Trip of the week: walking in the wilds of Kenya
You won’t forget a four-day ‘camel-supported’ trek through this spectacular landscape

Would you love to go on a “slow, mindful walk through a vanishing wilderness, unencumbered by the heavy load of modern civilisation”? On the fringes of Kenya’s Laikipia plateau, you can do exactly that, though to enjoy it in comfort will take planning: you’ll need a helicopter, men and camels to carry equipment and set up camp, and a wildlife expert or two to guide and keep you safe.
But happily, you don’t have to organise any of this yourself, says David Pilling in the FT, with Journeys by Design running four-day “camel-supported” treks through this spectacular landscape. Homo sapiens have resided here for 300,000 years, and you might see some stone-age cave paintings, but you won’t come across any signs of modernity.
The silhouette of Mount Kenya dominates the view, but most of the walking is on level ground through arid acacia scrubland punctuated by red granitic “upthrustings” called kopjes. When big game – elephant, eland, zebra, waterbuck – appears, it’s usually far off, but there’s much of interest to see up close if you know where to look, and your guides – local pastoralists – can read this landscape like a book.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The camp, set up in a different spot each night, is luxurious, with tents you can stand up in, spongy mattresses with sheets and blankets, hot showers, and a raised-box toilet seat over a freshly dug pit.
Closely examined, small animals – a hairy baboon spider the size of a satsuma, a rhinoceros beetle, the ant-devouring larvae of the dragonfly-like antlion – become fascinating “monsters”. There are medicinal plants to find, and signs (paw prints, scuff marks, dung and so on) telling of recent dramas – a leopard kill, a mongoose raid on a tortoise nest. And a ride in a helicopter with huge windows, swooping over elephant herds and seeking out eagles’ nests perched high on kopjes, makes for a thrilling finale.
A four-day walk, including flights within Kenya, costs from $5,950pp (journeysbydesign.com).
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Lovestuck: a 'warm-hearted' musical with a 'powerhouse score'
The Week Recommends Team behind the hit podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno have created a hilarious show about a disastrous viral Tinder date
-
Outrageous: glossy Mitford family drama is full of 'fun, fashion and froth'
The Week Recommends Adaptation of Mary Lovell's biography examines the scandalous lives of the aristocratic sisters
-
F1: The Movie – a fun but formulaic 'corporate tie-in'
Talking Point Brad Pitt stars as a washed up racing driver returning three decades after a near-fatal crash
-
Lost Boys: a 'sobering' journey to the heart of the manosphere
The Week Recommends James Bloodworth examines the 'cranks and hucksters' making money through 'masculine discontent'
-
6 productivity-ready homes with great offices
Feature Featuring an office with a gas fireplace in Oregon and a shared workspace with wraparound windows in Massachusetts
-
Critics' choice: Carrying the flag
Feature The best barbecue in town, Bradley Cooper's cheesesteak restaurant, and more
-
Film review: Materialists
Feature Two suitors seek to win over a jaded matchmaker
-
Music reviews: Haim, Addison Rae, and Annahstasia
Feature "I Quit," "Addison," and "Tether"