Reviews of Solio Ranch (From 3 Acclaimed Safari Experts)

Expert

Philip Briggs –

ZA

Visited: Wet season

Philip is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many guidebooks, including the Bradt guides to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.

3 people found this review helpful.

Rhino Overload

Overall rating

3/5

Wildlife:

Bush Vibe:

Scenery:

Birding:

This is the most southerly conservancy in Laikipia, easily accessed from the towns of Nyeri or Nanyuki, and one of the few that actively encourages private day visits. Since 1970 it has functioned as a key breeding centre for introduced founder populations of 23 black and 16 white rhino, and there truly is no better place in Kenya to see these endangered creatures – we must have encountered at least 50 white and ten black rhinos in the course of an overnight stay. We also had great sightings of lion and cheetah, along with large numbers of buffalo, zebra, giraffe, eland and Beisa oryx, and were impressed at the condition of the pristine fever tree forest that follows the main waterway through the reserve (a result of elephant being excluded from the property). The one negative about Solio is that it is rather small and the concentrations of rhino and other grazers seem somewhat artificial. Still, the rhino viewing alone is superb, and the lodge is easily one of the most stylish bush retreats in Kenya.

3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Expert

Ariadne van Zandbergen –

ZA

Visited: December

Ariadne is a renowned African wildlife photographer whose work is featured in many well-known guidebooks and magazines.

3 people found this review helpful.

Flocks of Rhinos in Solio Ranch

Overall rating

4/5

Wildlife:

Bush Vibe:

Scenery:

Birding:

Solio Ranch (Solio Game Reserve) is one of many private conservancies on Laikipia Plateau. Black and white rhinos are generally common in Laikipia, but nothing prepared me for the experience at Solio. Rhinos, often carrying enormous horns, literally seem to move around in flocks here.

Solio has one of the most successful breeding programs of rhino in Africa, but so many of these heavyweights in a small area felt unnatural to me. Other wildlife is abundant too. I saw cheetah, lion, buffalo, lots of antelopes and about 100 rhinos on a short morning drive.

While I wasn’t overly impressed with the reserve, Solio Lodge, the only accommodation here, is magnificent. This elegant and luxurious retreat is renowned for its world-class service and fine dining.

3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Expert

Anthony Ham –

AU

Visited: Multiple times

Anthony is a photographer and writer for travel magazines and Lonely Planet, including the guides to Kenya and Botswana & Namibia.

Solio: Ranch of the Rhinos

Overall rating

3/5

Wildlife:

Bush Vibe:

Scenery:

Birding:

A glorious expanse of green-as-green savannah and light woodlands between the Aberdares and Mt Kenya, Solio has some pretty impressive calling cards. It’s one of the best places in Kenya to see both black and white rhino – by the end of a trip here, you’ll likely have seen so many that you may not even stop to photograph them. In addition to the rhinos you might see buffalo, zebra, giraffe, even lion or cheetah. The scenery, too, can be glorious – on a clear day, Mt Kenya rises majestically above the horizon. Solio also has an outstanding lodge. But the ranch occupies a narrow strip of land in one of the country’s more densely populated regions, and an awareness of the human world is never far away. As a consequence, sightings and explorations lack that wilderness thrill that you get in the larger, more remote parks. By all means, come for the rhinos and scenery, but look elsewhere for wild Africa.

Was this review helpful? Yes No