A deeply personal family safari experience in the heart of Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
| This blog post has originally appeared on www.HandZaroundVideoPhotography.com |
There are certain details that stay with you long after you leave a place.
Not the big, obvious ones — but the quiet things you didn’t even know to ask for.
Like arriving in the middle of the Kenyan bush and finding almond milk in the fridge and lactose-free butter already waiting on the table. I had mentioned it briefly before we arrived, not expecting much to come of it. But it was there.
No reminder.
No follow-up.
Just quietly taken care of.
That rhythm — thoughtful, intuitive, personal — defined our stay at Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages.
In December 2025, we travelled to Kenya to photograph and film content for Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages — documenting not only the experience of staying there, but the feeling of the place itself. What followed became a mix of family travel, storytelling, and commercial content production in one of the most remarkable settings we’ve worked in.
Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages Hero Video
A glimpse into the atmosphere of Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages — from quiet mornings on the veranda to evenings beside the fire in the heart of the conservancy.
We’ll also be sharing another journal entry soon from our time in Nairobi at Ololo Lodge — a very different experience that became another memorable part of our Kenya journey.
A Private Luxury Safari in Kenya That Feels Personal
Set within Ol Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya, around four hours north of Nairobi, Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages feels immersed in the landscape around it — with wildlife nearby, open conservancy views, and a pace that quickly encourages you to slow down. The conservancy is also home to the world’s last two remaining northern white rhinos, making it one of the most significant conservation spaces in Africa.
One of the most defining aspects of Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages is its scale.
There are only five cottages in total, and that intimacy shapes the entire experience. Each cottage is completely standalone and comes with its own private kitchen, dedicated chef, house manager, safari vehicle, and personal driver.
Nothing feels shared unless you want it to be.
Nothing feels rushed.
And nothing ever feels like you’re fitting into someone else’s schedule.
From the moment we arrived, everything revolved around us — our timing, our preferences, our energy levels.
Each day unfolded gently. Our house manager would quietly check in to see what felt right for us, such what time would we like to leave for a game drive? Breakfast packed or served at the cottage? Coffee waiting early, or a slower morning? Lunch on the river deck, or back at the cottage?
The experience adapted around us rather than us having to adapt to it.
Safety in the Wild — Without Losing the Feeling of Freedom
Because the cottages sit within a working wildlife conservancy, the property is protected by an electric fence designed to keep elephants and other large animals outside the immediate grounds.
On arrival, everything was explained calmly and clearly.
During the day, guests are free to walk throughout the property independently. At night, if you’d like to move between cottages or walk to dinner, an Askari (night guard) accompanies you.
It never felt restrictive. It felt thoughtful and responsible.
Each cottage is also equipped with a radio transmitter for emergencies — reassurance that someone is always there if needed, even in the middle of the bush.
But truthfully, evenings naturally became slow and quiet anyway (although one evening, we could hear lions calling in the distance!).
As the light faded each evening, the cottages quietly transformed. Curtains would be drawn, fires lit, and hot water bottles tucked into the beds to warm the linen before nightfall. Each morning, we would leave out our laundry, and by the afternoon it would return washed, folded, and ready to wear again the next day.
Travelling with a toddler usually means packing endless clothing options for spills, dirt, and constant outfit changes. But because everything was washed daily, we realised we barely needed most of what we had packed. It removed one more layer of thinking from the trip, and made the entire experience feel easy in a way that’s difficult to describe until you experience it.
Interiors That Feel Warm, Not Staged
So often, luxury accommodation can feel beautiful but strangely impersonal — styled perfectly, yet lacking warmth.
These cottages felt different.
The interiors at Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages are layered with rich textiles, beautiful patterns, thick robes, warm lighting, and thoughtful details that make the space feel lived-in rather than staged.
Nothing felt sterile or over-designed. It felt welcoming. Comfortable. Soft.
Even without air conditioning, the cottages somehow always felt balanced — never too hot during the day, never too cold at night. The architecture allowed air to move naturally through the space, and with the fires lit in the evenings, everything felt cosy.
It often felt like we were outside, even while under a roof.
The River Deck — Wildlife Right in Front of You
One of our favourite places at the property quickly became the private river deck.
Positioned near the edge of the conservancy fence, it’s a quiet space where meals can be arranged privately — breakfast, lunch, dinner, or simply drinks in the afternoon.
Wildlife regularly comes down to the river to drink, and during our stay we watched elephants, giraffes, impalas, and countless birds move quietly through the landscape while we sat there.
The stillness of it all was striking.
