Itinerary

EpicQuest is privileged to invite guests to join the former Director of Wildlife Management of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy for exclusive insights into the many facets of protecting and nurturing African wildlife and its inhabitants.  Mike Watson will also serve as your private helicopter pilot as he takes you behind the scenes of three different conservation areas.

Mike will meet you upon arrival at the Lewa airstrip.  As your drive to the lodge becomes your first game drive, he will introduce you to the efforts which have been successful at Lewa and how they are being replicated in the Northern Rangelands Trust and Kibodo.   From the moment you land at Lewa, you will be dropped into the world of wildlife rangers and conservation experts, seeing, and perhaps participating in their current projects. Lewa’s staff is the only group of conservationists who have been deputized by the Kenyan Wildlife Services department and carry policing and security authority under this relationship.

Mike likes to think of the agenda for this adventure as a mix of planned and opportunistic events.   He will make sure you have the opportunity to participate in, meet or learn about rhino monitoring, tracker dog training, research department activities (Grevy’s zebra monitoring, etc), fencing strategies and design.  The team of scientists and rangers will share their stories and invite you along on their regular rounds.

But, with wildlife management, the unexpected events are the most interesting and Mike is plugged in to the operations so he can seize upon these opportunities at a moment’s notice.  With a helicopter at your disposal throughout the trip, he may knock on your door at 2AM so you can fly into the bush as an injured animal is darted and treated or a snared animal is released.  Any activities that the programs have underway, such as translocation of animals or implanting of radio devices, will be folded into your program.

Mike is also happy to work with you to schedule your trip around larger planned events.  As Lewa has matured in its wildlife activities and populations are managed, there are a number of translocations of animals to the Northern Rangelands Trust that may coincide with your planned visit.  Past translocations have included the truck transfer of giraffes and the transfer, by foot, of 50 rhinos.  And the burgeoning Kibodo effort presents unique opportunities for once in a lifetime events as this area is protected.

As mentioned, Lewa is a mature and stable conservancy, which has accomplished its initial preservation goals and is now focusing on maintaining the balance within its borders.  The experts from Lewa are now lending their efforts to a new area, the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), which links multiple conservation areas into a 1.5 million acre community conservancy.    The NRT is unique in that the conservation areas are primarily tribal grounds where the local Masaii and Samburu are developing conservation tourism combined with strong land and grazing practices to protect this area.    The third area to which you will be introduced is Kibodo, in northeast Kenya, a new conservation area which combines a marine reserve with wild and sparsely inhabited areas of forest, coastline and sea.

Throughout this adventure, your evenings will be spent in comfortable lodges throughout northern Kenya.  Transportation will be by charter fixed wing flights and helicopter.  And, when you’ve had enough learning for a day, we invite you to spend a few hours on horseback or on a mountain bike.  You can relax with a rod and reel in hand lakeside or with a glass of wine fireside.

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