If you are looking for an excellent game park for a family safari in Kenya, we recommend the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The land for the Ol Pejeta Conservancy was previously owned by an arms dealer, but thankfully today it belongs to one of Kenya’s top conservation projects. We spent three days in Ol Pejeta Conservancy with kids, and had some truly amazing wildlife encounters.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy is not only home to all of Africa’s Big 5 (lions, elephants, leopards, water buffalo and rhinos) but also many kid-favorites such as giraffes, hippos, warthogs and many, many more. In addition to the excellent family game drive opportunities at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, there are excellent animal encounter activities which our family loved.
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Read on to discover how we spent three days in Ol Pejeta Conservancy with kids.
Day 1
Getting to Ol Pejeta Conservancy
The drive from Nairobi to Ol Pejeta Conservancy was very interesting and a lot of fun. The location of our Nairobi hotel meant that we needed to drive through the heart of the city just before rush hour. It’s always fun to watch people get ready for their work day in major cities such as Nairobi.
Along the drive from Nairobi to Ol Pejeta Conservancy, we passed many interesting sights, including many colorful small towns. We saw a massive Del Monte pineapple farm, shepherds herding their goats, beautiful forested mountain valleys and more.
The highlight of the drive to Ol Pejeta Conservancy was crossing the equator. It was a thrill for our kids to jump from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, then back and forth over and over.
A man had water bowls on hand to demonstrate how the water drains in different directions on each side of the equator. And, just as interesting, and how it drains straight down when positioned directly over the equator.
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Many family safari vacations to Kenya begin and end in Nairobi. Don’t just land and leave – there are many amazing things to do in Nairobi with kids!
Ol Pejeta Conservancy Game Drive #1
We hadn’t even started our game drive yet when the wildlife appeared! As we drove through the park to our accommodation, we passed an incredible amount of African wildlife including rhinos, warthogs, impalas and more!
After relaxing for a few hours in our amazing safari lodge house, we set off on our first game drive in Ol Pejeta Conservancy. It started out with a bang as we saw four elephants (including a young one) in the trees just minutes from our house.
A few minutes later, we left the treed area and entered grasslands and immediately started seeing Kenyan wildlife who thrive here. Our first grasslands sighting was 3 impalas, followed by a large herd of zebras! This was closely followed by a herd of Grant’s gazelles, warthogs and two waterbucks having a rest in the tall grass.
We stopped by the rhino graveyard in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, where they bury each rhino that has died in the park. This sad moment was quickly offset when we spotted our first southern white rhino of the day!
The exciting wildlife sightings just kept on coming. Other highlights include seeing two silver-backed jackals about 10 feet off the road. They were very interested in us.
We saw a couple of juvenile hartebeests locking horns. They were just playing with each other, but it was exciting just the same.
Then we came across a huge herd of water buffalo! It’s amazing that such goofy-looking animals can be so dangerous to be included in Africa’s Big 5. Within the herd were many well-guarded baby water buffalo, including one which our guide thought was just a few weeks old.
There were baby animals everywhere today, not just the water buffalo. Also, ranking very high on the baby animal cuteness scale was a baby impala and a baby guinea fowl.
Kenya has a tremendous amount of beautiful and interesting birds and we saw many on our first game drive in Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Of note, we saw helmeted guinea fowl, a crowned plover, white bellied bustards, yellow-necked spurfowl, beautiful superb starlings, hadada ibis, and a kori bustard (the largest bird that can actually fly in Africa). Oh… and we saw plenty of ostriches too!
As we were driving back to our in-park safari house, we came across a massive herd of 17 elephants! It was a truly humbling sight to see these amazing beasts, gently eating grass in the field in front of us. Miraculously there was only one other safari truck there with us, so we had complete silence. Listening to the sounds of these gentle creatures ripping grass to eat is something I’ll never forget.
Day 2 – Ol Pejeta Conservancy
Ol Pejeta Conservancy Game Drive #2
After an amazing breakfast at our safari house, we were back in our 4×4 Toyota Landcruiser for a morning game drive at Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
Whereas on our first game drive, the big ticket wildlife sightings came fast and frequently, our guide had to work harder to find the famous African wildlife this time. We had lots of early success with the grasslands animals; gazelles, impalas, zebras, etc. But these animals are easy and frequent, and while they are always amazing to look at, to be honest, although still beautiful, their novelty had started to wear off slightly.
Our first really exciting wildlife viewing of the day was a sounder of warthogs. This was followed by a flock of helmeted guinea fowl with lots of baby chicks in tow. The parade of baby animals continued with a sighting of a really tiny Grant’s gazelle.
