Ol Pejeta Bush Camp is a traditional, very comfortable bush camp owned-managed by Alex and Diana Hunter of Insiders Africa, and set on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River on the Conservancy.
This small bush camp offers guests the opportunity for a unique kind of safari experience in Kenya. Their Four-Night Interactive Conservation Safari gives a new insight into modern wildlife conservation. During your days with Alex & Diana, you will encounter behind-the-scenes of daily life on this working wildlife conservancy and cattle ranch. Guests are welcome to spend just one or two nights looking at some of these elements – or as long as they want – being as active, interactive, or as relaxed as they like when staying in camp.
Accommodation: Ol Pejeta Bush Camp has 6 tents with twin OR double beds, accommodating a total of 12 guests. We also have 1 family tent taking up to 4 people. The camp can be booked exclusively for a family or group of 4 or more for a small supplement per night. Further temporary tents can be added for larger groups if necessary.
Activities include Please Note: Activities including those below are all included for our non-resident package visitors. For those visitors who are resident/self-drive/non-package, the Morani Centre, Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Hippo Hide only are included; other activities are at extra cost and subject to availability):
- Day and night game drives
- Visits to the Morani Information Centre
- Guided visits to the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Hippo Hide
- Visits to local community projects such as schools and dispensaries
- Visit the Ol Pejeta Wildlife Research & Monitoring team for a private presentation on their work
- Wildlife and livestock integration: learn about Boran and Ankole cattle on Ol Pejeta
- Radio-collared lion tracking with the Ol Pejeta predator researchers (when available)
- Elephant and general wildlife monitoring with resident rangers and researchers
- Running on the plains! For the fit, and even the not-so-very fit, take a safety car behind you and have the running experience of your life!
Guests may have the opportunity to observe special activities such as animal capture/release should they be going on during their time on the Conservancy.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is the Largest Black Rhino Sanctuary in East Africa and home to 86 black rhinos (Diceros bicornis michaeli) after the single largest rhino translocation ever undertaken in East Africa on February 3, 2007. The translocation was a combined effort between Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.
In a period of 2 ½ weeks, 27 more black rhinos were successfully released into the enlarged 75,000 acres of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The black rhinos were moved from adjacent Solio Rhino Sanctuary – which held a surplus of 30 rhinos. This crucial translocation has helped ensure that maximum breeding rates are achieved and adequate food resources maintained. During the translocation, the experienced team equipped each rhino with a transmitter, placed in the horn. Since the release of the animals, these transmitters have allowed complete monitoring of the animals, ensuring their well-being and safety.
The population of black rhino in Africa plummeted from an estimated 65,000 to around 10,000 in the early 1980s. By 2001, the total African population was estimated at 3,100.
In Kenya alone, the population dropped from 20,000 to less than 300 due to illegal killing for rhino horn. This represents a loss of 4.5 rhinos a day for 10 years. At present, there are an estimated 620 black rhino in Kenya, and more than 85 of them live on the Ol Pejeta Conservancy as our flagship species. Kenya is the stronghold of the last remaining population of eastern sub-species (Diceros bicornis michaeli), holding 88% of the world’s remaining population. In response to the drastic reduction in rhino numbers through poaching, Kenya decided to set up specially protected and fenced sanctuaries for rhino conservation. The creation of these sanctuaries was designed to maximize breeding potential, using surplus animals to re-stock any new areas. Ol Pejeta is one such sanctuary.
THE OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY IS HOME TO 86 BLACK RHINOS
As one of the worlds most endangered species, the care and protection of our black rhino is one of the largest operations the Ol Pejeta security team has to coordinate. The threat of poaching remains real and, sadly, an ever-increasing danger.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR OL PEJETA’S BLACK RHINOS
The Ol Pejeta carrying capacity for black rhinos is estimated at 120, although this is subject to much debate and will ultimately depend upon ongoing and regular assessments of forage condition across the entire land area. When working with endangered species it is essential to ensure that numbers of any given population are held at some point below their “ecological carrying capacity”. Beyond this point breeding performance tends to deteriorate leading to reduced population growth, clearly – clearly not ideal when one is trying to maximize numbers as quickly as possible.
To that end, in keeping with the National Black Rhino Management Strategy as developed by the Kenya Wildlife Service, Ol Pejeta is already seeking new areas in the immediate neighbourhod into which an expanding black rhino population could spread. We have high hopes that a new 20,000 acre conservation area recently set aside by the Agricultural Development Corporation (a government parastatal) on Mutara Ranch on Ol Pejeta’s northern boundary might provide an ideal opportunity in this regard.
