Nanyuki & Mount Kenya

Nanyuki is the safari capital of Kenya's central highlands — a frontier town straddling the equator at the foot of Mount Kenya, Africa's second-highest peak at 5,199 metres. The town serves as the primary gateway to some of Kenya's most exclusive private conservancies and to the mountain itself.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy, 30 minutes from Nanyuki, is the most visited private conservancy in East Africa and home to the last two northern white rhinos on the planet — Najin and Fatu. The conservancy also protects the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, chimpanzees, lion, leopard, elephant, and a remarkable density of plains game. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Borana, and Sirikoi — all accessible from Nanyuki — offer night drives, walking safaris, and horseback safaris in settings of near-complete exclusivity.

The landscape around Nanyuki is extraordinary in its diversity: from the high-altitude moorlands and giant lobelias of Mount Kenya's upper slopes, through montane forest rich with colobus monkeys and elephant, to the open savannah of the Laikipia Plateau.

The iconic Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, founded by actor William Holden in 1959, sits on the equator at 2,134 metres — one of Kenya's most storied and historically significant luxury properties.