Kenya - Luxury Safari 2025

Three of Africa’s most iconic creatures are among the most threatened, trying to survive in an increasingly precarious world. They are the black and white rhinoceros and the African elephant.  They are intelligent, complex and powerful animals that need our respect, our attention and most of all, our support. Wild Focus is returning to Kenya once again in order to come face to face with these massive icons of the bush.

Our long journey will begin in Nairobi at a lodge that is quintessential Africa, the Giraffe Manor. Here, the needs of another iconic and very endangered animal take precedence over humans, the Rothchild giraffe. Adjacent to Giraffe Manor, the giraffe center is actively and successfully breeding Rothchild’s giraffes and introducing them into the wilds of Kenya and Uganda. Success stories like these are rare, but they happen in Kenya. One cannot come to Nairobi without visiting another monumental success story: The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. In Nairobi, this organization founded in 1977 by the world renown and late Dame Daphne Sheldrick and her husband David Sheldrick, is proof that humans CAN make a positive difference on this planet. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust operates an orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation program. We will spend our first day in Kenya at the SWT where we will meet the tiny elephant calves who have fought to survive against the odds.

A short flight from Nairobi will deliver us to the base of Mount Kenya at the Lewa Conservancy and Solio Conservancy. Our journey takes us here so that we can visit and learn about the critically endangered black rhino and the white rhino. These animals with poor eyesight but a fantastic sense of smell, are under guard day and night in Kenya and in many places in Africa. Humans hunt them for their horns - used as an aphrodisiac and replacement for Viagra in the Asian market. The horn, by the way, is made up of nothing more than keratin, the same protein which forms the basis of our hair and nails. We will of course be looking for all the big cats and other African animals when we are not enthralled by these honking and sneezing behemoths - we hope to see many.

When it is time to leave the shadow of Mount Kenya, we will fly south to one of the biggest national parks in Kenya, Tsavo. We will start in Tsavo East and will spend the next three days at Ithumba, a Sheldrick Wildlife Trust camp. This camp is specifically designed to benefit the Sheldrick elephant conservation project. After the rescued orphans in Nairobi become healthy and strong, they are transported to Ithumba which is one of three camps dedicated to this remarkable elephant conservation effort. It is here that these young orphans will have an opportunity to see and meet herds of wild elephants that are curious about the young orphans. When these orphans are ready, they will leave the safety of the Sheldrick Center, and leave their human keepers to join the wild herd. It is an extraordinary success albeit a bit sad for the keepers who are left behind. We will also spend several days in Tsavo East on game drives looking for the beautiful wild herds. The elephant bulls of Tsavo are known for their big tusks so part of our hope is to be able to see the last of these big African tuskers doing what they do best; live wild. One other animal that we will be keen to find are Tsavo’s lions.  It was here, in 1898 that the “man-eaters of Tsavo” became well known for their almost year long reign of terror killing the railroad workers. About 35 men were killed and eaten by these lions.

Finally we will drive to Tsavo West, a place of endless beauty. The landscape of Tsavo West is unique and indescribable. It is much better seen than described.  We will spend the rest of our days enjoying the breathtaking view of the Lumo Conservancy from a stunning new lodge called Lion’s Bluff. With an eye-level underground photographic hide on a water hole, we hope to see what luck provides. Game drives, African sunsets, dotted landscapes of elephant, giraffe, Cape buffalo, lesser kudu ,Thomson’s gazelle, hartebeest and more seen from our rooms with 180º views will keep our hearts beating. Perhaps we will find the lions prides upon the massive rocky kops in the cool mornings. This trip is Africa at its finest, its most beautiful and mostly, its most wild.