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Kicheche Valley
Kicheche Valley
Kicheche Valley
Kicheche Valley
Kicheche Valley
Kicheche Valley
Kicheche Valley

Reviews of Kicheche Valley

Wildlife sightings and reviews

59 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Kicheche Valley and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Jan-2019, 51 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Kicheche Valley.
Lion

100% success

Leopard

76% success

Cheetah

96% success

Wild dog

9% success

Giraffe

100% success

Wildebeest

100% success

Zebra

100% success

Buffalo

98% success

Spotted Hyena

96% success

Hippo

96% success

Elephant

94% success

Eland

94% success

Striped Hyena

9% success

Black Rhino

6% success

Aardvark

5% success

Pangolin

2% success

Showing 1-10 of 59
Duration
Arrival date
Mr & Mrs K from
Wales

"Kicheche Valley review"

3 nights Arrived 25 Feb 2024
"Finally an area to save the trip, and to have the volume of game we had been expecting.

A very nice camp. with excellent rooms, first class management and staff, excellent food and an excellent guide (Mika). We very much enjoyed this camp, which was a relief.

There was lots of game to see, and to be found." See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Buffalo

2 sightings

Cheetah

4 sightings

Eland

5 sightings

Elephant

4 sightings

Giraffe

6 sightings

Hippo

4 sightings

Lion

5 sightings

Spotted Hyena

4 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Rachel
Stirling

"Kicheche Valley review"

4 nights Arrived 3 Feb 2024
"Kicheche valley was in a lovely location. The camp is beautiful and looks over the valley. We could see animals from our tent and heard lions roaring in the night. Our guide, Mica, was unbelievably informed and passionate about the animals we saw, we learned so much. Minnie and the staff went above and beyond on my birthday, with a birthday cake and traditional Masai dancing to celebrate." See all these reviews: 9n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Average
Facilities:
Good
Service:
Good
Activities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

3 sightings

Cheetah

2 sightings

Eland

3 sightings

Elephant

5 sightings

Giraffe

6 sightings

Hippo

4 sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

4 sightings

Spotted Hyena

3 sightings

Wildebeest

6 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mr & Mrs S
Siskind

"Kicheche Valley review"

3 nights Arrived 29 Jan 2024
"As we had just been to Laikipia and had such an amazing experience there, we wondered it would be possible for Kichechi Valley to be comparable but amazingly it was!

The facilities were great, the food amazing, the animal drives were sensational and the early morning sunrises were beautiful. We got lucky with animal sightings another wonderful life experience" See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Cheetah

Multiple sightings

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Striped Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wild dog

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

John and Jill
Mass/NH

"Kicheche Valley review"

3 nights Arrived 28 Jan 2024
"This camp was in transition because the camp manager was on vacation so there was a little bit of disorganization at the management level.

Other than that the wait staff was spectacular and the food was the best of the whole trip.

Our guide was SUPER knowledgable and informative.

The accommodations were excellent and the variety of animals we were able to see made it a very special part of the trip." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Cheetah

5 sightings

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

2 sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Mr & Mrs P
Norfolk

"Kicheche Valley review"

5 nights Arrived 24 Jan 2024
"Very welcoming and friendly staff.

One of our main reasons for choosing this camp was for night drives and this could not be organised for 2 of the 4 nights that weather permitted outings. It also took a discussion with the manager to rearrange meal times as required for these drives.

Food quality was excellent but very much targetted to fixed times rather than totally flexible around wildlife.

The guide was excellent, very knowledgable and very keen to educate us on the detail of all the ecology and animal life." See all these reviews: 16n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

10 sightings

Cheetah

4 sightings

Eland

10 sightings

Elephant

5 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Lion

7 sightings

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Ms A.
Manchester

"Kicheche Valley review"

3 nights Arrived 18 Jan 2024
"Full disclosure, I’m a repeat guest of Kicheche Valley and when I put this itinerary together with Richard, it was the only “sure thing” I knew I wanted. I so enjoyed my time here last year that I needed to return, and I’m so glad I did.

Kicheche’s accommodations are excellent. The tents are large and well-appointed. No bucket showers here. 24x7 in-room charging stations, new ceiling fans, fresh drinking water for your reusable bottle. Absolutely no complaints at all!

Kicheche honored my request for Twala as a guide again and I’m thankful they did! I had amazing sightings with Twala last year and I did again this time. Things were made much more difficult with the heavy rains, flooding, mud and all that that does to wildlife, making sightings that should be easy a bit more difficult. Never mind though, Twala still delivered….mother cheetah with 4 cubs, mother leopard with a little cub, mother lion with 3 cubs, large lion pride of 15+…the list goes on. I was spoiled for choice (it’s a tough call when you have to decide between cheetah cubs and leopard cub on the same drive!).

