Family Safari to Kenya&#x27;s Pridelands

Located deep within the bio-diverse Lewa Conservancy, the hilltop Lewa House is perfectly placed to experience some of the best safaris in Kenya. The main house is the focal area of the lodge, where you’ll dine family style with your hosts Calum and Sophie on the long wooden table in the evenings and share stories of the day’s adventures. During the heat of the day take a dip in the large swimming pool overlooking a waterhole. Strung out along the hillside around the central lodge are seven separate cottages all with great views from the private verandas. Home to some of the best game viewing in East Africa, the Lewa Conservancy is a great choice for those looking for a comprehensive “Big Five” safari experience. Travel out from the house by foot, car, camel and vintage bi-plane to make the most of this richly rewarding area.

Lewa House

Lewa Wilderness

Family run and cared for, this lodge invites you to be a part of the lives of the Craig family who will host you during your stay here. A beautiful retreat surrounded by trees and located within the 62,000 acre Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Lewa Wilderness has just nine individually decorated cottages with private sitting areas and verandas looking over the vast landscape. The fire places in each room add to the homely feel of the place and for those who want to be outdoors more often than in, the tennis court and swimming pool are ideal ways to get some energy out. The reserve is home to some wonderful game, and helps the conservation efforts of black rhino that browse the region in larger numbers than elsewhere in East Africa. Lion, leopard and elephant can often be seen sipping from the small wooded valley river that flows past the lodge throughout the year and provides an excellent source for prime game viewing. If you are feeling more adventurous than most, ‘Walking Wild’ is an activity that lets you explore the wild and remote Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in the safety of a team of expert guides. Sleeping a maximum of eight, you head off on a genuine mobile safari lead by camels and each tent has its own private toilet and shower ‘room’ that adds a ‘glamping’ element to this remarkably wild experience. Three to five night options are available.

Set on a private 50,000 acre-wide conservancy in Laikipia, Governors' Mugie allows you to explore the vast landscape and come face-to-face with the rare northern rangeland species that call this place home.

Laikipia Plateau

Governors’ Mugie

Borana Conservancy

Lengishu House

Lengishu is an exclusive safari house, ideal for families or a group of friends, with a superb hillside setting in northern Kenya, and wonderful views to the north over the Borana Conservancy to Northern Frontier District and the Mathews Ranges in the far distance. Borana Conservancy has excellent wildlife sighting opportunities, including lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, a healthy number of black and white rhino, and a number of species unique to northern Kenya such as Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, Beisa oryx and Somali ostrich. With rammed earth walls, and sustainably sourced timbers in its roof and floors, Lengishu has a very small environmental footprint. The house has six bedrooms split between four cottages, all with their own private en-suite bathrooms, and designed to make the best of the views. The bathrooms have walk-in showers and big roll top baths, and the bedrooms have wood stoves or fireplaces for cool nights. There is a sitting room between the rooms in two of the cottages, making them ideal for a family with younger children. The master bedroom is a standalone cottage and the main house has a spacious dining room, lounge, and a study. The large pool has wonderful westerly views, and there is also a games room, a petanque pitch as well as a gym.

Mount Kenya lies just to the south of Lewa Safari Camp and the Lewa Wilderness Conservancy itself contains abundant game. Black rhino are a strong reason for visiting this camp, which can be found wandering around in isolation and are thrilling to behold. The camp has 12 safari tents, each with a thatched roof and private verandah to enjoy your gin and tonic. The main boma has a cracking fireplace to warm up on the chilly evenings and during the heat of the midday sun you could make the most of the swimming pool in the pretty gardens of the lodge. The 62,000 acre conservancy has a strong management programme for the protection of these creatures which helps them thrive in an historically harsh environment. A stay here has a strong educational theme to it, where you can gain a real understanding of the work the Lewa Wilderness Trust are doing to keep the conservancy running. You will also be directly contributing toward the community and a walk through the archaeological site nearby takes you back in time to a time when pre-historic man roamed these lands.

Lewa Safari Camp

Sirikoi

Sirikoi is a beautiful lodge surrounded by 7,000 acres of the private Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Conservation conscious individuals will love this place. There is a very strong theme of community and wildlife conservation and the lodge boasts claims to assisting the growth of buffalo numbers in the area. The big five roam freely and with over 100 rhino you are highly likely to tick them off on a stay here. Bird lovers can enjoy over 350 species including the Somali ostrich and the fantastic Kori bustard. Each of the four luxury tented rooms have a private veranda overlooking a waterhole that attracts a lot of game; this lodge is ideal for some relaxing game experiences. Each room has its own sitting area and provides a great space to spend an afternoon completely uninterrupted except by the creatures converging below. The Sirikoi Cottage has enough space for five to live comfortably and for true exclusive use, Sirikoi House is also on offer. This three bedroom entirely private house has a main dining and sitting room, large veranda and exclusive use of its own vehicle.

