Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages Laikipia

Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages offers a true home in the wilderness. The brainchild of Andy and Sonja Webb, the camp was designed to provide an entirely private and exclusive experience with superior service, offering guests a luxury Kenya safari holiday without ever sacrificing a sense of home.

The camp comprises just five exclusive-use safari cottages hidden within a grove of yellow-barked acacias, with spectacular views across the Ewaso Ng’irob River and the sweeping plains beyond. Operating on a strictly private basis, every booking includes a dedicated service team, including a private chef, server, professional safari guide, and a private 4WD safari vehicle, so guests can control their daily schedule.

Sustainability and community are non-negotiable cornerstones of the Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages experience. The property is completely single-use plastic-free, runs on solar electricity, uses borehole water, and serves produce sourced from its own organic garden and local growers. Above all, passionate, all-Kenyan staff bring the camp to life, eager to swap stories around the campfire and welcome every visitor into the Safari Cottages family.

Location & Accessibility

Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages is tucked away along the beautiful, acacia-studded Ewaso Ng’irob River in the heart of Laikipia’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The camp’s central location provides a pristine wilderness setting while remaining easily accessible for guests.

By Road

✓ The Journey: The overland route to Ol Pejeta’s main gate takes you along well-maintained tar roads that pass through charming villages and agricultural landscapes
✓ Inside the Conservancy: From the conservancy’s main gate, it is an approximately 40-minute drive to the cottages. The final 30 minutes transition to gravel roads within the protected reserve, acting as your very first mini game drive as you head to your wilderness home

By Air

✓ Helicopter Access: For the ultimate convenience and a spectacular aerial arrival, helicopters can land directly in the open field at the back of the property
✓ Nearest Airstrip: Scheduled domestic flights land at the nearby Nanyuki Airport. From the airstrip, it is a scenic 90-minute transfer through quaint towns, local farmlands, and open wilderness to reach the cottages

Accommodation

Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages offers a true “home away from home” experience with just five exclusive-use cottages tucked away in a grove of yellow-barked acacias. Overlooking the Ewaso Ng’irob River and the plains beyond, the camp’s operating model is entirely private, meaning you will not share your space with anyone other than your dedicated service team, which includes a private chef, server, professional safari guide, and your own 4WD vehicle.

To ensure guests feel comfortable while maintaining a deep connection to nature, the cottages feature a unique architectural design. Built on solid foundations with back walls and windows, the entire front of the building is made of canvas. Guests can roll up the front for a seamless, open-air connection to the wilderness, or roll it down when the evenings get chilly.

One-Bedroom Safari Cottages (“Moja Juu” & “Moja Chini”)

Ideal for couples or solo travelers, these two cozy cottages offer an intimate, private retreat.

✓ Layout: Features a comfortable living and dining room, an en-suite bathroom, and a shaded verandah
✓ The Theme: The perfect spot to lounge in the afternoon with a cup of tea and a good book whilst elephants rumble through the nearby bushes

Two-Bedroom Safari Cottages (“Mbili”, “Tatu” & “Inya”)

Perfectly suited for families or groups of friends traveling together, these three larger cottages offer expansive shared spaces.

✓ Layout: Two spacious bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms flanking a large central living area and dining room, complete with a sprawling verandah that stretches across the entire length of the building.

Cottage Amenities & Features

✓ Family Friendly: A travel cot, baby bath, and high chair are available on request
✓ Dining Spaces: Access to beautiful viewing decks for private bush meals right at your cottage
✓ Bed Configurations: Highly flexible arrangements featuring twin beds, king-size beds, or triple bed setups
✓ Refreshments: Drinking water and refillable water bottles are provided (the camp operates with zero single-use plastics)
✓ Bathrooms: En-suite facilities featuring hot and cold running water, walk-in showers, and provided utilities (shampoo, conditioner, and fabric detergent)
✓ Power & Connectivity: Solar-powered electricity with a backup generator (sufficient for charging devices, but cannot handle high-wattage items like hair dryers or straighteners). Basic Wi-Fi is available (suitable for messaging, but not large downloads)

Dining & Cuisine

Every meal at Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages is prepared with joy and designed to feel hearty, wholesome, and homey. Because every booking includes a private chef and server dedicated exclusively to your cottage, your dining experience is highly personalized, entirely private, and easily tailored to any specific dietary requirements.

