Where to Go in 2026: Trade the Serengeti Traffic for This Under-the-Radar Kenyan Safari

This month on Unpacked, we’re diving into Afar’s just-released ⁠Where to Go list⁠—but this year’s picks are different. In 2026, we want to lessen the burden on overtouristed destinations and expand visitation to other parts of the world. Our editors carefully selected 24 emerging regions and overlooked locales that will inspire your next great adventure.

For Laikipia, that means looking beyond the overcrowded Maasai Mara to discover a Kenyan plateau where half the country’s black rhinos roam, where you might be the only vehicle at a sighting, and where conservation and community go hand in hand.

In this episode, host Aislyn Greene talks with Alexandra Owens, a travel writer who specializes in conservation tourism and sub-Saharan Africa. Alexandra shares why this network of community-run conservancies offers a model for what safari can be: high value, low impact, and genuinely beneficial to local communities.

Transcript

Aislyn: I’m Aislyn Greene, and this is Unpacked, the podcast that unpacks the world’s most interesting destinations and the deeper stories behind travel. This month, we’re diving into Afar’s annual Where to Go list, and this year’s list is a little different because in 2026, we want to lessen the burden on overtouristed destinations and help expand visitation to other parts of the world. And that’s why our editors carefully selected 24 emerging regions and overlooked cities that, I promise, will inspire you to start planning your next great adventure. We release the full list on December 4th, and on Unpacked over the next two months, we’re going to be exploring 15 of those destinations by talking with the writers who traveled to and shared our favorite new places.

In this episode, I’m talking with Alexandra Owens, a travel and food writer. In 2025, Alexander traveled to Laikipia, Kenya, a county about 140 miles north of Nairobi that’s transforming into East Africa’s new center of responsible safaris. At Afar we’ve advocated for responsible safari tourism for years, but we’ve doubled down on it in the wake of Tanzania’s Great Migration controversy. We covered that topic on our sister podcast, View From Afar. So if you want a deep dive into that, that link is in the show notes. Alexander also focuses on conservation and tourism, as well as Africa as a whole. So she was drawn to Laikipia Evolution, a story that threads together colonialism and land renewal and ways that responsible safari tourism can really benefit local communities.

In this episode, Alexandra shares the rare protected species that you might see here. Like rhinos, there are several rhino sanctuaries in the region, as well as the community focused wildlife conservancies and sustainable luxury lodges that are putting this part of East Africa on the travel map.

Alexandra, welcome to Unpacked. It’s really fun to actually see all of these travel writers whose bylines I’ve seen for years and actually meet them face to face. So welcome.

Alexandra: Thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be on with you.

Aislyn: So we’re here today to talk about our Where to Go 2026 list. And you wrote about Laikipia Kenya, which is such a fascinating place to talk about right now because there’s all of these issues with overtourism and the Serengeti, and this is absolutely more off the tourist trail in many ways. So what took you there?

Alexandra: Yeah, so I was traveling around East Africa, and I wanted to dig a little deeper into Kenya, beyond the typical trip to the Mara. And so a couple good friends of mine who work in the safari industry, they suggested Laikipia. It’s less famous than the Mara, obviously, which is kind of the first place people hit, but really rivals it in terms of wildlife. It’s where you’ll find half of the black rhinos in Kenya and other endangered species like Grevy’s zebra and African wild dogs, which have become quite rare.

Aislyn: Yeah. Wow. So you were traveling throughout East Africa. What were you doing?

Alexandra: Sometimes it’s funny, like, I’ll go over there in sub-Saharan Africa and mostly southern Africa, but sometimes East is like what I really specialize in as a writer. And so like I had been in Southern Africa, so like South Africa and Zambia for like a couple weeks. And then I was going to Uganda and I found rather than going back home, it made sense to go somewhere in between and to fly between southern and eastern Africa. And actually you kind of have to go through Kenya unless you’re going to fly private, which I’m not.

Aislyn: You don’t fly private?

Alexandra: No I don’t. Yeah. So I was like, you know what, I have a week. I was like, I’m going to figure out something in Kenya. And yeah, it’s perfect.

Aislyn: It’s amazing. And so just backing up a little bit, I’m curious to know what led you to kind of specialize in Africa as a travel writer?

Alexandra: Um, yeah. So I really have just fallen in love with writing about conservation, tourism and wildlife. I wanted to be a zookeeper as a kid.

Aislyn: Perfect. Well, I’m seeing it all now. It’s natural.

