Unique Safari Lodges in Northern Kenya for A Family Safari

Northern Kenya is the epitome of rugged and raw Africa. It's vast and beautiful with dramatic views of plains, mountain ranges, meandering rivers and dry river beds. It is truly enchanting.

Views over Northern Kenya from Mount Ololokwe at sunrise

Northern Kenya is my favourite place to go on Safari and I have been on many trips up to the rugged wilderness of Laikipia, Samburu and beyond. Often overshadowed by the Masai Mara and Northern Tanzania’s Safari Circuit, Northern Kenya’s Safari scene is under-explored, exclusive and utterly stunning. The charm of Northern Kenya’s Safari scene is that it is largely made up of community run Wildlife Conservancies, Ranches and Private Game Reserves. This means that as opposed to National Parks where night game drives and other activities are somewhat limited, many of these conservancies allow better activities for families and those seeking more active adventure.

Here is a round up of my Top 5 luxury Safari Lodges in Laikipia, Samburu and the surrounding wilderness. These are places I have been to back when I was a child on Family Safaris and recently as an adult so you can get the real low down for both you and your children on the best Safari Lodges for a Family Safari.

Sosian Lodge, Laikipia

Sosian is a functioning cattle ranch, and wildlife conservancy giving it a unique ranch house meets luxury Safari feel. As a conservation area for over 70 mammals from big cats such as lions and leopard to huge herds of elephant, you are guaranteed great game viewing. Being in Laikipia means you will see an abundance of rare species from the Grevy’s Zebra (much more beautiful than their common Zebra cousins you will find in the Masai Mara!) to reticulated giraffe (arguably the prettiest of the giraffe species, but thats just my opinion..)

Beautiful cottage room at Sosian. Taken from their website.

If you have children, a Safari at Sosian will mean constant entertainment and fun for the kids (and adults!). From heading out to view wildlife on horseback, camping under the stars, hikes and walks, to fishing, kayaking and swimming in the nearby river and waterfall. You can also experience the surroundings from the back of a camel. Camels are and have been a very important part of Northern Pastoralist’s livelihoods, so up North, regardless of which of these stunning lodges you choose, you’re likely to have the option to hop on the back of a camel at some point! Having grown up in Kenya, I was lucky enough to go on a 7 day Camel Trekking Safari up in Northern Kenya and it’s still one of my fondest Safari memories to date!

Borana Lodge, Laikipia

Right in the middle of Borana Wildlife Conservancy, overlooking the hyena dam which attracts an abundance of wildlife sits the breathtaking Borana Lodge. Views of Mount Kenya’s snowy peaks, the Northern plains and mountains beyond is breathtaking. As a private owned Conservancy, you are guaranteed an exclusive, intimate Safari Experience where you can experience the surroundings on horseback, traditional game drives, guided walks, or even on a mountain bike! The swimming pool kept me very entertained as a child, as did a swim in the nearby waterfalls!

Borana Lodge. Rustic Luxury in the wild. Taken from their website.

Stunning bathroom

You will most likely share a Family Cottage, with 2 conjoining rooms. Perfect for privacy but still having the kids under the same roof. Another reason Borana has made it onto this list! The activities, luxurious intimate feeling of the lodge that is so beautifully designed makes this a top Family Safari destination. Can’t recommend it enough for a wild and wacky Family Safari in one of the most beautiful regions in Northern Kenya.

SARARA, Namunyak conservancy

Further North, situated on Namunyak Community Conservancy is the stunning luxury tented lodge, Sarara. Only 6 tented rooms give this place an exclusive feel, much like all the lodges on this list! The best bit has got to be the infinity pool that looks out over the Conservancy and towards the dramatic Matthews Range. The lodge’s watering hole just below attracts wildlife throughout the day so you can expect to be watching elephants drinking close by as you cool off in the pool - it doesn’t get much better than that..

What heaven looks like. Stunning views from the Sarara main area and infinity pool. Taken from their website.