Fresh, Local & Organic

The culinary team is passionate about sustainability and fresh flavors. Ingredients are sourced from vetted local producers, beef comes directly from Ol Pejeta Ranch, and fresh produce is picked straight from the camp’s own organic garden (which guests are welcome to visit and harvest from alongside Dom, the resident gardener!).

Private In-Cottage Dining

Whether you prefer to eat in your cozy indoor dining room or out on your spacious verandah overlooking the river, meals are served in the comfort of your own space. In line with the camp’s strict eco-policies, you will find absolutely no single-use plastics; even the drinking glasses are beautifully repurposed cider and gin bottles.

Picnic Breakfasts in the Bush

Since your daily schedule is entirely up to you, the camp encourages you to spend as much time as possible exploring during the early morning hours, when wildlife is most active. Rather than rushing back to camp on an empty stomach, your chef will pack a delicious picnic breakfast. Your guide will find a safe, scenic spot in the bush for you to stretch your legs and enjoy fresh fruit, homemade granola, baked goodies, and freshly brewed tea or coffee.

The Signature Bush Brunch

For fully inclusive guests visiting in groups of four or more (and subject to availability), the camp can organize a truly special bush brunch. On these occasions, the kitchen, chef, and waiter completely relocate out into the wilderness by the river. Guests arrive hungry to a spectacular spread of salads, fruits, baked goods, and a hot meal cooked right there in the bush.

Experiences & Activities

At Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages, a fully inclusive stay includes your own private 4WD safari vehicle and a professional guide at no extra cost. This puts you entirely in charge of your own time. When you arrive, you will sit down with your guide to craft a daily schedule that perfectly suits your rhythm, whether that means heading out before sunrise, taking a midday siesta, or staying out late for a night drive.

Private Safari Adventures

✓ Day Game Drives: Explore the vast plains of the conservancy at your own pace, tracking the incredible abundance of wildlife
✓ Guided Bush Walks: Step out of the vehicle with your expert guide to explore the flora, tracks, and smaller details of the ecosystem on foot
✓ Night Drives: Head out in the late afternoon and return after dark with a spotlight. Night drives reveal a completely different side of the bush, offering the chance to spot elusive nocturnal species

Abundant Wildlife Encounters

Ol Pejeta is home to the Big Five and boasts incredibly dense wildlife populations. On your drives, you can expect to encounter elephants, lions, buffalo, and both black and white rhinos. You will also have the chance to spot cheetahs, leopards, spotted hyenas, jackals, and plains game like zebra and eland. Keep an eye out for rare and endangered species like the striped hyena and Jackson’s Hartebeest, as well as over 300 colorful bird species.

Ol Pejeta Conservation Experiences

Beyond traditional game viewing, guests can get involved in the world-renowned conservation activities run by Ol Pejeta (some activities may require booking/fees):

✓ Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary: A refuge for orphaned and rescued chimpanzees
✓ Anti-Poaching K9 Unit: Watch a fascinating demonstration by the conservancy’s highly trained security dog team
✓ The Northern White Rhinos: An unforgettable visit to the sanctuary holding the very last northern white rhinos on the planet

Day Trips & Regional Explorations

Extend your adventure by using the camp’s central location as a base to explore Laikipia’s hidden gems. Leaving after an early breakfast with a packed picnic, you can embark on full-day excursions (subject to dry weather conditions):

✓ Ngare Ndare Forest: A lush indigenous forest featuring a thrilling suspended canopy walkway and crystal-clear azure pools perfect for a refreshing swim
✓ Aberdares National Park: Explore rolling hills, trout-filled mountain streams, and hike to the base of the towering Chania Falls. Look out for rare forest species like the giant forest hog and bongo
✓Mount Kenya National Park: Drive up to Old Moses station and enjoy a gentle hike across the high moorland, taking in the unique alpine plant life, incredible birdlife, and the magic of Kirinyaga’s snow-capped peaks

Community Connections

The camp proudly supports Spinners & Weavers, a women’s charity based in Nanyuki, which guests are highly recommended to visit during their stay to support local artisans and learn about their craft. Back at camp, evenings are best spent swapping stories around the campfire with the camp’s welcoming local staff.