Alexandra: Yeah. And. And so it kind of. Africa has so many amazing places like Laikipia that are really doing wonderful things for conservation. And so it kind of just naturally happened that a lot of the stories that caught my eye, I just have ended up going there over and over again, and I’ve just been really lucky to make that happen.

Aislyn: Congratulations on, you know, kind of achieving your young self’s goal. We’ll get to the story of conservation in this region, but it sounds like it kind of dates back to some conflict between ranchers and the indigenous people. So could you kind of set the scene for us a little bit?

Alexandra: Yeah. So when the colonial British settlers first claimed land in Laikipia back in the early 20th century, they evicted the pastoralist communities who really lived by grazing cattle, like throughout the grasslands and Laikipia, which is on a plateau. So they evicted the Maasai, the Samburu and like the other communities out of the highlands to make room for commercial farms and ranches. So like not small family farms, but like large commercial farms. And then even after Kenya gained its independence from Britain in the ‘60s, the land actually didn’t revert to the pastoralists. It went to either Kenyan farmers who wanted to keep commercial ranches or to the descendants of the British ranchers. Yeah, it’s it’s not great. It’s not what you want.

Aislyn: No. OK. So a painful history.

Alexandra: There it is. Yeah. And it’s still very much a national issue today because a lot of people consider the land to be stolen. And there’s continued to be some violent clashes, especially when there’s like a drought, because pastoralists who are grazing their cattle need to look for land where they can graze their cattle.

Aislyn: So how then did we get to this place where tourism is a bigger part of it? And is that part of the conservation story? Like, what is this scene today?

Alexandra: Yeah. So part of this is there was also a poaching crisis, I think, in the ‘80s, particularly with rhino. So that kind of led some of the smaller scale ranchers to say, you know what, we’re going to start conservancies instead, on some of our farms. And Ol Jogi was like one of the first ones, I believe. And so they were ranchers originally.

And then they started a small rhino protection area. And then that kind of blossomed into what it is today. But basically many of these community run or private conservancies, because some of the private conservancies have now transferred their rights back to the communities. And so these are based on the former ranches, and they’re able to work hand in hand with the indigenous people to kind of transform the degraded land, because the land was really quite ruined by large scale ranching into prime habitat for wildlife. And that also benefits the pastoralists because it’s better for the cattle to eat as well, because they were moving the cattle basically from place to place. So it never really ruined the land for the wildlife. It’s the large scale ranching that was the issue.

Aislyn: Got it. And I imagine they probably have smaller herds than like a large commercial operation.

Alexandra: Yeah. Correct. Because I mean, they sold some of it. Sure. But it was like on a smaller scale.

Aislyn: Yeah. OK. So it sounds like it’s not just a conservation story, but it’s kind of like, is it fair to say it’s a restoration story as well? OK. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. So what is then? What does it look like? What does it feel like now? What can travelers do?

Alexandra: Yeah. So a lot of it is based around these small conservancies in 2019 I think like right before the pandemic they decided, OK, we’re going to form like an actual I don’t know if you’d call it a governance board, but like they’ll decide like, OK, we’re going to have like community grazing program and decide like we’re all going to work together on these projects.

Aislyn: That sounds amazing and sounds like there’s probably some different specialties in each of these conservancies. Can you have a more, I don’t know, quote unquote traditional safari experience too?

Alexandra: Yeah, a lot of them run a traditional safari where you wake up in the morning too early sometimes, but by my standards, and then you go out again in the afternoon. They have the big 5, if that’s what you’re interested in seeing. And again, they have like a crazy amount of rhinos, more than any other part. I mean, if you’ve been to other parts of Africa, like that can be one of the hardest things to see. So it’s very special there. And then they have a lot of animals that like you might not see other places, something that’s quite special that people have become, I’ve noticed, I think, on Instagram from the people I follow, they have melanistic leopards.

Aislyn: Oh, I don’t know what that is.

Alexandra: Yeah, the same species as any leopard, but it’s basically the opposite of albino, I think. And so like, they’re all black.

Aislyn: Yeah.

Alexandra: And people are very, um, I guess because of the area, that genetic trait is more common in Laikipia. So like photographers love them. So that’s become a very popular sighting. And then it’s special because in this area there are still quite a lot of villages. And sometimes I find other places in Africa. You go on safari and you feel a bit like you’re in a bubble. Yeah. Here it’s easy to visit the village and you can see like beading, or you can go on bushwalks with them. And the people who’s your guide actually are from the local area. So they often grew up on the land that you’re going on Safari. Yeah. It’s very special to actually get to meet people who live there.

Aislyn: OK. Do you have a moment from your trip where you had a local guide and you could really tell that they either had a long term relationship with this land or just a deeper knowledge bank?

