Meet our Guides: Mike, Hezzie, James & Sam

We’re so proud to support an excellent team of guides who are passionate about the conservancy, the wildlife and preserving the ecosystem. They are a wealth of knowledge and love to share all they know with our guests so, today, we’re sitting down with them to hear more about their journey to becoming safari guides and what it is they love about working on Ol Pejeta.

MY JOURNEY TO BECOMING A SAFARI GUIDE: MICHAEL NDIRANGU (MIKE)

Laikipia native and Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages head guide, Mike, discovered his interest in guiding during his time working on Lewa Conservancy in 2002. His interactions with guests, full of questions about the natural world, inspired him to seek these answers for himself and he immersed himself in piles upon piles of books about Kenya’s flora and fauna, took part in studies whenever he could and enrolled in guide training and seminars with visiting local and international field experts.

Armed with years worth of knowledge and experience Mike decided to take control of his own destiny.

“In 2015, I decided to leave Lewa Conservancy and head out on my own as a free-lance guide. This was a difficult time for me as I had only ever worked at Lewa Conservancy and in 2017 I had to undergo a hip replacement due to arthritis.  After the surgery and recuperation, I slowly made my way back into guiding, when I was offered a bit of work at the Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages, guiding guests.

I have since then never looked back and I have become not only a member of the team, but a member of the Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages family.”

Mike hosting a picnic breakfast for Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages guests

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MY JOURNEY TO BECOMING A SAFARI GUIDE: Hesbon Odhiambo Omomdi (HEZZIE)

After completing High School our beloved Hezzie had an opportunity to join Abercrombie & Kent, assisting with their mobile camps in Kenya. This experience gave him his first glimpse into Kenya’s safari industry, the chance to explore the countries’ stunning wilderness areas, to encounter wildlife and begin to learn more about their their habitats. Hezzie knew he had found his place in the world. The seed was sown!

“In 2009 I left Abercrombie and Kent to join Porini Rhino Camp, set in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, I was employed as a waiter in the camp, but my interest was in learning more about wildlife and the ecosystems in the conservancy. I spent my free time reading as many books as I could to learn and it was this that drove me to want to become a guide. I sat for KPSGA in 2026 and obtained my Silver Level Guides Certificate.

I had by then worked my way up from being a waiter to a driver guide for the company. I continued to guide and worked my way to becoming the Head Guide for Porini Rhino Camp in Ol Pejeta.

I decided to move in 2023 to join the Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages, to gain more skills and experience. I love what I do, but it is being able to share my knowledge and experiences with guests, that is the driving force behind me being a guide.”

Hezzie enjoying an Ol Pejeta sundowner

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MY JOURNEY TO BECOMING A SAFARI GUIDE: JAMES WAMBUGU NGATIA

James’s knows Ol Pejeta better than any of us! His journey here started back in 2002, before it became a conservancy and was being operated as a cattle ranch. James was employed as a ranger and in 2004 the ranch fell under the management of Flora & Fauna International and was turned into a Rhino Conservancy. James retained his position as a ranger and had a pleasure of watching the incredible rise of the Ol Pejeta we know today.

“Being a ranger, I was fortunate to interact and work with many of the researchers and to provide them with protection, while at the same time gaining vast amounts of knowledge when out in the field. It was through this work with the researchers that I not only gained a respect for wildlife and their habitat, but it sparked a passion in me that I wanted to work at protecting wildlife but foremost of all to protect the most vulnerable and endangered species – the rhino!!!

In 2012 I became a guide as well as being an armed ranger with Ol Pejeta and loved my work in promoting tourism and the plight of the rhino. I enjoyed sharing all my knowledge with guests who visited the conservancy and speaking to school children about the issues of poaching and the effects it has on our national heritage. I worked with the Ol Pejeta Conservancy until 2022, when I left to join The Safari Cottages to share not only my knowledge but also the experiences of my life in the conservancy.”

James guiding our guests out on a day trip to Ngare Ndare Forest

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MY JOURNEY TO BECOMING A SAFARI GUIDE: SAMUEL KARIUKI

Sam joined our guiding team in the Summer of 2025 and has really come to life here, quickly showing himself to be a professional, highly knowledgable and much loved safari guide. From his home in Kenya’s lake district, Sam’s love of the natural world began at a young age and gave a him a clear vision of the future he would strive for. He graduated from college with a diploma in tour guiding and administration and went straight to work, guiding safaris in Northern Kenya.

“During high school my passion for nature and wildlife had greatly developed, and I joined the wildlife and environmental club. On completion of my secondary school, I joined college and attained a diploma in tour guiding and administration. I have been a proud driver guide, passionate about birds and animals, for over five years now.”

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