On our way to see the Ol Pejeta Conservancy chimpanzees, we saw silver-backed jackals, water buffalo, an Egyptian goose, waterbuck, a hartebeest and an eland (the biggest antelope species in Africa.
Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary
The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Ol Pejeta Conservancy offers refuge for chimpanzees who have been rescued from the black market. Today, the sanctuary is home to 29 chimps who can roam the 250 acres of habitat.
We arrived precisely at 8:40, just 5 minutes before they open. This is the best time of day to visit as the chimpanzees all come to the public viewing area to enjoy a morning snack of peanuts and bananas.
We really enjoyed watching the chimps as they climbed trees, and played games with each other. Occasionally, the dominant male would get angry and need to put the other chimps back in line, which was also amazing to watch (and listen to!).
Our favorite was a playful chimp who loved picking up a big tire and trying to balance on it. Once it fell, he’d jump on it. When he got bored with the tire, he’d walk up to another chimp and loudly slap the ground, trying to goat them into playing with him. We had a lot of fun watching him play.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy Game Drive #3
After our visit to the Sweetwater Chimpanzee Sanctuary, we resumed our morning game drive in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. We had some long stretches where we didn’t see any animals, but we sure finished strong!
Our first major sighting was a large herd of nine reticulated giraffes – one of the biggest herds of giraffes we’ve ever seen. The male was incredibly large – it too was likely the largest single giraffe we’ve ever seen.
Once the herd of giraffes finally wandered off, we continued our quest for Kenyan wildlife. We saw a big herd of zebras, a few waterbucks and some beautiful superb starling birds.
We came back upon the herd of giraffes, this time they were intermingled with a herd of zebras. It was a postcard-worthy scene from Kenya.
Throughout the remainder of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy game drive, we saw more silver-backed jackals, some hippos sleeping in a bend of a river, a large herd of water buffaloes (mostly resting in the grass).
The parade of animal babies also continued as we saw a pair of crowned cranes with a little chick, and the littlest gazelle we’ve seen yet – our guide estimated it was less than a week old.
By far, the best Kenyan animal babies we saw on this game drive were the warthogs. We came upon a sounder of warthogs, who had three tiny little warthog babies. We could have watched them for hours!
Just when we thought we had capped off our morning Ol Pejeta Conservancy game drive with the baby warthogs, we came across a herd of elephants a few minutes away from our house. They were quite spread out, but two were eating grass right next to the road, so we spent a lot of time simply watching these peaceful animals enjoy a good meal.
Meet the Northern White Rhinos
After a delicious lunch and a nice break at our safari house, we jumped back in our 4×4 Landcruiser for the afternoon’s activities. First up was a special wildlife encounter called “Meet the Northern White Rhinos”.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is the home of the last two northern white rhinos on earth, and sadly they are both females. For a fee, the conservancy offers a chance to meet these rhinos in order to fund their ongoing efforts to save this magnificent rhino species from extinction.
As our guide was about to take us to meet the northern white rhinos, he noticed that another of the park’s famous animals was nearby. Baraka the Black Rhino is completely blind and needs special care to survive. You can also pay an extra fee for a more personal encounter with Baraka, but he just happened to be there, so our guide took us over.
After telling us the blind rhino’s story, he gave us each a couple of carrots and we were given the opportunity to feed them to Baraka (who was behind a fence). What an enormous thrill to be able to feed, and then touch, such a magnificent animal.
Then we entered the northern white rhino enclosure and drove to where the rhino’s were located. There were actually three rhinos there, but one was a southern white rhino who helped teach them how to be wild rhinos again after their transfer from a Czech Republic Zoo.
We learned all about the history of the remaining northern white rhinos on earth and how we ended up with only two females remaining. Even more interesting was their ongoing, heroic efforts to keep this breed alive. It was actually a pretty exciting day in the process while we were there – you could tell our guide was very excited!
While our guide exited our safari truck, we had to stay inside as the northern white rhinos were not behind a fence. We got to meet, feed and touch Najin & Fatu from the safety of our safari truck.
It was terribly sad knowing that Najin & Fatu may be the last two northern white rhinos ever. But the preservation developments which were occurring during our visit are very promising and encouraging.
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You can learn more about Ol Pejeta Conservancy’s efforts to save the northern white rhinos and other at risk species here. Please donate if you can.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy Game Drive #4
After our amazing visits with Baraka the blind black rhino and Najin & Fatu, the northern white rhinos, we hopped into our safari truck for our fourth game drive of our visit to Ol Pejeta Conservancy with kids.
