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4-Day Borana & Lewa Conservation Safari
Four days on the conservancies where I spent thirteen years guiding: rhino tracked on foot, day and night drives, a horseback safari and an anti-poaching patrol.
3-Day Laikipia Walking & Tracking Safari
Overview
I grew up in the Mukogodo Forest, in northern Kenya, walking seven kilometres each way to primary school for eight years, and learning on that walk and on weekends as a herder boy to read the ground: when a hyena had new pups, when an aardvark had opened a fresh hole after termites, when buffalo had moved through overnight. That way of reading a landscape on foot is the whole basis of this itinerary. It has nothing to do with a vehicle's engine noise or a fixed route; it's slow, quiet, and it puts you close enough to sign and scent that you start to understand an animal's last few hours before you ever see it.
Laikipia's conservancies, Borana and Lewa among them, are some of the few places in Kenya where walking safaris are routinely on offer, since the vehicle limits and lower predator density here make it workable in a way it isn't in the Mara or Amboseli. Three days is built around one full day on foot with an armed tracker alongside your guide, bracketed by a shorter orientation walk on arrival and a final morning walk before you leave, either side of the road transfers to and from Nairobi.
Day by day
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01
Nairobi to Laikipia
We drive north via Nanyuki, three to four hours, arriving in time for lunch. The afternoon is a short orientation walk near camp, an easy introduction to walking with an armed tracker before the fuller days ahead, followed by a game drive back as the light drops.
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02
Full day walking and tracking
A full day on foot, working game trails and drainage lines with an armed tracker and your guide, reading fresh sign the same way I learned to as a boy in the Mukogodo Forest: track age, browse lines, droppings, the small disturbances in the grass that say something passed through recently. We stop for a packed breakfast out on the ground rather than back at camp, and walk through the cooler hours of the morning before the heat sets in.
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03
Morning walk and departure
A final shorter walk at first light, then breakfast, check-out and the drive back to Nairobi, arriving by early afternoon.
What's included
Included
- Ground transport from and to Nairobi in a 4x4 safari vehicle
- Two nights full-board accommodation at a camp within a Laikipia conservancy
- One full day walking, plus a shorter orientation walk and a final morning walk, all with an armed tracker and driver-guide
- One game drive
- Laikipia conservancy fees
- All meals throughout: breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Bottled water throughout
- Soft drinks, juices, tea and coffee throughout
- Beer, wine and spirits throughout
Not included
- International and domestic flights
- Kenya e-Visa or entry permit fees
- Tips and gratuities for your guide, tracker and camp staff
- Items of a personal nature such as laundry and souvenirs
- Travel insurance
Best time to visit
Driest from June through October and January through March; walking is possible outside those months too, though wetter ground can slow the pace and change which trails are usable on a given day.
Common questions
Do we need previous walking-safari experience?
No, though a reasonable level of fitness matters more here than on a vehicle-based trip, since day two is several hours on foot, mostly flat but occasionally over uneven ground. If anyone in your group has mobility concerns, tell us at booking and we can shorten the walking days and add a drive instead.
Is this safe, given some of the animals we might track?
Every walk is led by an armed, licensed tracker alongside your guide, and the approach is built around distance and wind direction, not proximity. We don't push in close on dangerous game on foot; the point is reading sign and understanding behaviour, and a sighting at a safe distance is treated as a good outcome, not a disappointment.
Will we definitely track something on a given walk?
No, and I wouldn't want to promise that. Some mornings the sign is fresh and easy to follow to an animal; other mornings you learn as much from a trail that goes cold as from one that doesn't. Either way you come away reading the ground differently than when you started.
What's the difference between this and the Borana & Lewa Conservation Safari?
That itinerary is built around rhino tracking specifically, plus night drives and a horseback outing, with one full day of walking. This one is built around walking itself: the same one full day, bracketed by two shorter walks rather than a night drive and a ride, general tracking rather than rhino-focused, and suited to guests who want walking to be the central activity of the trip rather than one element among several.
What should we wear or bring?
Sturdy closed walking shoes, neutral-coloured clothing, a hat and sun protection. Camps provide water for the walk itself; anything else personal, we'll cover in a checklist once you book.
Ready to book this safari?
Send us your travel dates and group size and we'll confirm availability for the 3-Day Laikipia Walking & Tracking Safari within a day.
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