneak passed the mother giraffe. She would occasionally start walking away, but when a lion or hyena moved in she would come back to scare them off. This really led to some intense action, and the lion in particular appearing to be in a precarious position a couple of times.
Once the giraffe finally left permanently, the lion went in to claim the prize. But one lion can't hold off a whole clan of hyenas, and quickly they also moved in to share the meal. However, before long tempers flared, and the numbers of hyenas meant the lioness was chased off. The hyenas only had a couple of minutes to celebrate when two large male lions appeared from some bushes, at which point the hyenas scattered immediately. The lions then claimed the meal for themselves, refusing even to share with their lioness.
The afternoon was clearly going to have a hard time beating the morning, and it started slowly with an unsuccessful search for a leopard. Giving up eventually, we returned to the large pride of lions for the rest of the evening. The highlight was clearly one young lion cub, the smallest of the pride, who was very curious about these large things that had come into its territory, and repeatedly came to check us out before returning to the safety of the pride.
At dawn the next day we were out again with a goal of finding leopards. But alarm calls led us to look to see what was there, and we found a lone lioness patrolling the savannah. We hoped she would hunt, but the animals know she's there and she eventually settles into some bushes.
We head along to the valley where the leopards are located, and search... and search some more... with no luck. Finally as we're considering leaving the area, we turn a corner and there the mother is right in front of us. We're all alone with her for a while, before a couple of vehicles from our camp arrive. She gradual made her way across a river to where we couldn't follow, at which point the rangers who had shown up pointed us to the location where her cubs were hiding. We saw hints of movement, but no clear views of them. Not long after, a herd of cows arrived, and Jackson suggested we leave as he doubted any cats would come out with the humans around.
From there it was already time to start heading to camp, so we return to the plains where we notice another vehicle stopped. Heading over, we find a gazelle in the last stages of giving birth. We watched the baby be born, but not long after a large herd of cows began to walk directly toward it. We managed to divert them from trampling the baby, but this scared the mother and she moved slightly away from the baby. So we left, hoping they would reunite and that no predators would find the calf.
For the afternoon, Sophie wanted to try to see the leopards, so we headed back that way. We did manage to find the cubs, and they were partially visible from just the right angle, but they were quite sleepy and hard to see. We then went over to where we had seen the mother leave in the morning, but she wasn't to be seen.
So we continued along, and made our way past where the gazelle calf had been born. Unfortunately some jackals had found it in the meantime, and there wasn't much left of it. But that's the harshness of the plains.
It had been a pretty quiet afternoon, so we decided to forgo sundowners and instead search for some lions. Several had been seen earlier in the day, and as it was getting dark we did find three large males, but they were fast asleep.
We were fortunate to find a large pride of lions before sunrise the next morning, they were out and about and playing all over the place. This was really a highlight for us, although it was hard at times to know where to look.
We then took an early breakfast, before spending a couple of hours patrolling the territory of another leopard with two cubs. However the area was quite quiet, with not a lot around apart from a lone bull elephant.
During our down time at camp that afternoon, we almost had an unexpected visitor in our room. We had wondered about the very heavy doors at our entry, and today we learned why. A group of vervet monkeys were trying to get into our place. Tom snuck out the door and one of the young vervets checked him out for a bit.
The afternoon had the goal of looking for the baby leopards, yet again. As we were heading to the valley, however, we ran into a car of rangers, who told us that the leopards were nowhere to be seen. So we decided to turn around and try to find the male lions from the night before. A lot of searching led to nothing, until Jackson heard from a friend that the leopard cubs were actually out and visible. Ugh! So we turned around again and made our way there, but by the time we arrived the cubs were back in an area we could not see.
Because we couldn't see anything, Jackson suggested we go to look for the mother, so we headed off in that direction and not long after found her. She was moving with a purpose, and we followed her as she went toward her cubs. She eventually made her way up on a downed tree trunk, calling for her cubs. And then one of the cubs appeared, and they got together on the tree trunk to greet each other.
They relatively quickly headed off in the same direction that the mother had appeared from, the conclusion from the guides was that she was going to bring her cubs one at a time to her hidden kill.
Once they had disappeared where we couldn't go, we headed back out onto the plains to enjoy our final sunset in Naboisho. It was a real beautiful African sunset.
We woke up a little later than usual on our last morning, and with all the checkout formalities and getting our luggage on the car it wasn't until 7:20 that we left. We didn't really expect to see much, but it was an eventful morning. Our first stop was when we saw a pair of Crowned Cranes performing their mating ritual, which was interesting to see.
Once they had moved off, we continued along, after a while seeing a lone lioness who was walking through some bushes near a few giraffes. As we got closer, we further heard that their was a leopard hiding in some bushes nearby. By coincidence, on our last game drive during our previous visit to the Conservancy we had also spent time looking for leopards in these bushes. We parked in one location, and as luck would have it not long after the female leopard came out right in front of us.
We followed her for a bit, before she disappeared and no one could locate her. But not long afterwards, she came running back from a direction we didn't expect her, and just a couple of seconds later the lioness we had seen came chasing after. The leopard disappeared into a tree, and the lioness eventually gave up on finding her.
By this time our flight departure time was approaching, and the airstrip was a ways away, so we headed off. But, just before reaching the airstrip, Jackson picked up his binoculars, which was usually a good sign he had spotted something. In fact there was a cheetah right near the airstrip, and we made a brief detour to go see her.
From there we headed to the airstrip, only for our plane to be delayed. After 90 minutes of waiting, we finally boarded our flight back to civilization.
Landing in Nairobi, we were met by the driver for our last lodge, Ololo, which is based on the edge of Nairobi National Park. It was about a half hour drive through the park once we got to the gate, but as it was the middle of the day there wasn't much going on.
Our afternoon drive was fairly productive, with many white and black rhinos as well as a lone male lion with a kill right by the road.
For our final day in Kenya, we slept in a bit and went out in Nairobi National Park for a short game drive starting around 7. The main highlight was a very brief, distant, and obstructed view of a serval in the long grasses. Otherwise, lots of general herbivores.
After breakfast back at the lodge, we headed off to visit Sheldrick's elephant orphanage. It was quite crowded, and at first the kids had a hard time seeing, but eventually they made their way to the front of the line. It's always nice to see the orphans and hear about how they are being rehabilitated.
From there we made our way through the suburbs to the Giraffe Center to feed the giraffes. The kids always enjoy this stop!
And with that our trip came to an end! The photos presented here are just a subset of all of the ones we took, you can find the full set of photos here if you want to see more: https://nicholsonfineart.slickpic.com/go/kenya25full
www.nicholsonfineart.com
Credits:
Thomas Nicholson, Edith Garneau, Simon Nicholson, Sophie Nicholson