Nissa Ole Kinyaga
Safari guide and founder of Nissa Safaris, freelance across Kenya's private conservancies and community lodges, with Maasai heritage at the centre of every itinerary.
Born of the forest
I was born and brought up as what we call a bushbaby, in the Mukogodo Forest of northern Kenya. For eight years I walked seven kilometres each way to primary school, and on that walk, and as a herder boy in the forest on weekends and school holidays, I learned to read the land long before I ever called it work: when a hyena had new pups, when an aardvark had freshly dug for termites, when buffalo had migrated north, when African painted wolves had moved into the area, a bushbuck running for her life. I built a deep knowledge of the forest's general flora and fauna, and a deliberate one of its herbal trees and the symbiotic relationships among its bird species.
My heritage is Maasai, and it runs through everything I do. At college I specialised in social anthropology, the wide range of human social life and tribes, which became the foundation of the safari circuit I now run across Kenya's eastern and northern frontiers.
Every day I am thankful to be surrounded by such beauty, the rough mountainous terrain with its deep valleys and riverine.
Nissa, interview with Carrier / Luxury London, 2021
The formal foundation
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1997
I completed tertiary school.
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1998
I joined the ranger research department at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy as head radio signalling officer, the link between conservationists and the Kenya Wildlife Service, the state wildlife watchdog, feeding the wildlife analysis that supported population growth.
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1999
I joined Kenya Utalii College to specialise in safari guiding and administration: wildlife biology, ornithology, social anthropology, dynamic cultural heritage, geology, astronomy and entomology, among others. I graduated with a distinction in my final exams.
Two decades, tracked step by step
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2002–2009
Lewa Safari Camp
I joined Lewa Safari Camp, on Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, as a safari guide, and rose to camp assistant manager and head guide. I resigned to expand my range.
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2009–2011
Sirikoi Camp, Lewa
Two full years guiding at Sirikoi Camp on Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, with Africa Exploration Ltd. I resigned for more exploration.
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Three years
Freelance across six lodges
I freelanced across Ol Donyo Lodge in the Chyulu Hills, Angama Mara in the Maasai Mara, Sarara Camp in the northern Mathews Range, Saruni Kalama community lodge, Il Ngwesi Lodge and Tassia Lodge.
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Six years, to 2024
Borana Conservancy
Head of staff and head guide at Borana Conservancy. I resigned in 2024.
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2024 to present
Nissa Safaris
Back to freelance guiding, and running my own safari company, Nissa Safaris.
Where I have guided
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Head radio signalling officer, ranger research
Lewa Safari Camp
Safari guide, then head guide and camp assistant manager
Sirikoi Camp, Lewa
Safari guide
Ol Donyo Lodge, Chyulu Hills
Freelance guide
Angama Mara
Freelance guide
Sarara Camp, Mathews Range
Freelance guide
Saruni Kalama
Freelance guide
Il Ngwesi Lodge
Freelance guide
Tassia Lodge
Freelance guide
Borana Conservancy
Head guide and head of staff
Laragai House
Tsavo East
Tsavo West
Certified guiding
KPSGA Silver guide
Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association
Advanced tour-guiding certificate
Kenya Utalii College
Both are examined qualifications rather than memberships. The full detail, including the independent sources that report them, is on the reviews and credentials page.
What I read in the field
Big Cats
Leopard, lion and cheetah, tracking, territory and the patient art of the sighting. The cats are my first love in this work.
The Big Five
Lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, read in their own context, with respect for distance and behaviour.
Birdlife & Ornithology
Trained in advanced ornithology, from the tawny eagle of the Rift to the smallest cisticola in the grass.
Animal Behaviour
Anticipating the moment before it happens, the tells, the posture, the silence that comes before a hunt.
Ecosystems & Tracking
Walking safaris, spoor and sign, understanding how the forest, the valley and the plain hold together.
Conservation
Sharing the story of the rhino sanctuary, anti-poaching and community livelihoods with every guest I guide.
Delivered to my utmost good faith
A safari should leave the wild better than it found it.
Respect before the sighting
The animal's space comes first. The best encounters happen when the wild forgets we are there at all.
Conservation you can see
Revenue from tourism on Borana goes back to local communities and their livelihoods, protecting these animals for future generations.
Travel that gives back
In the evenings, guests can join the anti-poaching rangers on a drive, sharing stories, and understanding their way of life.
Knowledge for the young
I love sharing success stories with younger generations. Conservation only lasts if it is passed on.
Always be honest, help others, travel sustainably, and share the importance of conservation with younger generations as much as possible.
Nissa Ole Kinyaga
IWACO-KENYA
The Indigenous Women and Children Organization-Kenya works in Laikipia County, the same country Nissa spent years guiding at Borana, Lewa and Il Ngwesi.
Registered as a community-based organisation in 2024 and run out of Nanyuki, IWACO-KENYA works on child protection and alternative family care, economic empowerment and financial literacy for indigenous women, and support for survivors of gender-based violence. Its climate work runs alongside that: restoring rangeland, clearing invasive species and building up beekeeping and small-scale agriculture as income that does not depend on the rains.
That last part is the piece a safari guest will recognise. The rangeland IWACO is restoring is the same grazing that carries the wildlife people come to Laikipia to see, and the households doing the restoring are the ones who decide whether it holds.
Visit IWACO-KENYAPlan your safari with Nissa
Send your travel dates and Nissa will build the itinerary himself, drawing on the conservancies and lodges he knows first-hand.
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