KICHECHE CAMPS
May 2010
One of the rarer sights in Africa was captured on film by a Kicheche guide and the full story taken from BBC Wildlife Magazine is attached.
kicheche bbc wildlife magazine
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February 2010
Kicheche - ResRequest
Please note that Kicheche will no longer be sending out their availability sheets. All availaibilty is accessed through their link onResRequest
Kicheche Laikipia Camp
Here is the latest update from the Ol Pejeta Conservancy on the progress of the breeding programme for the critically endangered Northern White Rhino. Kicheche's 6 night Conservancy Safari enables guests to see the Conservancy's essential environmental work for themselves.
'An Update on the Northern White Rhinos – Big Step for the Girls' from Ol Pejeta Conservancy
'On Wednesday, February 3rd, the two female northern white rhinos – Najin and Fatu – took their first steps into the 400 x 400 meter fenced enclosure on the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. This really was their “first taste of Africa!” Until today, they were kept within the confines of their holding pen, with limited daily access to a 50 x 50 meter fence training area. We would have loved to see these animals out a lot quicker but it has been necessary that all four of them had sufficient time to adapt to their new surroundings and learn to respect the electric fence.
All of us observing Fatu and Najin today, realised, with great delight, that we are dealing with two completely different animals to those that stepped out of their boxes a mere month and a half ago. The single biggest change has been in the behaviour of Najin’s daughter, Fatu. Until today, she was always nervous and a bit on edge and never really put big distances between herself and her mother.
Her behaviour in the larger enclosure has assured us that we are on the road to success. Both females went straight for the grazing areas and then quickly took a long mud bath. Although you would expect these animals to rest up in the shade through the mid-day heat, both were continuously exploring what will become home for the next month and a half, before they are put into the even larger and final breeding areas.
The girls took their big first step into the larger enclosure today. This included mud baths and a lot of exploring. The two males – Sudan and Suni – will both get access to this area over the coming days. We will start with Sudan, hopefully getting him out on Thursday, 4th February. Suni, who is more nervous than Sudan, will be last to have access. But all animals will eventually have daily excursions to the larger area.
This success today left no doubt in our minds, that everyone supporting this project is doing the right thing and that moving the animals from the Czech Republic was the right decision to make.'
January 2010
Four of the World's Last Known Eight Northern White Rhinos Come Home to Africa
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy received a very special Christmas present this year. Four of the last eight known northern white rhinos have been relocated from captivity back to the wild in a last bid to save them from extinction. The species is believed to be extinct in the wild.
The animals have been moved from the Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic. The two females and two males, transferred by air to Nairobi, and by road to Ol Pejeta, are charged with the responsibility to pull back this species from the brink of extinction in a project dubbed 'Last Chance to Survive', a joint effort by the Dvur Králové Zoo, Fauna & Flora International, Back to Africa, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
Currently listed as the most critically endangered rhino subspecies and the most endangered mammal species in the world, the northern white rhinos used to range over parts of Uganda, Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. By 1960, more than 2,000 northern white rhinos still existed, but excessive poaching for their horn has decimated the species.
The reintroduction of these four northern white rhinos to Africa presents what may very well be the last chance to save their genes.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, has been identified as the location with the most suitable habitat, climate, security and infrastructure to give the rhinos their best, and probably last chance of breeding successfully. Not only is this testament to Kenya's commitment to rhino conservation and to Ol Pejeta's sucess as a rhino sanctuary, but highlights Ol Pejeta as a must-see destination for anyone wanting to support the preservation of such a precious species.
Kicheche Community Trust
This is going to be a busy year for the the Kicheche Community Trust, you can read about their work with two new orphanage projects here:
Kicheche Community Trust 2010
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December 2009
If you need a quick safari fix, Kenya is impossible to beat. If you need a quick Kicheche safari fix, then take a look at the superb 6 Day Conservancy Safari which combines endangered species like Black Rhino in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy with the private Mara of the Olare Orok Conservancy. Regardless of how much time your clients have spent in Africa, these two intimate tented camps deliver a world-class safari. The guides and managers at the Kicheche Camps really are quite special which accounts for the fact that the only serious competition for Kicheche Bush Camp’s top slot on Trip Advisor is Kicheche Mara Camp!
