April is the cruellest month….as the temperatures continue to drop on a daily basis, I was almost tempted to believe TS Eliot but in fact April has been anything but cruel in terms of its safari this month. It all started with African wild dogs who decided to appear at early morning breakfast and kill [...]

If you are asked to sum up Duba Plains in a matter of words then more often than not Lions, Buffalo, exceptional photography, Dereck and Beverley Joubert and National Geographic’s The Last Lions come to mind. The Lion and Buffalo interaction is world famous and we are one of the top places in Africa to [...]

In life there are so many situations that may be defined as the mundane, they happen once, twice, one hundred times.  Even some beautiful sights like a picture by the masters can be viewed over and over.  A discovery is a moment that will never happen again. You are the privileged individuals to see that [...]

27th March 2013 – 6.10am “we hear erratic splashing coming from the water in front of tent 4″. “In the cool of the early morning our guests had been watching the moon set from the main deck.  When there is a full moon you can enjoy its last hanging moments reflecting off the Zibidianja lagoon [...]

March News – Plains of Change – ol Donyo Lodge, Kenya There is a fresh feeling at oL Donyo this month with the start of the rains that have brought welcome change to the Chyulu Hills. The land has awoken from a long, dry slumber and is celebrating with sounds and sights we haven’t seen for [...]

“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in it’s beauty” Albert Einstein Happy Easter to you from the team on the plains of the Masai Mara and Kenya, where the elections and appeals have gone smoothly and peacefully.   [...]

“When the stars threw down their spears, And watered heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the lamb make thee?” William Blake In the three weeks it has been since our last report when we mentioned the wildlife moving south into this area, the herds have now [...]

There are few perfect places in the world, but Zarafa (for want of a piano in the main area) is certainly one of them. I shouldn’t hanker for music with so much wildlife abounding but it’s such an inspirational place that the dulcet tones of a (non ivory) keyboard would not be misplaced at sunset. [...]

The breeze coming off the spillway in February helped cool the residents of Selinda reserve and the insects were given haven in the long grass, this has lead to some pretty fantastic birdwatching in the area and the lush greenery adds to the feel of really being out in the bush. There is nothing like [...]

February here at ol Donyo Lodge has been an exciting roller-coaster of events and emotions.  We have had the great fortune of being able to sight several elusive characters here over the past month with the most recent being a cheetah sighting on a game drive up to the hilltop of  ol Donyo Wuas.  As [...]

Recently, Selinda Camp has been abuzz with breeding herds. From the Red lechwes to the impalas to the Blue wildebeest, and even the roan. It’s been a veritable wonderland of new life. A rare hybrid of a Red lechwe and a waterbuck was spotted, leaving many of us quite perplexed at first (see picture, below [...]

January’s rains were not for the faint of heart, with numerous downpours. There’s nothing more beautiful then the before and after from a Botswana summer storm. You can see the thunderheads build, like giants in the sky, while the wind picks up and then you know it is coming. It is so refreshing and renewing, [...]

January at Zarafa has brought much needed “pula”, also known as rain and also Botswana’s currency. The camp is beautifully green, as the vegetation grows at an incredible rate during the appropriately named “green season”.  It transforms into a birder’s paradise, and the animals at this time of year just seem to glow, enamored with all [...]

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson One month into 2013 and so much has already happened here [...]

January has been a month full of fun activities at ol Donyo Lodge! Activities coordinator Scott Dyson and children’s program guide Elijah Morintat have been helping guests document their Chyulu Hills experience through art. Whether painting at the lodge or out on the plains, guests have been treated to dramatic  views of Mt Kilimanjaro and [...]

December at ol Donyo was certainly eventful! Ample late season rains continued to nourish green grasses for the plains game, making for lovely photo opportunities. Mt Kilimanjaro was also frequently visible, and made for a stunning backdrop to a variety of bush activities, gatherings, and celebrations. The Christmas spirit was certainly visible as well at [...]

December 2012, Zarafa Camp. Babies! It’s annual “baby-time” again around Zarafa Camp. All the animals are waiting for the first rains in order to deliver their young in times of plenty. With these delightful rains, fresh grasses and leaves emerge everywhere and the mothers agree that this is a safe and bountiful time for birth. [...]

Duba’s December Delights December is an exciting month all around the world and no less so at Duba Plains. We received big rains in the first week of December and within days the bush became alive and green again. Many birds started breeding so the sky is filled with bright and beautiful colours while the [...]

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly” – Richard Bach As some of you may already know this December (especially the second half) has been one of the most incredible months any of us can remember. After a brief reprieve from the early month rains that brought on [...]

We are exceptionally proud that Ride Kenya Horse Safaris graces the front cover and features prominently in the 2013 Travel Guide of the prestigious UK’s Tatler January edition!  

November’s sometimes stormy skies have provided gorgeous backdrops for photography and the plains game have been plentiful. The forest areas at the base of the Chyulu Hills are fully green, and green is spreading across the plains and up the El Mau Hills. Wildlife has grown fat and happy in the midst of all the [...]

Underneath the Mangosteen… We have this huge Mangosteen tree right in front of Zarafa. And every year in November it gives us very tasteful orange fruits. The birds like them, the squirrels, the warthogs, the elephants and the housekeepers. So the battle of the fruits has started. Since we like our animals in camp it [...]

October heat has carried onto November, temperatures reaching the maximum of 42 degrees flushing away the hopes of rains. This has been an amazingly dry season with the wilderness covered with a brown blanket of dying grass and leafless trees. This was a perfect game-viewing time of the year, also a disheartening time to watch [...]

We still have not received any rainfall save for the showers that we had mid November. It looks like the rainy season is delayed but the sky is always filled with rain-pregnant clouds and anytime we might get a down pour. All our game drive areas are accessible as the area is dry. Game viewing [...]

After 20 years of sole operation under Richard Bonham’s guidance, Maasailand Preservation Trust is proud to announce its merger with Big Life Foundation. Co-founded by conservationist Richard Bonham & photographer Nick Brandt in October 2010, Big Life’s conservation philosophy is so similar, and goals so identical, that it became obvious to both organizations that the [...]

Dereck and Beverly Joubert have spent more time filming and living among lions in the wild than anyone alive today. The discoveries they’ve made over 30 years of wildlife filmmaking have challenged conventional wisdom about Africa’s big cats.

At a spectacular ceremony in Italy this week, it was announced that Great Plains Conservation would be breaking new grounds for Relais & Châteaux. ol Donyo Lodge and Zarafa Camp are the first properties ever to be accredited as Relais & Châteaux members in Kenya and Botswana respectively and be accepted into this prestigious association.

“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it”  – Roald Dahl Hello, “Hujambo” (Kiswahili) and “Supa” (Maa) to you all from the team here on the central plains of the Mara. It has been a little while since our last report (in migration season), so for that we would like to apologize and [...]

Summer is on the way! We were all astonished at how quickly the trees and shrubs on the Selinda Reserve started to green up this month. Astonished because it was not until late November last year that this started to happen. We have had some rain too! Not a lot at 3.5mm but it is [...]

October has brought scattered rains to ol Donyo Lodge, complete with dramatic skies and rolls of thunder. Predators following the plains game within the ecosystem have been spotted on recent game drives, and sightings of lion cubs have been of particular highlight. Here two adolescent cubs (male, left and female, right) survey the acacia-studded plains from [...]