There are very few places where you can eat a beautifully prepared meal while watching elephants move through the bush only metres away.
Fine Dining in the Middle of the Conservancy
The food deserves its own section, because it genuinely exceeded every expectation we had.
Each cottage has its own private chef, and the property shares a kitchen garden where fresh salads, herbs, fruits, and vegetables are grown and harvested daily.
You could taste that freshness immediately.
Meals consistently felt thoughtful, seasonal, and connected to the place itself. Many dinners became full three-course experiences — beautifully plated and generously served.
At times, it honestly felt like fine dining in a major city restaurant.
We had one of the most delicious steaks I’ve ever eaten, incredible desserts, and beautifully balanced meals every single day — all while sitting in the middle of a wildlife conservancy.
Beyond dining at the cottage itself, experiences could also be arranged throughout the conservancy:
Bush breakfasts
Picnic breakfasts
Private sundowners at sunset
Everything felt unrushed and personal.
A Family Safari in Kenya — With a Toddler
Before arriving, one of my biggest concerns was how our daughter would manage the game drives.
She doesn’t normally enjoy long car rides, and safari drives are often anything but short.
But I couldn’t have been more wrong.
She absolutely loved them.
Every animal quickly became a “horse” in her eyes — zebra, giraffe, rhino, elephant. Antelopes running through the grass were met with excited shouts of “go, go, go!” and hands thrown into the air.
Because our car seat requires an anchor point — something most safari vehicles don’t have — she sat either on our lap or on the seat beside us with a belt across her hips. In the end, that freedom actually made the experience easier. She could move between us, lean toward the open windows, and fully take in everything around her.
Seeing wildlife together transformed the game drives from something I had worried about into one of the most joyful parts of the trip.
For families considering a safari in Kenya with young children, this experience felt not only manageable — but genuinely magical.
A Safari Experience That Worked Across Generations
What made the stay even more remarkable was how effortlessly it worked across generations.
We travelled with my parents, who are in their sixties, alongside our 18-month-old daughter, and the entire experience adapted naturally to everyone’s pace. They were there to take care of Runo whilst Zach and I filmed.
Nothing ever felt rigid.
If someone wanted a slower morning, plans shifted. If energy levels changed, timings adjusted. There was space for both quiet rest and shared experiences together.
That flexibility is what made the experience feel truly luxurious.
Visiting the Northern White Rhinos
One of the most emotional experiences during our stay was visiting the last two remaining northern white rhinos on earth.
To stand so close to them — and to meet Zachariah, their caretaker — was quietly moving.
It’s difficult to explain the feeling properly.
The experience was calm, heavy, beautiful, and heartbreaking all at once.
It’s one of those moments that stays with you long after you leave.
The People Who Made the Experience Feel Special
Luxury isn’t only about beautiful spaces. It’s about people.
Andy and Sonja, the owners, made us feel genuinely welcome from the very beginning. Conversations with them became some of our favourite parts of the stay — listening, learning, sharing stories. You can read the wonderful story of how they transformed Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages into what they are today over here.
And our driver, Mike, was exceptional.
Particularly while we were filming, he understood light intuitively. He would reposition the vehicle so we could capture better angles, or drive around to approach wildlife from a different direction simply because we mentioned the light would work better there.
At one point, we circled around lions purely to shoot them from the opposite side.
That level of collaboration felt thoughtful and natural.
Main video for exclusive-use safari cottages in Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy
We also created a longer-form film during our time at Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages — capturing not only the property itself, but the atmosphere, rhythm, and people behind the experience.
A Luxury Safari in Kenya That Truly Stayed With Us
Even though our time in Kenya wasn’t purely about safari drives and relaxing, but also about adventure, family time, and producing content for Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages, the entire experience unfolded in a way that still felt slow, meaningful, and memorable.
What stays with me most about Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages is not one singular moment.
It’s the feeling of the place as a whole.
The quiet mornings with coffee on the veranda.
Wildlife wandering past the river deck.
The fires lit each evening.
The warmth of the cottages.
The stillness of the conservancy at night.
The feeling that every detail had already been thought about before we even realised we needed it.
Luxury travel can sometimes feel performative or overproduced.
This didn’t.
It felt personal.
Grounded.
Warm.
And long after leaving Kenya, Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages still feels like a memory of home.
We’re incredibly grateful to Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages for welcoming us into this project and allowing us to document the experience so honestly and personally.
If you’re a boutique accommodation, tourism operator, or hospitality brand looking for photography and videography content creation, you can learn more here.
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