Namunyak was once devoid of wildlife, but the local Samburu community have worked together to restore this beautiful part of the world into a flourishing wildlife conservancy that now holds Kenya’s 2nd largest elephant population and on of the largest populations of the rare reticulated Giraffe.

Reticulated Giraffe captured on my last Samburu Safari.

Your days will be spent on game drives with your Samburu guide, and if you’re feeling adventurous head out on foot! One of the best experiences from Sarara is a trip to the Reteti Elephant Orphanage a community run orphanage and rescue unit for elephants and other young animals in the area. You’'ll watch them get fed, and perhaps even get to feed some of the calves yourself! Its a magical experience. Whatever you get up to, Sarara is the perfect place for the Family to have a truly off the grid, remote, luxury Safari Experience.

Ol Pejita Bush camp, Laikipia

Ol Pejita Bush Camp at Sunrise with the mighty Mount Kenya towering above. Taken from their website.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Ol Pejita Conservancy as it is home to the world’s last two Northern White Rhino as well as other endangered species that are constantly monitored and guarded by Rangers. The rest of the conservancy is teeming with game and the activities here are endless and perfect for families.

Oj Pejita Bush Camp run by Asilia, trusty partners of Journey to Africa is situated peacefully beside the Ewaso Nyiro River. A classic luxury Safari Camp made up of seven comfortable, homely canvas tents and a beautifully simple lounge area. From here you can enjoy game drives, bush walks, visit the sanctuary and meet the Rhinos, and even take part in conservation efforts such as Lion tracking. They even have a Junior Ranger Programme to keep the kids busy and thoroughly entertained during their Safari. In terms of Safari activities, Ol Pejita probably comes out on top, but its definitely not as remote and exclusive as the other conservancies on this list. For those who want maximum activities and excellent game viewing, this is your go to.

Lewa Safari Camp

Views from your bedroom at Lewa Safari Camp

Lewa Conservancy is another special place for the conservation of Rhinos, and the protection of an array of wildlife. Probably best known as the backdrop of Prince William’s proposal to Kate Middleton, you can imagine its got to be pretty special!

This has made it to the list for its array of activities for adults and children alike and its stunning backdrop. Much like Ol Pejita, but perhaps with a more exclusive, remote feel. The Lodge itself by Elewana Collection has 11 tents, including 2 Family Suites, a cosy lounge area perfect for relaxing after a day exploring the conservancy by game drive, guided walks, or even on the back of a camel. As you can tell by now, Safaris up North go beyond the classic game drives you get elsewhere, and you will always have the option to be more adventurous. The pool is perfect for the hot dry climate of the Laikipia plains, and the cosy lounge area and fireplace for the colder, clear nights of the North.

Your Safari starts here, let’s chat and start planning your Journey To Africa Safari.

We personalize each and every Safari to you, your taste, and what you want to get from your unique Journey to Africa Safari. Email me here, or leave a message below and we can start the exciting process of choosing your destinations, accommodation and everything in between.

How does your Safari make a difference!

The ‘Why’?

I have been thinking a lot recently about my “why”. Why is Journey To Africa different? Why should you come on Safari with Journey To Africa?

The answer is in the places and the people. I will take you to places I love and you will be meeting and supporting people I cherish. As a Tanzanian, the impact of each Safari with Journey To Africa is my biggest passion. I want you to show the Africa I love, whilst making a difference.

I thought I would take you deeper into how a Safari with Journey To Africa actually benefits people and places I know and love. What sets us apart is the personal connection I have with the places and people you will see and meet on your Safari especially in Tanzania.

My friends - When I tell you I am going to send you on Safari with Safari guide Kakae, Michael, Chiedel, Baraka, Bingo, Nathan, etc., I know them. When I say you will meet Lodge manager Mo, Mosongo, Baraka, Alex, Julien, etc., I know them.

I know that by sending you to particular lodges and camps that I have stayed at many times, you will be directly and indirectly supporting the people I have touched - the waiters, cooks, cleaning staff, askaris (guards), rangers, and all their families. Having become friends with these wonderful people over the years, it makes me proud that my Safari business supports them directly.

