Day Trips from Ol Pejeta
Explore Kenya Beyond the Conservancy
The Safari Cottages sits at the heart of one of Kenya’s richest regions for wilderness and landscape. Beyond the boundaries of Ol Pejeta Conservancy lie three of central Kenya’s most extraordinary day trip destinations — each one a world away from the open plains outside your safari cottage door.
Day trips depart early with a picnic brunch in the field. They are prebooked and prepaid, and are subject to weather conditions — most roads become inaccessible after heavy rain, so dry season visits are recommended. Day trips are an additional cost to your stay.
NGARE NDARE FOREST
Tucked into the foothills of Mount Kenya, Ngare Ndare is a community-owned indigenous forest and one of Laikipia’s best-kept secrets. A local ranger leads you on a 45–90 minute hike to a waterfall that descends into an azure swimming hole. Spot birds and small wildlife along the way and learn about traditional plants and local trees. Pack a swimsuit, because the temptation to swim is almost irresistible on a warm day. The return route winds back through the forest to a 450-metre suspended canopy walkway, where elephants, buffalo and giraffe move through the trees below. Picnic lunch in the forest before the drive home.
Ngare Ndare also forms part of the wildlife corridor between Laikipia and Mount Kenya, and birdlife here — including Hartlaub’s turaco, the Narina trogon and paradise flycatcher — is exceptional.
Best visited in the dry season. USD 230 per person. Park fees included. Minimum 2 guests.
ABERDARES NATIONAL PARK
The Aberdares are a revelation for guests expecting Kenya to look like open savannah. At between 2,000 and 3,000 metres above sea level, the landscape is all rolling moorland, indigenous forest and cold, clear mountain streams. It’s a place that is home to species that exist nowhere on the open plains: giant forest hog, bongo, forest buffalo, and an extraordinary diversity of highland birds that makes this one of Kenya’s finest birdwatching destinations.
In good weather you can hike to the base of Chania Falls — the view from the pool below is one of the most dramatic in Kenya — and enjoy a picnic among the heather and wild banana before the drive home.
USD 230 per person. Park fees included. Minimum 2 guests.
MOUNT KENYA NATIONAL PARK
The entrance gate to Africa’s second highest mountain is just a morning’s drive through beautiful farmland and rolling hills and a day trip up the mountain makes for a dramatic single-day excursion available from Ol Pejeta. You don’t need to summit to enjoy the landscape either; a hike from Old Moses station across the moorland gives you the mountain’s vast, otherworldly terrain, extraordinary alpine plant life and views that take some processing.
The drive in passes through dense montane forest alive with colobus monkeys and birdlife. In good weather enjoy a picnic lunch on the mountain. Return through the forest in the late afternoon, watching the plains of Laikipia open up below as you descend.
USD 230 per person. Park fees included. Minimum 2 guests.
To add a day trip to your stay just let us know when you enquire and we’ll get it all sorted out for you!