Ol Pejeta Conservancy was once one of the largest cattle ranches in Kenya, but is now a 90,000-acre, privately owned wildlife reserve. It markets itself as the closest place to Nairobi where you can see the BIg Five and possesses a full palette of African plains wildlife, including a healthy population of rhinos.
It's the rhinos that form the centrepiece of what they do here - their (at last count) 102 black rhinos is the largest population in East Africa. A reminder of the challenges they face came when one of their rhinos was poached in March 2014, with another killed four months later. And it's not just about rhinos - Ol Pejeta's role in the wider Laikipia ecosystem extends beyond its boundaries thanks to its parnter agreements and wildlife corridors that link it to other Laikipia ranches.
Apart from its impressive conservation work and being something of a pioneer in transforming Laikipia into one of Kenya's most important wildlife areas, Ol Pejeta is, so far, the only one of the private conservancies open to the paying (but not necessarily staying) public - most other conservancies are accessible only for those who stay in one of their exclusive lodges.
Ol Pejeta is also extremely active in local community projects from school infrastructure, healthcare and the provision of clean water to local communities.
And as is more common in Laikipia than you might expect, cattle here are considered to be an important part of the ecosystem by keeping the grasslands healthy and ensuring that tick numbers that could affect wildlife are kept low. The conservancy is home to over 5000 head of cattle, including the extravagantly horned Ankoli breed from Uganda.