Aside from directly supporting the people who work in the Safari industry, I use lodges and camps and Safari Partners who have a focus on both the conservation of Africa’s wild places and the development and empowerment of local communities. From providing education, changing life trajectories from being a poacher to now a farmer or mechanic, to medical assistance provided for the village, etc. I can talk in-depth about this if you lend me your ears. So important to me! The future of what we do have to be protected and I want to work with people who care.

I think that it is important to know that your Safari is an incredible experience for you, and it goes beyond what you see and do whilst you’re there. Your Safari will be impacting local communities, the wildlife, and the people I care about. And my biggest hope is that you will come back invested too.

Let’s get you on a Safari where you will come back being friends with my friends.
- Mefi

My buddies in Greystoke Mahale, one fabulous place to visit for chimp trekking on Mahale Moutains.

Types of Safari Accommodation - What are Camps and Lodges?

Learn the Safari lodging lingo…

When you hear about Safari accommodation, you will often hear “Camps and Lodges”. If you haven't been on an African Safari, you probably associate the word “camp” with a small tent, and basic facilities, or perhaps even some kind of army setup with ration packs! The word “Lodges” probably conjures up images of dimly lit old cabins. Both of these are very wrong when it comes to Safari lingo! I will take you through the different types of accommodation on Safari and what to expect! Keep in mind that I work with destinations ranging from mid-luxury to upscale luxury from anywhere between $400- $1,800 per person per night.

Classic Tented Camps

This is your old Africa, “Hemmingway Style” accommodation. Expect big canvas tents furnished with beautiful fittings and often more outdoorsy ensuite bathrooms. This is the closest you can feel to the wild whilst still in luxurious comfort.

The Lounge tent refers to the communal area where you’ll find stunning views, delicious food, books, games. This is the “chill-out” area where you’ll spend your time when it’s too hot to be on a game drive in the heat of the day or when you’re having your evening drinks watching the sunset!

The Tented Camps will either be permanent or mobile.

Permanent Tented Camps
These camps will not move season to season and will be located in great locations year-round. When staying at a permanent camp, you will usually have larger rooms, indoor and outdoor bathrooms, more space in the lounge area, and have amenities like a spa, etc.

Kuro Tarangire, Tarangire, Tanzania

Alex Walker Serian, Masai Mara North, Kenya

Namiri Plains, Serengeti, Tanzania

Mobile Tented Camps
There are small tented camps that are semi-permanent or move season to season. They might sound simple but these more intimate camps are perfect for an exclusive Safari feel and a proper Safari bush experience.

Alex Walker Serengeti Camp, Serengeti, Tanzania

Safari Lodges

Safari Lodges are usually more permanent structures built into the surroundings and have a more homely feel. With more amenities such as bigger bathrooms, larger dining areas, and indoor fireplaces, lodges are a step up in comfort and luxuriousness whilst still keeping that feeling of being in the wild.

Lamai Serengeti, Serengeti, Tanzania

Singita Sabora, Grumeti Reserve, Tanzania

MalaMala Main Camp, MalaMala Game Reserve, South Africa

I recommend staying at a mix of Tented Camps and Lodges to get the most from your Journey To Africa Safari.
Let’s chat and start planning your Safari of a lifetime!

What type of Safari vehicles will you ride on your wildlife Safari?

When on your Safari, you are going to enjoy game driving for at least 8-10 hours a day, sometimes more, sometimes less - you get to choose in most cases and sometimes your guide/weather. You may start early around 6:00 a.m. and end as late at 6:30 to 7:00 p.m when the areas close. You may even go out at night on your night game drives from certain lodges.

During this time, you will learn to appreciate your work-horse - your Safari vehicle.
Your 4×4 vehicle expertly maneuvered by our experienced knowledgeable Safari guide is your safe house. It will keep you cocooned from the wildlife, the rough terrain bumpety bump ride, and the range of weather elements you will encounter. The vehicle will act as your photography hide, breakfast and/or lunch table especially the bonnet/hood, your napping spot - happens to the best of us, your evening ride home.

