Hemingways Hotel

Kenya

On arrival, a private hotel driver will meet you at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the transfer to the hotel will take about 30 minutes (traffic willing).

The hotel’s expansive terrace looks out to the Ngong Hills and overlooks manicured gardens. There is a heated swimming pool adjacent to the spa and gym.

There are 45 suites, including the Hemingways Suite, Blixen Suite, 19 Executive Suites, and 24 Deluxe Suites.

The Hemingways Nairobi Brasserie serves good food.

About this area

Kenya's capital, Nairobi, is an unavoidable stopover as most international flights arrive at night. Most people are keen to head out on safari as soon as possible and tend not to spend much time in the city. But for those who choose to spend an extra night or two to adjust to time changes, there are some great hotels and restaurants, and the shopping opportunities—in small shops, malls or outdoor curio markets —can be very good. The Sheldrick Trust needs to be booked well in advance, especially if you want a private experience.

Sirikoi Lodge - Luxury Tents

Kenya

The common areas are beautiful and inviting, filled with family photos, lovely art, comfortable seating and coffee table books. The lodge has a warm, welcoming feel. With only a handful of tents and private cottages, Sirikoi offers a very high-quality, personal experience, combining attention to detail with an unpretentious set-up, excellent food and friendly staff. The lodge overlooks a marsh fed by the Sirikoi Stream, shaded by giant acacia trees and dotted with wildlife.

Sirikoi Tents
The four luxury tents are handsome and spacious, overlooking the green lawn and the waterhole. Each guest tent is built on a platform with a private veranda, a living area with a fireplace and an elegant bathroom with a Victorian bath and a shower.

About this area

Lewa Conservancy is a 45,000-acre private conservancy that sits high on a 6000 foot plateau between the slopes of Mt Kenya and the dry arid deserts to the north. The scenery is spectacular with a lovely rolling landscape, big skies and rarified air. The wildlife is diverse and includes some of the species that are endemic to northern Kenya such a Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe and gerenuk. It is also a Rhino conservation area and there are good numbers of both black and white rhino.

We love Lewa for the diversified game drives, fantastic hikes, and great variety and freedom. In addition, due to its location we can access areas of great interest outside the private conservancy such as the forests of Mt Kenya, Ngare Ndare’s magical Blue pools (both recognized as part of the UNESCO designated Mount Kenya World Heritage Site), and the vast northern frontier district. Lewa has an excellent and unique relationship with its neighbouring communities, allowing for great opportunities to visit some of the local villages and schools to get a feel for their customs and culture.

Naboisho Camp

Kenya

Rebuilt and refurbished in 2023, Naboisho Camp offers nine spacious and comfortable tents. There is a small swimming pool to cool off in in the heat of the day.

The main communal area, a thatched sitting room and dining room provide a lovely vantage point from which to watch the nearby waterhole. Most of the vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the camp has been left as wild as possible providing both shade and a habitat for birds and small – and sometimes larger – animals.

The nine generous tented suites offer comfortable king-sized beds (twin beds are available), they have ensuite bathrooms with indoor and outdoor hot running showers

It is possible to do night drives here and you can also explore the bush on foot, accompanied by an expert guide and tracker. This is an excellent place to enjoy walks as there are some stunning areas. There is the option to do some really long walks, which enable you to access areas that are inaccessible by car

About this area

Naboisho Conservancy is a conservation success story. It is a community conservancy comprised of land leased from 500 different local families and spans over 55,000 acres. Over the last two decades, wildlife numbers have increased, and predator numbers have bounced back to the point that Naboisho is one of the very best places in Africa to see predators. Access to the conservancy is limited, and the area boasts relatively low tourist numbers, making it easy to avoid the crowds. There is a good chance that you will have sightings to yourselves. The conservancy, part of the Mara Serengeti ecosystem, offers a classic Mara landscape with rolling hills and open plains interspersed with small streams and patches of woodland. Plains game is excellent here, too, and elephant numbers are slowly returning. It is great country for walking, and it is also possible to do night drives.

Kigali Serena

Rwanda

The hotel has 148 rooms in total, broken down into Standard, Deluxe, Superior, Prime and Suites. There are two restaurants and a lounge, and the swimming pool is right in the middle of the hotel, with the rooms towering up in a V-shape above.

Just off the pool is the Maisha Health Club, which is well-equipped with a spa, steam room, jacuzzi, and gym.

About this area

Rwanda is a small country, with its modern capital, Kigali, at the centre. From here, the roads radiate outwards like the spokes of a wheel, and on most Rwanda trips, you'll need to spend a night here at either the start or end of your safari. It's a pleasant city, scattered over several hills, and with enough to do to keep you occupied for a day or so with plenty of bars, cafes and restaurants. A visit to the Genocide Memorial site and Museum in Kigali is a fascinating, heart-wrenching experience. The museum is a testament to Rwanda's past, and it is not for the fainthearted. The memorial intends to show Rwanda's commitment to such atrocities never happening again, but the evidence of what happened can be distressing.

Sabyinyo Lodge

Rwanda

Sabyinyo is not an overly fancy lodge, but it is very comfortable and run by a friendly team offering high-quality service. Guest accommodation consists of six cottages, two suites and a family cottage.

There are lots of steep steps between the rooms and up to the main area from the entrance, they have a small buggy to help guests who need a lift up the steep hill!

The main area consists of an outdoor deck, bar and dining room. A large sitting room with comfortable seating leads out to a verandah areas with stunning views across to the Virunga Mountains.

Gorilla Trekking
In the morning you will wake early for breakfast & then transfer to the park headquarters for your gorilla trek.

A standard Gorilla trek is a strenuous hike of between 1-4 hours each way (2-3 hours is more usual). You will be tracking through thick forest at heights up to 3,000 metres, traversing steep sided mountains – if the Gorillas are high up it can be arduous and wet.

It is important that you are fit and in good health and properly equipped. This is not a technical climb but it can be a scramble/slide/swing up steep inclines. You follow as the gorillas make their way through the forest, huge trees, clinging vines and undergrowth adds to the challenge of swift streams and slippery red mud underfoot. Basically where the gorillas go you must follow! The guides carry machetes to help clear a path when the undergrowth gets dense. Each visit is by permit and limited to one hour with a professional Gorilla tracker in charge who will coach you in the safety rules and body language required to come close to the Gorilla troops.

About this area

Parc des Volcans, Volcanoes National Park, is the area of the Virunga Mountain chain found in Rwanda. The park encompasses five of the eight volcanoes of the Virungas and covers 62 square miles. The five peaks are Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. The Virunga mountain chain straddles the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda. The mountains are covered in the most beautiful forests and have some unique fauna and flora, the most famous of which is the Mountain Gorilla. It is here that Dian Fossey eventually settled and set up the Karisoke Research Center in 1967, supported by Lara’s grandfather, Louis Leakey.

The land around the national park in all three countries bordering these mountains holds some of the highest densities of humans per acre globally. The land outside the park is intensively farmed, and over the last century, the future of the mountain gorilla was made increasingly grim due to the ever-increasing pressure on their habitat as farmlands were expanded.

However thanks to the work of the Rwandan government, its supporters, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund the tide has been turned over the last three decades since Rwanda’s civil war. Mountain gorilla populations have been and are increasing to the point that habitat expansion is now vital to support the growing populations. The Rwandan government has set the ball rolling for expansion of the national park, but is doing this with the utmost of caution to make sure that the livelihoods of the people that live around the park is put first.