Now, returning to the theme of wildlife documentaries for a moment. Everyone who has spent some time on safari knows that the collages of predator/prey interaction which fill an hour of the latest license payer's Africa special, probably took a team of cameramen and their trackers a year to compile. Watching a hunt from start to finish is the safari grail. Lions provide the most obvious entertainment with endless stalks ranging from the brutal to high comedy. Cheetah are a good bet on the Mara’s plains only if your guide knows his resident cats and the terrain well - note to photographers, always focus on the prey. I won’t even mention the wacky races required to follow a serious Wild Dog hunt. The leopard though is off the menu for hunting, it’s amazing enough just to catch a fleeting view of the prince of stealth and exciting to pick over the crime scene the morning after while your guide attempts to piece the hunt back together, limb by limb.
Imagine if you had the ridiculous good fortune to be with a guide who was familiar with his territory to the point of considering a leopard hunt to be a viable option, not in the small hours of the morning but in broad daylight and an easy jaunt from camp. This client's willingness to quietly wait it out whilst the rest of the Mara headed back home for breakfast, paid him and his family back in spades. Take a look at this footage, consider the prey choice, the time of day, the equal measures of luck and planning (for both predator and guide) and then take another look. Racing around the Mara simply spotting the primary species will never deliver a sighting like this and Kicheche guides know that one sighting like this is worth staying out all day and more if needed.
September 2009
Kicheche Laikipia Camp
Following reports of a recent isolated incident involving a civilian charter plane in the Laikipia region of Kenya, we would like to assure you and your clients that travelling to Kicheche's Laikipia Camp is SAFE.
The north of Kenya from Samburu/Shaba upwards is suffering due to the extended drought which has led to a lot of movement by nomadic herdsman. This in turn has caused occasional conflict between pastoralists.
The recently reported incident took place in the far north west of Laikipia, a long way from Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Kicheche's Laikipia Camp which are in the south east. Ol Pejeta Conservancy is mostly Kikuyu with very few nomadic herdsman. The Ol Pejeta / Nanyuki area has therefore been completely peaceful throughout the drought. Ol Pejeta has its own cattle and does not allow outside grazers in; however it offers a lot of assistance to the community in breeding, vet care etc.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is very safe with good security in place in order to protect its precious rhino population. Your guests will be visiting a SECURE PEACEFUL AREA.
If you have any questions on this please contact us on 01285 658 267
Rainfall, fresh grass and lion cubs at Kicheche Laikipia Camp
Camp Manager Andy Webb reports that some local rain has finally fallen to lessen the oppressively dry conditions prevailing in much of Kenya.
Although the Laikipia Region has not struggled quite as much as others, Andy was very happy to get two decent showers at camp this week. This has been enough to add fresh greenery to the landscape and the resident wildlife take a daily survey of the camp dam in anticipation of the good times to come. Ol Pejeta Conservancy is fortunate to have an area of marsh which provides valuable food and water for resident game outside of the rainy season.
As usual, the predators have made the most of the dry conditions and the Ol Pejeta lion population has produced a good number of cubs to capitalise on the easy prey. Andy explains that the game viewing has been very consistent throughout the last couple of months.
You can see a Kicheche slideshow on our website - just create your own user name and password for access.
Visit the Kicheche Laikipia Camp site here.
July 2009
I am the first to admit that we are a little spoilt when it comes to the quality of wildlife sightings produced by Kicheche Bush and Mara Camps. They consistently amaze with predator tales worthy of any Big Cat Diary final edit. The attached photograph taken 300 metres from Kicheche Bush Camp confirms that in the Olare Orok Conservancy, cats really do grow on trees. There has never been a need to supplement newsletters with details of new soft furnishings or the recipe for Sonya's peanut butter soup (which is excellent by the way).
