Safaris Unlimited has been guiding horseback safaris across Kenya since 1971, making it one of the pioneering names in East African riding travel — and still, more than fifty years on, a family operation, steered today by Gordie and Felicia Church, son and daughter-in-law of founder Tony Church. Most itineraries move through the world-famous Masai Mara ecosystem, a 580-square-mile extension of the Serengeti and home to the Great Migration, with private departures also available through the highland plateaus of Laikipia.
A hand-picked crew of horse masters, camp chefs, and spotters travels as a seamless unit, erecting elegant mobile camps beneath acacia trees and serving three-course meals under genuinely dark African skies. The result marries old-world safari romance with careful modern safety protocols — riders move freely across unfenced conservancy land alongside zebra, elephant, and, during migration season, literally thousands of wildebeest.
The Experience
Your ride moves through open savannah, riverine forest, and rocky escarpment, with genuinely long, exhilarating canters possible across the Mara’s unfenced conservancy land — plains game barely lifting a head as your horse draws near, a closeness to wildlife no vehicle-based safari can replicate. Gordie or Felicia personally guides most departures, sharing bushcraft knowledge built over a lifetime here, with a second guide and armed ranger providing backup throughout.
If you’ve chosen the flagship eight-night Classic Mara ride, you’ll follow ancient elephant corridors and cross the Mara River at sunrise, riding among daily herds of wildebeest if you’ve timed your visit for the July–September migration, with cultural visits to Maasai bomas woven into the route. The shorter six-night option covers roughly 150 kilometres across three distinct camps overlooking hippo-filled rivers and giraffe-dotted plains, with a hot-air balloon flight or sundowners atop Lookout Hill yours to add.
Your evenings settle into genuine safari theatre: a canvas camp lit by lantern, a three-course dinner that seems to appear from nowhere, conversation running late under skies with essentially no light pollution. The camps sit on conservancy land leased directly from Maasai families, and many of the staff around you each evening come from neighbouring villages — a partnership you can feel in the warmth of the welcome, not just read about in a brochure.
About Safaris Unlimited
Tony Church introduced multi-day horseback safaris to East Africa more than five decades ago, and the operation he founded remains, unusually for the industry, still very much a family affair. His son Gordie and daughter-in-law Felicia now guide every departure personally; a level of hands-on involvement that has become increasingly rare as adventure travel has scaled and professionalized elsewhere.
The horse programme reflects that same care: twenty-five to thirty home-bred or carefully sourced horses, predominantly Thoroughbred and Thoroughbred-cross, ranging from forward, athletic mounts for experienced riders to steady schoolmasters suited to confident intermediates. All live outdoors on ample pasture between safaris, ensuring genuine soundness and fitness for the demanding, multi-hour days the Mara’s open terrain rewards.
Safaris Unlimited’s conservation commitment runs deep and practical: safari fees support anti-poaching patrols and fund scholarships for Maasai children, while low-impact mobile camps and carbon offsets through a Kenya-based reforestation programme underpin every departure. For riders seeking the genuine article — real African wilderness, real Maasai partnership, and more than half a century of family-led expertise — Safaris Unlimited remains one of the defining names in horseback safari travel.
Photo credits: Safaris Unlimited & Equestrian Destinations
Our Stewardship
Safaris Unlimited’s camps are entirely mobile, and travel on horseback or on foot keeps vehicle miles and carbon footprint to a minimum. Non-biodegradable waste from each safari is returned to Nairobi for recycling, and camps run on solar lighting with careful water use. The company employs and trains from the local communities it has worked alongside since the 1970s, sources food from home-grown or organic smallholdings where possible, and funds scholarships along with books, furniture, and building maintenance for local schools. Its conservation partners include the Mara North Conservancy, Mara Elephant Project, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Riding for the Disabled Kenya, Seedballs Kenya, The Maa Trust, East African Wildlife Society, and Community Health Africa Trust.
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