The Location of Porini Rhino Camp and Why It’s Worth Visiting

Porini Rhino Camp is located in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, East Africa’s Largest Black Rhino Sanctuary. The 90,000-acre conservancy near Mt Kenya is home to various animals including the BIG Five (leopard, elephant, buffalo, lion, and the critically endangered black and white rhinos). 

For ultimate intimacy with nature, Porini Rhino Camp is set in a secluded valley right on the banks of a seasonal river. The camp is specially designed to cause minimum environmental impact. There are no permanent structures and the whole facility uses solar energy. 

The camp works closely with the conservancy in programs that aim at protecting wildlife and uplifting local communities. Porini Rhino Camp adheres to strict eco-friendly and responsible ecotourism principles and has a prestigious Gold Eco-rating from EcoTourism Kenya.

A little about Porini Rhino Camp

The camp consists of 9 spacious and comfortable guest tents with covered verandahs and large bedrooms that can accommodate a couple or a family of three. Children over 8 years old can share the space with adults or stay in their own tent.

All of the guest tents are equipped with double and single beds, each wrapped in cozy duvets and blankets. There are also bedside tables, a wardrobe for hanging your clothes, LED lamps, a torch, and a luggage rack. Hot water bottles are also provided in each bed to keep you warm during chilly nights.

In the en-suite bathroom, you will find a flush toilet, a basin with cold running water, and a walk-in bucket shower with hot water brought in at a time agreed between you and your tent attendant. Toiletries are provided, and the camp offers a full laundry service at no charge.

For families wanting more space, Porini Rhino Camp has a family tent that consists of two rooms with a lounge in between. Each of the two rooms has a king-size bed and a single bed. The unit is ideal for families or a group of friends traveling together.

Why visit Porini Rhino Camp?

There are a number of reasons Porini Rhino Camp is worth visiting. As a regular guest, I can point out some of the interesting activities offered at the camp.

Warm reception

Porini Rhino Camp has one of the best services if I compare it to other camps I have visited. The staff are professional, friendly, and incredibly helpful. Right from the management to the guides, they offer the best experience possible not only to the guests but also animals.

Game drives and nature walks are never boring. The guides are exceedingly attentive, friendly, and very knowledgeable. They give fabulous stories, serve bush breakfasts and sundowners, and easily locate animals. Interestingly, they also teach kids various bush-craft skills.

Wildlife up-close

Guests at the Porini Rhino Camp have the benefit of viewing wildlife in close proximity. There is a hide right in front of the camp where you can observe and photograph wildlife safely, yet in close proximity. With no fence around the camp, animals freely stroll in both day and night.

The hide blends perfectly into the surroundings and it peacefully allows you to see animals that come to drink at the waterhole. Spending a little time at the spot gives you a lifetime opportunity to see animals such as lions, buffalo, elephants, giraffes, elands, leopards, warthogs, cheetahs, and more.

What’s thrilling, animals roam freely around the camp and you can hear all sorts of grunts and snorts outside your tent at night. 

Game drives 

The exhilarating part of my safari in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy is the daily safari drives conducted both in the morning and evening by the Porini Rhino Camp’s expert guides. Game drives take place in large 4×4 land vehicles that are always open on the sides.

Vehicles carry about 7 guests for maximum game viewing. It’s also possible to arrange a daytime visit to a chimpanzee sanctuary where the chimps are kept in huge outdoor enclosures. Visitors are guided by a ranger albeit by vehicle to spot these creatures that are closely related to human beings.

Sweetwater’s Chimpanzee Sanctuary was established in 1993 as a joint alliance between the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the Jane Goodall Institute, and Kenyan Wildlife Services as a refuge center for orphaned and rescued chimpanzees from black markets both locally and internationally. 

Rhino visiting

Guests on their stay at Porini Rhino camp have the opportunity to see Najin and Fatu, the only Northern white rhinos left on the earth. The two female rhinoceroses were moved to Kenya from the Czech Republic in 2009 and are currently living in a 700-acre enclosure in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Visitors can also meet Baraka,  the black rhino who was born in the wild but lost sight in both eyes due to a fight with another rhino and a cataract. He now lives in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy under the watchful eye of dedicated caregivers. 

Baraka is fed from a spatially designed platform which allows visitors a very special experience of seeing him up close. His life depicts what many of the rhinos at Ol Pejeta Conservancy went through before they met a rescue hand.

Nature walks

Porini Rhino Camp offers guided nature walks where guests get the opportunity to interact with nature. The walk guided by experts from the local communities involves tracking animals, birdwatching, viewing of wildlife in their natural habitats and even visiting the Masai villages.

Tasty meals

The food at the camp is absolutely delicious. They use fresh ingredients that are locally sourced. Although they have a mess tent where you can take your meals, bush breakfasts are always my favorite. Either way, expect a selection of continental breakfast items that include eggs, bacon, and sausages.

Lunch and dinner are commonly served outside on one big sociable table but indoors when the weather doesn’t permit. Besides the traditional Kenyan foods, chefs serve round dishes such as meatloaf, peppered steak, salads, mashed potatoes, and all-house drinks.

How to get there

Porini Rhino Camp is accessible by air or road from Nairobi or other cities in Kenya. If you are traveling from abroad, book a flight to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The easiest way to get to the destination is to take a scheduled flight from Wilson Airport to Nanyuki Airstrip, which is a 45-minute drive away.

Chartered flights from other national parks or destinations in the region are also allowed to land at the Kamok airstrip located inside the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. If you prefer road transport, the 210 km drive will take around 3 to 4 hours to reach Ol Pejeta Conservancy. 

The last 15 km to the camp is dirt, and 4×4 vehicles are essential in the rainy season. This will be taken care of if your booking includes transfers within the conservancy. The short trip to the camp will be more of a game drive as you will also be seeing most of the wild animals.

The best time to visit Porini Rhino Camp

Porini Rhino Camp has excellent game viewing all year round but the best time to visit is during the dry season from June to October, which is also a season for great migration. The long rainy season takes place in April and May when roads become muddy with fewer game-viewing activities. 

The short rains fall for a few weeks in November and December. Most plants are in bloom and it’s a great time to see migratory birds. There is also a hot dry season from January to March. It is also the best time for photographs and up-close wildlife viewing at the water points.