A luxury Kenya safari is something that many people dream of! The world is divided by those who love wildlife and really want to get up close and personal. This means to sleep in a tented camp, listening to the amazing night calls of the whooping hyaena or a lion calling to its mate in the distance, or defending its territory. With the wind blowing gently through the gauze windows, one sleeps so soundly! For other people, this may be seen as a complete nightmare. They may not feel very comfortable sleeping at night, knowing that wildlife is walking around their tent. For them, they may love wildlife, but feel safer viewing it from a distance. They feel comforted by the fact that their lodge or tent is on a wooden deck, several feet from the ground!

shompole house with africanexplorations.com

I have covered this in a period article when I say that luxury means different things to different people. To some, it means space and not seeing another soul (or tourist!). To have thousands of hectares to simply spend time walking in and absorbing, to traverse through by open vehicle or on horseback.  Others feel it is flying everywhere by private aircraft, not having to wait for anyone or join any queues! Some feel it is having unlimited hot water whilst others, it is to have the champagne or wine of one’s choice at hand, together with superb food. A private guide who accompanies your safari and is at one’s beck and call  is, for some,  a necessity – and undoubtedly, this increases the enjoyment of one’s overall safari.

Sasaab with AfricanExplorations.com

There are still other people who simply insist upon opulence and decadence. A masseuse must be on hand, rooms or villas with the finest linen, lodges which have that inimitable designer touch.

luxury Kenya safari with AfricanExplorations.com

Whatever your idea of luxury is, Kenya can certainly deliver it!

Luxury Kenya – something which is easily achievable! There are some truly beautiful lodges that have been recently built in Kenya. Top marks go to Ol Donyo Wuas, which is truly beautiful in the most wonderful location, facing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Ol Lentille with AfricanExplorations.com

The other place is Ol Lentille located between Laikipia and the Matthews range on the Ol Lentille group ranch. The lodge sits high on a rock boulder filled kopje at 6000 feet. Therefore it is always cool in the mornings and late afternoons but the swimming pool lies in full sun and always a lovely warm area. All funds support educational bursaries for local children and students. The lodges décor is chic safari with a mix of elegant masks, teak, hordes of fireplaces, rare wooden furniture, soft sofas in neutral colours, grasses and hessian matting. The unique design and architecture makes use of the light and was designed with eco-responsible elements in mind as they gather rainwater for the reservoirs. All plants are indigenous. The lodge was built with the dignified purpose of making communities work for themselves. Certainly of all the Lodge projects started in Kenya, Ol Lentille is by far the most luxurious.

Shompole with AfricanExplorations.com

Shompole is another of our favourites. With the lodge, a two bedroomed villa and a private villa/house called 360 – situated in Magadi in the Great Rift valley. The game viewing is extraordinary here and the cool, white exteriors and interiors shield one from the harsh midday sun. Each room is built on three levels, starting with a cool pool at the bottom, with views over the plains, then an enormous bathroom with great views and then on top, is your bedroom, completely open fronted, with a large verandah and day bed, where you can flop onto and read, as well as a driftwood dining area on your deck. Romance doesn’t get better than this!

A luxury safari in Kenya will encapsulate the essence of what a safari should be all about as the country is such a broad-ranging and capable African safari destination. Kenya has a reputation for being “busy” but a properly planned trip will eschew any mass market influences and remain true to tradition, thus being a genuine adventure whilst cocooning travellers within a very high quality experience.

Lion in the Mara, Luxury Safari Kenya by AfricanExplorations.com

Luxury safari Kenya accommodation will be lovely yet, again, down to earth and genuine as we usually choose camps and lodges which are owner-run for our clients. This ensures highly personable hosting with some of the best guiding in Africa. We have many favourites amongst the plethora of places available in the bush but Richards Camp and Serian in the Mara and Sosian up on the Laikipia Plateau are very special to us.

Interior of Richards Luxury Kenya Safari Camp, from Nicola Shepherd's AfricanExplorations.com

Activities available in the bush are legion: from gameviewing, including special interest such as elephant research or lion tracking, to horse riding, mountain biking, hiking/walking, fishing, rafting, photography, flycamping, camel riding, art classes, archery, swimming in mountain streams or just relaxing…….Kenya has enough to satisfy any aficionado of the bush.