In conclusion, where you will spend a lot of your waking hours. For this very reason, I take my vehicle selection from my Safari partners very seriously as it will be a big part of how you will enjoy your Safari!

So, what type of vehicle(s) will you have on your wildlife Safari?
Depends on which area you on Safari.

For Tanzania and Kenya, when you fly in an area, like Northern Serengeti or Masai Mara from a city like Arusha or Nairobi, you will hop into an open vehicle. South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, where you mostly fly into an area; open vehicles are your go-to ride.

The open vehicles here will have a roof on top and plastic canvas on the sides should you need to protect yourself from rain. The open vehicle may look different in many areas in South Africa like MalaMala Game Reserve or Sabi Sabi Lodges where they will have open vehicles with no roof giving you a completely open feel.

If you are driving from the city to the parks, especially in Tanzania, you may be in a closed vehicle because doing a drive through the main-road in an open vehicle is not advisable. Going down Ngorongoro Crater is recommened in a closed vehicle.

The closed vehicles that we like, and chose our Safari partners accordingly, have to have large unobstructed windows and a pop-up roof so you can have shade and a panoramic view to enjoy the magnificient scenery.

Regardless of what type of vehicle you will have, your vehicle will have lots of amenities.
A cooler with water, soft drinks, wine, beer, etc., plugs to charge your spare camera batteries or iPhone, bean bags for your camera - big or small, binoculars for spotting, lots of guide books, snacks – you do get hungry on Safari,  blankets to keep you warm from the wind, and raincoat/poncho for the expected or unexpected rain.

If you have any special requests such as need a step stool to get on board, pillow for your back, extra water, etc., we can cater to that as well.

All in all, your vehicle with our professional guides will be ready to show you a great time on Safari with Journey To Africa. Now let’s get you on your Safari.

When you are not listening to your guide.

A funny story - I think.

On Safari in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, close to the noon time-frame so the sun was high and the light was not really on our side, our guide Elly told us he has spotted a steenbok walking up the hill. I was with my friend and many times travel partner Sally at that time; she and I both, in the lunch-time daze, had our eyes focused on a large ‘steenbok’ on top of the hill. Elly went on to explain that the steenbok are small antelopes that are solitary, territorial, and usually have one life partner. All this is being said but our eyes are still focused on the larger ‘steenbok’. I am thinking, why is the animal, this supposed to be small, but looks large to me animal not moving a muscle - really strange this animal. Elly keeps going on and on about the steenbok and the stranger this animal seems. As we got closer, Sally and I both burst out laughing.

We both realized at the same time that ‘our’ ‘steenbok’ was in fact a sign-post; a large metal antelope sign-post by the park authorities giving directions. The ‘real steenbok’ was still walking up the hill and is indeed a small antelope. What a laugh we both had at ourselves.

Elly, sorry, we will listen more carefully next time. Fun times!

A bit silly on my part I must admit but hey, TANAPA’s sign post are very realisic and fooled me.

Let’s see if you get duped by this sign-post on your Safari in Ruaha National Park, a wild large amazing park in Southern Tanzania.

Served with a smile!

Be ready to come back with new friends after your Safari. It sounds cliche but that is really what happens. Our Safari guests come back and tell us they were sad to say good-bye to their new friends even those they met for a short time. Some guests keep in touch for years and even return to go on a Safari with their favorite guides in their favorite areas. Besides my guide friends, I still keep in touch with some of the lodge crew and rangers who I met on my journey. Who knows, may you too will come back with a friend or two after your Journey To Africa Safari.

Your Safari dollars support:

When you are on Safari, the people who you will come across are genuinely happy to see you for a myriad of reason; they have a job in the tourism industry which is one of the better-paying jobs in most Eastern and Southern African countries, good tips from you = better standard of living for the whole family - think better education for the children, good healthcare, living conditions, etc. Statistically, 8 other people will benefit from the one person you ‘touched’ on Safari - the community at large is supported by you.

