Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp

Located on the edge of the Ewaso River in a pristine wilderness within the Westgate Community Conservancy, the lodge boasts some fantastic views and is perfectly located to give you some amazing game sightings. If you want to get involved in activities, there is a huge variety of things to get involved with but otherwise, ‘Spa Saab’ will look after you in calming treatment rooms and it even offers yoga. What’s more, Sasaab is involved in many projects with the local Samburu tribe and runs many sustainability initiatives. Each of the nine distinctive open-walled rooms are furnished with a Moroccan flair with simple but elegant trimmings. They are extremely spacious (over 100sqm each) with west facing verandas and their own private plunge pools overlooking the Ewaso Nyiro River. You’re higher up and closer to the Sahara here, so it can get very warm, but the lodge has been built to provide respite from the heat. The open tented rooms are airy and your plunge pool is just a short stroll from your bed. The family unit is ideal for two couples travelling together as well as families. This luxurious suite is spacious, featuring one en-suite double room and one en-suite twin room with a communal lounge and private plunge pool. The main dining area is reminiscent of a souk and is great for a lazy afternoon watching the game frequent the river below. The lodge has a strong relationship with the hundreds of families that live on and own the conservancy and they are very proud to give guests to the lodge a special insight into their daily lives. These cultural experiences are non intrusive and if you’re lucky, they might even invite you to see a genuine traditional ceremony in the village. Trips to the local Samburu markets take place twice a week and are not to be missed.

Loldia Farm was established by a settler who came to Kenya by ox-wagon after the Boer War and is still owned by the same family today. The house is set in lawns, which are grazed at night by hippos from the lake. The farm is ideally situated to visit the flamingo lakes of Nakuru, Elementaita and Bogoria, one of the great spectacles of Africa. Lake Nakuru also offers excellent viewing of the Black Rhino and the more elusive White Rhino amongst an abundance of other bird and wildlife and is one of the best places in Kenya to see leopard. Lake Bogoria is one of the few places where the rare and beautiful Greater Kudu can be seen. On the farm’s 6.500 acres, guests may walk with a guide through herds of dairy and beef cattle and a flock of farmed ostriches, interspersed with impala, waterbuck and other plains game. Boat trips are also arranged on Lake Naivasha for fishing and bird watching, and visits can be made to Hell’s Gate with its spectacular canyon, hot springs and abundant wildlife. Activities can be tailor-made to suit each person! Loldia House offers a choice of accommodation either in the old family house or in cottages in the grounds. In the main house, four en-suite double rooms are furnished in the original colonial style. Close by is an original guest cottage surrounded by lush flowers, with a further two en-suite rooms. A newly-built cottage on the lakeshore, which is ideal for honeymooners, has two independent en-suite double rooms with breathtaking views across the lake to the extinct volcano, Mount Longonot. Up on the hill is the specially built Loldia cottage, which has its own sitting room with open log fire and panoramic views across the lake, and three double rooms, making it ideal for families or groups of friends.

Where plains unfold from horizon to horizon amid the vast acreage of the Mbirikani Group Ranch, Ol Donyo Lodge kindles awe for this astonishing landscape encompassing the Chyulu Hills Mountain Range.