Laikipia Wilderness and impromptu Safari

Starting the next day from the Cob Cottages, we headed deeper into Laikipia to Ol Maisor, a family farm with huge swaths of land and the opportunity for more wildlife viewing.

We pitched our tent (and hammock) at a cute little campsite with good facilities, but two small drawbacks: The chef was on leave, so food options were very limited, and the fence was partially broken from a recent nightly elephant intrusion. According to our camp host and part-time ranger Richard though, this was no problem: Although elephants have bad eyesight and squishy feet perfect for killing humans, we should simply give him a call in case they come again into the camp, to scare them away.

When we arrived, we had originally planned to do a game drive the next day, only to learn that the car was already booked and we would have to go straight away. We rushed to get ready and it didn't take very long until we encountered the first group of elephants (with a baby), as well as some giraffes.

Richard knew how to spot tracks and didn't mind going off-road straight through the savannah. We spent two hours trying to find Lions and Cheetahs, but unfortunately didn't have any luck. At dusk, we spotted a big herd of grazing elephants and had some very close and impressive encounters. Later, Richard got out a big spotlight, and it was our job to wave it around to try and spot pairs of gleaming eyes in the darkness.

Exhausted from the long day, we got back to camp, only to meet another pair of cyclists who arrived late and somehow had still managed to schedule a game drive for the next day. The Kenyan ways are sometimes a bit of a mystery.

We reheated our frozen curries, had a quick dinner and finally went to sleep, planning for one rest day for chores and recovery. Plans were about to change again though.Read more