The Camp

Location: Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya
Number of Tents: 13

A stay at Lewa Safari Camp offers an authentic safari experience. Founded in 1924, this three-generation family endeavor conveys a deep love of local landscapes, people and wildlife. The camp enjoys a stunning location within the 65,000 acre Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, with views of Mount Kenya’s snowy summit in one direction, and wildlife-rich lowlands in the other. The camp’s 13 tents extend along a hillside, separated by enough distance for privacy, yet connected by a lit walkway. Accommodations include 11 twin and double tents and two family/triple tents. Though the ambience is classic safari camp, modern comforts await, including hot showers, flush toilets and warm duvets. Electricity is provided by a generator and supplemented by romantic hurricane lanterns. Following a day of adventure, guests return to sip drinks on private verandas or enjoy a dip in the refreshing pool. The main lounge opens onto a grassy lawn and provides a convivial atmosphere for meals and storytelling by a flickering fire.

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Facilities & Amenities

• En suite bathroom with shower
• 220v charging outlets in room
• Central pool
• Massage treatments (extra cost)
• Wi-Fi
• Laundry included
• Local drinks included (house alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks)

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Wildlife Viewing & Activities

Lewa Conservancy offers a firsthand experience of groundbreaking wildlife conservation work. A pacesetter for bringing back endangered species, this private refuge has become the leading role model for sustainable conservation in East Africa. It has played an instrumental role in returning black and white rhinoceros from the brink of extinction and is also a sanctuary for Grevy’s zebra and sitatunga, a rare aquatic antelope. Lewa’s mixed habitats include open grasslands and gentle hills, mature acacia forest and papyrus swamp, harboring a wide range of wildlife. The Big Five—lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo—thrive here alongside cheetah, wildebeest, hartebeest, giraffe, hippo, hyena, colobus monkey and wild dog. Lewa is home to more than 400 bird species, including Somali ostrich, kori bustard and lilac-breasted roller. On daytime wildlife drives and guided bush walks, learn about Lewa’s mission to act as a catalyst for conservation across Africa. Night game drives, horseback and camel rides, visits to Il Ngwesi Cultural Boma and visits to Ngare Ndare Forest are available at an additional cost and can be booked and paid for in camp.

The conservancies of the Laikipia District have varying concentrations and species of wildlife, and the below chart helps to illustrate major wildlife sightings often experienced in the area. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a rhino sanctuary, and this and other reserves in Laikipia feature unique subspecies, such as reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra, Somali ostrich, gerenuk, and Jackson’s hartebeest and a number of other mammals, birds and reptiles. Exact sightings will depend on seasonality and wildlife movements.

Climate

Conservation

With the precipitous decline of black rhinos across Africa in the 1970s, government wildlife agencies and conservation organizations increasingly turned to private landowners, non-profit organizations and indigenous communities to protect the few remaining animals. In Kenya, the number of black rhinos dropped from an estimated 20,000 to fewer than 300 animals, and the only way to prevent their complete extinction was to create high security sanctuaries. In 1983, David and Delia Craig set aside 5,000 acres of their ranch as a rhino sanctuary, and the rest is history, as they recruited extensive support to help track, capture and relocate every remaining wild rhino in northern Kenya for breeding and protection. The program was so successful that eventually the entire ranch, encompassing 65,000 acres of diverse wildlife habitat, became the non-profit Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in 1995.Today, Kenya’s premier wildlife refuge and rehabilitation center employs more than 300 people and works with local communities in innovative approaches to conservation.

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