7 Days Untamed Skies Safari: Flying The Hidden North of Kenya

You will take an early morning scheduled flight from Wilson Airport to the airstrip serving the Samburu/Buffalo Springs area; the short flight will give you a sweeping aerial introduction to Kenya’s changing landscapes and will land you close enough that your lodge transfer will be brief. On arrival, you will be met and transferred to your mid-range lodge, Ashnil Samburu Camp, a reliable haven that combines comfortable rooms, good game-drive access, and local knowledge. You will check in and have a short rest before heading out for a late-afternoon game drive. That first drive will orient you to the Ewaso Ng’iro river corridor and the dry acacia-scarp country; you will focus on sighting animals that are characteristic of the North—elephants using riverine corridors, lions along the flats at dusk, and waterbird concentrations near the river. Samburu’s relative remoteness will make this evening feel like a genuine step off the busiest tourist tracks; your guide will brief you on the next days’ plans, and you will dine at camp under a wide, starry canopy. Unique Samburu experiences you will have here include access to the Ewaso Ng’iro river habitats, intimate small-group game drives, and close cultural exchange opportunities with Samburu communities (village visits, beadwork demonstrations, and pastoralist story-sharing). Samburu’s wildlife mix is famous for the so-called “Samburu Special Five”: Grevy’s Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk, Beisa Oryx, and Somali Ostrich—species that you will not see together in the southern parks and which make Samburu feel biologically distinct and compelling. Your guides will actively track these species and position you for the best light and behavior opportunities.

Elephant Bedroom Camp

Over the next two days, you will wake early for dawn game drives when the animals are most active and the light is extraordinary for photography. You will alternate short, purposeful morning drives with relaxed mid-day returns to the lodge for lunch and a swim or shaded reading time, and longer late-afternoon drives when predators and grazing herds become active. Your guides in Samburu will be particularly adept at locating rarities: you will look for Grevy’s zebra in small groups on the flats, watch reticulated giraffes feeding on acacia crowns, and scan riverine pools for crocodiles, herons, and plentiful waterbirds. Because Samburu is less crowded than major southern parks, you will often find that sightings come with more quiet time and better viewing angles; game-drive etiquette in the area typically limits the number of vehicles at a sighting, so your experience will feel intimate and unhurried. In addition to game drives, you will be offered optional activities that will deepen your connection to place: guided nature walks (where permitted) along the riverbanks to learn about medicinal plants and spoor identification, camel treks for a slower perspective over the plains, and a carefully arranged Samburu village visit that will explain pastoralist ecology, livestock husbandry, and beadwork traditions. Because Samburu communities have co-managed conservancies and benefit from tourism, your cultural engagement will also be an opportunity to learn about community-run conservation and local livelihoods. For travelers seeking off-the-beaten-path texture, these cultural and walking-based experiences will become lasting highlights of your stay.

Samburu National Park

You will board a short charter or scheduled hop that will bring you toward the eastern highlands. You will travel in the comfort of a light aircraft, watching vegetation change from the semi-arid north to the greener, river-cut landscapes of Meru. On arrival in the Meru area, you will be transferred to a mid-range camp—Rhino River Camp (Porini/Rhino River) or similar—which will place you next to riverine forest and private concessions that are excellent for biodiversity exploration. After settling in, you will head out on an evening drive that will already show Meru’s contrast with Samburu: thicker woodland, slower watercourses, and a different palette of species and birds. Why Meru is special and off the typical radar: Meru National Park and its private concessions will feel quietly remote, with far fewer vehicles, thick riverine forest corridors, and excellent birding. Your drives will emphasize the park’s mix of large mammal sightings—elephants, buffalo, lion, and leopard—alongside rarer avian species. Your guide will be specifically listening for signs of Pel’s fishing owl and Peter’s finfoot, two species that birders cherish here. Meru’s mosaic of habitats—river forest, woodland, and grassland—will produce a slower, observation-rich pace compared with the broad plains safaris; you will come away with a deeper appreciation for East Africa’s river-dependent ecosystems.

Rhino River Camp Meru

You will spend a full day in Meru with early and late game drives, plus a possible guided walk in permitted areas. Rhino River Camp and similar mid-range properties will offer shaded, comfortable tents and often riverside decks where you will hear the stream and birds between drives. Your day will be about combining classic game drives with micro-experiences: track game along dry riverbeds, sit quietly at a watering hole for extended wildlife viewing, and ask your guide to explain ecological relationships—how riparian corridors allow species to migrate and persist here. If you love birds, you will be in heaven; Meru often records large totals of species each year, and your guide will build a bird list for you that will likely include forest specials and riverine species that you will not have seen in Samburu. The lodge will handle a relaxed lunch and a focused afternoon game drive; you will enjoy a final sundowner before a dinner of locally sourced ingredients and conversation about conservation in the Meru landscape.

Meru National Park

You will depart Meru after breakfast and take a short charter or scenic road/air transfer to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia. Ol Pejeta will provide a dramatic and very different finish to your northern Kenya loop: a large private conservancy with world-class conservation programmes—notably the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, East Africa’s only chimpanzee sanctuary, and an intensive rhino-monitoring programme that includes black-rhino tracking and the highly protected northern white rhino individuals. On arrival at the conservancy, you will check into a comfortable mid-range camp; Sweetwaters Serena Camp is a well-established tented option conveniently placed within the conservancy and familiar to fly-in visitors. You will have time to take a short late-afternoon activity. Unique experiences you will have at Ol Pejeta include visiting the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where you will meet rescued chimpanzees living in protected enclosures—this is the only place in Kenya where chimpanzees are cared for and publicly viewed as part of conservation and education programs, making the visit both poignant and informative. You will also have the chance to join a rhino-tracking or rhino-sanctuary visit with the conservancy’s rangers and researchers to learn about anti-poaching measures, veterinary interventions, and the breeding and rescue work that Ol Pejeta has pioneered. Ol Pejeta also protects the last two northern white rhinos and many black rhinos, and interpretive visits will put you very close to ongoing conservation efforts. If time permits and you choose to, the conservancy offers night game drives—a rare option in Kenya’s private reserves—where a spotlight may pick out nocturnal species such as aardvark, caracal, or bat-eared fox, an unusual addition that will make your final night both adventurous and meaningful.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy

You will rise early for one more morning game drive in Ol Pejeta to enjoy birds and the last big-game sightings as the conservancy wakes up. After breakfast you will take one of the short scheduled flights from Nanyuki (NYK) back to Nairobi (Wilson), the short hop will bring you back to Nairobi in under two hours, where your drive or onward connection will be waiting. This will conclude your fly-in loop through three distinct and less-touristed ecosystems of Kenya a route that will leave you with contrasting wildlife memories (Samburu’s specials, Meru’s river-forest magic, and Ol Pejeta’s conservation laboratories)