8-day Private Conservancy Safari

5:00 AM: Pre-Dawn Transfer to Balloon Launch Site

Coffee and warm pastries delivered to your suite. Transfer in the dark to the balloon launch site. As the envelope inflates against a charcoal sky, the anticipation is extraordinary.

5:30 AM: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon — Olare Motorogi

Drift in silence over the private conservancy and across into the wider Mara ecosystem as the sun breaks the horizon. Elephant herds emerge from the treeline, hippo pools shimmer below, and — if the timing is right — lion cubs rolling in the grass at eye level. Approx. 1 hour aloft.

7:30 AM: Champagne Bush Breakfast

Land to a white-linen table in the open plains — sparkling wine, freshly prepared eggs, artisan breads, and tropical fruit. A classic Mara ritual, made more intimate in the private conservancy.

10:00 AM: Rest, Spa & Ridge Time

Return to Mahali Mzuri for a restorative morning. Choose a massage at the open-air spa, a dip in the infinity pool overlooking the conservancy, or simply settle into your deck chair and watch the plains move.

4:00 PM: Guided Bush Walk — Private Conservancy

On foot with an armed Maasai ranger and your guide, discover the Mara that vehicles can’t access — medicinal plants, big cat tracks, dung beetles at work, and a silence so complete it recalibrates something inside you.

7:30 PM: Fireside Dinner at Camp

Dinner around the fire in Mahali Mzuri’s lounge. The Maasai night guard passes quietly with his spear. The stars are overwhelming.

6:00 AM: Dawn Game Drive — Big Cat Focus

One final drive in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy before departure. Your guide has been tracking a resident cheetah coalition and a leopard with cubs since yesterday. This morning, you go to them. Bush breakfast served in the field.

10:00 AM: Check-out · Farewell to Mahali Mzuri

A warm farewell from the team who have been your hosts. Personalised thank-you gifts and a final cup of Kenyan coffee on the ridge before transferring to the airstrip.

11:30 AM: Charter Flight — Olare Motorogi to Laikipia

Board your private charter for the scenic flight north to the Laikipia Plateau — a different world of wide open skies, sweeping hills, and ancient conservancies. Flying time approx. 1 hour.

1:00 PM: Arrival · Lengishu House, Laikipia

Touch down on the private Laikipia airstrip and transfer to Lengishu House — a supremely private, owner-operated bush home with just four suites, perched at 2,100 metres on the Laikipia Plateau. The house is yours exclusively: wraparound verandahs, a plunge pool, handmade furniture, and a kitchen garden supplying your table. Your host meets you for a slow welcome lunch of freshly prepared Kenyan produce.

4:00 PM: Afternoon Camel Safari

Laikipia’s signature experience: a guided camel safari through open acacia bush at the pace the landscape demands. Your guide narrates the landscape, the Samburu culture, and the wildlife that thrives at altitude — Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, and gerenuk among them. Sundowners served in the open air.

7:30 PM: Dinner at Lengishu House

An intimate candlelit dinner in the main house — farm-to-table dishes prepared by your private chef using herbs from the kitchen garden, wines chosen to match the mood, and a dining room that feels like the most beautifully curated home in Africa.

6:30 AM: Dawn Horseback Safari

Laikipia is one of the few places on earth where you can ride alongside wildlife on horseback — the animals accept horses in a way they never accept vehicles. Your experienced wrangler leads a bespoke ride through open plains and acacia woodland. Encounter elephants, buffalo, and plains game from a perspective that is genuinely life-changing. All abilities catered for.

9:00 AM: Bush Breakfast on the Plains

Dismount for a full bush breakfast spread laid out in the open — eggs, fresh fruit, Kenyan chai, warm bread — with the horses grazing beside you and nothing but sky and savannah in every direction.

11:00 AM: Free Time at Lengishu

The rest of the morning is yours. Swim in the plunge pool, read on the verandah, take a guided walk in the kitchen garden, or do absolutely nothing. The silence of the plateau is a gift.

