In the expansive and scenic Nanyuki, Laikipia County, lies a 60,000-acre ranch where spending a night will set you back £30,000 or Ksh 4.5 million at the current exchange rate.
Once an exclusive getaway for billionaire French art dealer Alec Wildenstein, the ranch is now dedicated to the preservation of endangered species.
The ranch was the family’s private compound and wildlife sanctuary for nearly 35 years, before opening to the public in 2013 as an exclusive-use villa.
"The experience I’m trying to offer here is how you would have seen Africa maybe 20 or 30 years ago,”
“There is no other place in Africa where you can have an entire 60,000-acre wildlife conservancy entirely to yourself. You will never see another tourist, never see another minivan,” reads part of the message shared on the reserve website by ranch director Alec Wildenstein Jr.
Its satellite cottages and the rest of the ranch is only available for exclusive use for a maximum of 14 guests.
Visitors have described it as one of the most remarkable private wildlife conservancies in Africa.
The experience at Ol Jogi is unusual because guests have the entire ranch teeming with wildlife to themselves.
The property is situated approximately 50 kilometers to the north of the snow-capped Mt. Kenya and the equator, and 225 kilometers to the north of Nairobi.
The conservancy spans from the Ewaso and Nanyuki rivers in the west to the Lolldaiga Mountains in the east.
Nestled around one of the property’s larger rock 'kopjes' is Ol Jogi’s Main House.
Here, you will find an exquisite living room connected to a veranda, a bar, dining room, cinema room, library, games room and business center, fitness center, Hamman spa, and heated swimming pool complex.
Guests are accommodated in a series of luxurious themed cottage suites around the main house area which is surrounded and encompassed by tropical gardens, streams, and waterholes.
It has also been described as a safe gathering spot for hippos, elephants, zebras, buffalo, impalas, gazelles, wildebeests and various birds—sometimes all gathering at the same time.
"One guest saw a rhino without having to get up from one of the shaded daybeds," reads an excerpt from an article published by Forbes magazine describing the raw-nature of the exclusive ranch.
Kenya was ranked as Africa’s leading tourist destination in 2020 by the World Travel Awards (WTA).
WTA was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward, and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry.
This was despite the challenges experienced in the industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kenya emerged top for its tantalising cocktail of epic savannah landscapes, immense herds of wildlife, and palm-fringed beaches.
Repeat visitors described Kenyans as charming and the country as a home to the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth — the wildebeest migration, dubbed as the Eighth Wonder of the world that attracts global television viewership annually.
Kenya’s earnings from tourism hit Ksh 163.56 billion in 2019. The sector is one of the leading sources of foreign exchange.
