Reviews of Laikipia Wilderness

"Having visited before I know what a great place this is. Very good food, old friends, attentive service and fine tents make for an excellent base.

Steve Carey has created a wonderful camp. Mugambi was our driver/guide and he showed great skills, sense of humour, and tried so hard to help us. He knew his birds which was very helpful. He was great fun!

Unfortunately it rained every day and this meant that animals and birds were hiding up but we made the best of it. Good leopard sighting but not the black leopard who was not seen at all by anyone while we were there.

Striped hyena was probably the most exciting thing." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya

"The room was a good shape and size, and very "African", and for that I have no criticism. However, internally, there was shortage of much comfort - lighting, bathroom facilities bathroon layout etc.

Management was friendly, but rather distant and unconcerned, and there was little guidance about how to progress with life. Food was OK but no better than that.

Our guide (Simon) was poor, and that contributed to the lack of game we found. Wildlife generally was sparse.

Frankly, I was left wondering quite why this camp is on your website" See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya

"This is a lovely 'old-style' tented camp.

The owner/managers are very 'hands on". We were fortunate to see the black leopard on several occasions in the daylight and at night.

We also had close encounters with two other leopards and several sightings of striped hyena." See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya

"Staff were exceptional, very welcoming, couldn't do enough for us around the camp.

Food was good quality and very flexible with varying arrival times, often changing at very short notice as wildlife was spotted near the end of game drives.

Our guide was training for his exams but was extremely knowledgable and put 100% in to finding wildlife and ensuring we had good views without disturbing the animals unduly." See all these reviews: 16n in Kenya

"Laikipia Wilderness is a very well run camp in a beautiful area. The sightings were wonderful, including 2 nights out of 4 with Giza, and the standard of guiding exceptional.

The team could not have done more to provide a wonderful stay or experience. The food and hospitality were both of a really high standard. Laikipia Wilderness is in a wonderful setting and the accommodation is sympathetic to the environment and also offers a wonderful position.

Every game drive was immensely enjoyable and the guides, trackers and camp staff are all passionate about the guest experience. A beautiful and exciting location with amazing opportunities." See all these reviews: 17n in Kenya

"We were very fortunate to see Giza twice and also the wild dogs so I can't complain on that score!

Otherwise the camp is pretty basic, and our vehicle had no windshield or side curtains so several of our drives were just cold and soaked, even the guide was soaked.

There isn't a lot of other wildlife other than loads of dik dik so anyone going there should be prepared for that." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya

"We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Laikipia. The staff were extremely helpful and kind. Accessibility was as good as it could be given the location.

The food was good, plenty for us but a bit short for hungry young men particularly in the meat department!

Game drives were good.

Whilst the weather did impact things we feel that extra activities e.g. game walks etc could have been more forthcoming." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya

"This is hard for me to review because I’ve never been anywhere quite like it. It's fairly remote - it certainly took a while to get there by road from Kicheche Laikipia via Nanyuki. Fly to Loisaba airstrip if you can because that’s how I left and it avoided a horrible main road full of potholes. Having said that, my transfer driver was incredibly skilled and seemed to know every hazard and how to avoid it, and the journey is definitely worth it, however you get there.

This camp has no airs and graces or ‘extras’ but is very genuine and welcoming. I instantly felt at home. It’s like staying with your slightly eccentric extended family in their fittingly eccentric home. Your coffee cups might not get cleared away immediately and there are no hot water bottles in your bed (as at Kicheche) but it really doesn’t matter. You are surrounded by real knowledge, and the Zimbabwean owner, his Kenyan partner and their wonderful staff exude enthusiasm for everything around them. They also have four dogs equally enthusiastic dogs - big but not scary.

The comfortable guest tents are built on a hillside. Each has all the essentials including a really effective shower with properly hot water in a ‘bathroom’ that is open to the sky but can be zipped closed to separate it from the (ceilinged) bedroom.

There is a small building with sofas, desks, charging points and the only guaranteed wi-fi, although I found I could ‘carry’ wi-fi to my tent, once I’d picked it up.

The 'mess' is raised with steps up to a big, covered area with sofas and a long dinner table, and an open area with good views, more seating, and a less formal table where breakfast and brunch are served. They also have a great raised deck at the edge of a nearby lake, where we had brunch one day and also saw Grevy’s zebra, crocodile, hippo and elephant at various times.

