Laikipia Plateau, Kenya

Roving Elephants, originally uploaded by Abercrombie&Kent.

The eastern escarpment of the Rift Valley known as the Laikipia Plateau, is divided into a patchwork of enormous ranches. Over the years with cooperation from their owners, these farms were transformed into game reserves and now contain some of the most exclusive lodges in the remotest parts of Kenya.

Laikipia Wildlife Forum was founded and an enormous wildlife stronghold was born. The Forum hopes that Laikipia will increasingly be seen as Kenya's foremost exclusive destination due to the select nature of its lodges, the important ecosystem with large wildlife populations, and the fact that the plateau is home to more endangered species than anywhere else in East Africa.
The area is extremely scenic with the escarpment giving way to dramatic wooded gorges and tangled riverine thickets. It has been made famous by Kuki Gallman who wrote 'I Dreamed of Africa' about her life in this secluded part of Africa. It is an area unknown to package tourists because all the accommodation is on private land where you are treated more like a house guest than a tourist.