Riding On The Plains on a Luxury Kenya Safari by AfricanExplorations.com

On the coast the same applies, every conceivable watersport is there but the offshore waters, including the Pemba Channel (which is actually mostly off Tanzania), are home to some of the world’s best sportfishing. Lamu is (still) an unspoiled example of ancient Arah-Swahili architecture and trading culture with the beaches north of this ancient trading town being superlative; Kiwayu is one of our favourites up here.

Kiwayu, Luxury Beach in Kenya by AfricanExplorations.com

Finally, Kenya’s culture is a very important part of the whole; the country’s peoples and tribes, which include the nilotic Masai and Samburu as well as many other tribes and immigrants from both the Indian subcontinent and Europe, are friendly yet proud and it is their personality that gives Kenya its immense character.

Call us now to talk about an utterly individual luxury safari in Kenya on 01993 822443 or email us at info@africanexploratons.com

Anyone who has an interest in conservation or luxury safaris to Africa (or India) in general as well as walking safaris, elephant safaris or special interest safaris will welcome the CITES decision late last month to uphold the ongoing ban on ivory trading. The story is well reported by CNN, which we precis as follows:

Quote:
(CNN) — Conservationists have welcomed the decision to reject a bid from Tanzania and Zambia to temporarily suspend a worldwide ban on trading in African elephant ivory so they can offload legal stockpiles in a one-off sale.
The 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Monday, voted to reject the proposal amid concerns about elephant poaching.
A petition from the two African countries to remove elephants from a list of animals “threatened with extinction” to allow trade in other parts of the animal was also thrown out.
“It’s welcome news, but my anxieties remain about the increased levels of poaching in Africa,” Save the Elephant’s Dr. Ian Douglas-Hamilton told CNN.
“There are huge problems ahead for the elephants,” he said. “I do see this huge demand which is emanating mainly from the prosperity of China. We have to win their hearts and minds for conservation and for the elephant so that they have more of an idea of sustainable use and not over-taxing populations.”
CITES banned the international commercial ivory trade in 1989 after elephant populations dropped dramatically across the world due to widespread poaching.
But in 1997 and 2002 it permitted Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to sell limited stocks of ivory to Japan, in recognition of the fact that some southern African elephant populations were healthy and well managed.
Five years later at a CITES meeting at The Hague further sales of stockpiled ivory were permitted in return for a nine-year moratorium on further sales.
Both Zambia and Tanzania claimed elephant numbers in their territories were on the rise after years of decline. They also said the proceeds from the sale of government stockpiles would be put back into conservation and enforcement projects. But wildlife experts in Kenya, part of a coalition of 23 African elephant range countries calling for an outright ban, say poaching has increased since the announcement of the last sale.
“Though Zambia’s anti-poaching enforcement measures are better than those of Tanzania, there is no justification for downgrading the elephants from the endangered list,” said Douglas-Hamilton, an expert on Kenya’s elephant population. Tanzania has increased poaching and increased illegal markets. Their main elephant population has decreased by some 30,000 in the last three years. In Zambia there were huge declines in the elephant population in the 1970s and 1980s. Whereas other elephant populations across Africa have recovered slightly since the introduction of the ivory trade ban, Zambia’s never have. They remain the same. In the mid-1970s the population was something like 160,000. It is currently estimated to sit at around 26,000.”
He added that the situation was particularly desperate in central Africa where there are estimated to be just 20,000 elephants left from a population numbering 1 million 30 years ago.
CNN’s David McKenzie contributed to this report.
Unquote

Naturally we are all delighted at the announcement but it is clear that charities such as Iain’s Save The Elephants, which can be visited as part of an itinerary to Kenya (and is a charity we support, as is the Sheldrick Elephant Foundation, see the video below), and those involved with our special interest safaris and Elephant safaris in the Okavango Delta need ongoing support, as do all those with a focus on elephant conservation in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana and Zambia.