I used to run trips across Kenya. Now I check the people who do.
I’m Omutsani Nandi, and I plan private trips across Kenya from Nairobi. I was the founder and owner of Hitch a Hike Expeditions, a travel company dedicated to exploring Kenya and its rich natural resources. From 2018 to 2020 it served hundreds of local and international clients, until the COVID-19 era, when I had to reprioritise my work and focus more on information systems than on travel.
My day-to-day work is health information systems: ten years leading national data systems across Africa, and external audits of how organisations handle their data. It left me with one habit I bring to every trip: check what is claimed against what is real.
Safari operators make claims too: licensed, insured, maintained vehicles, trained guides, halal kitchens. Most are honest. Some are not, and Kenya’s tourism regulator warns about unlicensed operators every peak season. From abroad, you can’t check. From Nairobi, I can, and I do it before I recommend anyone.
I take no commissions. Operators don’t pay to be recommended, and I don’t add to their prices. You pay me a fixed planning fee; I ask operators I’ve already checked to quote, compare them, and tell you which I would choose and why. The price on the operator’s quote is the price you pay them.
Private Travels runs separately from my health systems and web work at omutsani.com.
Before any recommendation
- Tourism Regulatory Authority licence, checked against the regulator’s own records
- NTSA tourist service licence for the vehicles you ride in
- Public liability insurance in date, with a copy on file
- Guide qualifications and, for walking and riding, the camp’s safety procedures
- Recent client references we can contact
- For halal trips, each camp’s confirmation in writing
Plan a trip
Tell us your dates and who is travelling. We reply on WhatsApp, usually the same day.
+254 715 555 875