Yet, the real pleasure of the year has been the steady trickle of wildlife news from Andy Webb at Kicheche Laikipia Camp. A brand new camp in the middle of a concession which has had very little in the way of past sightings recorded is basically a blank sheet from a guides perspective. Andy and his team have broken new walking trails and driven the back roads whilst starting to build a range map of the resident wildlife. It has been gratifying to see that sightings are going from good, to great to the occasional unbelievable. Confirming not only that the wildlife was there all along but also that Kicheche's guides are getting dialled in to where and when the sightings are likely to be best.
One drive in early July notched up eight cheetahs in half an hour, that is a head count that would be hard to beat anywhere on the continent. The first leopard sighting that Andy reported was straight out of the X-files as the prey he found the cat eating was a coypu which is a larger semi-aquatic rodent originally native to South America. They were introduced to Mount Kenya by a fur rancher in the 1940's and the leopard was happily assisting in the eradication of the invading species. Aside from the more common predators, Andy has also been lucky to see African wild cat, striped hyena and aardwolf. In short, the game drives and walks in the shadow of Mount Kenya have been far from ordinary.
May 2009
Kicheche Laikipia Camp, the new kid on the block – an update from the old kids Andy
and Sonja.
The challenge to get the camp up and running by the first of December was at times a little hair-raising. Rains in the early part of November made set-up challenging and added to this on two occasions we had a tent flood- so little was from the building textbook. Living in gumboots, weighed down with sticky, black cotton soil, the staff mostly from the Mara, put their heads down and completed the tasks with impunity. With the added pleasure of being able to offer a hot and cold running shower, we opened our tent flaps on the 1st December 2008 above our waterhole.
There are few pleasures that match lazing in hammocks after lunch watching elephants enjoying rolling in a mud bath. Along with the elephants who can be very protective of "their" 'local',
we watched buffalo, gazelles, zebra, giraffes, eland, bush buck and at the moment we have an endemic Chandler's Reed Buck making the camp its home. We were also privileged one afternoon to watch a female black rhino and her calf come down to the water hole for a drink. And on another the local lion pride waited above the dam for the buffalo to arrive.
WEATHER
The rains have been lacking since December and the Conservancy is looking very dry. This has been a bonus in a sense as in the early mornings the steel grey face of Mount Kenya is clear and as the sun rises, it fills the sky with rivers of red lava behind Batian Peak.
GAME AND GAME DRIVES
Our resident senior silver guide, Charles Wandero, is Kicheche Laikipia Camps’ self proclaimed Cheetah man! He told us one day after having operated in the conservancy for about ten days that 'not three days will not go by without me finding cheetah for my guests'. Anyway, true to his word, all our guests that have enjoyed the three night itinerary at Laikipia Camp have seen at least three cheetahs and those that left recently managed a bag of seven!
Having only received a meagre 41mm of rain since we opened in December things are dry and game is concentrated on diminishing food and water supplies. This makes it easier for the predators and our resident lions and cheetah mums are making the most of it. To date we have seen three mother cheetah with two to four cubs plus the resident trio of spectacular males that we call 'The Three Boys'.
Lions around the camp area number about a dozen with two magnificent males visiting the local lionesses during honeymoon time and serenading us with their calls throughthe night. This bodes well in regard of cubs for the opening in June.
Experiments with our new lion tracking system have proved to be very rewarding and guests have enjoyed getting involved with this. This information is then given to the Ol Pejeta Predator Survey team to add to their already considerable knowledge of the development of the predators in the conservancy.
Night drives have also produced some interesting results with one drive chalking up a striped hyena and an aardvark, along with the more often seen white-tailed mongoose, lesser galago and
spotted hyena.
Rhinos feature high on the ‘want to see’ agenda and despite the fact that the black rhino are ostensibly nocturnal animals, they are still often encountered in the early morning and late afternoon. We are delighted that there is a growing number of white and black calves being produced as the conservancy matures and the rhinos settle.
BIRDS
In the past three months our waterhole has produced most of the East African guide book’s inventory. A resident pair of crowned cranes has graced us with their presence since we moved in and their calls pierce the early morning mists off the water.