Make it mine

On top of the rock

In the forest

Picnic on Pride Rock

Enjoy a family picnic on the real Pride Rock, the inspiration for the Lion King, with stunning views of the Borana Conservancy. In the early 1990s, Disney’s animation team visited the site while conducting research in Kenya ahead of the release of the 1994 film. The film crew also visited in 2017 while working on the remake of the film and you’ll spot some of the scenery in the 2019 version of the same film.

Ngare Ndare Forest Trust

The Ngare Ndare Forest Trust lies to the southeast of Borana and has made huge steps in recent years to connect with the local communities to ensure its survival. Within the forest there are some magnificent rock pools, where the clear blue spring water gushes and a fabulous canopy walk, making it possible to get up close and personal with a Hartlaub’s turaco or even an elephant.

Days 6–9

Three nights in the Mara Conservancies

The Mara Conservancies are brimming with wildlife that roams freely from the bordering Maasai Mara National Park, into these private and exclusive areas. This part of Kenya is rich in wildlife and also Maasai culture, meaning your time here promises a complete and immersive experience of rural Kenya. Choose from a variety of exciting excursions such as guided nature walks, led by Maasai guides and game drives in private vehicles with expert safari guides.

Where you could stay

Towering high on the Rift Valley’s Oloololo Escarpment with direct and private access to the Mara Triangle, this lodge's name was inspired by the Swahili word for ‘suspended in mid-air’. It's not only its location that makes it stand out, but also its commitment to education, health and conservation in the region.

Angama Mara

Mara Plains Camp

Just north of the Maasai Mara Reserve, in the 30,000 acre private Olare Motorogi Conservancy, this Relais & Châteaux camp offers you outstanding game experiences without the restrictions that the reserve itself imposes on other lodges. Each guest’s stay helps to contribute to various conservation and community projects. This conservancy adds a huge plus factor due to the privacy and minimal vehicle traffic within it. You can easily access the Maasai Mara Reserve, but the game in the conservation area is just as excellent. Leopard are regularly spotted passing through the camp and lions can often be heard in the distance. Stroll along walkways that wind their way through the forest between the tented suites that are built on high stilts offering you stunning views onto the Ntiakitiak Riverr or across the Mara plains. Each suite has deep canvas canopied ceilings, rough-hewn wood floors and accents of East Africa’s rich safari history. Expect thick Lamu wood doors, deep purples, and brass accents. The raised library looks down onto hippos wallowing in the river, while the wine cellar is the perfect place to unwind and sample a selection of excellent South African and French wines. You can also choose to enjoy a private dining experience here. A highlight of the camp is the family suite, the Mara Plains Jahazi Suite, which is an exclusive-use, two-bedroom tented villa with its own team of dedicated staff. The game drive vehicles are all completely open which helps you get some phenomenal photographs. In addition to the game, you mustn’t forget that you also have a community nearby that you can visit and witness a genuine working village. A truly marvellous experience.

Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp is located within a beautiful community-owned concession close to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and the Kenyan border, a timeless setting with incredible views over the game covered plains that surround it. Adding an extra layer to this camp is the fact that is closely involved with local community and conservation efforts, meaning that your stay is benefitting many. The camp itself, colonial in style with dark woods, swathes of canvas and antique pieces, is made up of ten tents, spaced out to ensure privacy. Of the ten, four are family suites with their own living rooms and fireplaces and there also a unique honeymoon suite. All have en-suite showers and safari baths and showers can be set up in the savannah for unforgettable ablutions. Two main mess tents sit at the heart of Cottar’s with areas for fine dining, drinking, reading and relaxing. There’s also a swimming pool and spa. The Cottar family have decades of experience here and they count the highest number of Gold (the highest professional level) Safari Guides within one camp in Kenya, each chosen for their unique skillset and personalities, meaning a safari here, whether on foot or game drives, is always a fantastic. Cultural interaction with the local Maasai community, with whom the Cottars have worked in partnership with for years, is authentic and not at all touristy. The award-winning camp also has some of the highest ecotourism ratings going.

Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp

Saruni Mara is an intimate lodge nestled in a secluded valley in the heart of the Mara North Conservancy, which borders the famous Maasai Mara National Reserve. With just five cottages, one family suite and a private villa, it is markedly smaller and more personal feelling than anything else in the area. Each of the expansive cottage have a classic safari feel, individually themed with colonial antiques, and all with stunning views to be enjoyed from bed, outdoor shower and veranda. Nyati House is an exclusive-use home with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a lounge, dining room and kitchen, as well as a private safari vehicle and guide. The main areas of Saruni Mara comprise of the magnificent lounge where guests enjoy a sumptuous blend of African and European cuisine, well-stocked library, a fire to sit around the fire and chat over the days game viewings and a wellbeing space. Experience the pristine wilderness day and night game drives, walking safari’s, experience wonderful bush dinners and see Kenya through the eyes of your local Maasai guides who have lived on this land for centuries. There’s also the chance to visit local villages, conservation projects and learn Maasai skills at the warrior academy.

Saruni Mara