Grow Wild Trip

Wilderness Expedition

Personal development is rarely more exciting and stimulating than on this specially designed seven-day wilderness expedition.

Can there be a better backdrop than the Laikipia Plateau for a series of physical and mental challenges? Amidst this vast stretch of African savannah with its dramatic cliffs, ice-tipped equatorial mountain and exotic wildlife, participants gain a massive sense of achievement from Rift Valley Adventures’ expertly organised experiential programme. Concepts such as trust, responsibility, goal setting, teamwork and leadership – highly prized but rarely taught effectively in the school or office – blaze to life in the East African bush.

Il Motiok Group Ranch is the perfect place for people to tackle a series of exercises that will broaden their social, emotional and even physical horizons. Even the camping is a part of the process with everyone helping to prepare food, cook, clean and look after the welfare of all team members. Nobody comes back unchanged – and that’s exactly what we want! 

A Tanzanian itinery is also available.

Suggested 7 Day Kenya Programme

Day 1: Il Motiok Group Ranch

Rift Valley Adventures’ staff transfer you to Il Motiok Group Ranch, passing through Kikuyu villages, small farms and close to Mount Kenya with its high altitude glaciers. We stay in the heart of the Laikipiak Ndorobo tribal land at Ol Gaboli Community Lodge, where people live a nomadic lifestyle, herding livestock in the way they’ve done for centuries. After a programme brief, jobs are allocated and there’s a chance to relax and explore the mesmerising surroundings.

Day 2: Team Initiatives and Problem Solvers

Today’s group dynamic day! We explore the issues, starting off with small problem solver and initiative exercises and gradually build up our skills over the following hours. The climax is the unique Challenge Course, where our expert, highly qualified instructors have combined exercises for the mind and body in a natural environment. With instant, direct feedback, they gain confidence as competent leaders and team members, improving themselves for life in school, society and the workplace.

Day 3: Lendille Trek, Abseil, Rockclimb

The twin granite domes of the Lendille Peaks are our destination. On route you can learn bush survival from our Samburu guide – it’s more fun to practice starting a fire with sticks in the sun-baked African wilderness than in rainy, Welsh fields, the usual destination for leadership training. Trust us!
At Lendille it’s out with the ropes and helmets for spectacular abseils down cliff faces and rock climbs ranging between 10 and 50-metres high, with wonderful views over the plains.

Day 4: Local School and Group Ranch

An early morning mountain bike ride stretches the legs and takes us to Il Motiok Primary School for a morning with local children, learning about life as a Ndorobo pupil and growing up in Laikipia. This is one of the undoubted highlights of the trip – a real insight into another culture that also throws a fresh light on our own lives. The afternoon is spent cycling to our camp on the Ewaso Nyiro river.

Day 5: Rafting the Ewaso Nyiro

You really open yourself up to raw nature when you navigate the river that flows across the vast plains, passing through rocky gorges, grade two rapids and local villages. There’s a great chance of seeing wildlife, particularly once the midday sun eases, including Vervet monkeys, bushbuck, eland, impala, cheetah, reticulated giraffe and elephant. Tonight’s camp is set up on the lovely riverbank, underneath enormous Mugumo trees.

Day 6: Raft to Lodge

A leisurely start and we raft the rest of the morning, engulfed by the dramatic scenery and wildlife. It’s a simple formula: the longer you spend with our expert guides in the awe-inspiring landscape that seems so exotic, even intimidating at a distance, the more your confidence grows. We’re met by vehicles with our mountain bikes for a great trekking ride back to Ol Gaboli Community Lodge.

Day 7: To Home

A last chance to watch game as we drive back to Nairobi to connect with international flights.

Possible Additions

Extra days can be included at the other community campsites or on a camel trek across the Kijabe ranch (see opposite page). We can also add longer, over-night rafting trips, two-day mountain bike and camping rides, caving at Mount Suswa and trekking the epic routes of Mount Kenya.  And the trip could be based in Tanzania instead.