Twala is very personable and experienced. He knows the wildlife really well and knows how to find them even when rangers can’t! He also has an innate sense of how the cats in particular will move. I was well positioned for photos a couple times as we waited for lions to come out of deep bush or leopard to come down out of a tree. It only makes my photos that much better!

One “above and beyond” story though…on my first night, the camp inadvertently forgot to pack the gin for my sundowner. No worries, I will just drink my water, I said. Twala snuck away for a couple minutes while the rest of us were chatting and watching the sun go down and within 10 minutes another Kicheche vehicle pulled up with my gin. He didn’t have to make that happen, but he did. That’s the kind of thing that makes a difference.

A special note about the chef here…he does a wonderful job with feeding vegetarians! I ate better than I do when I cook for myself and with a lot of very inventive dishes. I hope to be motivated enough to try to replicate them myself.

I’m already planning next time, and Kicheche Valley is already on my itinerary." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

5 sightings

Cheetah

10 sightings

Eland

10 sightings

Giraffe

2 sightings

Hippo

7 sightings

Leopard

2 sightings

Lion

5 sightings

Spotted Hyena

4 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

T&J
London

"Kicheche Valley review"

2 nights Arrived 6 Jan 2024
"Amazing camp nestled in the valley with beautiful extended views to the west although we had cloudy day so no African sunsets.

Another amazing camp: small, very personal, great staff again. Food was very good and copious - actually far too much food!

Game drives excellent: no Rhinos here but lots of cats and we were fortunate to see within a few minutes two Cheetah mothers with four cubs each. Great place for bird watching.

We did a bush walk which made a nice change from car safari." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

10 sightings

Cheetah

9 sightings

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Lion

10 sightings

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Nick_H
Herts

"Kicheche Valley review"

4 nights Arrived 27 Dec 2023
"Kicheche Valley is in a glorious setting within the conservancy.

The conservancy can provide stunning sighting opportunities for sightings and scenery and every drive was expertly guided with enthusiasm. Every game drive was amazing and will live long in my memory. I enjoyed amazing sightings enabled by an expert guide who enjoyed his time in the bush as much as I did.

It can feel that there are too many vehicles at some sightings but the presence of the conservancy vehicle helps to address this. This is by no means on the scale of the issue in some National Parks, but there were a couple of times that we decided to withdraw due to vehicle volume.

Hospitality and the camp accommodation were perfect, the tents beautifully positioned, appointed and comfortable. The food and team were exceptional.

Kicheche properties are also fantastically welcoming for solo travelers." See all these reviews: 17n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

9 sightings

Cheetah

3 sightings

Eland

10 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

4 sightings

Lion

10 sightings

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Dr G & Dr E
UK

"Kicheche Valley review"

3 nights Arrived 27 Nov 2023
"Another small and intimate camp. The staff were friendly and welcoming. Minnie, the camp manager was very accomodating, perhaps to the detriment of the smooth running of the food service. There were a two parties of photographic guests who ate on their own schedules, for both lunch and dinner, which meant that everyone else who arrived at the advertised meal times were always left waiting. They were equally as flexible with game drive times. We are usually one of the first out of camp in the mornings, so it was a bit of a shock to see that we were last, especially as it was pitch black when we left at 5.30 am.

We requested Edward, our guide from Kicheche Mara last year, who is now working at Kicheche Valley. This meant that we again had a private vehicle. I think that this would have been the case anyway, given the two sets of photographic guests. It was lovely seeing him again and being able to relax, knowing that he would get us into a good position and not miss anything.

This conservancy feels the least wild of the three which we have now been to, as you can see the lights of nearby settlements. It is less open than Mara North and has more areas of trees and shrubs than Olare Motorogi, but they all have their charms.

There was a cheetah with five cubs very close to camp. This provided great photographic opportunities and was the only time where it felt crowded with vehicles.

Like Kicheche Mara, they offer spa treatments here, but I don't know when you are supposed to fit them in, as there is never any free time!" See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

6 sightings

Cheetah

4 sightings

Eland

2 sightings

Elephant

4 sightings

Giraffe

6 sightings

Hippo

4 sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

10 sightings

Spotted Hyena

5 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mrs H.
Canada

"Kicheche Valley review"

4 nights Arrived 13 Oct 2023
"Amazing! The staff, accommodations, food and quality of the guides all exceeded my expectations!" See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Cheetah

Multiple sightings

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Showing 1-10 of 59
99%
59 reviews of Kicheche Valley by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
55
4
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0
0
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Basecamp Eagle View

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Kicheche Walking Wilderness

Kicheche Fly Camp

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Saruni Wild

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Cottars 1920s Camp

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