Giraffe Manor

Kenya

Built-in 1932, the Manor is located in the southern part of Nairobi's suburb of Karen; there are two buildings on the property; the original Manor house has six bedrooms, one of which is a family room. The Garden Manor is the newer part of Giraffe Manor, created in 2011, with six ensuite bedrooms. The resident giraffes regularly enjoy visiting both parts of the Manor for treats.

The Retreat at Giraffe Manor is the newest addition to the property, located on the same forested sanctuary just next door. It offers day rooms and wellness facilities, including a swimming pool (often visited by the giraffes), two spa treatment rooms, a hot tub, a steam room, a sauna and a gym.

You can add a stay at the Manor to the beginning or the end of a safari, and you can easily spend two nights here. If you only have one night, arrive early in the afternoon and stay through breakfast with the giraffes the following day (which starts at 7 am) to get the most out of the experience.

The Manor is in high demand, so if you have your heart set on staying here, booking far in advance or having flexible dates is important. Please note that you can only book rooms in the Historic Manor if you are also booking nights at one of the Safari Collection sister properties.

CHECK IN Guests are welcome to arrive at Giraffe Manor from 12:00 noon.
CHECK OUT By 10:00 am on the day of departure, unless another room is booked and paid for.

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.

Lodo Springs

Kenya

When you're not out exploring the conservancy, you can relax in the infinity pool, enjoy lunch on the deck, and have a massage. The food is delicious, and the staff are attentive, ensuring a comfortable stay.

Staying at Lodo Springs is not just about the wildlife. It's about the freedom to explore. You can venture on walks, ride mountain bikes, and engage with the local Samburu community to gain a deeper understanding of their culture.

We love to include Lodo Springs (sister camp to Loisaba Tented camp but the more comfortable of the two) on our itineraries because Loisaba Conservancy is one of the great conservation success stories. You have good chances of seeing leopards and, if you are very lucky, African Wild Dogs. They have recently reintroduced black rhinos to the Conservancy.

About this area

Loisaba is a 56,000 acre wildlife conservancy and working ranch located in Northern Laikipia. The Ewaso Nyiro River and abundant permanent springs make Loisaba attractive to wildlife throughout the year. Laikipia is currently home to the largest population of elephant in Kenya, with Loisaba serving as a key migration corridor. There are chances of seeing lion, as well as the seldom seen Greater Kudu and Wild Dog, and endemic northern Kenya species such as the gerenuk and Grevy’s Zebra, alongside a wealth of other wildlife.

The Nature Conservancy facilitated the purchase of the property by the Loisaba Community Trust in 2015 and now works with them to run the conservancy. Together, they work with neighbouring communities to protect almost 15 million acres for wildlife, livestock, and the people who have traditionally lived there. They are creating jobs, schools, healthcare clinics, and managing grazing access for local communities.

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.

Lowis & Leakey Mobile Camp, Mara Triangle

Kenya

Lara’s and Ninian’s families have used mobile camps to access the wilderness in comfort for many decades. We have custom-designed the tents to ensure they are spacious and comfortable. As this camp is truly mobile, the tents strike a delicate balance between luxury and practicality. The result is an unpretentious, stylish, and comfortable nomadic home.

Our guest tents have ensuite bathrooms with traditional camp showers, a flushing loo, comfortable bedding, and solar-powered lights.

You will be the only guests in camp, allowing you to dictate the pace of each day. Game drives and other activities are not pre-planned but based on daily discussions with your guides. Lara plans the menus and is happy to cater to any preferences, and the team takes pride in fabulously fresh food and homestyle cooking.

It can be fun to stay in the mobile camp in different areas of Kenya. You move to a lodge for a few nights while our team moves the camp.

About this area

The Masai Mara Game Reserve is world-famous and offers some of Africa's most beautiful landscapes. Its rolling grasslands seem to go on forever, bisected by numerous watercourses, some of the bigger ones lined with riverine forests. It potentially offers the best game viewing in Africa.

The Mara Serengeti ecosystem straddles the border of Kenya and Tanzania. The Mara Reserve sits within that ecosystem; it is about 1,500 square kilometres, which is vast compared to many of the surrounding conservancies. But even more extraordinary is that it is part of an enormous contiguous wilderness of over 30,000 square kilometres, including the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and Maswa. That's about the size of Belgium. Wildebeest, zebra, elephants, eland, leopards, and cheetah traverse hundreds of kilometres over this land.

Choosing the right location within the ecosystem, the right guide and the right season are of utmost importance, possibly more important than any other factors when planning your trip. We feel that the Mara Reserve still holds some of the finest safari experiences anywhere in Africa; the wildlife is phenomenal year-round, with an incredible variety of different animals and good numbers of predators. However, it is essential to avoid some parts of the Mara Reserve during the few months of the peak tourist season as they can suffer terribly from overcrowding, which can detract from your experience

Singita Sabora

Tanzania

Sabora Tented Camp is one of our favourite places to stay in the private Singita Grumeti Reserve, it is situated right out on the plains and gives you a wonderful feeling of being "out there". The camp has been beautifully designed to capture the best views over the plains and two nearby waterholes, where game regularly gathers to drink.

Each of the nine canvas tents is elegantly decorated, and each has its own deck overlooking the spectacular Grumeti landscape and a bath with a view.The camp offers exceptional service and the food is excellent. There are several spaces where you can rest, relax, and enjoy the amazing location. These include a lovely verandah, swimming pool, fitness areas, a meditation deck, and a secluded outdoor sala with shaded daybeds. From the sala, you can enjoy uninterrupted game-viewing as various animals pass by.

About this area

We feel that Grumeti Reserves,350,000 acres of private wilderness adjacent to the Western Corridor of the Serengeti, represents one of the greatest conservation success stories of the last decade. We have been visiting this area for the past fifteen years, and can't think of anywhere else that has achieved such positive change with regard to wildlife numbers.

Paul Tudor Jones, Singita and the Grumeti Reserves team have worked magic. Where there were barely any permanent herds there are now thousands of resident zebra, topi, impala and other plains game. Elephants used to be rare, but now herds of over a hundred individuals gather to socialize in a safe area. There is plenty to do here besides game drives. The Singita facilities and service are fantastic, but it's the wildlife that keeps drawing us back to this place. The area is home to large herds of mixed game and has a high number of predators.

While we feel this is a year-round destination, the rainy season usually occurs in April and May when game can be harder to see with long grass. The migration passes through between May and June though this can be hard to predict. It also passes through in October.