Park Highlights

Laikipia District is a vast 8000-square-kilometre plateau, one of 71 districts of Kenya located on the Equator. It stretches from the Great Rift Valley to the magnificent escarpments which descend into the Northern Frontier District. Laikipia National Park, northwest of Mount Kenya, has all the wildlife but none of the crowds found in the Masai Mara. Some of the country’s very best eco-lodges are located on this rolling plateau of savannah, seasonal streams and bush.

The Laikipia plains are covered by open grasslands, basalt hills, lonely kopjes and dense cedar forests fed by the Ewaso Nyiro and Ewaso Narok rivers. This spectacular region is often considered the gateway to Kenya's wild Northern frontier country.

The Laikipia District is regarded as one of Africa’s  most remarkable conservation success stories. Once an area with a high density of fenced cattle ranches and farms, it has been transformed, in co-operation with the owners into an area of beautiful wilderness. Here, protected game roams freely and safely.Laikipia has also become a focus for many conservation efforts, and some ranches have become breeding sanctuaries. Despite Laikipia's unique biodiversity, it is remarkably not a protected area. Laikipia's wildlife is entirely sustained by private and communal landowners.

Game Viewing

Laikipia forms part of the Ewaso ecosystem which is larger than all of Kenya's protected areas except Tsavo. This ecosystem is home to the second largest population of elephant in Kenya. Laikipia is the one district that continues to record increasing wildlife populations. It hosts the highest populations of endangered species in the country. It has 8 rhino sanctuaries, which together hold more than half of Kenya's black rhino population.

Laikipia is also a safe haven for endangered Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe and the only viable population of Lelwel hartebeest in Kenya. The Laikipia region is ranked second to the internationally renowned Masai Mara ecosystem.