The highlight may have actually occurred on our way to see the northern white rhinos, when we saw a couple of elephants walking along the far ridgeline across a valley. They were silhouetted by the backlit sun, so we could just see two black outlines of the elephants against the sky. It was an amazing sight.
Another big highlight was another chance to stop at the equator, this time within the limits of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy park. We all had fun jumping back and forth over the equator and other silly family games.
As with the morning game drive, we went a few periods where animal sightings were scarce, but patience and persistence always pay off while on safari. Along the way we saw the usual plentiful animals such as gazelles, water buffalo, zebras, impalas, guinea fowl, waterbucks, colorful birds, etc.
Towards the end of our afternoon game drive we had a few great African animal encounters to cap off the day. We saw a southern white rhino, a solitary elderly elephant, two more rhinos, 2 elands and 4 female ostriches.
Our game drive was capped by an encounter with 5 elephants and two little ones. There had been thunderstorms occasionally in the afternoon, and one of the massive storm clouds was lit up by the sun behind the herd of elephants. It was an incredible sight and a great way to cap off our final game drive in Ol Pejeta Conservancy with kids.
Day 3 – Ol Pejeta Conservancy
As amazing as our Ol Pejeta Conservancy game drives have been, we can only spend so much time sitting down, so we arranged to take the kids on a guided day hike in nearby Mount Kenya National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mt. Kenya Day Hike
The excitement began the minute we left our safari house as a huge elephant was standing right next to our road.
The 1 hour drive to Mount Kenya National Park was a lot of fun too. It was a Sunday morning, and everyone was out walking in their Sunday church clothes. The colorful dresses on the women were especially beautiful. Many of the local kids saw the safari truck and happily waved as we drove by.
You need a guide to visit the national park, so after signing in at the entrance gate, our guide joined us for our family hike to the Old Moses Camp.
On small downside of this Mt. Kenya hike was that it was along a paved road, but that gave us the opportunity to walk side by side and have good family conversations.
We began our family hike on Mt. Kenya in a primary rainforest. It was a very beautiful forest with many ancient trees lined with vines and moss. The sound of birdsong filled the air.
Before long we crossed the equator again, leading to yet more equator shenanigans from the kids.
African mammals such as elephants, water buffalo and hyena live in Mt. Kenya National Park, but according to our guide, they rarely come near the road during the day. But there are animal signs everywhere, from roadside elephant poop, to water buffalo tracks in the mid, to the remnants of a furry animal left behind by a hyena. Raw African nature was on full display during our family hike.
We did see some actual wildlife too. We saw a mongoose cross the road as well as a tiny, but unidentified hooved animal.
The ecosystem changed several times as we gained altitude. The rainforest transitioned to a rosewood forest, then to a bamboo forest.
The final stretch of the hike in Mt. Kenya National Park was through the remnants of a 2019 forest fire. It was amazing to see how much has grown back in just a few years.
We reached the end of the hike when we reached Old Moses Camp – a place for multi-day hikers who are summitting Mt. Kenya to sleep and acclimatize. We were supposed to go higher for a view of two of Mt. Kenya’s peaks, but the clouds had rolled in and the view was obscured.
Note that this is a high altitude hike, starting at 2,630 m (8,600 feet) and ending at 3,400 m (11,140 feet). This is above the high altitude warning level of 8,000 feet. You may feel shortness of breath and some may even experience altitude sickness.
It’s worth noting that Nairobi is at an altitude of approximately 6,000 feet, so if you’ve spent any time there prior to this hike, you’ll have already begun acclimatizing.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy Game Drive #5
We hadn’t planned an afternoon game drive, but we were back from our hike early, so our driver suggested we go out for a few hours. One of the many advantages of having a personal driver in Kenya!
Our first sighting actually began as we neared our house after the hike. We saw an incredibly rare striped hyena! We saw him again from our deck as we had a quick coffee overlooking the lake.
After our coffee break, our game drive began in exciting fashion with a herd of 8 elephants, with two little ones. Having been on many game drives now, it was easier to put our cameras down and just watch these beautiful creatures. One of them was even giving itself a mud bath!
The next highlight was our encounter with a family of five silver-backed jackals. They scared away a bird in the grass, then proceeded to feast on its eggs.
After a good meal, the three little ones played and wrestled right in front of us for a very long time.
The remainder of our game drive was filled with the usual suspects: water buffalo, giraffes, zebras, impalas, gazelles, Guinea foul and more.
Towards the end of our final game drive in Ol Pejeta Conservancy we came across our very first black rhinos in the wild. After meeting Baraka the blind black rhino the day before, this was a big thrill.