Alexandra: Yeah, I mentioned this in my story, but my guide, Peter is from the area. He grew up there and just loves wildlife and working for Segera like really gave him the chance to get his training to become. Because to be a safari guide like you need to do lots of formal training. It costs a lot of money. And so this gave them the chance to follow a dream.

But like we were driving through the bush and there’s like a bunch of zebras and he just stops the car and he’s like, oh, there’s lions. And I’m like, where? Because usually you hear like an alarm call. You see a footprint, like something. And he’s like, no, they’re here. And he just wants to wait for the lions. And I was like, where are the lions? He’s like, it’s just a feeling. I just know they’re here somewhere. And sure enough, then a lion starts stalking the zebra. And I was like, because he said like that, he just growing up and knowing that you, when you’re walking around with your cattle and you’re in your village, you just learn this like 6th sense of understanding where the lions are.

Aislyn: Were you able to tap into any of your own lion wisdom?

Alexandra: No, I’m still waiting for mine.

Aislyn: That seems like a very beneficial sense to have. But how incredible. Can we talk a little bit more about the lodges then? Because there is a new lodge. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Alexandra: Yeah. So it’s an end beyond property. It’s andBeyond Suyian. And I haven’t been there myself yet. It just opened, I think, at the end of July. But it’s very exciting because it’s the first like, I don’t want to say branded because I don’t really feel I guess it’s a brand, but like, yeah, it’s the first like, you know, known name in Laikipia County. I should mention Laikipia as a county, by the way.

Aislyn: Got it. Yeah.

Alexandra: And yeah. And a plateau. And so Suyian’s been a conservancy. They just didn’t have a lodge in it. And so even though the lodge just opened, the Conservancy has been working with multiple NGOs to rewild the conservancy from a ranch.

Aislyn: Oh I see OK.

Alexandra: Yeah, the ranches have been there.

Aislyn: How long does that take? What’s that life cycle?

Alexandra: It’s been decades. It’s been decades. Yeah. And so like, one of the major NGOs they worked with was Space for Giants, which is an elephant NGO. Um, because Laikipia has the second largest population of elephants in Kenya, Suyian Conservancy is a really important corridor through Kenya for the elephants so that they can move from the northern conservancies to the south of Kenya.

Aislyn: Wonderful. Well, it sounds like a pretty cool place to keep an eye on.

Alexandra: Yeah, it is. And it’s also one of the things I like that I saw that they offer is like a lot of the other conservancies, they have kept it as like a working cattle ranch, but then again, not in the way that these used to be large cattle ranches, but they actually offer classes for anyone in the local communities that want them to learn holistic ranch management courses.

Aislyn: Very cool.

Alexandra: Yeah. And so then also, guests are able to walk with nomadic herders, like across the land with camels or with or with cows and to like, learn about this ancient practice.

Aislyn: Did you stay at any other lodges that you would recommend?

Alexandra: I really like Lua Wilderness. OK, that’s also one of the older ones. It’s known for its rhinos. Like a lot of the conservancies, they also have like an amazing food program. They make their own goat cheese. Wow.

Aislyn: Yeah. We’ll travel for cheese.

Alexandra: Exactly. Can’t say no.

Aislyn: Do you want to say anything else about the rhinos? Because you’ve mentioned them a few times. And I know that’s been a specific focus, but is there anything else that travelers should be aware of?

Alexandra: Yeah, I think that one of the really exciting things about it. Well, there’s 2 I mentioned. I think briefly that a lot of conservancies that focus specifically on the rhinos are really close neighbors, and it’s this collaborative project, um, where they’re trying to build. I mean, I say trying, but I mean, it’s basically happening right now to build one of the largest contiguous rhino sanctuaries in the world. And so it’s going to be in the summer. Segera opened their section of it. And so the idea is that they’re going to drop the fences, and then all of the rhinos will be able to be together. And this is in reaction to the rhino poaching crisis that I mentioned. And this is in collaboration, by the way, with the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Zeitz Foundation, which is a wildlife focused foundation. The leader of that also owns Segera.

And then the other really exciting thing I think is Apacheta is another conservancy that it has the last living northern white rhinos, which I feel have gotten a lot of media attention. And so they’re actually a mother and a daughter. So like white northern white rhinos are functionally extinct because they can’t breed anymore. And so Ol Pejeta is working with scientists, I think, in Germany, to get the eggs from the rhinos and try to implant them in southern white rhinos. So that conservancy is actually working to bring back the northern white rhino in a way that they can breed.

