Lewa House

Lewa House sits on a hilltop inside Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, looking north over broad valleys toward open country. The conservancy covers sixty-two thousand acres at elevations between four thousand five hundred and seven thousand five hundred feet, taking in cedar forest, savannah grassland, wetlands, and steep hills. Seventy mammal species and over five hundred bird species have been recorded here. Lewa holds fifteen percent of Kenya's black rhino population and is one of the few places in Kenya where you can see all of the Big Five. The conservancy received UNESCO World Heritage recognition in 2013.

The lodge has seven rooms across two types. Three thatched cedar cottages each hold a double and a twin room with en-suite bathrooms and a shared veranda — practical for families. The four earthpods are newer, built with curved walls to collect rainwater and hold an even temperature. The main house has a large open fireplace and a communal dining table. A swimming pool overlooks a waterhole that draws game throughout the day.

The lodge is family-run, and walks are led on foot by an experienced guide into valleys not reachable by vehicle. Open four-wheel-drive vehicles go out for game drives. Other options include helicopter flights, horseback and camel safaris, a canopy walkway forty feet above the Ngare Ndare Forest floor, visits to prehistoric archaeological sites, and conservation work with the anti-poaching tracker dog team. The Ngare Ndare Forest, run as a community forest on the conservancy's southern edge, has cold plunge pools fed by forest streams.

Almost all food comes from the property's own farm or from markets and community producers in the nearby town of Meru.