Our best animal experience of the day came from the deck of our safari house. Read on to learn more…
Pelican House – Where we Stayed in Ol Pejeta Conservancy
We were lucky enough to stay at the Pelican House in the heart of Ol Pejeta Conservancy. It’s a truly special accommodation within the park and we had an amazing time staying here with kids.
The Pelican House is a huge safari house, with a large kitchen and dining room area. There’s a large sitting area complete with a wood burning fireplace.
There are three separate bedrooms, so everyone can get a good night’s sleep after a day of exciting game drives.
To us, the very best part of the Pelican House was the large elevated deck at the back of the house (which two of the bedrooms back onto). The deck overlooks the large lake created by the Pelican Dam.
When we first arrived, there was a herd of impala in the grass in-between our house and the lake. Then we went and put our bags in our rooms, etc., and when we returned to the deck we lost our minds with excitement as we watched an elephant slowly approach the waterfront. And she was quickly followed by a large bull elephant!
We just couldn’t believe our luck. Elephants are our family’s favorite African animal and here we were being greeted by two of them! With no safari trucks around to bother them, they were completely at peace, happily munching on the trees and grass around the lake. They stayed with us for over 75 incredible minutes!
There’s also an abundance of colorful birds landing in the nearby trees, and a playful vervet monkey keeping a close eye on us from the nearby trees.
On our final afternoon in Pelican House, we were sitting in our bedrooms during an intense thunderstorm when we heard some loud trumpeting. We ran to our window and were amazed to see a herd of elephants had come to the lake.
But they didn’t come to drink – they came to play! They got in the water and splashed around, making all kinds of noise.
It was pouring rain outside, but we grabbed our jackets and umbrellas and went out to watch this amazing spectacle. It was worth it – what an incredible experience!
We elected to get the full board meal plan at Pelican House, and boy are we glad we did! The full board meal plan comes with our own private chef who whipped up some truly amazing meals for our family.
As a treat, the staff started a fire in the fireplace as we waited for dinner to be served. It was a great opportunity to sit and recall the amazing animals we saw during our family game drives at Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy Summary
We had three truly amazing days on safari at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. We not only had tremendous success on our traditional 4×4 Landcruiser safari game drives, but we enjoyed some truly special kid-friendly animal encounters too.
If your family is going on safari in Kenya, I’d highly recommend adding Ol Pejeta Conservancy to your itinerary. There are many family-friendly safari trips to Conservancy, ranging from day trips to multi-day family safaris!
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If you’d like to follow along on our family safari trip to Kenya, our next stop after Ol Pejeta was 3 days in Lake Naivasha with kids where we enjoyed a boat tour to an animal sanctuary on an island, a hike in Hells Gate National Park and more!
A Printable Scavenger Hunt for Ol Pejeta Conservancy
To help make your family safari even more fun, we’ve designed this printable scavenger hunt for kids! Designed for ages 5 – 12, this scavenger hunt turns your game drive into an exciting mission to spot 20 real animals found in Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
Your kids can check off animals, follow location hints, and track their points to earn a safari rank – like Rookie Ranger or Legendary Wildlife Guide!
Each 10 page Ol Pejeta Conservancy Scavenger Hunt includes:
- 20 safari animals found in Ol Pejeta with fun location hints.
- Points-based game with a 4-level scoring chart.
- Checklist format with space to write scores.
- Fun facts about Ol Pejeta Conservancy and its animals.
- Color + black & white versions included (5 pages each).
- 8.5″ x 11″ printable PDF.
Our Ol Pejeta Conservancy scavenger hunt is the perfect activity for your family safari. Your kids will love it!
More KENYA SCAVENGER HUNTS
If your family vacation to Kenya takes you beyond Ol Pejeta Conservancy, check out the rest of our printable Kenya Safari Scavenger Hunts!
Our Travel Journal for Kids
Based on our family travels, our kids helped us design this Travel Journal for Active Kids! This engaging travel journal encourages kids to document their adventures, spark creativity, and stay entertained on the go – grab yours now on Amazon!
Dan Brewer is an intrepid family travel blogger with a passion for exploring the world's most captivating destinations. With 58 countries under his belt and a sense of wanderlust that knows no bounds, he has made it his life's mission to share his travel experiences and insights with fellow families who love to travel.
When Dan isn't traveling with his wife and kids, he's either out enjoying the Canadian Rockies he calls home or working on one of his three travel sites (Family Can Travel, Travel Banff Canada and Ultimate Sports Road Trip).