The food is really good - not fancy but hearty and plenty of it, taken around a big long table at dinner and less formally at ‘brunch’ which is served mid morning, as soon as everyone’s back from the drives. This replaces and seems much more sensible than the more formal lunch at 1 pm which other camps do but which chops into the (much needed, I find) free time between drives.

I chose this camp because it’s known for its wild dog and because I wanted to feel slightly more intrepid than on my previous safari. I booked over a year ahead, before I'd heard about the black leopard, Giza.

When I arrived, I was told that the dogs were out of range (three of the pack were wearing tracking collars) and hadn’t been seen for a while. I was disappointed but accepting. I didn’t dare ask about Giza but I did see her that evening, albeit in darkness. There was also a leopard in camp after dinner, chased away by the askari. Next morning, the dogs’ signals were picked up heading towards us. I had thought the collars were a bit of a cheat and would take the excitement out of seeing them - not at all! Knowing they were coming our way and might be seen at any time made things extra gripping. I spent the early part of the morning with my guide, Simon, who showed and taught me a lot of his local knowledge and then, by 9.15 the dogs had arrived and we were watching them flopping about, dozing and cleaning themselves and each other. An amazing morning - but my third and last evening/night at Wilderness was one I’ll never forget and really illustrates why a stay at this camp can be so utterly special.

My photos tell me that from 5.30 pm we sat with the black leopard for half an hour in the most beautiful golden light. At 6.45 we were with the dogs once more, watching them chase and catch dik-dik. By 7.30 we were sitting on the edge of a lake, sipping wine as our dinner cooked on an open campfire, and leopards’ eyes shone at us from across the water. After dinner, individual tents were raised (because there were mosquitos - we would have slept in the open otherwise) and I snuck into the cosiest camp bed ever, and fell asleep looking through my mesh ceiling at the Milky Way. I never felt scared. I was with three people who’d done this all their lives, including a Samburu spotter, plus a guard dog and (somewhere) a rifle. Two of those three people had a leopard outside their tent for most of the night. It was amazing. Do it if you possibly can.

I would highly recommend this camp to anyone who wants a really safe and rewarding stay in a slightly more edgy environment. The wild dog and leopard are not guaranteed - I know I was incredibly lucky - but you'll still have a wonderful experience." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya

"This is a very different experience from the other camps we stayed at.

The accommodation is rustic although comfortable and the bathrooms are open to the elements and would benefit from a slightly better shower arrangement.

The welcome was warm and the camp staff were all great.

The food is good solid "bush food".

This camp is made by the outstanding wildlife sitings, the guides we encountered and the ability to walk during the days and consequently have a completely different experience. We were guided by Barendt, Dan and Joseph. One of the many highlights was tracking a leopard that had made a kill overnight and finding the leopard asleep in the rocks - a very rare opportunity.

A great few days." See all these reviews: 8n in Kenya

"My only regret about my stay at Laikipia was that I didn't stay longer. The time I had available for safari only afforded me 2 nights there. I wish I had at least one or two more.

Laikipia Wilderness is a very comfortable camp, ideally located near the river (but not on it) and not as flashy as some other safari camps but still pretty nice. My tent was huge with a nice double bed and a day bed out on the veranda where I'd pretend to read (nap!) during midday siestas. There was an outdoor bathroom, my first, that was pretty cool. Everything was clean, tidy and really comfortable. My first night there was quite loud, with a nearby hyena den being quite active and leopards going through camp as well as lions roaring nearby.

The draw for me here was leopards, and in particular the melanistic leopard, and I was lucky enough to see the melanistic leopard on 3 out of 4 game drives. I also saw a very large male leopard on one night drive. Lots of plains game and some of the Northern Five. I heard a lot of lions but we never found them while I was there (other guests did). The foliage is quite low to the ground and tough to navigate and see through, not open like the Mara is. The wild dogs had been in the area the day before my arrival, but did not surface again while I was there (we tried radio pinging the collared ones, to no avail).

Simon was my guide and he was excellent. He knew what cats and particularly the leopards meant to me and he bent over backwards to deliver on the sightings. He was great to chat with too; I learned a lot about guiding and his experience in Laikipia. I would definitely request him again if I return to LWC.

The food here is great. As a vegetarian I ate very well. I like the camp's schedule of a small bit of breakfast to get you going pre-sunrise and a proper brunch around 11:30. No stopping in the middle of a game drive mid-morning for breakfast. That works out really well!

I think there is a lot more on offer here than just game drives. Had I had more time perhaps I would have walked or done something else, but my focus was really on the cats." See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya