The Camp

Location: Samburu National Reserve, Kenya
Number of Villas: 6

Saruni Samburu is a sophisticated wilderness lodge that accommodates guests in six deluxe villas, two of which are large family villas each with two separate bedrooms and two magnificent bathrooms. Incorporating distinctive and artistic design, each villa has enormous windows and a large, open sitting area furnished with wrought-iron settees and bright splashes of color in woven rugs and accent pillows. Luxurious beds rest atop wooden decking with fabric walls that open fully on three sides, for a sense of sleeping out in the bush. The bathrooms are a delight, with deep stone soaking tubs and stucco walls built right into the rocks. Each villa has a private veranda with candle lanterns for romantic illumination at night. A free-form swimming pool merges with the mountainside, offering views as magnificent as those from the villas. Dining is as memorable as the surroundings, with Italian-influenced gourmet meals served on the terrace surveying the vast savanna below.

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Facilities & Amenities

• En suite bathroom with shower (some tubs)
• Hair dryer
• Mini bar
• 220v charging outlets in room
• In-room safe
• 2 Central pools
• Spa (extra cost)
• Wi-Fi in room
• Laundry included
• Local drinks included (house alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks)
• Credit cards accepted (Visa MasterCard, American Express)

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Wildlife Viewing & Activities

The Samburu ecosystem is one of the most important in East Africa and is comprised of several national reserves, private concessions and community-owned group ranches that are becoming increasingly interconnected. Famous for its large population of elephants, Samburu stands out for its abundance of northern species not found in other areas of Kenya. The gerenuk, reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, Grevy’s zebra and Beira oryx are some of the species limited to the north that can be spotted here. The Kalama Wildlife Conservancy, where the camp is located, has an abundance of other rare species including leopard, striped hyena and civet. Activities include day and night wildlife drives in the conservancy and adjacent national reserves, tours of ancient Samburu rock art sites and cave paintings, guided bush walks, bush breakfasts and dinners, and stargazing. Back at camp, unwind with a treatment at the Wellbeing Space, a collaboration between Italy’s famous Centro Benessare Stresa Spa and traditional Samburu wisdom and healing knowledge.

The below chart helps to illustrate major wildlife sightings often experienced in Samburu National Reserve. Other typical sightings may include unique subspecies, such as reticulated giraffe, endangered Grevy’s zebra, Somali ostrich and gerenuk as well as jackals, warthogs and a number of other mammals, birds and reptiles. Exact sightings will depend on seasonality and wildlife movements.

Climate

Conservation

The Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) facilitates the development of community-led conservation initiatives in northern Kenya. It promotes the collective management of ecosystems in order to improve human livelihoods, biodiversity, conservation and rangeland management. Trained by NRT and the pacesetting Lewa Conservancy, Kalama rangers have been protecting this area for several years and are reporting a rapid increase in wildlife. The waterholes built by Saruni Samburu and the Kalama community are providing a lifegiving element often missing form this arid part of Kenya. Under the NRT umbrella, Kalama represents a crucial migratory corridor between northern and southern conservation areas for large herds of elephants. Kalama and NRT members have coexisted with the Samburu National Reserve for over 40 years, sharing revenues and wildlife. Northern Kenya is one of Africa's last true wilderness areas, and the absence of fences makes it one of the few places left that allows for the free movement of wildlife across a vast area.

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