Other birds of note that have been regular visitors are two pairs of Pelicans, numerous Hammer-kops, Grey and Black Headed Herons, Yellow billed Ducks, Red Billed Teal, the ubiquitous Egyptian Geese and many more wading birds.
As the past rainy season didn’t produce much run off, the water level has remained, fortunately the long rains are nigh and, with some luck, this year we will get enough inflow to last through the dry season. Returning Eurasian migrant birds have been plentiful in the last month
with many harriers, eagles, warblers, flycatchers, blackcaps, cuckoos, nightjars and the like passing through.
Nesting birds in the one tree that stood in the water for a few months included an absolute buzz of yellow weavers, a pair of Hadeda Ibis and a pair of Green Backed Herons. All successfully reared their young. Another amazing site early morning is the king of the extended bustard
family, the kori, standing high puffing his neck out in territorial displays.
We have ordered, and will soon be taking delivery of, a new Spotting Scope that will be mounted outside the dining-room tent. This promises to give us excellent views of the many birds, and animals, that visit our waterhole on a daily basis.
April 2009
The only thing that fails to make sense about the pioneering Olare Orok Conservancy and the private 30,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat it represents is - why wouldn’t every single visitor to the Masai Mara stay there? There are a number of possible answers which range from the deliberately limited number of guest tents allowed, currently each tent in the Olare Orok has around 700 acres to explore, or perhaps a misunderstanding that the higher densities of tourists are actually inside the neighbouring Mara National Reserve, or maybe some people really do like zebra striped mini buses?
When Brian Jackman was describing his stay at ‘the smartest address in the Mara,’ in the Telegraph, this is what he had to say about the Bush Camp. ‘What you get here is an authentic taste of exclusive Africa. Hidden among acacia glades, this is a purists’ camp and its luxuries - spacious tents with en suite bathrooms and bags of space for clothes - in no way detract from the essential wilderness experience. When I was there we had elephants and buffaloes wandering past every day and lions roaring every night.’
The conservancy concept is well established in other parts of Africa but in Kenya the Olare Orok is a genuine local success story. Simply put, no one individual profits from the Olare Orok Conservancy. The project benefits the local Masai communities and it optimizes wildlife viewing.
Of special interest to our industry is the Koiyaki Guiding School which is supported by Kicheche Bush Camp. Established to raise the general standards of guiding in the tourism industry in the Masai Mara and as well as safari guides, the school runs courses in wildlife management, including land usage compatible with wildlife and cultural tourism.
If you would like to learn more about the Kicheche Bush Camp experience then please book a meeting with the owner Greg Monson at Indaba. Kicheche Bush Camp can be found at the ATTA stand - ODG002.
April 2009
Our recent fam trip to Kenya was a great success with participants having the chance to spend time at all three Kicheche camps, meeting the Kicheche people, sampling the activities, wonderful food and hospitality.
Positive feedback is always nice but it is especially welcome when the comments come from seasoned safari veterans who aren't easily impressed 'The highlight of my trip to Kenya was the phenomenal abundance and variety of game on the beautiful drive from Kicheche Mara Camp to Kicheche Bush Camp - it was more a case of what didn’t we see! The landscape, empty of vehicles (most of the time anyway!), was just stunning and to then arrive at the remoteness of Kicheche Bush Camp, I was in heaven.'
Rave reviews of Kicheche are not just voiced by professional tour operators; guest's ratings now mean that Kicheche Mara Camp is rated 1st and Kicheche Bush Camp is rated 6th of 54 camps in the Mara on Trip Advisor. Impressive considering the Mara Camp has been top ranked for well over a year.
February 2009
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is thrilled to announce the births of two black rhino calves on the conservancy which occurred within a period of eight days of each other in January! The first calf was discovered on the 4th of January, just moments after birth. The second of the new calves was sighted on the 16th of January, and was believed to be about 3 days old.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is East Africa’s Largest Black Rhino Sanctuary. While the two new births brought the Conservancy’s population to 80, we sadly lost one male, Jama, to old-age related complications on the 21st of January, bringing the number down to 79.
Kicheche Laikipia Camp is running an introductory offer for the duration of 2009, please click here for details.
