Detailed Itinerary

From Nairobi Wilson airport, the group will meet for the first time and enjoy a 1hr 10min private flight from Wilson Airport to Tumaren airstrip. The flight goes through beautiful conservation land to Karisia main camp, Tumaren. Enjoy the bush landing!

Ella and Jack will be waiting at the Tumaren airstrip for you!

Once at Tumaren we stop for a brief lunch and introductions a vehicle will drive us a short while out to our first camp where we will begin a 4 day retreat walking through the conservancy.

This safari begins on the Ewaso Nyiro River. A spectacular river that brings lots of animals to drink and wallow in the cool water. Once arrived at camp we will meet our team of local cooks, camel guys and tracking guides.

Once settled into our tents we will have a brief walk to where we will have a sunset drink and relax looking at the river before coming back to camp to enjoy a deliciously cooked meal over a burning fire to see the night settle in.

From our river camp, we will have an early wake-up to go and enjoy an early walk by the river as we watch the birds and animals wake slowly.

After a refreshing walk, we will have a fresh healthy breakfast before we begin our walk to our next camp, Paul's Camp.

We will walk across large plains as well as mixed bush. Herds of Zebra, Oryx and Grant’s gazelle predominate on the large plains. In the mixed bush, we might be lucky enough to find Dikdiks, Gerenuk, Impala and Lesser Kudu.

We will arrive at Paul’s Camp in time for lunch.

The pack camels with our camp will have made a more direct route than us and so they will have set up most of camp before our arrival. After lunch we will enjoy a bit of ‘downtime’ until it cools enough for us to head out climbing.

The ancient granite rock here makes for spectacular grippy climbing.

After another refreshing wake-up we will begin the walk to our 3rd camp. A tall rocky outcrop will be visible for miles before you arrive. It’s called Nyasura and it is certainly sacred ground, used for millennia by hunters and others seeking shelter. Ancient graves, flints and pounding stones called boluses are all in evidence around the rocks and particularly the caves. We will be camped beside Nyasura and after a slow lunch we will walk to its slopes. Nyasura has a combination of adventure abseils and sport climbing. Progressing to slightly more technical rock climbing from the lovely 'juggy' rock climbing experienced at Paul’s Rock.

After an afternoon of pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones, we will all regroup on the top of Nyasura Rock to unwind and watch the sun go down, while the baboons patiently wait below before coming to sleep on top of Nyasura.

After another excellent start to our day, we will walk to our final camp 'Hassan'.

Hassan Rock has these long 25m climbing routes that can either be led on sport or top roped, there is a great variety to climb here, with lots of fun routes to choose from. After 2 previous days of climbing, this will be the most fun and enjoyable day after lots of practice.

Equally it’s a beautiful area to just kick back and enjoy the scenery.

This is our last full day before we leave early hours the following morning towards the slopes of Mt Kenya.

NANYUKI TO CHOGORIA Special Camp (2,530 m).

Trekking time: 2 hours.

After an early breakfast and waving goodbye to the Karisia Team, we will begin the 6-hour drive to Chigoria Gate, where the next chapter of our journey begins. The first day’s walk takes you up through the forest for about 2 hours where you camp in a pocket of forest beyond the Kenya Wildlife Service entrance at Chogoria Banda’s. If it is a clear afternoon you can generally get a good sense of the landscape from this point; where the Afro- alpine forest ends and the moorland begins. The afternoon is a good opportunity to walk around the area and acclimatize.

CHOGORIA Special Camp TO LAKE ELLIS (3,460 m).

Trekking time: 4 hours.

The walk starts with spectacular views of the rolling hills ahead and perhaps even a glimpse of the snow-capped peaks of Batian (5,199m) and Nelion (5,188m) high above.

This is a relatively short hike and you will arrive at camp a little earlier than the previous day, which gives you a great chance to sit back and relax after lunch and simply enjoy the views around Lake Ellis. We go by the general rule of thumb to “climb high and sleep low” to allow for better acclimatization. An evening walk up to nearby Mugi Hill can be a wonderful way to end the day, and will hopefully make your ascent a lot easier as well.

LAKE ELLIS TO LAKE MICHAELSON (4,100m).

Trekking time: 5 hours

This day is a beautiful walk which takes you up along the ridge overlooking the Gorges valley and later on in the day Lake Michelson comes into view. We will break for lunch overlooking the Lake with a spectacular view, and then continue on a gentle traverse and descend to Lake Michaelson campsite. You can rest in the afternoon or go for a wander around the Lake.

LAKE MICHAELSON TO SIMBA COL (4,550m).

Trekking time: 4 hours.

You will depart at around 9 am for a beautiful day’s walk up and around the peaks. You will arrive at the Simba Tarn campsite where you will find camp all set up and ready to serve you lunch. This is a good time to re-fuel and relax before our summit push the next day.

SIMBA COL TO POINT LENANA (4,985 m) TO KAMI HUT, the base of the north face of Batian) (4200M)

Trekking time: 7 hours

An early departure at 5.30am for a sunrise summit is the best way to experience this climb, and enjoy the expansive views of the mountainside, valleys and country beyond - even the summit of Kilimanjaro - whilst sipping a nice warm drink.

The descent takes you down the Northern side along the Sirimon route where you will have brunch in the Mackinder Valley where our camp will be for the evening.

We will then get ready for our technical climb up the North Face of Batian.

The ‘North Face Standard Route’ was first ascended in 1944 by A. Firmin and P. H. Hicks. With a grade of IV, and 15+ hours of climbing from hut to hut, the North Face of Mount Kenya is a serious undertaking, and in Hicks’ own words “…a first class climb of a higher standard both in length and difficulty than the standard S.E. route.”

This is a climb for experienced rock climbers and alpinists. Normally the summit day is well over 12 hours long. While most of the climbing is on mid-5th class rock, there is one 5.9 pitch and several at a 5.8 standard (US grading system). Add to this the challenge of technical rock at 17,000 feet above sea level, and the alpine nature of the climb, and it amounts to a very demanding route. Climbers considering the ascent need to be solid 5.9 followers with experience on long technical routes of at least 10 pitches in length. We usually climb the lower section of the route in approach shoes or lightweight mountaineering boots. Rock shoes are useful for the more difficult upper pitches.

Our last day on the mountain, after an amazing 10 days together!

Today we will have a slow descent down the Makinder valley using the Sirimon route, where we will then be transported to Soames Hotel for our final dinner.

And this brings our trip to a close, we will have vehicles available to transport the group back to Nairobi where one final evening at Ol Sereni Hotel before flight departures on the 25th October.

*vehicles will collect you from the hotel and take you to the airport based on flight times.