Smita’s Wild Kenya: Into the Mara Less Travelled

A Scheduled Trip to Kenya

Highlights

• Hosted by renowned zoologist Smita Srivastava.
• Small-group, immersive safari experience.
• Stay at Ololo Safari Lodge beside Nairobi National Park.
• Spot rhinos, lions, cheetahs, leopards, giraffes, elephants, and more.
• Visit the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage.
• Stay at the exclusive Porini Ol Kinyei Safari Cottages.
• Private charter flights and dedicated safari vehicles.
• Bush breakfasts, sundowners, and night game drives.
• Community-led conservation in the Maasai Mara.
• Travel in May for lush landscapes and fewer crowds.

Scheduled group tour from
May 19, 2027 - May 25, 2027

Starting from
USD 5,050
per person sharing

Duration
7 days / 6 nights

Transport
Fly-in Safari

Accommodation
Lodge or Cottages

Exploring
Nairobi National Park

About this Safari

A Journey Hosted by Smita Srivastava

I have stood at the edge of the Mara at dawn, watching a cheetah scan the plains, and felt—with absolute certainty—that there is nowhere else on earth I would rather be. That feeling is what I’ve tried to build into this itinerary.

I’m Smita—zoologist, teacher, and someone who has given an embarrassing portion of her life to the African bush. This Kenya journey is one I’m proud of. It’s small by design, unhurried by intention, and built around two properties I believe in wholeheartedly.

Ololo Safari Lodge announces itself quietly. You cross a wooden suspension bridge over the Mbagathi River, step into lush gardens, and suddenly the city behind you ceases to exist. What lies ahead is one of the world’s most improbable wildlife experiences: Nairobi National Park, where both black and white rhinos share open savannah with lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes, buffalo, and over 500 species of birds —all within sight of a city skyline. Few parks in Africa concentrate this breadth of wildlife in so compact and accessible a space. Add farm-to-table meals from their working organic kitchen, a visit to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, and the warmth of a family-run home —and you have a beginning worthy of what follows.

Porini Ol Kinyei Safari Cottages is the kind of place that reminds you why you came to Africa in the first place. Nestled within the only IUCN Green List Protected area in the entire Mara ecosystem, the Ol Kinyei and Naibosho conservancies share the same sweeping landscape —but together they form something quietly extraordinary. Because these are community-owned lands with strictly limited camps and vehicles, the wildlife here has never been pressured or pursued. Lions sleep in the open. Leopards move without hurry. The wildlife dam below the cottages draws elephants, lions, and giraffes —often before your morning coffee is finished. This is what it looks like when animals feel genuinely safe —and it changes the quality of every sighting.

We fly in by private charter—seamless, scenic, and with a generous baggage allowance of 20 kg per person —landing you straight into the wilderness with no fuss. Private vehicles, guides who have spent lifetimes reading this land, bush breakfasts, night drives, sundowners in the middle of nowhere, and a conservation model rooted in the Maasai community, not imposed upon it.

May is when Kenya breathes. The crowds thin, the landscape turns lush and golden-green, and the wildlife gets on with the serious business of living. It’s my favourite time to be out here. I’d love for you to experience it.

Warmly,

Smita

COSTS

Chalo Africa’s special rates to you:

USD 5,050 per adult (Double sharing throughout; Ololo Stable Room: 17.6 sq m)
USD 5,250 per adult (Double sharing throughout; Ololo Tented Cottage: 40 sq m)
USD 5,750 per solo adult (Single room throughout; Ololo Stable Room: 17.6 sq m)

We have space for 16 guests on this trip.

Request for the Full Itinerary

or call our African safari specialists at
+1 703 220 6393 or +91 9717 275237

Day By Day Itinerary

Day 1: Tuesday, May 19, 2027

Welcome to Kenya! Upon your arrival at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you will be transferred to the remarkable Ololo Safari Lodge—but this is no…….