3:30 PM: Community & Cultural Experience — Samburu Village

Transfer to a neighbouring Samburu community for a respectful, unhurried cultural exchange. Meet the women’s beading cooperative, listen to traditional songs, and learn how the Samburu  people have co-existed with wildlife on the plateau for centuries. A portion of your safari fee supports the community directly.

7:30 PM: Stargazing Dinner — Al Fresco at Lengishu

At 2,100 metres, the night sky over Laikipia is extraordinary. Dinner is served on the lawn — lanterns, low tables, blankets, and a star map. Your host identifies constellations as the courses arrive.

Morning: Check-out · Lengishu House

A final morning on the Laikipia Plateau — coffee on the verandah, a slow breakfast, and warm farewells from the Lengishu team. Transfer to the airstrip for your charter flight east to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

11:00 AM: Arrival · Lewa Safari Camp by Elewana

Touch down at Lewa Airstrip and transfer to Lewa Safari Camp by Elewana — ten classic safari tents set discreetly within the 65,000-acre Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Lewa is UNESCO World Heritage listed and home to the world’s largest protected population of both black and white rhino. Check into your tent: hand-carved wooden furniture, a copper bath, and a private deck facing the open conservancy. Welcome lunch served al fresco.

4:00 PM: Afternoon Game Drive — Rhino Tracking

Your first Lewa game drive is dedicated to rhino. Your guide works with the conservancy’s ranger network to locate both black and white rhino on foot of their tracking data. Coming within a safe distance of a critically endangered black rhino in open bush is one of East Africa’s most profound wildlife encounters. Sundowners poured on the conservancy plains as the sky turns crimson.

7:30 PM: Bush Dinner at Lewa

Dinner beneath the stars in the Elewana style: elegant simplicity — candlelit tables in the open air, seasonal Kenyan produce, fine wine, and the sound of the conservancy settling into night.

6:00 AM: Dawn Game Drive — Grevy’s Zebra & Big Five

Lewa is one of Kenya’s finest Big Five destinations. Your dawn drive covers the conservancy’s northern sector — an open, dramatic landscape of volcanic hills, luggas, and grassland where lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino are all resident. The rare Grevy’s zebra is endemic to this region.

8:30 AM: Bush Breakfast in the Field

Your team sets up a full breakfast in a clearing in the conservancy: fresh juice, eggs, toast, Kenyan chai, and the morning light pouring across the plains. Your guide explains the ecological significance of Lewa’s UNESCO designation.

11:00 AM: Behind-the-Scenes Rhino Conservancy Tour

An exclusive visit with the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy’s rhino programme team. Learn about antipoaching operations, the individual rhino identification system, and the community conservation model that has made Lewa one of Africa’s great conservation success stories. A deeply moving and perspective-shifting experience.

1:00 PM: Lunch at Camp

Return to camp for a leisurely lunch. The afternoon heat is perfect for the pool, the verandah, or a restorative sleep with the tent canvas open to the conservancy breeze.

4:00 PM: Guided Night Drive — Lewa by Darkness

After sundowners, a specialist night drive with a spotlight ranger. Lewa’s nocturnal world includes aardvark, serval, porcupine, bush baby, and the amber gleam of leopard eyes. Return to camp for a late dinner by lantern light

6:30 AM: Last Dawn Game Drive — Lewa

One final, unhurried drive in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. No agenda except gratitude. The conservancy at dawn — the light, the silence, the animals — is a parting gift that stays with you long after the plane lifts.

9:30 AM: Farewell Bush Breakfast

Your last breakfast in the bush is served deliberately slowly. The Lewa Safari Camp team gathers to say goodbye. Personalised handmade gifts, a signed conservancy certificate, and a final cup of Kenyan coffee facing the conservancy.

11:00 AM: Check-out · Transfer to Lewa Airstrip

Your bags are carried to the airstrip. As the charter climbs and banks north, the conservancy reveals itself in its full scale — golden, ancient, and quietly magnificent. What happens to you in the bush cannot be undone.

12:30 PM: Charter Arrival · Wilson Airport, Nairobi

Touch down at Wilson Airport, Nairobi. Your Drones Africa Safaris concierge is waiting to assist with onward transfers, luggage, and any final arrangements. We hope to welcome you back.