Aislyn: Yeah, that’s something to certainly keep an eye on. OK. You know, in general, everything that you have said, I think is such a strong argument for going and spending time in this part of Kenya. But why would you say that travelers should go, especially if someone is a first time visitor or safari goer?

Alexandra: Yeah. I’m going to give you my soapbox answer.

Aislyn: Let’s hear it.

Alexandra: My soapbox. Um, I feel like overtourism in East Africa and especially like in the Serengeti Mara ecosystem has become such a hot topic, especially like in these last few months. Like we saw this terrible videos, really boils my blood, of people disrespecting the wildebeest and endangering the wildlife and themselves by blocking them. And now, like we’re learning that a major hotel brand has allegedly opening a luxury hotel in a migratory corridor.

Aislyn: Yeah.

Alexandra: And I say allegedly.

Aislyn: Yeah.

Alexandra: Um, so. Well, Africa is a place that has incredibly responsible operators and lodges and agents. There’s lots of progress in like, the last years. The truth is, not all of them are. And so I personally feel that we have a responsibility while traveling to like these fragile ecosystems that we need to do right by the animals and the people. I think Laikipia shows us that safari can not only be ethical, but it’s actually can be a champion for conservation and community, and it can be a force for good. And I think the most effective way to help that progress is by voting with your dollars, and to show that safari and tourism can have a positive impact.

So then on top of that, it’s one of my favorite safari experiences. Just go because it’s fun. It’s high value, low impact. I think if you’ve never been on safari before, it’s hard to overemphasize how important it is to go someplace that isn’t crowded. Like, not only. Or is it the right thing to go somewhere that’s not over touristed. But it’s so much better to be out someplace where you’re not surrounded by eighty other cars, like trust. It’s not fun. It’s terrible.

Aislyn: It looks terrible. Like who wants. Nobody wants to be in those crowds.

Alexandra: The animals stop behaving like themselves. It’s awful. And in a place like these conservancies, there’s typically the only lodge on the conservancy. You’re the only one. Usually at a sighting, maybe one other car. One of my favorite sightings is we got to see, like a mother leopard and her 2 cubs. We were with them for 2 hours, and it was not an unethical sighting because we followed at a distance. They were not upset. They didn’t even know we were there. And you get this privilege of watching animals just be themselves and like, be relaxed and you get to really understand their behavior. If you’re a photographer, you get these amazing opportunities for photography where you’re not having a car in the background.

Aislyn: Yeah.

Alexandra: Yeah, it’s just so special.

Aislyn: So we published a View From Afar episode where Jenn Flowers interviewed a couple of people, the CEO of Andbeyond included. And they were saying that, you know, everyone has this vision in their head of kind of like the big five, like that’s what people want to see. But it also sounds like you could see a lot of that in Laikipia, but you can also see so much more, right?

Alexandra: Yes. And I totally I think that that’s such an underrated part of Safari as well. Like my favorite animal to see are African wild dogs or sometimes people call them painted wolves. I think they’re fascinating. You can see them and they’re very I think there’s less than 6,000 left now, and I don’t understand why people aren’t more excited to see them.

Aislyn: Do you think it’s because the word dog makes people think it’s not that special? I mean, not special, but unique.

Alexandra: Yeah, I know what you mean exactly. Well, that’s why people are like. Some people prefer calling them painted wolves.

Aislyn: Yeah. That’s beautiful.

Alexandra: Um, yeah. I mean, they’re a fascinating animal to watch.

Aislyn: How so?

Alexandra: Well, they’re. I just I personally have a thing for animals that have, like, a complex social structure. And so they live just like wolves, like in a pack. If you get to see the family hunting their amazing collaborative hunters. If you see them with their pups, they like play with the pups. They’re an animal. I’ve read a study and I don’t even know if this is proven proven. So don’t take me for this. I read that they vote when they’re going to hunt by, like sneezing.

Aislyn: What? Yeah, I’m googling that for sure. Yeah. Fascinating.

Alexandra: Yeah, they’re amazing animals and I feel like they get the short end of the stick just because people are obsessed with the big five.

Aislyn: Yes, exactly. You’re making me want to go immediately. Well, I would love to close with your advice to people. What do they need to know before going here? How do you get here? For people who have never taken a safari before, what do they need to know, to bring? It’s a different kind of trip, right?

Alexandra: Oh, gosh. I can talk about this for hours. It’s. It’s actually quite easy to get here. It’s so it’s you can there’s a direct flight um, from I think from it’s definitely from New York. It’s I believe JFK to Nairobi on Kenya Airways. And then there’s plenty of flights, you know, connections on other major airlines. And then you’ll have to do a short charter flight from Nairobi to your lodge. But it’s only about an hour. And then major vaccinations. You have to do yellow fever to go to Kenya. I believe that Laikipia is low risk malaria.

