A chance too good to miss

In the acacia woodland of Kenya's Laikipia Wilderness Camp stirs some of the rarest wildlife in Africa - and the encounter of a lifetime

-  Kate Humble

A rustle in the undergrowth gave them away. Beneath a tree beside my tent stood two tiny antelope - blue-grey with twig-thin legs, big cartoon eyes and the profiles of Roman emperors. They regarded me for a moment with a shrew-like twitch of their noses then skittered away. Dik-dik are so numerous here that there is barely a tree or shrubby bush that is without an attendant pair. But while they may be common, it is unshowy creatures such as these that ensure Kenya's Laikipia Wilderness Camp is able to sustain far more unusual animals.

Laikipia lies at the foot of Mount Kenya, a two-hour drive from the town of Nanyuki. The n wilderness camp sits on the scrub-covered slopes of a rocky outcrop, almost u hidden. It was built by Steve Carey, who moved to this wild, sparsely populated area a decade ago and made it his permanent home. As a result, the camp feels very different from the luxurious safari lodges that proliferate Africa's sub-Saharan wildlife hotspots. There are just six tents, each of them large, airy and comfortably furnished. The central mess is a cosy collection of chairs and sofas, and it is frequently shared with Steve's four much-loved dogs. There's a wood burner for chilly evenings, a broad covered deck and a large table around which everyone eats together. The food, prepared in the little kitchen behind the mess, is proper home-cooking and as tasty and unpretentious as you'd expect.