The call of Kenya
Encounters with the Big Five – and more – on the most thrilling wildlife stage of all
We hear them before we see them. Yelping from an acacia tree, perched like giant fruit, 30-odd baboons are making a home for the night. ‘It’s called a Fever Tree,’ says Abdul, our guide. From the back of our open Toyota Landcruiser, my daughter Rose, 17, arches an eyebrow. ‘They love a fever tree almost as much as you and Daddy,’ she says, referring to the favoured T in our nightly G.
Light is fading in the foothills of Mount Kenya and its silhouette takes on a silvery glow. There’s magic in the air – and a chill. We’re nudging the equator, but at almost 6,000ft up on the Laikipia Plateau you need a blanket or two.
The wildlife conservancy of Ol Pejeta is a 45-minute flight north of Nairobi National Park.
It is home to the last two white rhino on Earth and the closest reserve to the capital where you can see the Big Five.
Our drive to camp ticks off three must-sees: buffalos snorting the evening air, black rhino at a watering hole and the dusty hide of a lone elephant. Not that our sense of awe is confined to the box-office beasts.
‘Look at their eyelashes!’ gasps my other daughter, Evie, when we spot giraffes. ‘Pumbaa!’ cries my son, Felix, a Lion King fan, as warthogs scurry past.
The animals are giving us a lesson in collective nouns, and we are soon prattling on about a dazzle of zebras and a crash of rhinos. No one need explain why a group of hyenas is called a cackle – when we see a pack ripping into a fresh cadaver, their baleful laughter is chilling.
Abdul puts his foot down – drinks by the fire pit are overdue. Sanctuary Tambarare, furnished with a Masai touch, is the perfect stage to replay the day and finish with a feast. And what a feast. Baked Camembert with apricot sauce, halloumi skewers, a passionfruit pavlova.
We retire to two of the camp’s 10 canvas-lined lodges. Each has a four-poster bed so dreamy it takes an African sunrise to get out of it.
Our first morning game drive gives us an up-close encounter with the Big Five’s number four.
Under the cover of a thicket, a lioness nurses five cubs. She spots us and narrows her eyes.
‘She’s not hungry,’ Abdul reassures us, pointing at the partially devoured zebra behind her. My ECG rhythms are only just back to normal when Abdul gets wind of a cheetah. We speed across the savannah, hoping to spot this elusive creature.
We’re in luck. Lying in the sun, we’re given an audience with the fastest animal on earth.
On to our second leg and, two turbulent flights later, we are on the magnificent plains of the Masai Mara. Our next guide, Joseph, opens the cool box of his Jeep and presses beers into our hands. It’s 11am.
The views are immense. Miles of unbounded space that’s home to arguably the most famous wildlife stage in the world, as well as one of its most luxurious lodges, Sanctuary Olonana. Our room is a vast, glass-sided suite where the views are so glorious you could be forgiven for wanting to stay in. But Joseph has plans and none of them include sleeping past 6am.
An early drive delivers sunbathing crocodiles and stalking lions. Then Joseph finds the perfect spot for bush breakfast and, in minutes, a foldaway table is groaning with food. ‘Now for a race!’ he declares. The children (and Joseph) limber up – and they’re off. It’s no contest. Joseph laughs when we ask how he learned to run so fast. He was once attacked by a lion and lived to show the scar. No better man, then, to get up close with the last of our Big Five – the leopard. We spot her straddling a tree while tearing away at what’s left of a wildebeest.
Our last evening and Joseph drives us out to the plains for sundowners. The children do cartwheels, their frames outlined against the setting sun. And we toast the African bush in all its majestic glory.
A seven-night all-inclusive Kenya safari from €8,040pp (based on two sharing) with one night at Hemingways Nairobi, three nights at Sanctuary Tambarare and three at Sanctuary Olonana with flights, transfers and park fees. See abercrombiekent.co.uk