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A camel caravan crossing a dry riverbed below the Ndoto mountains in northern Kenya
Safarini Encounters

Private journeys in Kenya & Tanzania

Encounter East Africa,
beyond the safari

For families, couples and friends looking for something beyond the conventional. We build your journey around your interests, your pace and the very best of Africa.

“I've travelled extensively, but my experience with Safarini Encounters exceeded our expectations in every way. Nothing felt packaged. It was completely personal, effortless and extraordinary.”
Aileen Barrameda
San Francisco

Luxury safari experiences

Exceptional journeys through East Africa, with a particular depth of knowledge and access in Kenya.

A lodge room open to the plains, with Kilimanjaro beyond

Exceptional camps and lodges, private conservancies and some of the finest guiding in East Africa. We know the places worth going, the people worth travelling with and when to go. From intimate owner-run camps to private houses in the wilderness, we build you a safari where exceptional wildlife encounters, extraordinary landscapes and genuine privacy come together.

A herd of elephants crossing the Ewaso Nyiro river in Samburu

Exclusive adventure experiences

Guests walking with Samburu guides through the hills of northern Kenya

Walking Safaris

Leave the vehicle behind and travel on foot with senior guides and tribal expert trackers, reading the landscape through tracks, sounds and signs that most people never notice.

Camels carrying camp across the desert of northern Kenya

Camel Expeditions

Journey deep into the remote deserts of northern Kenya, crossing the sky-island mountains of the Ndoto and Mathews ranges with camels carrying the camp. Days pass without seeing another traveller, with nights spent beneath some of the clearest skies in Africa.

Two riders on horseback crossing open grassland

Special Activities

Horseback safaris across open plains, wild trout in the cool mountain streams of Mount Kenya and the Aberdares, and birdwatching with specialist guides.

Samburu women making beaded jewellery

Cultural Immersion

Spend meaningful time with Samburu and Maasai communities we have known and worked with for over a decade. Learn about their lives, traditions and relationship with the land through people we know personally, rather than through staged encounters.

A traditional dhow under sail at sunset on the Indian Ocean

The Swahili coast

Explore the ancient streets of Lamu Old Town with a historian who grew up there, sail the coast aboard a traditional dhow, discover Swahili cuisine and spend time in communities where traditions and ways of life have endured for generations.

A bedroom open to the sea in a Swahili house on the Lamu waterfront

Where we go

A balloon rising over wildebeest on the Masai Mara grasslands1

The Masai Mara

Kenya's great theatre of wildlife on the vast savannah grasslands.

A cheetah standing on a safari vehicle in the Serengeti2

Serengeti

Across into Tanzania for the migration and the short-grass plains that carry it.

An elephant crossing the plains beneath Kilimanjaro3

Kilimanjaro

The roof of Africa, and the elephant country of Amboseli lying beneath it.

A carved Swahili door in Stone Town, Zanzibar4

Zanzibar

Stone Town and the reef — a different side of East Africa, and a chance to slow down.

A waterfall falling through montane forest in the Aberdares5

Aberdares

Montane forest and waterfalls on the Rift's eastern wall. Elephant, bongo, and some of Kenya's best trout water.

A travelling group with Samburu guides on a summit in the northern rangelands6

Northern Rangelands

Samburu, the Mathews Range and Ndoto Mountains. Camel expeditions amongst the communities we know best.

A lioness and cub resting in long grass in Laikipia7

Laikipia

A patchwork of private conservancies north of Mount Kenya. Big-game country with almost no other vehicles in it.

A glacial tarn among the crags of Mount Kenya8

Mount Kenya

Africa's second-highest peak — forest, moorland and glacier, with trout in the streams below.

Lamu town on the Indian Ocean shore9

Lamu

A UNESCO island on the Indian Ocean. Dhows, coral-rag alleys, and no cars. Steeped in history and Swahili culture.

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The journeys

Four journeys we are known for — each one built again from scratch around you.

Camels carrying camp through the desert of northern Kenya

Cultural Camel Adventure

Camels carry the camp north through the Mathews Range and the Ndotos, walking between Samburu settlements with the people who live there.

View the journey The escarpment and dry riverbeds of the Great Rift Valley

Great Rift Valley Discovery

A sequence of Rift Valley ecosystems — soda lakes and flamingos, escarpment, conservancy walking country and star beds above a wildlife corridor.

View the journey A dhow under sail at sunset off the Kenyan coast

Bush & Swahili Classic

Big-game country first, then down to the coast: dhows, coral-rag alleys and Swahili cooking on a UNESCO island with no cars on it.

View the journey A rhino grazing with Mount Kenya behind

Northern Kenya Conservation Highlights

The conservancy model at close quarters — rhino, elephant research, and the community conservation work the Safarini Foundation supports.

View the journey
A travelling group with their Samburu guides on a summit in the Mathews Range
“Thank you to Boris and Oli for organising a journey that genuinely changed my perspective. I came home thinking differently about what I want from my time.”
Ali Hamdan
Dubai
Safarini Encounters

Start a conversation

Tell us who is travelling, when you're thinking of going, and what you want the journey to feel like. We'll take it from there, designing something entirely around you. And if we're not the right fit, we'll tell you honestly and point you towards someone who is.

WhatsApp us Send an email

info@safariniencounters.com
WhatsApp +254 708 418 166