Aislyn: Oh that’s cool.

Alexandra: Yeah, because it’s on a plateau. So it’s actually like a higher elevation.

Aislyn: So you don’t have to take a month’s worth of malaria pills.

Alexandra: I mean yeah, it’s just like your risk tolerance.

Aislyn: You have a higher one, would you say?

Alexandra: No. I always take malaria pills. Get the crazy malaria pill. Dreams.

Aislyn: I hear it’s more of a nightmare. I’m actually taking my first safari in southern Tanzania next month, so I’m also asking, selfishly, for my own preparation. But yes. What else do you think people should know?

Alexandra: I would say if you’re going there only to Laikipia. I mean, I’m like one of those people who can just go on safari for months and, like, not get bored. Yeah, but I would say if you’re only going there, at least a week, and then maybe split it between 2 conservancies or 3 if you’re someone who gets restless. But you could also combine it with some Buru National Reserve in that’s further north, that’s quite remote, and it’s becoming also more popular. And it’s a great opportunity to spend more time with the Samburu people because it’s their traditional homeland. And then to do like some bushwalking with them, that’s amazing. I’m someone who’s like quite independent and I like to plan everything myself.

But I always recommend on safari, especially if you’re going to do multiple destinations to hire an advisor. It’s good to have someone helping you with your transfers, because those are quite often charter flights and have someone book those for you is better than not because those can change last minute, they can cancel, and to have someone who can quickly be on the ground, Africa time, to like change them is really important. And then also an advisor might know things about the lodges that you don’t know. Like they can suggest. Hey, like, there’s this really special experience they have in the bush that you might not know about. Again, if you’re just booking one lodge and that’s all you’re doing, like if you’re staying andBeyond for one week, then maybe it’s not necessary because they can handle everything for you.

But if you’re going to different places, I suggest an advisor. Two of my favorites who know a lot about Laikipia are Tamsin Fricker. She works with Travel Artistry Africa and then Chris Liebenberg at Piper and Heath. They’re both very conservation focused advisors who only do Africa.

Aislyn: OK. We can include links to those in the show notes too. That’s a great resource. Maybe something that people don’t think about. What about packing and what have you seen people do wrong in this way?

Alexandra: You mean the things I still do wrong every time?

Aislyn: Yes. Please tell us what you still do wrong.

Alexandra: Oh, gosh. I would say definitely bring layers. I feel like it’s always going to get colder at night than you think. No matter where I am. I don’t know why, but like, on safari. I feel like whether it’s a desert or a high elevation, like it can be so warm during the day and then at night, suddenly I’m freezing cold. A lot of places, because you’re like in a tent or it’s just sustainable. They don’t have heating. So like, bring more than you think.

Aislyn: OK. Yeah. All right. That’s good to know because I’ve been trying to pack super light with an eye to like, you know, there’s the weight restrictions, but it sounds like maybe throw a couple more things in there.

Alexandra: Oh, and if you’re a photographer, I always like to say to bring a waterproof cover for your camera. Rain can come out of nowhere, especially if you’re traveling during the rainy season. And sometimes the cars either don’t have a roof or the sides are open and a wind neck buff.

Aislyn: Ah yes. OK. Those are always I love those.

Alexandra: Yeah, it’s dustier than you think.

Aislyn: OK, got it. Yes. Not necessarily for the wind, but for the dust. You mentioned the seasonality. Is there a time of year that you would recommend?

Alexandra: I feel like it’s good, like all year round. It might depend on like, you know, what you want to see. Like, especially if you’re a birder. Like, it might be better to go like, when it’s raining or if you want to see babies go in the spring. But there’s always like something to see. I feel like sometimes people really like hyper focus on specific seasons, and the only places in Africa where, like, you really can’t go are places that are like have a lot of water and then sometimes, like roads might be flooded. But Laikipia is not like that.

Aislyn: Yeah, OK. So don’t let the time of year stop. You love it. Well thank you so much for being with us today Alexandra. It was really nice to chat with you.

Alexandra: Nice chatting with you too. Thanks so much for having me.

Aislyn: Thank you so much for joining this special Where to Go episode. In the show notes, we’ve included links to all the places Alexander recommended, as well as to her website and social handles. And if this is your first time listening to one of our “Where to Go” episodes in the show notes, you’ll also find links to our past and future episodes, which we will continue to roll out in the New Year. Happy travels!