Reviews of Kicheche Valley
Wildlife sightings and reviews
62 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
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"Kicheche Valley review"
Being an unfenced camp we got multiple sightings during the day, including giraffes literally wandering through camp at lunch.
During our safaris we were paired with Bernard, an absolutely exceptional and very knowledgeable guide. We witnessed some incredible sightings including a pregnant giraffe, lions and cheetahs hunting, three male lions crossing the plains at dawn, and elephant family protecting their babies. We also got multiple sighting of leopards with their babies, and an aardvark, both of which are apparently highly elusive.
We would 100% return if we are lucky enough to go on another safari." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya
"Kicheche Valley review"
On arrival we were welcomed by relief manager Rachel - an amazing lady. Born in Kenya, she was very interesting and interested, we had lots of chats!
She and all the staff were delightful. On hand all the time to answer questions and provide us with everything we needed.
On our 3rd morning Minnie (camp manager) returned. Also a charming, friendly and helpful lady.
Our guide, Bernard, was excellent. Once again, very knowledgeable, a lovely man and a good communicator. Mindful to go at a pace that suited us and our desire to see the birdlife.
Naibosho has more water than Olare so was much greener, especially in areas near the rivers.
Bernard took us to different areas of the conservancy, always finding a riverside spot for our breakfast. Consequently we saw lots of different birds and lots of hippo! (I do love a Hippo!)
He was also happy to talk about his culture and family life, something we are both very interested in.
The highlight at Valley was our night drive. This was something we had specifically wanted to do. The infrared allowed us to observe the animals at close quarters.
We were lucky to see Genet, Bat eared Fox, hippos out of the water and a special treat - a very large porcupine!
The two camps, Bush and Valley are similar in the size and the quality of accommodation, staff and guides in both camps is outstanding.
They are different in other ways.
The location of Valley on the hillside means it has wonderful views from every part of the camp, especially the lounge and dining area.
The tents feel more permanent as they are on wooden decking (possibly because of the sloping ground) and are slightly bigger.
We preferred eating communally at Bush (we had separate tables at Valley) but the make of guests in the camps was different (there were 2 families with youngish children at Valley.
I'm sure this varies a lot throughout the year.
I am pleased that we visited both camps. If we could only go to one I would have difficulty choosing!" See all these reviews: 8n in Kenya
"What can we say … this camp is amazing! "
The food is absolutely delicious and they went above and beyond making sure our a fussy teenager didn’t go hungry! Mika our guide was fantastic, he made the safari drives a wonderful experience. He’s a very special man.
A life changing experience!
The sighting form below doesn’t allow you to say how special some of our sightings were - the two baby giraffe, sitting in unison watching us, watching them waiting for Mum to return. Herds of elephants with babies of various ages at the waterhole. The two pride of lions with baby cubs a month old. Two male lions of the same pride together that we followed for a while - even Mika took a video as it was a very unusual sight. The storks that took flight when threatened by an eagle - an amazing spectacle to see over 40 storks take to the sky. We saw two types of kingfisher - have never seen a kingfisher in the uk! And lots more." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya
"Kicheche Valley review"
Great location with wonderful panoramic view." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya
"Kicheche Valley review"
Minnie, the camp manager, along with Maurice, Joyce and the rest of her team made our three night stay very enjoyable indeed. The food was excellent, picnic breakfast, buffet lunch and then a more formal sit down dinner in the evening, the same as the other camps. Nothing was too much trouble and a special word of thanks to Minnie for assisting with the production of the Passenger Locator Forms which we required before returning to the UK. This was much appreciated and emphasised the need for internet access in order to complete the Covid formalities currently required by the UK.
Our guide for the three nights was Bernard, along with Stella who was training as a guide. Bernard proved very adept at finding the animals, including a leopard on the first evening and a pride of some dozen plus lionesses and cubs crossing over the river into the next conservancy. In addition he managed to find bat-eared foxes which we had never seen and two separate sightings of a male and female serval cat which was the icing on the cake. A lovely way to finish off our trip." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya
"Kicheche Valley review"
I appreciate the robes, the flashlights and the yoga mat in the room. After being in the truck all day, it feels good to stretch and help my old bones recuperate.
The only reason I did not see the ellies at this camp is because we were staying in the areas to see the leopards and the cheetahs and lions and hyenas." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya
"Kicheche Valley review"
With typical Kicheche attention to detail, on arrival Relief Camp Manager Rachel told me that she had assigned a special tent for me. Knowing of my passion for birds, I was shown to tent 2 ("Are" in Maa) where African Paradise Flycatchers were nesting alongside the decking of my tent. What a generous and thoughtful gesture - and what beautiful birds!
The wildlife was as good as ever, and Mica was a skilful and expert driver/guide. Sightings included 2 Small Spotted Genets sleeping together in daytime hideout and a Serval. Catering and hosting again superb as always." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya
"Kicheche Valley review"
Valley is the most posh of the Kicheche camps, but, still, it’s not over-the-top luxurious (which would not have been to our taste). To our delight, guest-manager Rachel (whom we had befriended at another camp on a previous trip) was at the helm, and she provided a generous and gracious welcome to all visitors in camp. At our request, she arranged for a quiet tent-side dinner for us on our last night in the bush.
Fortunately, Valley still has that Kicheche vibe that emphasizes wildlife viewing. And what viewing we had in our 24 hours here: a magnificent male leopard on our drive in; an afternoon drive with a pride of 18 lions and a celebrated female cheetah with 5 approximately one-month old cubs engaging in all sorts of antics; and a last morning drive with a lioness and 2 tiny cubs, a den of bat-eared foxes, and then, to cap it all off, the aforesaid celebrated cheetah mother embarking on a successful gazelle kill to keep her young family alive for one more day.
Our guide, Bernard, was very engaging and did a superlative job of positioning our vehicle for optimal photographic opportunities. We definitely would like to return to Kicheche Valley in the future for a longer stay." See all these reviews: 17n in Kenya
"Big cats and more"
I was struck, as I was elsewhere on this (just) post-Covid trip, by just how calm and pragmatic and sensible everyone working in the camp was and how pleased they were to see us after a couple of hard years - it was a great relief and comfort coming from Europe. Minnie in particular who managed it had a lovely sense of humour as well and that filtered down to the staff.
Food, as elsewhere on this trip was excellent.
Guiding was really good - Kicheche is at the junction of three different prides' territories and one dominant male lion had been taken down by rivals from another pride the night before we arrived and the fallout 'politics' were really interesting. This is spectacular big cat territory - lots of sightings of leopards and cheetahs as well as dozens of lions - including many cubs of different ages - and the guide knew where to find them.
We also saw (practically) every sort of gazelle, elephants, hippos, birds, hyenas, sunsets, sunrises. The land was parched after a long drought, and it began to rain on our last day which didn't diminish the game drive - they provided huge lined cagoules and by the following morning green shoots were appearing." See all these reviews: 14n in Kenya
"Kicheche Valley review, my favourite camp on this trip "
What really made my experience memorable at Kicheche Valley was the outstanding guiding by Mika. Extremely knowledgeable, he listens and observes every details in the bush and proves to be very skillful at spotting all sorts of wildlife. He is modest when saying he can identify "a few birds", I would call him an expert!
Having our bush breakfasts in the vehicle while observing a cheetah and her 2 cubs was delightful.
I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my stay!" See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya
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