So, youre thinking of a Kenyan safari? Forget bumping along interminable red dusty roads for hours in a minibus convoy. Leave behind the herd of striped vans gathered around a bored lion. Dont even think about staying in a three star hotel in the Masai Mara. Instead hop into a small plane with a bush pilot and soar like a martial eagle over sparkling rift valley lakes to luxurious Loisaba Lodge.
Loisaba is an example of a new exclusive breed of safari lodge springing up in the spectacular remote wilds of Africas original safari country. Vast areas of land owned by local tribal communities and farmland have been merged to create the Laikipia private reserve now dedicated to its animal inhabitants. Dotted around Laikipia are some of Kenyas most exclusive safari lodges, each treating a handful of guests to a true luxury safari adventure.
From its elevated vantage point Loisaba has views across literally a thousand of square miles of golden savannah, forest and rugged hill country. Estimates put the thriving elephant population of Laikipia at around 8,000 and everywhere you go these unique social creatures roam. Long tusked old bulls wave their heads and trumpet piercingly as you pass. Breeding herds of females gently nurture their young, passing down centuries of accumulated understanding of the landscape and water sources. Add to this another 50 species of mammals as diverse as rhinoceros, giraffe, baboon and leopard and you have the makings of an incredible safari.
What sets Loisaba apart isnt just the stupendous wildlife, its also the sheer variety of ways in which you can enjoy the experience. Of course, the expert guides take you game viewing in open four wheel drive vehicles. Yet if you ride you can canter on a thoroughbred alongside herds of gracefully bounding antelope. You can head off in search of hyena on a quadbike, cycle past a group of giraffe on a mountain bike, and drift silently over a herd of buffalo in a hot air balloon. After all that activity your thoughts may turn to the cosy little spa for a treatment before tucking in to a delicious four course dinner that would grace the table of a decent London restaurant.
This alluring mix of comfort and real adventure can be taken up another notch by taking a walk across the reserve with a group of scarlet clad masai warriors who own the land. As you chat with them your luggage, food and essentials follow on camels, until after a couple of hours you reach the Ewaso Nyiro river. There, cantilevered over the river you find your home for the night. The starbeds! A big teak deck a bush bathroom and beds on wheels which can be rolled from under the thatched awning so you can sleep under a vast star filled African sky. News, phone, diary all fade into a refreshingly distant perspective in this unspoilt landscape thats the same as it was a thousand years ago.
Wake to birdsong and wildlife moving to the river below, as a brilliant yellow sun emerges from the horizon to begin another unique day on your Kenya safari.
