Saruni Samburu

Saruni Samburu sits on a hillside viewpoint inside Kalama Community Conservancy, a community-owned reserve of two hundred thousand acres that shares a border with Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya. The lodge holds ten villas — standard, honeymoon, and family configurations — built around the natural rock formations of the hillside, each with a verandah, outdoor shower, and views over the landscape below. The Honeymoon Villa is cantilevered over the edge of the slope; the family villas can be booked as a single connected unit or as separate private entrances.

Two infinity pools sit at different elevations on the hillside. The kitchen runs Italian in character but uses Kenyan produce, and meals regularly move outside — breakfast beside the Ewaso Nyiro River, dinner in a dry riverbed.

Game drives run through both Kalama Conservancy and Samburu National Reserve. Night drives operate inside the conservancy, where they are permitted; they are not allowed in the national reserve. A partially buried photographic hide sits at a waterhole at ground level, designed for both novice and experienced photographers to photograph wildlife without the height of a vehicle.

Guided bush walks are led by Samburu rangers who also point out rock art in caves on the hillside — hunting scenes painted in white, dated to when the Samburu were primarily pastoralist warriors. The Warriors Academy is an interactive programme for families and small groups covering both wildlife and Samburu cultural practices. A day excursion runs to Mount Ololokwe, the sacred mountain of the Samburu, departing at dawn for the summit with a guide.

Helicopter excursions can extend a stay north toward Lake Turkana or south toward Mount Kenya.