This Ol Pejeta Conservancy day trip from Nairobi gives you a full day inside one of East Africa's most extraordinary wildlife properties — 90,000 acres of private conservancy in Kenya's Laikipia region that holds more Big Five wildlife per square kilometre than most national parks, and two animals that exist nowhere else on Earth.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy is home to the last two northern white rhinoceros on the planet: Najin and Fatu — a mother and daughter — both female, both living under 24-hour armed guard inside a dedicated 700-acre enclosure. Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, died at Ol Pejeta on March 19, 2018, leaving the subspecies functionally extinct from a natural breeding standpoint. Scientists are working through the BioRescue programme to produce northern white rhino embryos using preserved genetic material from Sudan and other individuals, with southern white rhino surrogates at Ol Pejeta serving as potential hosts. Visiting Najin and Fatu is one of the most sobering and significant wildlife encounters available anywhere in Africa — you are in the presence of what may be the last of their kind. The visit to their enclosure costs an additional USD 70 per person on top of the conservancy entry fee.
Beyond the northern white rhinos, Ol Pejeta holds over 165 critically endangered black rhinos — the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa — alongside the full Big Five: lions, leopards, elephants, and buffalo. The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, established in 1993, is Kenya's only chimpanzee sanctuary. It houses rescued chimpanzees from Central Africa — animals confiscated from illegal trade or rescued from conflict zones — in large naturalistic enclosures with guided viewing from a raised platform. This is the only place in Kenya where you can see chimpanzees.
Baraka is one of Ol Pejeta's most famous residents: an elderly blind black rhino who can be visited in his enclosure for a hands-on encounter. Having lost his sight through an unknown disease, Baraka has lived at Ol Pejeta for decades and can be touched and photographed at close range under the supervision of his keepers.
The day begins at 5:00 a.m. from Nairobi to beat the morning traffic, stops at the equator crossing near Nanyuki for a photograph at the latitude 0° marker, then enters the conservancy for two game drives separated by lunch at the Serena Sweetwaters Lodge watering hole.
Trip Highlights
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See Najin and Fatu — the last two northern white rhinos on Earth — in their dedicated enclosure at Ol Pejeta (optional visit, USD 70/person)
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Meet Baraka — Ol Pejeta's famous blind black rhino — and see over 165 black rhinos in the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa
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Visit the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary — Kenya's only chimpanzee sanctuary, with rescued chimps from Central Africa
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Track the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino) across 90,000 acres of private conservancy in Laikipia
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Stop at the equator crossing near Nanyuki for a photo at the latitude 0° marker — where the northern and southern hemispheres divide
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Watch wildlife come to the Sweetwaters Lodge watering hole at close range during the lunch break
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Return to Nairobi the same day — no overnight stay required