Highlights

✓ Strictly Eco-Conscious: A deeply sustainable camp that operates on solar power, utilizes borehole water, and is 100% free of single-use plastics
✓ Total Privacy & Exclusivity: An intimate retreat featuring just five exclusive-use safari cottages, ensuring you never share your space with other guests
✓ Dedicated Private Team: Every stay includes a personal chef, a dedicated server, a professional safari guide, and a private 4WD vehicle at no extra cost
✓ Ultimate Flexibility: With your own vehicle and guide, your daily schedule is entirely up to you, from pre-dawn game drives to late-night spotlight safaris and bush walks
✓ Unique Canvas-Front Design: Cottages are built on solid foundations but feature entirely roll-up canvas fronts, offering a seamless, open-air connection to the wilderness
✓ Fresh & Local Dining: Enjoy hearty, customized meals made from ingredients sourced from local farmers, Ol Pejeta Ranch beef, and the camp’s own organic vegetable garden
✓ Regional Day Trips: Perfectly positioned as a basecamp to explore Laikipia’s hidden gems, including the canopy walkways of Ngare Ndare Forest, Aberdare National Park, and Mount Kenya
✓ World-Class Conservation: Located in the heart of Ol Pejeta Conservancy, offering the chance to see the Big Five and visit the last remaining northern white rhinos and the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary

Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages Laikipia Non-Resident Accommodation Rates

Full Board Rates Include

✓ All meals

Fully Inclusive Rates Include

✓ All meals
✓ Laundry
✓ Bushwalks
✓ Private chef
✓ waiter & Cleaning staff
✓ Bush breakfast/ brunch
✓ Transfers to and from Nanyuki or Kamok Airstrip
✓ Private game viewing vehicle and guide for day and night game drives
✓ All meals, picnics, bar with soft drinks, fruit juices, local beers, spirits and wines, tea and coffee 

Notes

Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages Laikipia Accommodation Excludes

Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages comprise 4 cottages (Moja Juu & Moja Chini Cottages, Mbili Cottage, and Tatu Cottage) accommodating a total of 12 guests comfortably.

Moja Juu and Moja Chini Cottages are 2 single-bedroom cottages. Each cottage has an en-suite bedroom, a private lounge/dining room, and a shared kitchen. It is ideal for couples who want a private bush escape or small families who want to share a room with a young child.

Mbili Cottage is a 2-bedroom cottage built largely of recycled wood from the ranch house that once stood here. It has an open-plan living and dining room warmed by a roaring fire. The bedrooms are both en-suite and sleep two comfortably, or three in a triple room. 

Tatu Cottage is a replica of Mbili Cottage, and the two can comfortably accommodate groups of 8 or 12, as they are within walking distance of each other. The thick bushes between them ensure privacy when required.

The long verandah looks out to the river and plains beyond and is an ideal place to relax in the afternoons with a cup of steaming Kenyan tea. Two en-suite bedrooms, a spacious living room, and a dining area warmed by an open fire.

Each cottage has its own dedicated kitchen and chef, making it ideal for self-catering groups or anyone who likes that extra touch of exclusivity. Each cottage includes a private guide and vehicle, plus a dedicated waiter and room attendant. Meals are catered to your tastes and standards exactly, and activities are done on your own schedule.

In the cottages, you will find an eco-friendly power system to charge your devices, hot and cold running water in the showers and washbasins, a collection of all-natural bath products, soft bath towels, and comfy robes.

There is communal dining on a purpose-built platform overlooking the camp’s waterhole and salt lick. Guests can enjoy drinks while watching animals at the waterhole and salt lick.

Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages Laikipia activities include:

✓ Bush Breakfasts: a full English breakfast set up in the bush. Usually undertaken as part of a morning game drive or bush walk
✓ Bush Walks: these usually depart around 0630 Hours and last around 2 hours, often combined with a picnic breakfast in the bush
✓ Game Drives:  taken at leisure with a private vehicle and guide, leaving early around 0630 Hours with a picnic breakfast and returning at around midday. Then departing again after tea at 4.30 pm with a sundowner and coming back with a spotlight for a night drive
✓ Night Drives: you can either extend your afternoon drive and arrive for a late dinner, or depart after an early dinner for your night drive. Spotlights are red-filtered and non-intrusive to wildlife
✓ Equator Sundowner: sundowner directly on the equator line – have one foot in the Northern hemisphere and another in the Southern hemisphere. Usually undertaken as part of an afternoon game drive.
✓ Ol Pejeta specialist activities: visit to the Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Sanctuary (note this is a sanctuary and these are rescued chimps; it is an educational experience and there is no interaction allowed) and the Rhino centre

Mobile: + 254-721-242-711
WhatsApp: +254-721-242-711
Reservations: +254 718-179-967
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://africanspicesafaris.com