Our friends in Africa, especially our guides, through our past guests have traveled to visit homes and places in the US - sometimes, Safaris can form friendships for life!

When you are ready to travel, we will be waiting for you with a huge smile - me from behind the phone call, email or zoom [the new reality - which hey, sign up for a few planned get-together sessions] - and my friends; soon to be yours - somewhere in magical Africa. We can’t wait for you!

And in this new post-Covid world, if you are up for it, and hopefully can, a hug with a smile awaits!

Leopard Day!

One of my favorite animals to photograph is the leopard. In the presence of the leopard, you feel so privileged as you have now entered a group that has seen an animal not easily spotted on Safari.

Leopards are elusiveness; they hide up in the trees, in the cracks of kopjes, and because they are usually solitary animals, searching for them is that much trickier and the excitement level high. Our guides will be finding subtle clues; the birds call, the shake of a branch, the handing leg of a recent kill - a good guide is a must on Safari.

When you do see one, especially up-close, you can’t help but have your hair rise because you can see the powerfulness of this predator and if your eyes meet, you can see through their soul.

Photographing them has been a goal on every Safari of mine because every encounter solidifies my love for these beautiful predators. I have been lucky to see them on most of my Safaris. Some from really far away and others really close. I remember seeing one really far away in Ruaha National Park, Southern Tanzania. We were on the hunt for this leopard called Onca - names because it’s spots were really dark like the jaguars in the Amazon forest. Well, we did not see Onca but we did see a silhouette of the leopard from far away.

The closest I have been was in Botswana. We were on an early morning game drive from Machaba Camp when our guide got a call to come quick. We held on to our seats and boom - wild dogs and two leopards. A mama and young leopard perched on a tree limb, looking at the beautiful sunrise. Magic moments on Safari.

Leopards can be spotted in all the parks in Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, and South Africa.
Where will you be on Safari to see your leopard?
Let’s chat Safaris.

Africa in the time of CoVID-19

To my guests going on Safari in 2020 - Thank you - you have been patient and kind while working with me in postponing your Safari to the many parts of Africa; your Safari deposit funds have kept our many initiatives going at this unprecedented time.

Conservation. Community.
The Safari deposit funds you have paid are being used for wildlife conservation and community. My amazing Safari partners and my curated list of Safari lodges, who support wildlife directly or by partnering with many organizations that are responsible for keeping our wildlife safe are working hard to keep wildlife safe as we 'speak'.

Also supported are the many communities surrounding the parks/ conservations. The symbiotic relationship between the community and the Safari lodges is a win-win in so many different ways depending on the location, the Safari lodge, etc.

Besides continuing our support for Big Life Foundation, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, RCVC to name a few, we are doing our best to send money to friends in Kenya and Tanzania who are giving meals to people who can't go out to work due to lock-down to small clinics who have lost all funding with only a trickle of tourists. 

All in this together.
I am hopeful that once the world is safe to travel again, we will travel with consciousness.

We are grateful that our Safari partners and Safari lodges that we work with value conservation and are committed to personally being custodians of the wildlife or partner with companies in the front line taking care of our wildlife. Besides wildlife conservation, without supporting the community, wildlife is in peril. All of these components are essential to sustainability practices.

This was very important to us before the crisis and we are even more committed to making sure this is the cornerstone of all our partners.

Many of you - hello friends - have seen our Safari partners' commitment in-depth first hand. You will have visited the villages/ schools to see first hand how your funds have helped; from clean water, education, de-snaring, farming produce, and more. If you have any special stories you want to tell us more about how their commitment impacted you, please do share.

How you can help my friends?
If you want to support right now when travel is at a standstill please email me and I can point you in the right direction - either a gofundme created by our Safari partner for their initiatives, your specific Safari guide, the Safari lodge, and the crew, a charity you visited, etc. we are here to help.

If you want to know more about what your Safari will be funding, please contact me and I can send you information.

Stay safe and healthy rafikis [friends].
This. too. shall. pass. I look forward to chatting with you about your Safari somewhere in magical Africa soon.